Tag Archives: Obi-Wan Kenobi

#4083: Obi-Wan Kenobi – Naboo

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

OBI-WAN KENOBI — NABOO

STAR WARS: EPISODE I (HASBRO)

“The young Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi and his mentor, Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, help Queen Amidala and her forces in their attempt to liberate the planet Naboo from the overwhelming onslaught of the Trade Federation.”

On we march with this Phantom Menace—oh, sorry, Episode I thing, apparently.  It does sort of feel like the next natural point after Power of the Force wrapped up, I suppose.  I’ll admit, it’s a bit more of a limited selection as far as my personal collection goes.  Pretty much, it’s Obi-Wans and Qui-Gons.  I knew what I liked as a kid, and it was really those two.  I’ve looked at *most* of my Obi-Wans, but not all of them, so, here’s another one of those.  This time he’s got a robe!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Obi-Wan Kenobi — Naboo was part of the second push of product from Hasbro’s Star Wars: Episode I line, hitting after the movie’s release in 1999.  He was the line’s second main Obi-Wan, following up the Jedi Duel release.  The main difference, as noted above, is robe.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 8 points of articulation.  The Jedi Duel release added elbow and wrist swivels to the articulation set-up, and this one keeps them…on the right arm.  The left is back to just the shoulder.  His sculpt was totally and unique, but certainly had a lot in common with the earlier Obi-Wan.  The heads in particular look like they’re the same general depiction of the same guy, with only minor tweaks in posing.  It’s not a spitting image of Ewan McGregor, but it’s not awful for the scale and the era.  The detailing on the clothing is a bit sharper and refined than the Jedi Duel version, and tops everything off with a rubber robe piece, very similar to that of the mail-away Mace Windu.  It’s got a good flow and hang to it, and while it’s not ideal for posing, it’s not terrible for it either.  His color work is basic, but generally does what it needs to.  Like all of the earlier prequel Obi-Wans, the hair’s a bit darker than it should really be, but otherwise things work out alright.  He’s packed with a lightsaber that’s ignited, a non-ignited hilt, and a CommTech stand.  The non-ignited hilt was a cool extra, since it hadn’t really been done before, and it can even be plugged into his belt.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I, of course, had the first Obi-Wan as soon as possible after seeing the movie, because I just had to.  I was actually so fixated on him having his robe that my mom bought me the Naboo accessory set so that I’d have the robe from that one.  And then, weeks after getting that, I found this guy at the store, and really wanted him, even though I already had a robe for the other one.  Having a Qui-Gon who also needed a robe did at least help me plead my case.  Also, the fact that my basic Obi-Wan’s hair braids at all broke off, so this could be my “standard” Obi-Wan, which he was for quite a stretch of time.  I think he holds up pretty darn well, honestly.

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0044: Obi-Wan Kenobi – Jedi Duel

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

OBI-WAN KENOBI — JEDI DUEL

STAR WARS: EPISODE I (HASBRO)

It’s another Friday, which means it’s time for another Flashback Friday Figure Addendum!  Today, we venture once more into the galaxy far, far away, albeit with a slightly different focus than my usual more Original Trilogy-focused interests, instead turning our sights on the now 26 year-old tie-in toyline for The Phantom Menace, with a look back at Obi-Wan Kenobi!

Ah, yes, The Phantom Menace. What a thing that was. Has any other movie simultaneously brought back and killed a beloved franchise? Oddly enough, even though I don’t particularly care for it, it’s the only of the prequel trilogy that I can stand at all these days. Sure, it’s total crap, but it didn’t put me to sleep or make my brain hurt too much like the other two. Plus, it did actually have some pretty good performances by Liam Neeson and Ewan McGreggor. So, it wasn’t all bad I suppose. Just mostly…

