Tag Archives: The Phantom Menace

#4087: Qui-Gon Jinn — Jedi Duel

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

QUI-GON JINN — JEDI DUEL

STAR WARS: EPISODE I (HASBRO)

“A wise and powerful Jedi, Qui-Gon Jinn discovers young Anakin Skywalker, proving to be a pivotal event to the future of the Jedi and to the entire galaxy for generations to come.”

Hey, remember last week when I said my Episode I collection was just Obi-Wans and Qui-Gons?  Well, I wasn’t lying. I wouldn’t do that to you, dear reader.  No, I believe in always telling the truth.  Unless a lie is funnier.  Then I might lie.  But is only having a collection of Obi-Wans and Qui-Gons from Episode I all that funny?  I don’t think so, so it’s probably not worth lying about.  Are you all keeping up with me on this?  If I’m honest, I’m mostly just monologuing a bit here so that I don’t have to come up with anything else to say in this intro.  Here’s Qui-Gon!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Qui-Gon Jinn — Jedi Duel was released in the big initial product launch for Star Wars: Episode I from Hasbro in 1999.  He was the standard Qui-Gon, meant to pair off with the “Jedi Duel” Obi-Wan for the purposes of facing off against the “Jedi Duel” Darth Maul.  It’s all nice and tidy that way.  The figure stands just shy of 4 inches tall and he has 8 points of articulation.  Like the Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon had additional movement at the elbows and wrists, allowing for better holding of his lightsaber, thereby better fitting the whole “Jedi Duel” thing.  His sculpt was unique, though similar in style to the Obi-Wan figure.  He’s maybe a bit stiff in terms of posing and how the outfit hangs, but it’s not awful.  His head looks like Qui-Gon the character, I guess, but not very much like Liam Neeson the actor; he just seems to lack Neeson’s more unique features, resulting in a far more generic sculpt that seems to rely more on the hair and beard to sell the character.  The hair hangs slightly over the shoulders, which restricts the neck movement a bit, and the lower portion of his tunic likewise restricts the hips, but he’s otherwise decently posable, which is nice for a figure of this era.  His paint work is very similar to the deluxe version I looked at two weeks ago, at least in terms of colors and general layout.  Once more, the hair and beard get a bit of grey accenting, which makes things just the slightest bit more realistic.  Qui-Gon is packed with his lightsaber and a CommTech display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As I noted in my last Qui-Gon review, the deluxe was my original Qui-Gon, and this one followed shortly after, but I’d already gotten attached to the first one, and so this one was never as much of an interest for me.  I suppose he’s a better figure from a technical standpoint, but I can’t say he really does much for me that the other one doesn’t, and I still feel like the sculpt on the other one looks more like Qui-Gon.  But, as far as basic figures go, this one checks all the boxes and is far from a bad figure.

#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.

#4079: Qui-Gon Jinn

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

QUI-GON JINN

STAR WARS: EPISODE I (HASBRO)

