Tag Archives: Kenner

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0040: Luke Skywalker – Dagobah

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Flashback Friday Figure Addendum and tagged with , , , , ,

LUKE SKYWALKER — DAGOBAH

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

We are officially taking the Flashback Friday Figure Addendums back to Star Wars!  Oh yeah!  Let’s jump back to some of the earliest Star Wars coverage here on the site, and indeed the very earliest Star Wars in my entire collection, with Dagobah Luke!

So, today’s review is actually pretty nifty. I’ve looked at the most recent round of Star Wars toys with The Black Series, and I’ve also taken a look at one of the vintage figures from the original line, but I’ve never really looked at any of the figures released in between.

Star Wars is looked at as one of the permanent fixtures of the action figure aisle nowadays, but that wasn’t always the case. Following Return of the Jedi, the line shifted to Power of the Force for a little while, but that line only ran until 1985, at which point Star Wars toys effectively ended. Ten years later, Kenner relaunched the line under the branding Power of the Force II. In 1995, I was 3 and just getting into action figures. So, POTF II came at just the perfect time and provided me with my very first Star Wars figure, which I’ll be looking at in this review.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Luke was released as part of the 1996 assortment of Power of The Force II. He’s based on Luke’s look while he’s training on Dagobah in Empire Strikes Back. The figure stands about 3 ¾ inches tall, and features 6 points of articulation. That waist articulation was revolutionary, let me tell you. The sculpts for POTF II, in general, have not aged well. For some reason, everybody got really buff. Luke follows that trend, and looks more like Arnold Schwarzenegger than Mark Hamill. From a purely aesthetic stand point, it’s actually not a bad sculpt. There’s some nice texture on his clothing, and the proportions are about right, even if they don’t belong to Mark Hamill. One negative point: the feet are sculpted at a bit of an angle, which can make getting him to stand up a chore. The paint is actually very good for the time. There’s no bleed over or slop and the smaller details are all clean and sharp, and the shading on the shirt to show it’s wet and stained gives the figure a nice level of depth rarely seen on figures of this era. Luke was packed with a lightsaber and a blaster.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The trip on which I acquired this figure is actually one of my earlier memories of going to the store and buying something. I don’t remember what store it was (for some reason my gut says Target, but that doesn’t seem right). What I very vividly remember was being walked over to the toy aisle by my parents, seeing the display of figures and running to them. I saw Luke hanging there and immediately grabbed him. In particular, I remember my mind being completely blown by the idea that he actually included a lightsaber. I guess I just assumed that would have to be a separate purchase. I had yet to pick up on how action figures worked, I guess. Regardless, I was thrilled to have this figure. As the years have gone by, the figure has started to show its age, but I still feel pretty damned nostalgic for him. All in all, he’s not a bad figure, and the sentimental value pushes him up to 11.

Well, I can generally stand by this review pretty well, I feel.  Nicely formed, and generally on point.  Covers all the bases.  Kind of funny.  Good hook at the end. Go me.  A few notes to follow up on, though.  I addressed the angle of the feet, which mean he has to stand at an intense angle to remain upright, which is actually to do with him being designed to work with the Yoda released at the same time.  It actually works well in that regard, but I didn’t own Yoda until *after* this review was written, so I didn’t really know.  When I reviewed him, he didn’t have his lightsaber and blaster, but I’ve found both of those, so now he’s all complete!  And lastly, my wife an I watched all of Righteous Gemstones a few months back, and after watching it, I can’t help but see this take on Luke as looking unmistakably like Keef.  So there’s that.

#3905: Saelt-Marea – Yak Face

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

SAELT-MAREA — YAK FACE

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

“One of Jabba the Hutt’s top agents, very little is known about the mysterious Saelt-Marae or his specific connection to the crime lord. He could often be found hanging out in Jabba’s desert palace.”

