Tag Archives: Star Wars

#0111: Obi Wan Kenobi

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

OBI WAN KENOBI — JEDI DUEL

STAR WARS: EPISODE I (HASBRO)

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. [EDIT–I actually found all of his parts for his Flashback Friday Figure Addendum!]

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.

#0052: Leia Organa – Hoth

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

LEIA ORGANA (HOTH)

THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (KENNER)

My last bunch of reviews has veered towards things released fairly recently, but today, I’ll be jumping back to 1980, for a look at a figure from Kenner’s The Empire Strikes Back toy line.  The figure is of main character Princess Leia Organa in one of her looks from the film.  Let’s have a look!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Leia was released as part of the initial assortment for Kenner’s Empire Strikes Back line which coincided with the movie in 1980.  There were two Leias released, but I’ll be looking at the one that depicts her in her cold weather look from the ice planet Hoth.   The figure stands just shy of 3 ¾ inches tall, and has 5 points of articulation.  The sculpt is actually pretty detailed for a figure of this scale and time-period, with all the padding and such being handled quite realistically.  The head doesn’t have much of a Carrie Fisher likeness, but it’s in line with what most of the rest of the line looked like.  The paint was fairly basic, I assume, although, as you can see, mine has seen better days.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, for those of you rapidly fumbling with math attempting to piece together my age, no I didn’t get this figure when it was initially released.  I wasn’t alive when it was released!

When I was small, my Dad gave me his collection of vintage Star Wars figures.  They were exclusively from the first film, so this Leia wasn’t among them.  But, I got to really liking them, so over the years, I picked up a few others to expand the set.  The ice planet Hoth (I’m pretty sure you always have to say it like that) look has always been my personal favorite look for Leia, so a while back, I found this figure at an antique store, along with a few others.

#0046: Greedo

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

GREEDO

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

Today, I’ll be looking at the final figure from the second series of Star Wars: The Black Series.  Okay, technically, going by the numbering on the figures, he’s the second to last, and Han, who I reviewed yesterday, is the last.  But this is Greedo, and every good Star Wars fan knows, he does NOT get a shot at a review first.  So, yeah, I’ll be looking at Greedo, punching bag of the Star Wars universe.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

As I said above, Greedo is part of the second series of Star Wars: The Black Series.  He’s #007, and he’s based on the only possible look to base Greedo on, the jumpsuit/vest combo he wears during his fatal encounter with Solo.  Greedo is the tallest figure in the series, standing just over 6 inches, and he features about 20 points of articulation.  Like everybody else in the wave, he’s got a brand new sculpt.  It looks good, and seems to be accurate to Greedo’s look from the film.  The vest is a separate sculpted piece, with a fairy basic jumpsuit sculpt underneath.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see Hasbro reuse parts of this figure in future waves.  Greedo’s head and hands are his most distinctive parts, and they’re rendered well.  I don’t know if they’re 100% screen accurate, but they’re certainly close enough for me.  The paint on Greedo is actually a bit better than the rest of the wave.  He’s got a little bit of slop on the yellow stripe on one arm, but other than that everything looks pretty sharp.  I was most impressed by the fact that the yellow detailing continues under the vest, where it’s rendered virtually invisible.  It’s a nice touch that most companies would over look.  Greedo is topped off by a blaster pistol.  This is a bit light when compared to the others in the series, but there are very few things one can give a character who appears for less than five minutes.  Unless the wanted to throw in an alternate torso with a hole in it, but that seems a bit morbid.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Greedo is a surprisingly cool figure.  I wasn’t sure I really wanted him, but I bought a full set in order to get Han and Boba.  Having Greedo in hand, he’s become one of my favorites.  I hope that Hasbro puts this much effort into some of the more important characters.

#0045: Han Solo

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

HAN SOLO

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

Today marks another Star Wars: The Black Series review.  This is a great line, and it’s steadily becoming one of my favorites.  This time around, I’ll be looking at my personal favorite figure from the line: Han Solo.  Han is of course the last piece of the main trio, and is my favorite character of the three, so there’s a lot riding on this figure.  Does it deliver?  Well, yeah.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Han was released as part of the second series of Hasbro’s Star Wars: The Black Series line.  Like the others in the line, he’s got a figure number, #008.  Han is presented in his main look from the first Star Wars movie (The real one).  It’s a good choice because it’s probably the look most people think of when they think of the character.  He stands just about 6 inches tall, and features roughly 25 points of articulation.  Han features a brand new sculpt.  It’s not perfect, but it’s pretty darn good.  With one or two exceptions, the articulation is integrated well into the sculpt, a great improvement over Leia.  His arms seem a bit too skinny, and I think the neck may be just a smidge too long, but with decent posing, neither of these issues is overly noticeable.  The paint is really the figure’s weakest point.  It’s not bad, but it doesn’t do much to bring out the sculpt.  In particular, I feel like the likeness on the head sculpt would be better with a more complimentary paint job.  As it stands, it looks the slightest bit off.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s obvious who it’s meant to be, but it could be phenomenal  with the proper paint.  On the flip side, the highlight of the figure is his accessories.  Decent accessories tend to be a rarity these days, but Han seems to have lucked out, with his trusty blaster pistol, a spare set of gloved hands, his regular belt, and the belt and blaster he stole from a Stormtrooper on the Death Star.  The accessories are all really great, and allow you to display with just about every look he has over the course of the film.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

In my previous two SW:TBS reviews, I’ve used this section to express some conflict between my feelings of the source material and the quality of the figures.  Not this time.  This figure is pretty much everything I wanted from the line when it was announced.  He’s a really great figure all around, and really shows off where this line can shine.  Plus, he’s Han Solo.  How can you not?