Regardless of opinions of the film itself, the toys were a pretty big hit, and they aren’t terrible. So, today I’ll be looking at the basic figure of Ewan McGreggor’s young Obi Wan Kenobi.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Obi-Wan was released as part of the initial wave of figures released by Hasbro to coincide with the release of the movie. Obi Wan is based on his look during his and Qui Gon’s final battle with Darth Maul. The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and features 10 points of articulation. The articulation is important to note, as this was probably the most articulation ever to be seen on a Star Wars figure at the time. Until Revenge of the Sith came along, this was the new standard. The sculpt on the figure is pretty decent, not perfect, but a nice approximation of what Obi Wan looked like in the movie. While I understand the decision to sculpt the arms bent to hold the lightsaber two-handed, it does leave the sculpt looking a bit odd if he isn’t holding the saber. The torso also suffers from being a bit boxy, even for the time. The paint is serviceable. Nothing spectacular, but pretty good in general. The lines on the boots are a bit fuzzy, but everything else is pretty clean. Mine have long since been lost, but when he was new, Obi Wan included his lightsaber and a “comm-tech” display stand that would play some of Obi Wan’s dialogue from the movie when hooked into the big comm-tech player you could buy.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

While Phantom Menace is far from one of my favorite movies, I was 7 at the time of its release, and I was willing to overlook most of its flaws because it was a new Star Wars movie. I rushed right from the theatre to get an Obi Wan figure (Which was $2.99, by the way. That’d cost you $10 now…), and I was very happy to have him. 

Okay, so, like, I just need to address that, amongst the more minor things I disagree with my past self on, a pretty notable one is my stance on the Prequels.  The thing is, when they came out, I loved the Prequels, because I was between the ages of 7 and 13, and that’s the perfect time for such things.  As a proper adult, I’ve revisited them, and I see what works and what doesn’t, and respect them for what they are, because Star Wars is, first and foremost, about being entertaining and fun, and they’re honestly pretty good at that (so are the Sequels, but that’s another argument entirely).  But, there’s a period from the late ‘00s through the mid ‘10s where I gave into the cultural peer pressure of “the Star Wars Prequels are terrible” and stuck with the trendy stance.  I’m not about that these days, so I kind of find my opening remarks to this review… “cringe”?  At least I do stick up for Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan.

In the heading of my original review, I erroneously list the title of the line as Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, when in actuality the line was called Star Wars: Episode I.  I was still very early in my reviewing, and not checking information as much as just writing down what I remembered off the top of my head.  Otherwise, the actual review part’s not so bad.  I was at least pretty nice to the figure.  He was at the time missing his lightsaber and CommTech stand, both of which I have since located.  Not too bad.

#3748: Obi-Wan Kenobi

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

OBI-WAN KENOBI

STAR WARS: EPISODE I (HASBRO)

Welcome to draft 2 of today’s review, brought to you by me accidentally deleting all the text I’d written before saving!  Always remember to save incrementally, kids!  Otherwise, you’re gonna wind up writing the same damned review twice.  Yaaaaaaaaaaaaay……