Saelt-Marea, known as “Yak Face” during the production of Return of the Jedi and keeping that name until he got a proper one in the ‘90s, has the distinction of being the only vintage Kenner Star Wars figure never released in the United States, which has given his debut figure quite a bit of notoriety over the years.  That notoriety has gotten him a handful of additional figures over the years, which isn’t bad for a guy who just stands around in the background of Jabba’s Sail Barge.  His second figure, which is ever so more easily acquired than the first, was released in the ‘90s revival of Power of the Force, which is really where my main jam is, so here I am!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Saelt-Marea — Yak Face was added to the Power of the Force II line-up in 1997, which was a Jabba-heavy year.  He represents the first time the character would get his proper name, something that was pretty common for this line and its approach to the background aliens.  The figure stands just under 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  His neck joint is rather restricted, due to its implementation at an angle, as opposed to being flat.  His sculpt was all-new, and honestly not badly handled.  The original figure had made some guesses at his full design, so this one aimed to be a bit more accurate, most notably giving him his longer robe piece, which is a softer overlay piece on this figure.  The head seems to do an alright job of capturing the prop from the movie, and it looks the part pretty well.  There are definitely some elements here that are a little softer than other figures in the line, and he definitely comes across as a bit more basic compared to more modern takes on the character, but it certainly gets the job done.  Likewise, the figure’s color work is kind of in the same vein; it’s basic and kind of rudimentary compared to more recent stuff, but it does what it needs to and it works.  That said, it’s actually a little bit of a change-up from how things usually worked from vintage to PotF2, as Yak Face is actually a fair bit more colorful and eye-catching than his vintage counterpart, who was really rather drab.  Yak Face is packed with what the package dubs a “Battle Staff.”  Sure, I guess let’s go with that.  It’s a stick with some stuff on one end, and he holds it pretty well in his right hand, and not as well in his left.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

According to my database, I got this figure in September of 2019, intermingled with a batch of eight other Power of the Force figures.  He’s the eighth of them I’ve reviewed, though not because I dislike him or anything.  Mostly just luck of the draw.  Looking at the batch of figures he came home with, he was almost certainly part of a collection that got traded gnat All Time, which I plucked the figures I still needed from.  He’s nifty.  Nothing crazy, but a unique design, and a solid figure.

#3901: Malakili – Rancor Keeper

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MALAKILI — RANCOR KEEPER

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

“Malakili was one of the keepers of the only known rancor specimen. Kept in a special pit below the crime lord’s court, the rancor was reserved as a method of getting rid of unwelcome guests or others who failed the crime lord.”

Oh boy, we’re getting into the best part of Star Wars; the weird one-off background guys!  Prepare yourself for only the weirdest, most outlandish concepts and designs as we look into the crazy denizens of Jabba’s palace!  …What’s that?  It’s a shirtless guy?  Just a shirtless guy?  With a weird hood?  Does he do something cool?  He cries.  Well, I guess that’s *something*.  And he got a name, because of course he did.  Well, here’s Malakili, crying shirtless guy.  Can relate, buddy.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Malakili — Rancor Keeper was released as part of the 1997 line-up of Kenner’s Star Wars: Power of the Force.  Malakili got his second figure here, following up on the original vintage version, and he was one seven Jabba-related figures in the line the year of his release.  Curiously, that didn’t include the actual Rancor, which hit the following year.  The figure stands a little under 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  His articulation is all rather limited by his build and the layout of his costume, but he mostly just stands around anyway, so it’s not awful.  His sculpt was totally unique, and it’s not a bad approximation of what he looks like in the movie.  The head sculpt bears an uncanny resemblance to Denholm Elliot, which, you know, isn’t the guy that played Malakili, but I suppose Elliot and Paul Brookes, the guy that actually played Malakili, don’t look incredibly dissimilar, especially at this scale.  The rest of the sculpt is pretty good, though, and I do like the flow of the cloth parts and how they hang.  Malakili’s paint work isn’t too bad.  There’s actually some pretty solid work on his skin tone (which is classified by Wookieepedia as “swarthy”, so there’s that), that gives him some nice variation.  Malakili is packed with a long-handled Vibro-Blade, and, if you got a later release, a freeze frame with a picture of the Rancor.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I can’t say I have much attachment at all to Malakili, but he’s also the sort of character that is rather memorable.  He also doesn’t have a *ton* of action figures, so this one’s notable.  Ultimately, I bought him because he was readily available and I was looking to get a lot of Power of the Force figures at once.  I didn’t really expect much from him at the start, but honestly, he’s not so bad.

Shoutout to 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.

#3897: Chewbacca as Boushh’s Bounty

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

CHEWBACCA as BOUSHH’S BOUNTY

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

“Chewbacca, acting as a prisoner, and Princess Leia, disguised as the bounty hunter Boussh, infiltrate Jabba’s Palace. There they hope to rescue the carbonite-encased Han Solo.”

