KABE & MUFTAK

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE (KENNER)

The ’90s run of Power of the Force has a pretty impressive depth to it, making it the first really notable example of getting a bunch of figures based on all the blin-and-you’ll-miss-them aliens that appear in the original trilogy.  Obviously, it was just sort of the tip of the iceberg in terms of what Hasbro would do as the line expanded, but there are still a number of characters who got their first figures under PotF and haven’t yet gotten a follow-up.  Today’s entry, which focuses on two patrons of the Mos Eisley cantina, is kind of in line with that.  So, let’s look at Kabe and Muftak.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Kabe and Muftak were an online-exclusive Star Wars: Power of the Force release, made available on Hasbro’s direct shop in 1998.

Kabe here is the smaller of the two included figures, putting her somewhere in the area of Jawa sizing in terms of scale. She’s technically the more fortunate of the two figures, having gotten a second figure after this one (though that one was really just a minor repaint of this one).  The figure stands 2 1/2 inches tall and she has 4 points of articulation.  Since she’s got that long robe over the legs, she get no movement there, with movement ending at the waist.  It does at least make her a rather stable figure.  Her sculpt is fine.  It’s a little rough, for sure.  A lot of the Power of the Force figures are somewhat dated looking, but still look finalized, but Kabe is…well, she feels a little bit unfinished.  I think it may be partly to do with the available reference material, or rather the lack of it, since she’s not exactly a highly visible character.  But, it’s at leas rather unique, so I guess there’s that.  The vest is a separate piece, so you can remove it for a bit more customizability, and perhaps give it to another smaller creature?  I do rather like her paint work, which adds quite a bit of accenting, and really helps to offset the more unfinished nature of the sculpt.  Kabe is packed with a sci-fi knife thingy.

Muftak is the one-and-done of the set (though the sculpt was re-used in the Saga Collection line for Foul Moudama, from Clone Wars), so there’s more riding on this one?  Also he’s a lot larger.  The figure stands 4 1/2 inches tall and has 6 points of articulation.  He’s very tall, but not very posable.  But, he’s also a bit pre-posed.  So there’s that.  I do like that one elbow swivel he’s got.  He’s sporting an at the time unique sculpt.  It’s actually quite a nice sculpt.  The fur detailing is solid, showing a better flow than most of the Chewbaccas from the line, and his generally unique look is sold rather well.  He’s also just nice and solid-feeling, and stands really well on his own.  Just a lot of wins there.  The paint’s not bad.  There’s same accenting and shading on the fur, which is perhaps a touch heavy in some spots, but overall works quite well.  Muftak is packed with a larger blaster pistol, which he can rather awkwardly hold in his left hand, if you’re so inclined.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’m firmly in the group of people that would probably have no clue these characters even existed were it not for the figures.  And, also the decision to go completist on this line.  The web exclusives can be a bit spotty on ease of access, mostly because so many people ignored them for so long.  They’re not expensive, but they’re rarer to show up.  I snagged these two, loose, from a sizable Star Wars collection traded into All Time a couple of years ago.  Kabe’s nothing much to write home about, but Muftak’s honestly pretty cool.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.