When I wrote this before, I had this whole piece discussing the Prequels and their merits, and the sliding nature of how we’ve all viewed them, as well as how online opinions and peer pressure can seriously influence how you take in media.  Well, I don’t wanna write all that again, so you’ll just have to take my word for it that it was indeed very good and very smart, and I made a lot of excellent and compelling points.  The long and short of it is that maybe we were all a little harsh towards The Phantom Menace.  I haven’t talked Phantom Menace a ton here, especially not its direct tie-in line, largely because I don’t still have much of it.  I do have a lot of the Obi-Wans, though, so here’s one of them!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Obi-Wan Kenobi was one of the three deluxe releases in Hasbro’s Star Wars: Episode I tie-in line, alongside Qui-Gon and Maul.  They were all released with the other launch product, but, at least from my observation, Obi-Wan seemed to be a little rarer than the other two.  Maybe he was just more popular, though.  At his core, he’s not a terribly different figure from the one in the main line.  He stands about 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  He lacks the wrist swivels and one of the elbow swivels compared to the standard, and his shoulders are rather limited by the nature of the action feature.  The sculpt itself isn’t all that different to the standard.  He’s a little more pre-posed, and the hair braid is swept back, rather than sitting over the shoulder, but the end result is about the same.  There’s a button on the lower back that activates the action feature, but it’s pretty low profile.  The paint work is again pretty similar, with the most notable change-up being the slightly lighter hair color, which winds up being a little more accurate.  Obi-Wan is packed with his standard saber, which is pretty straight forward.  He’s also got a larger “control” saber, which hooks around his waist and activates the swinging feature, but also has its own telescopic blade for…reasons?  I don’t know.  It’s there.  Unless, of course, you’re talking specifically about my figure, in which case it’s not because silly child Ethan went and lost it like some sort of silly child who wanted to pretend he was Obi-Wan or something silly like that.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The deluxe version of Qui-Gon was actually the first figure I got of the character, and I liked him more than the standard release.  My seven-year-old brain assumed the same would be true of the matching Obi-Wan, so I desperately begged my parents to get me one.  Well, okay, I don’t know how desperate it really was.  I probably just waited until I saw one in store and asked for it.  Wait, did my parents buy it for me?  I’m suddenly having flashes of my Grandmother buying it for me?  Maybe I desperately begged her for it.  She was the sort that would have actually specifically taken me out to get him (not that my parents wouldn’t; they just had busier schedules), so this tracks.  Huh.  Well, he’s not ultimately that special or unique or different, but he’s hardly bad, and in ’99 he continued my commitment to having all of the Obi-Wans from the movie.

#3500: Ben Kenobi – Tibidon Station

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

BEN KENOBI — TIBIDON STATION

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“Obi-Wan Kenobi is set years after the dramatic events of Star Wars: Revenge Of The Sith wehre Kenobi faced the corruption of his friend and Jedi apprentice, Anakin Skywalker turned Sith Lord Darth Vader.”

I honestly don’t know if it’s possible to praise Ewan McGreggor’s performance as Obi-Wan Kenobi enough; it’s just one of those absolute stand out things, and the very best thing about the prequels.  While his role within the films at times left him a little under-utilized, he got his own show, which gave us so much more time with the character, and that was very cool.  Thus far, I’ve been light on Black Series coverage for the show, but I’m doubling what I’ve gotten today, with Tibidon Station Ben Kenobi!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ben Kenobi (Tibidon Station) is is figure 6 in the Obi-Wan Kenobi sub-set of Star Wars: The Black Series‘s fourth phase.  He was a Target-exclusive release, which hit shortly after the first batch of figures from the show.  He’s based on the character’s look from early in the first episode of the show, before he settles back into his Obi-Wan ways to rescue Leia.  It’s a more unique look for the character, who otherwise tends to fall into the same general trappings for design.  The figure stands 6 inches tall and he has 27 points of articulation.  The main figure is a total parts re-use from the Wandering Jedi version of the character who hit in the main line.  The two outfits aren’t *exactly* the same, but they’re certainly close enough that I can see why Hasbro would go for the re-use.  It would honestly be pretty hard to justify new parts on such a look, anyway.  The head suffers from not being the Jabiim sculpt, which…well, it’s honestly not fair to judge it that harshly.  It’s not a bad sculpt on its own merits; there’s more than a passing resemblance to McGreggor, and he’s not terribly far off from his look in the show.  He’s a touch too clean and put together, I think is the real issue.  Still, given that this one predates the other, I can’t knock it.  The major change-up for this figure is the color scheme, specifically the shirt, which is now a lovely shade of blue.  It looks quite spiffy, and makes him suitably different from the main release.  To further differentiate him, he also gets a new cloak piece, as well as an all-new back-pack, both based on his stuff from the scenes with this look.  And, he’s also still sporting his blaster and lightsaber, just like the other one.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I dug this look on the show, even though it was rather short-lived, and I dug it as a figure.  But, it was a Target exclusive, and I wasn’t going hunting.  Then I found it, but it was when all the other Black Series exclusives got marked way down, and I didn’t want to pay full price, so I waited, checking every so often for a few weeks, with the same figure at my local Target.  But, he sold before I could get a markdown, which is really the risk you take, I suppose.  One got traded into All Time, however, rather amusingly on the same day that I wound up buying the Jabiim figure.  He’s fun.  Not as definitive as the other release, but I do like him a lot.