Well, I’m out of “Flashback Photo” figures from the Power of the Force line, so I guess I’ll just have to go back to the *rest* of my un-reviewed PotF figures.  Back in April, when I last looked at a Chewbacca figure, it was the Flashback figure, which got around the whole “how do you differentiate Chewy figures” by going for a very scene specific look from Empire.  That same year, they did the same thing, but for Return of the Jedi.  So, here’s that figure.  It’s Chewbacca as Boushh’s Bounty!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Chewbacca as Boushh’s Bounty was released in 1998 as part of Kenner’s Power of the Force line.  He’s the first of three Chewies released that year (though the last of them I’m reviewing here), and the second of the standard release Chewbacca figures for the line.  The figure is about 4 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  All three of the ’98 Chewbaccas use a variation of the same updated sculpt, removed a bit from the muscle-bound look of the ’95 figure.  In particular, this one is really similar to the Hoth figure, though he’s a little more stiff in his posture.  He’s also got the adjusted neck set-up to feature the collar he wears while posing as Boushh’s bounty.  It’s non-removable, so he’s dialed rather into the specific scene.  Overall, it’s an okay sculpt, if perhaps not much to write home about.  The paint work is more conventional than the Hoth variant.  There’s some good variation to the coloring on his fur, which is certainly cool.  Unfortunately, a recurring issue with this release is that his eyes are almost always crossed, which looks really silly.  Chewy is packed with his bowcaster, which he doesn’t use in the scene, but it’s at least something.  It’s just the same standard one used by all the others, which is fair enough.  He’s also got a Freeze Frame slide, showing the scene he’s based on.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got Chewbacca on the earlier side of my dive back into the line, so late fall of 2018, I think?  I never had any “updated sculpt” Chewbacca figures, and this one was fairly easily available, so I picked him up in a larger batch of figures.  Like so many of the the time, I didn’t open him for a while, but I did open him a bit quicker compared to some, so as to populate my Jabba’s Palace playset when I got it.  He’s goofy, especially with those eyes, and a bit limited, but he’s a unique enough idea.

#3884: Corporal Hicks

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , ,

CORPORAL HICKS

ALIENS (KENNER)

I very recently revisited my first discussion of Aliens here on the site, and in that, I realized that I directly reference in that review a figure that I’ve not actually reviewed here.  The crazy thing is that it’s an Aliens figure, and it’s a Hicks figure, so it feels crazy that I’ve somehow managed to miss it up to this point.  Well, it only feels right to finally get around to fixing that issue now.  So, without further ado, let’s finally look at the basic standard Kenner Hicks figure!  

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Corporal Hicks was one of the Colonial Marines released in the original series of Kenner’s Aliens line, originally released under the Operation: Aliens title, before being adjusted back to the film’s original title.    The figure stands about 5 inches tall and has 6 points of articulation.  All of the Colonial Marines got a lot of adjusting and changes to their designs for Kenner’s line, but Hicks probably comes out the most unscathed.  There are still certainly a lot of smaller changes to the exact layout of the armor and exactly what makes up most of it, but at the same time, he still passes the squint test of the the “classic” Hicks look, I feel.  The head’s a nice enough piece, and compared to a lot of the other humans in the line, actually looks passably like Michael Biehn, so you can tell who he’s supposed to be.  The bulk of this sculpt got re-used for O’Malley later in the line, and was repainted in its entirely for the 10th Anniversary Hicks figure in ‘’96.  Hick’s paint work is honestly pretty solid.  It’s basic, and again has some change-ups from the movie look, but at the same time, it keeps the general theme pretty much there, and it doesn’t go as radically ‘90s as some of the others in the line.  Hicks is packed with his “Alien-ator” missile launcher with two missiles to go with it, as well as the sort of odd claw-arm attachment, which can also be flipped around for use as a more conventional rifle sort of thing.  He also included a sheet of stickers for the purposes of customizing his armor, much like the Marines in the movie.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

My first introduction to the Alien franchise was Alien Resurrection, which I caught on TV when I was 10.  That was enough to get 10-year-old me invested, so I went back to watch the others.  In the process, I also wanted toys, because of course I did.  I bought Ripley after seeing Alien, but before Aliens, and then, because he was the other figure that Cosmic Comix had, I went back and got Hicks, before even knowing who he was.  Look, I just had a good feeling about him.  It certainly played out in my favor, though.  This guy was my favorites of the Kenner run, and he kind of still is.  He’s not as showy, but he’s just kind of a nice, solid figure.