#0044: Boba Fett

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

BOBA FETT

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

Today, I’m looking at another figure from one of my new favorite lines:  Star Wars: The Black Series.  This time it’s fan favorite Boba Fett!  He needs no introduction because there’s really no backstory to introduce…

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Boba is part of the second series of Star Wars: The Black Series figures.  He’s obviously based on his look from the movies, specifically his look from The Empire Strikes Back.  The differences between his designs in Empire and Jedi are fairly miniscule, but the easiest tells are the gauntlets and jet pack, which are green on the Empire version.   Following Leia’s lead, Boba is numbered as #006. The figure stands almost 6 inches exact and features 23 points of articulation.  Boba’s sculpt is technically a reuse from the summer’s SDCC exclusive Boba, but since a) it was a limited release that goes for well over $100 and b) I don’t own that one,  I’ll be treating it like a new sculpt.  All the details are sharp, and it looks accurate to the source material.  Boba’s sculpt is topped off with a great paint job.  All the lines are clean, with no slop or bleed over.  The various insignias are done expertly, as well as the weathering on the armor and jump suit.  Boba also features a cloth cape.  This cloth is a heavier weight than the material used for the skirt on the Princess Leia figure, so it should hold up better over time.  Boba is accessorized with a removable jetpack, a blaster rifle, and a blaster pistol.  These pieces are just as well sculpted as the rest of the figure, and really pull the whole look together.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Okay, confession time:  Much as I like the figure, and the design it’s based on, I don’t really get the overwhelming love for this character.  He looks cool and all, but as a character, he’s kinda void of…character.   But, this is a really, really cool figure.  Damn you Fett and your ability to leave me with confusing emotions!

#0043: Princess Leia

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

PRINCESS LEIA – SLAVE OUTFIT

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

Happy Thanksgiving to my American readers!  Today, I’ll be doing my first review from what is quickly becoming my favorite toy line on the market:  Star Wars: The Black Series.  I’m going to assume that everyone reading knows what Star Wars is.  However, here’s a little backstory on “The Black Series.”   For 35 years, Star Wars toys have been made in the very successful 3 ¾ inch scale.  I don’t mind the scale, and Star Wars made it a standard for quite a while.  However, the figures being as small as they are leads to limitations on the level of detail and articulation each figure gets.  Since the introduction of lines like DC Universe Classics and Marvel Legends, which helped popularize the 6-inch scale, Star Wars fans have been requesting a similar line for the Star Wars characters.  And this year, Hasbro obliged with Star Wars: The Black Series.  The figures are 6 inch scale, feature lots of articulation, and generally feature better paint and a few extra accessories.  I just got the second series of the line, so I’ll be taking a look at those in the next couple of days.  I’ll start with Princess Leia.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Like I mentioned above, Leia is from the second series of Star Wars: The Black Series.  Hasbro’s decided to give each figure a number, and Leia is #005.  Leia is based on her look from early in Return of the Jedi, when she’s is taken captive by Jabba the Hutt.  It’s not her most definitive look, but I suppose it has a fairly sizeable fan base, for what would seem to be obvious reasons.  The figure stands a little over 5 inches tall and features 18 points of articulation.  At first glance she seems a bit too small, especially next to the other figures in the line, but Carrie Fisher’s listed height is 5’1”(a full FOOT shorter than costar Harrison Ford), so she’s in proper scale for a 1:12 scale figure.   Leia’s a totally new sculpt, and it’s fairly good, apart from one glaring issue:  The articulation.  The joints on the figure are incredibly obvious.  Now, I’m not saying that I dislike visible articulation, but I don’t like when it gets to glaring, because that hurts the aesthetic of the figure.  Anyway, aside from the articulation issue, the sculpt is well done.  The likeness on the head is really good, and may very well be the best likeness in the line so far.  Unfortunately, the sculpt is hidden under some pretty sloppy paint.  Mine isn’t as bad as some others I’ve seen, but the paint has a tendency to be places it shouldn’t on the head.  The rest of the body is painted perfectly fine, and they even matched the painted flesh tone on the head with the molded flesh tone on the body, which can be tricky.  In addition to sculpted pieces, Leia features a cloth skirt.  I don’t hate it in theory, but I’m not a fan in practice.  It’s a piece of cheap, un-hemmed fabric, so it’s going to fray like crazy.  In fact, it was already fraying in the package.  I really wish they’d gone with something with a bit more durability.  Leia is rounded out with an axe thing, and a pole thing (technical terms!) that she uses in the film.  They’re sculpted well, and fit into Leia’s hands with ease.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I like this figure, but I have my issues with it.  Chief among them is the fact that the fact that the first version of Princess Leia, a central character, released in this line is a fairly non-essential version of her.  Coupled with the fact that it’s probably the one look of hers that really doesn’t translate well to figure form, the figure’s a bit of a mixed bag.  I really hope that this one was just a practice round for one of her more definitive looks.