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.

#3455: Obi-Wan Kenobi – Jabiim

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

OBI-WAN KENOBI — JABIIM

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“Obi-Wan Kenobi is set years after the dramatic events of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith where Kenobi faced the corruption of his friend and Jedi apprentice, Anakin Skywalker turned Sith Lord Darth Vader.”

No matter your stance on the Star Wars prequels, it’s hard to deny that Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan Kenobi is one of the very best things about them.  It was always kind of a shame that his storylines within the three movies never felt like the fully utilized him.  Thankfully, last year he got his own focus series, titled, rather unsurprisingly, Obi-Wan Kenobi, which really gave him time to shine.  There’s been plenty of action figure coverage from the show, especially of Obi-Wan himself.  I looked at the Retro Collection figure, but I haven’t yet looked at anything Black Series, so let’s change that up!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Obi-Wan Kenobi — Jabiim is figure 11 in the Obi-Wan Kenobi sub-set of Star Wars: The Black Series‘s fourth phase.  He was part of an assortment that hit towards the end of this summer, which also featured Tala and the Fourth Sister from the same show, as well as Darth Malak and Bastilla Shan from Knights of the Old Republic, and Vel Sarhta from Andor.  This is the third Black Series Obi-Wan based on the show, and is specifically based on his attire from the back half of the show, which is, amongst other things, the one he’s wearing during his big showdown with Vader.  The figure stands about 6 inches tall and he has 27 points of articulation.  While Black Series has made some incredible strides in mobility on their figures more recently, Obi-Wan is a bit of a mixed bag.  A lot of it’s definitely more design than anything, but his arms are very restricted.  His shoulders have butterfly joints, but their range is very limited by the tunic, and while the elbows can get past 90, they’re limited in what they can do by how far the shoulders can go.  Additionally, the wrist joints are mostly rendered inert by the way the sleeves wrap around the hands, which is a definite bummer.  The neck, waist, and everything on the legs apart from the hips, are at least decent on their movement, which is a plus.  The sculpt makes use of the hands and lower half from the Wandering Jedi release, which makes sense, since he’s wearing a lot of the same stuff.  Interestingly, the head is *not* a re-use, despite the last two Obi-Wans from the show using the same one.  I can’t say I’m upset about it, though, because the end result is hands down the best Ewan McGregor likeness that Hasbro’s ever given us.  I mean, this thing is just absolutely spot-on.  It makes all the other Obi-Wans look like Obi-Twos.  The figure also gets a new torso and arms, as well.  They’ve got the aforementioned issues with mobility, but they do at least look the part of the garment he was wearing in the show.  It’s all topped off with a soft goods robe piece, which is okay.  It’s not great right out of the box, but I’d imagine there’s some tricks to shaping it, which would help it look a lot better.  Obi-Wan gets a pretty good mix of paint and molded plastic for his coloring; the face printing on the head is particularly strong on this release, and the base color work on the body is all rather cleanly applied.  Obi-Wan is packed with his lightsaber (with removable blade) and a blaster pistol, both of which are repurposed from the other two show-based Obi-Wans.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Since The Phantom Menace, McGregor’s Obi-Wan has been a favorite of mine, and its an opinion that’s only grown stronger over time.  While I immensely enjoyed Kenobi, the Wandering Jedi release for Black Series didn’t really speak to me.  This look, however, was one I really liked in the show, especially for the scenes between him and Vader.  That said, I was beginning to waffle a little bit on whether I was really going to grab this one, but once in-hand shots of him started surfacing, I knew there was no way I could avoid grabbing a figure with that good of a likeness.  Ultimately, the figure’s a bit of a mixed bag.  That head sculpt is absolutely fantastic, but the articulation definitely leaves something to be desired.  Still, he’s a very nice offering, and I’m glad I added him to my collection.

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.