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0031: Lt Ripley

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Flashback Friday Figure Addendum and tagged with , , , ,

LT RIPLEY

ALIENS (KENNER)

Taking a bit of a detour from updating my Toy Biz Marvel reviews for just a moment, this week’s Flashback Friday Figure Addendum marks the site’s original change of pace, less than one week in, as I made my very first mention of my favorite movie of all time, Aliens, with a look at its main character, Ripley!

So, change of pace.  Moving away from the Batman stuff for a bit.  Today we’re looking at a figure from another Kenner line:  Aliens.  This line is nominally based on 1986’s ALIENS, though it was originally meant to be a tie-in line for Operation: Aliens, a scrapped Saturday-morning cartoon adaptation of the film.

Ellen Ripley is the sole survivor of the Nostromo, drafted by the colonial Marines to save a colony that has been attacked by a hive of creatures like the one Ripley faced before.  At least that was what she was in the movie.  I have no idea what her backstory would have been in Operation: Aliens, though if the comics included with each figure are anything to go by,  she was going to be one of the marines.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The figure is a pretty decent representation of Ripley from the movie, though her palate’s been tweaked a bit to make her more colorful.  The figure’s also a bit soft on the details, but that makes sense given it was based on the cartoon design.  The face actually isn’t too bad of a Weaver likeness for the time.  The figure included a pretty cool flamethrower, but I’ve since lost that.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Though the figure was released in 92, I didn’t get mine until 2003, when I saw ALIEN for the first time.  I know I had this figure and the accompanying Hicks before seeing ALIENS itself because I sat through my first viewing of the film clutching both of them very tightly.

Ah, the brevity of my old reviews.  Also, the general not-applying-to-the-format nature of my old reviews.  The intro’s the longest part, which is honestly kind of crazy.  I do very little reviewing of the figure, so let’s hit you guys with some stats.

The figure stands a little over 4 1/2 inches tall and she has 6 points of articulation.  Missing from my original review was Ripley’s accessories.  The main one is the flamethrower, which isn’t at all like the one in the movie.  It is, however, really neat.  There’s a lever on the bottom that hooks onto a spot on her leg, and turning the waist pushes out a little flame effect.  She also got a small silver rifle, which she could keep on her back.

I don’t mention in my original review that I got my first Ripley figure from my local comic shop, Cosmic Comix, so shout out to them here.  I actually picked up a second one, after starting the site, also from Cosmic, as luck would have it.  Also, fun little bit of FiQ trivia here: while the wording was removed from the final version of the review, while writing this review, I referred to Ripley as “The Figure in Question” and liked the phrase so much that I decided to use it for the site’s name.

#3861: Oola & Salacious Crumb

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

OOLA & SALACIOUS CRUMB

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

The denizens of Jabba’s palace are just expansive a collection of colorful characters as those in the Mos Eisley Cantina, which makes covering them all in figure form just as tricky a feat.  In the case of Kenner’s ’90s Power of the Force, both locales got “playsets” leading to a need to release figures to populate them.  Some of them are easy enough to slot into your standard retail assortment, but some of them, less so.  Oola, Jabba’s first dancer seen in the film, is dressed in an outfit that’s deliberately meant to be provocative, making it an odd fit for a line of toys ostensibly aimed at kids.  This has made her something of a rarity in the toy world, as it requires more unique solutions than are typically afforded to an admittedly minor character.  Thus far, she’s gotten two figures, the first of which I’ll be taking a look at today, alongside that weird laughing lizard guy, Salacious Crumb!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Oola and Salacious Crumb were part of Kenner’s Power of the Force II, released in 1998 as a fan club-exclusive pairing. This would mark Oola’s first time as a figure, and Salacious’ second time, following a pack-in with the Jabba the Hutt playset in the vintage line. Oola’s the proper figure here, standing just under 3 3/4 inches tall and sporting 6 points of articulation.  She’s pretty standard for the line in terms of motion and build. Her sculpt was all-new and remained unique. Obviously, there’s some similarities between her and fellow Twi’lek dancer Lyn Me, but Oola is notably a lot less pre-posed, and her sculpt is notably a fair bit sharper in its detailing than Lyn Me’s. In particular, there’s quite a lot of attention paid to the mesh netting of her outfit, and also quite a lot of attention paid to the cleavage below it. Yeah, this was definitely for the fan club. There’s a pair of cloth-goods…I guess they’re leg warmers? It’s hard to imagine any portion of this outfit keeping anyone warm, but whatever. They’re nifty enough, though the change from the sculpted outfit to the cloth parts is a little bit jarring.  Not enough to ruin the figure, or anything, but enough to be jarring. The paint work on Oola is pretty solid, honestly. The meshwork is clean, and not too messy or gloppy, and it sells the look well in tandem with the sculpt. Salacious is billed as the second figure, but he’s really more an accessory than anything. He’s a pre-posed figurine, and honestly a bit large for proper scaling, but he at least looks the part. They re-used this same piece for Power of the Jedi, so clearly they liked it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This is a piece you don’t see *quite* as often as others from this line, so it didn’t land in front of me until relatively recently. “Recently” in this case meaning a little over two years ago, but the point still stands. Oola’s an interesting figure, given how rarely she shows up, and this version speaks to my collecting sensibilities. Salacious is more an accessory than anything, but he’s a cool one, and they both look very cool in the Palace display.

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.

#3853: Boba Fett – Deluxe

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , , ,

BOBA FETT with WING-BLAST ROCKET PACK and OVERHEAD CANNON

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

“As a result of Luke Skywalker’s daring rescue of Han Solo from the clutches of Jabba the Hutt, Boba Fett was thrust into the Great Pit of Carkoon and presumed to be a victim of the dreaded Sarlacc. Sometimes later, the notorious bounty hunter was spotted on Nar Shaddaa with a menacing-looking weapons pack. Several rumors have been spread concerning his recent escape and present situation, the most prevalent one being that the Hutts have contracted him to capture Han Solo and Princess Leia alive for the death of Jabba.

A weapons master, Boba Fett has a veritable arsenal hidden throughout his Mandalorian armor. His new pack is reported to possess powerful turbo thrusters that provide prolonged atmospheric flight up to 500km per hour. Shielded battlewings open to reveal missile racks loaded with concussion rockets, while heavy-rotating blasters, similar to those mounted on Jabba’s sail barge, respond to optically-activated signals in the helmet. Certainly the deadliest feature of this device/vehicle is the bolstered proton torpedo launcher. It is estimated that this pack was designed and built by Boba Fett himself: besides that fact that not one of its kind has ever been seen before, the type and variety of its weaponry – few other than Fett would dare carry a proton torpedo on his back – suggest that this battle machine be a signature model of the galaxy’s most notorious bounty hunter.”

You know, I gotta say, I do love it when Kenner would get real wordy with the bios on the back of their figures.  These days, Star Wars figures are lucky to get maybe two sentences to themselves, but here’s this wacky variant Boba Fett that’s out here getting an entire post-RotJ storyline.  There’s two whole paragraphs!  That’s dope!  Also, it makes my intro easier, because look how many *words* there are.  Anyway, a while back, I looked at three of the four debut “Deluxe” figures from Power of the Force, which marked a rare instance of Kenner pushing their usual “toyetic” approach on Star Wars, but I never rounded out the set.  So, let’s do that now!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Boba Fett with Wing-Blast Rocketpack and Overhead Cannon (which, yes, is his official name) was part of the first year of Deluxe figures from Kenner’s Star Wars: Power of the Force line in 1996.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  Like the other three figures from the first year, Boba is effectively a tweaked version of the Series 1 Boba, but now with a big accessory you can strap onto him.  The core figure is sort of a merging of the standard and Shadows Boba molds, but also with a more neutral stance, which also makes him just the slightest bit taller.  Beyond that, it’s more or less the same figure, with more or less the same design elements.  It’s not terrible, but it’s also a little removed from accurate.  His color work follows the Series 1 set-up, putting him in specifically his Return of the Jedi colors, which, given the way the bio goes, makes a degree of sense.  It was also the look being most pushed by the multi-media side at the time, so that also makes him the most evergreen look, I suppose.  His main change-up is the inclusion of the “Wing-Blast Rocketpack and Overhead Cannon,” which replaces his usual, more modest jet-pack.  It’s really big, and it makes him rather unstable, but I guess it’s…like, fun?  Is that allowed?  Are Star Wars figures allowed to be fun?  Eh, I’ll allow it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When I was a kid, I wasn’t much of a Fett guy myself, but my cousin Rusty was.  With that in mind, I bought him one of these for his birthday the year they came out, but, unfortunately, someone else had done the same.  He told me I should open it, and it was his birthday, so I did.  And since I’d opened it and it couldn’t be returned for another gift, I ended up keeping it.  Well, just the core figure.  I never had the backpack.  And, honestly, I didn’t have the core figure for long either, as I lost him somewhere along the way.  The one here in the review is the result of quite a hunt.  See, I found the figure and the backpack with ease, but the launcher and the missile seem to be the one thing that goes missing every time. At one point, I even got my hands on a sealed one, and that one was somehow missing the missile and launcher *in the package.*  As you can see, though, I did eventually find a complete one.  He’s goofy and silly, but he’s neat.