#3221: Obi-Wan Kenobi

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

OBI-WAN KENOBI

STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS (HASBRO)

“To gain free passage through Jabba the Hutt’s shipping routes, the Republic agrees to rescue the crime lord’s kidnapped son, Rotta the Huttlet. Obi-Wan learns that Anakin and his team have found the child and are under attack by Separatist forces. Obi-Wan races to join them on the remote planet, bringing much-needed reinforcements to Anakin and his embattled team.”

When the 3D-animated Clone Wars went into production, in order to save trouble on the animation concerning the flow of the robes that were signature to the Jedi Knights, the designs for the characters were somewhat ruggedized. Calling back on Obi-Wan donning a set of Clone armor during a sequence in the 2D Clone Wars, all of the Jedi were granted far more armored appearances, with Obi-Wan himself getting a more unique set of attire, merging his armored and robed looks. He kept the look for the shows first two seasons, and it was present for all of the launch product. Today, I’m looking at the first figure he got based on the design.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Obi-Wan Kenobi is the second figure in the first series of Hasbro’s Clone Wars tie-in line, which hit shortly before the movie that launched the show in 2008. The figure stands just shy of 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 14 points of articulation.  Early in the line, only the Clones were getting full articulation, so Obi-Wan only gets proper movement above the waist, and even that’s slightly more limited.  Below the waist, he gets t-hips, and that’s it.  No knees or ankles.  As a result, he’s a little bit stiff.  The sculpt is at least a decent one.  Like the other early line sculpts, he’s not quite as accurate to the show model as later figures would be, but he gets the general gist of it.  The broader elements are there, with some of the edges rounded and lessened a bit, so that he comes just a little bit closer to the main line.  It’s an appealing look, and it’s at the very least quite in the spirit of the character.  The paint work on this guy is very indicative of its era; the base colors are pretty cleanly applied, and then the whole thing gets a sort of a messy wash over it.  It makes the details of the sculpt pop pretty well, but it’s also a bit heavy handed at times.  Obi-Wan was packed with his lightsaber, an alternate helmeted head, a jetpack, and a missile that can be launched from the pack.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was a little bit skeptical about The Clone Wars when the toys first dropped.  I’d liked the 2D version a lot, but I was still pretty iffy on the prequels as a whole at the time.  Nevertheless, I did still grab a small handful of the figures when they launched, with hopes that I’d enjoy the source material.  The movie *wasn’t* what I hoped for, but the show at least picked things up pretty quickly.  Obi-Wan was one of the first four figures I grabbed, because I’ve always been an Obi-Wan guy.  He’s not a perfect figure, and there were better ones later in the line, but this one wasn’t a bad start.

#3212: Obi-Wan Kenobi – Wandering Jedi

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

OBI-WAN KENOBI — WANDERING JEDI

STAR WARS: RETRO COLLECTION (HASBRO)

It was only just a few months ago that I was looking at the second series of Hasbro’s Star Wars: Retro Collection, which was about a year removed from its first series predecessor.  Those two were both based on The Mandalorian, but it seems Mando isn’t getting all of the Retro Collection love, and we don’t have to wait a whole year for the next round of them.  Hooray!  For years, it’s been widely agreed that, whatever your opinion of the Star Wars prequels may be, Ewan McGreggor’s Obi-Wan was the best part of them, and was also really under-utilized in the grand scheme of things.  With Ewan still being very much on board to do more with the role, Disney decided to give Obi-Wan his own show, bridging the gap between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, at least as far as Obi-Wan himself was concerned.  It started slow, but the show’s honestly the best instance of truly melding the aesthetics and tones of the Prequel Trilogy with those of the Original Trilogy, and was just far better than it had any right to be.  With its direct lead-in to ANH, it’s not a bad fit for the Retro style, and Hasbro jumped right in on it, with an assortment of six different characters from the show.  I’m kicking things off today with Obi-Wan himself!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Obi-Wan Kenobi (Wandering Jedi) is the first of the six figures that make up the first (so far) Kenobi-themed series of Star Wars: Retro Collection, which is officially the fifth series within the wider Retro Collection set-up, counting the more direct re-issue sets.  The figure stands about 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  He’s based on Obi-Wan’s “Wandering Jedi” look, which is what he wears for the first couple of episodes, while he’s doing his whole detective thing.  It’s the look that got the biggest marketing push up front, and also the one that I suppose best fits the overall aesthetic of the show, being consistent with his general looks from the prequels, while also still being a little more average and downtrodden.  To facilitate this, he gets an all-new sculpt, which, much like the rest of the line, is meant to evoke the vintage Kenner feel.  Though time-line wise, he’s from pre-ANH, the figure is clearly meant to evoke a post-Jedi era of the vintage line.  He’s a little less stilted in his posing, and the details are a little more organic.  He’s also lacking the built-in lightsaber of the original Obi-Wan, and gets a cloth robe that’s actually a robe, rather than the vinyl extended vest piece.  It’s an interesting concept of what an Obi-Wan in the vintage line might have been like post-ANH, if he’d gotten there.  I can definitely dig it.  I also enjoy that they’ve kept the working holster concept from Karga in the first series; someone was clearly very proud of that idea.  His paint work is rather on the drab side, as expected, but that’s not a bad thing.  In some ways, he feels like maybe he has just a little too much paint for proper accuracy to the style, but there’s obviously a bit of idealizing here, and I don’t think that’s so bad.  Obi-Wan is packed with his lightsaber (a recolored version of Bespin Luke’s from the vintage line), and a small blaster pistol.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I really enjoyed Kenobi, and I found myself really drawn into how it handled the throw-back feel.  I had the chance to grab the first round of Black Series offerings for it, but for whatever reason, they just didn’t speak to me.  These guys, on the other hand, felt much more up my alley.  If I’m entirely honest, this Obi-Wan design is probably my least favorite of the three that have thus far been tapped for toy treatment, but it’s not a bad one, and it certainly translates to a pretty fun little figure.

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

#3181: Obi-Wan Kenobi

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

OBI-WAN KENOBI

STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS (HASBRO)

“Obi-Wan battles the enemies of the Republic as war expands across the galaxy. The Jedi General continues his hunt for General Grievous and leads diplomatic missions to far-flung worlds. Whether he is battling droids or negotiating with potential allies, Obi-Wan is resolute in his fight to save the Republic.”

The prequel films were, admittedly, not great when it came to character building. They were a bit like reading a Wikipedia article on the events. All the big stuff was covered, but there was ver little human element. The Clone Wars does a lot to salvage the films and the characters within by actually spending time with them, and even giving them some genuine emotional arcs, making you actually care about what happens to them. Though technically one of the main characters of the films, Obi-Wan had the misfortune of largely getting shoved to the side in favor of the plot. The Clone Wars gives him his own stories, and even a small glimpse into his history before the movies. And it also lets him just be cool, and that’s never a bad thing.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Obi-Wan Kenobi was released in 2011 as figure 40 in Hasbro’s Clone Wars Collection. He was the fifth version of the character in the line, and the first to be based on Obi-Wan’s improved design model from later in the show, as they slowly moved him closer to his RotS look.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 18 points of articulation.  As the line moved into its more show-design accurate era, the Clone figures notably took a slight hit to articulation, but, on the flip side, the Jedi characters made out a lot better, by virtue of, you know, actually getting knee joints.  That’s the case with Obi-Wan, and even with the harder plastic skirt piece and the t-hips, he still manages to be quite mobile.  His sculpt was an all-new one, and it’s a far more show accurate one than the four that preceded it, and for my money, more accurate than those that followed it as well.  There’s a really good flow to it, and I love all the sharp angles.  The style is really captured well here.  The color work on this guy is generally pretty good as well.  The paint work is cleanly applied, and the colors all match well with the show.  Obi-Wan’s only accessory was his lightsaber.  It was a step down from prior offerings, but it does at least cover the basics, so it’s got that going for it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The late run Clone Wars figures were much harder to keep up with at retail, so by this point I was really just making do with what I already had.  Since I already had the first Obi-Wan, I wasn’t actively searching for another, and this one slipped under my radar.  Back in the summer of 2019, All Time got a sizable collection of Clone Wars figures, and I wound up snagging a large swath of them.  Mostly, they were clones, but I also picked up this figure out of the bunch.  He’s probably the best Obi-Wan to come out of the line, and certainly my favorite.