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.

#3849: Kabe & Muftak

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , , ,

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.

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0026: Princess Leia Organa as Boushh

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Flashback Friday Figure Addendum and tagged with , , , , , ,

PRINCESS LEIA ORGANA as BOUSHH

STAR WARS: SHADOWS OF THE EMPIRE (KENNER)

For our second Flashback Friday Figure Addendum that’s actually back on a Friday, I’m following up on a thing from last week, and doing another Star Wars follow-up.  Heck, it’s even another Shadows of the Empire follow-up, because that’s how I roll…you know, right now specifically.  Anyway, let’s revisit Leia as Boushh!

“After Han Solo was captured by Boba Fett, several attempts were made on Luke Skywalker’s life which threatened the future of the Rebellion. Princess Leia Organa and Chewbacca sought to protect the young Jedi, and traveled to Coruscant to follow up leads surrounding these attempts. They hoped to draw from the extreme intelligence gathering network of the Black Sun, a criminal organization whose operations extended to the farthest reaches of the galaxy. Because Coruscant is the homeworld of the Empire- a dangerous place for any member of the Rebel Alliance- Leia disguised herself as the renowned Ubesian bounty hunter Boushh. Boushh’s helmet concealed her entire face while a built-in voxscrambler altered her voice to resemble that of an Ubesian; a false I.D. and code taken from Black Sun completed her disguise and provided a safe level of anonymity. Little did she know that Prince Xizor, Underlord of Black Sun, was behind the murder attempts on Skywalker, and had his sights set on Leia as well.”

Long bio there.  How do you follow that, amirite?  Um, so, yeah, today’s another Star Wars review. Yaaaay.  This time around I’m taking a look at another Princess Leia figure, specifically the one from that time she pretended to be a bounty hunter.  Everybody loves bounty hunters!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Leia in Boushh disguise was released not as part of the main Power of the Force II line, but instead as part of the basic assortment of Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire (she would later see a re-release on a standard PotF2 green card, though).  She has the notoriety of being the only movie-based figure in the line-up.  The figure stands about 3 3/4 inches tall and has 6 points of articulation.  As with the PotF2 Slave Leia figure, this Leia is a bit on the tall side.  This was a recurring issue early into this line; at least they were consistent, right?  Leia sports a unique sculpt. It’s fairly decent for the time, being only slightly pre-posed and generally pretty decently proportioned.  It captures the look from the movie pretty well, and only makes minor stylistic adjustments.  The thermal detonator in her left hand is permanently attached, which removes a little bit of versatility from the figure, but given how integral that piece is to her intro in Jedi, I’m willing to give them a pass.  The head doesn’t exactly look like Carrie Fisher, but it also doesn’t look like a chimpanzee, which puts it ahead of most of the Leias of the time.  The paintwork on Leia is generally pretty solid.  The colors match well enough with what we see on-screen, and the application is all pretty clean.  Leia was packed with a removable helmet and half-cape to complete her Boushh look, as well as the usual staff, which according to the packaging is actually a blaster rifle.  Who knew?  I certainly didn’t.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This wasn’t my first Leia (that was the monkey-faced ANH version), but this figure has the distinction of being my go-to Leia for most of my childhood.  I actually don’t 100% recall where this figure came from.  She was probably a gift, likely for my birthday, but that’s really just me making an educated guess.  Nevertheless, this was my favorite Leia for a good long while, and is the strongest of the ’90s Leia figures.  This figure is pretty much single-handedly responsible for my love of Leia as Boushh.

This review was actually my very first Shadows figure, tempered a bit, I suppose, by the fact that she’s one of the two that pulled double duty between Shadows and the main line.  I don’t remember specifically where mine came from, but I do recall that purple card, so I know she was the Shadows release.  This review stuck to brevity, but not in a bad way.  I think I was honestly pretty on point here.  When I reviewed her, she was the antithesis of Luke, who had his weapon and half-cape, but no helmet, in that she had the helmet, but not the other things.  Thankfully, I was able to locate the missing parts in the mean time, so she’s all complete again.  The cape likes to pop out of place a lot, but she’s otherwise still a very nice figure, and remains my favorite Leia of this era.