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

#2876: Jedi Spirits

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

ANAKIN, YODA, & OBI-WAN

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

“Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and Yoda — three individuals with lives intricately intertwined. Before Obi-Wan Kenobi was forced into a life of hiding, before Anakin Skywalker gave in to the dark side and became Darth Vader, even before Yoda was known as the last Jedi Master, a young Anakin was presented to the Jedi Council for permission to train the boy in the ways of the Force. Many years later, the Galactic Republic crumbled and the evil Empire rose in its place. Only after the defeat of the Empire, at the hands of Anakin’s son Luke Skywalker, would the three great Jedi be reunited after death as spiritual guides for Luke and the New Republic.”

First hinted at during A New Hope’s climactic battle, when Luke hears the voice of the recently killed Obi-Wan during his run on the Death Star, the force ghost concept fully appears during Empire, when Obi-Wan fully manifests in spirit form.  He shows up again during Return of the Jedi, and is ultimately joined by both Yoda and Anakin in the film’s final moments.  They don’t really do much other than stand there, but it’s a distinctive visual, and one that stuck with fans.  So, toys, of course.  The first one we got was an Anakin, during the original Power of the Force run, though it was handled slightly differently than now.  A more conventional take on the concept in toy form hit the ’90s line as a mail-away figure, the Spirit of Obi-Wan.  Not content to let Obi-Wan have all the fun, Kenner put him out again, this time alongside the other two, as one of their Cinema Scenes, which I’ll be taking a look at today.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

The Jedi Spirits set was part of the 1998 Cinema Scenes line-up for Power of the Force II.  They were one of two Jedi sets released that year, as the line began to be more focused on the final film.  They included a stand, based on the edge of one of the Ewok structures from Endor, where they are seen in the film.  Interestingly, they were all three screwed into the base in addition to the usual foot pegs.  Not entirely sure why that was the case; maybe there was some concern about potentially damaging them by twisty tying them in like the others?

ANAKIN

He’s been subsequently replaced by Hayden Christian in more recent editions of the film, but the original version of Jedi gave us a look at an Anakin from a potential version of events where he never fell to the dark side to become Darth Vader.  It’s honestly sort of sensible, since it also means he would, you know, look vaguely like the guy whose face Luke actually saw earlier that day, so he might be able to know it was his father, and all.  But that’s probably all very silly, I suppose.  The elder Anakin got a sort of force ghost-y figure in the vintage line, designed to sort of be the best of both worlds.  Power of the Force II split it into two figures, with this being the more overt ghost one.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches all and he has three points of articulation…technically.  The neck definitely moves…a little.  The arms also move, but as you can see from the photo, they tend to just fall out of the socket more often than not.  Not sure why, but that’s how it is.  He was an all new sculpt, based on Sebastian Shaw’s brief appearance as Anakin from the movie.  It’s distinctly different from Obi-Wan, so that’s certainly a nice touch.  There’s some nice texture work going on as well.  While the mail-away Obi-Wan was just translucent blue with no paint, they mixed things up a little bit for this set, adding some dry brushed white, to give him a little more depth.

YODA

Yoda was totally without any force ghost figures at this point, so him finally getting one was certainly an accomplishment.  While there were a few Yoda molds to chose from, this one was a new one entirely.  He stands about 2 1/4 inches tall.  You can sort of get some motion at the neck and shoulders, but nothing much, and it feels like it doesn’t want to really move.  Beyond that, it’s a nice enough sculpt.  It’s good for just standing there, which is all he really needs to do.  It’s more accurate than other molds from the same line, and the stance in particular is a little closer to the actual puppet, since he doesn’t have to contend with needing to move.  Also, the arms stay on him, so that’s a plus over Anakin.  Good for him.  His paint works pretty much the same way, although it’s not quite as intense in its application.

OBI-WAN

Obi-Wan is, of course, the figure in this set that was the least new, especially at the time of his release, with the prior version having hit just the previous year at the time.  That being said, Kenner did at least make him a little different, even if it was just for the sake of being different.  The figure is 3 3/4 inches tall.  He’s sort of got the same articulation as Yoda, where it’s *technically* there, but very limited and not really ideal for any proper use.  His sculpt is largely the same as the mail-away version, but he changes out the right arm for one with a different pose.  So there’s that, I guess.  It’s not a bad sculpt, so I can get behind it, especially without the one arm just kind of sticking out like on the prior version.  His paint matches the other two in the set, which looks a fair bit better than the unpainted version.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I had none of the Cinema Scenes sets as a kid, so obviously that’s not where this one came from.  It is, however, one of the earlier ones I picked up once I actually started doing such things.  I snagged this one when it was traded into All Time, almost exactly two years ago, at this point.  I know, I’ve got quite a PotF2 backlog, don’t I?  It’s not a terribly playable set, but at the same time, it really seems to get the feel of Cinema Scenes down the best, because it’s a distinct visual, and these figures are always gonna be a tough sell by themselves.

#2743: Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi

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

BEN (OBI-WAN) KENOBI

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

In last week’s review of Kenner’s Power of the Force Power F/X Darth Vader, I brought up the figure’s compatibility not only with the previously reviewed Luke Skywalker, but also with Obi-Wan Kenobi, a figure I had not yet reviewed.  Can you really say you’re surprised that I’m reviewing that figure now?  I mean…I don’t think you can, but I’ve been wrong before.  Anyway, let’s just get onto the figure!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi (as the line was very insistent on in reference to him) was another 1997 release, the fourth of the five figure Power F/X sub-line of Power of the Force.  In contrast to Vader’s cross-film set-up, Ben is, unsurprisingly, based on his A New Hope appearance, specifically his final duel with Vader, which is sensible, since it was, at this point, his only real lightsaber battle.  That being said, it’s low key kind of a shame that they didn’t use the Power F/X set-up for some shimmering force ghosts.  I guess that’s not as inherently toyetic.  Ben stands 3 3/4 inches tall and has 5 points of articulation.  Just like the last two, his right arm is restricted in order to facilitate the light-up feature, and the rest of his articulation’s more for just tweaking the exact nature of his stance.  His sculpt is quite similar to all of the other Kenobi’s from the line, being especially cut from the same cloth as his first figure and the one from the Cantina Cinema Scene boxed set.  He’s even got the same headsculpt as those releases, and his still removable cloak piece is almost identical to the one from the boxed version.  Beyond that, he really just follows the lead of Luke, being a somewhat awkward sculpt, including still having the hunch on his back for the batteries.  The robe does it’s best to hide this, but it doesn’t work quite as well as Luke’s cape did.  He does at least add a little more detailing to the lightsaber hilt than Luke did, but it’s still somewhat removed from the film product.  Ben’s paint work is pretty much the same as the other versions of the character, apart from one rather notable mistake: his lightsaber is the wrong color, being green, rather than the appropriate blue.  Supposedly, this change occurred because blue LEDs were more expensive than green, and Kenner couldn’t justify the cost.  Seems like a weird choice to me, but here we are.  Ben was packed with the same hallway stand piece that was included with Luke, allowing him, like Luke, to be connected with the Vader figure for a more interactive set-up.  And, while Luke came with an entire cardboard backdrop for him and Vader, Ben and Vader each got half of an A New Hope-inspired backdrop, which shows off the Millennium Falcon in the Death Star‘s hangar bay.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Luke was the only one of these I had as a kid, but I came very close to buying Obi-Wan a few times, mostly because I no longer had my original release, and I wasn’t yet at the point of going for exact replacements for my toys.  I never really could muster the excitement to grab this one, though.  He’s alright, but admittedly a bit redundant for me, since the Luke/Vader pairing is the one that holds more nostalgia.  Perhaps I’ll snag a second Vader some day, so that I can justify having Vader face off against each of them.