Well, with Power of the Force officially done, and my small handful of actually new Star Wars stuff to review actually burned through, I guess it’s time to move on.  Not from Star Wars, of course.  I’m a toy site.  That would be crazy.  No, move onto the thing that followed (or actually kind of ran a bit in tandem with, I guess) Power of the Force: the Episode I tie-ins!  I’ve reviewed all of two figures from the at the time tie-ins, both of them Obi-Wan, so today I’m jumping over to the other rather important Jedi from the film, Qui-Got Jinn!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Qui-Gon Jinn is one of the three deluxe figures from Hasbro’s Star Wars: Episode I tie-in line, released alongside similarly deluxe versions of Obi-Wan and Darth Maul.  Like the other two, he consisted of a rather standard core figure, with an action feature activated by a kind of wonky lightsaber hilt-looking thing.  The figure stands just over 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  The deluxe figures lacked the wrist and elbow swivels of the standard figures (Obi-Wan kept one of the elbow swivels, but Qui-Gon wasn’t as lucky), and the shoulder movement was restricted by the action feature.  While Obi-Wan’s sculpt wasn’t really all that different from the standard, Qui-Gon’s is actually quite different.  He’s a lot more pre-posed, in sort of a mid-battle set-up, with his hair swept back and his teeth bared.  While it’s a bit more limiting, it’s also a more dynamic, and I feel slightly more exciting sculpt.  It’s not as crazy as some of the Saga figures got, though, and he’s more stable on his feet.  Qui-Gon’s color work is pretty good.  Nothing crazy for the era, with the body work mostly focusing on base color stuff.  The head’s a bit more involved, with the hair getting some grey streaks in it.  Qui-Gon was packed with his standard lightsaber, as well as the larger “control” saber, which clipped around the figure’s waist and could activate the action feature.  As with Obi-Wan, I lost that one at some point, because I was some sort of silly child.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got a fair bit of Episode I related stuff for my birthday the year the movie came out, and I recall this Qui-Gon was amongst the bunch.  He was specifically my first Qui-Gon figure, and I recall being pretty excited to get him.  I got the standard not to long after (I think he may have just been a slightly delayed birthday present, truth be told), but I always liked this one a little bit more.  He’s not exactly a figure with a lot going on, but over 25 years out, I do still quite like him, and he’s probably still my favorite Qui-on figure.

#4063: Mace Windu

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

MACE WINDU

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

“In the days before Palpatine’s Empire began its reign of terror, the Galactic Republic governed the affairs of the galaxy from the capital of Couruscant. In addition, the city-planet was also the seat of the legendary 12-member Jedi Council. Wisdom and experience were equally as important as abilities in the Force among the Jedi Council members. For this reason, Mace Windu, a senior member of the Jedi Council, was especially honored and revered throughout the Galactic Republic.”

Hey, remember last week, when I discussed the “Sneak Preview” offerings from Power of the Force to give people a taste of the then-upcoming Episode I line?  Well, there were two items offered.  The STAP and Battle Droid were offered up at standard retail, but promoted on the back of the box and available via a mail-away promotion was Samuel L Jackson’s senior Jedi Council member himself, Mace Windu!  Yes, this is from the before movie times when we were all like “this Mace Windu guy is clearly gonna *do stuff* in this movie” rather than “wow, that Mace Windu guy really didn’t *do anything* in that movie.”  Look, whatever the case, let’s look at the novelty that is the very first Mace Windu action figure.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Mace Windu was offered up as a mail-away promotion for Star Wars: Power of the Force II in 1998.  He required a whopping six proofs of purchase from standard figures, largely because he was really operating as a covert way of clearing excess stock off of retail shelves in preparation of all that hot new Episode I product that was definitely going to be a long-term investment, right?  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  Mace was sporting what was an all-new sculpt at the time, though he wound up sharing his head, torso, and legs with the standard Episode I Mace.  This one was unique in offering up Mace just sort of casually wearing his robe, rather than with the hood up, or without the robe entirely, which makes it a nice sort of straight forward figure.  The head has a serviceable likeness of Jackson, given it’s the only one before they started scanning likenesses with the Attack of the Clones figures.  It’s got a nice, neutral expression, which fits Mace pretty well.  The body sculpt gets a surprising amount of texture detailing, which works really well to sell all the different fabrics.  The sculpted outer robe is similar to that of the Flashback Anakin figure, though it’s distinctly different.  His paint work is decent, mostly just base work, but it’s clean.  He does get the tiniest little bit of mud splatter on his boots, which is actually a pretty cool touch.  Mace is packed with a lightsaber.  It’s hard to call it *his* lightsaber, since it’s very much blue, but that was the case for all his Episode I merch, since it was supposed to be that color, before Jackson requested a different color in Attack so that he could more easily find himself in fight scenes.  Since Mace never powers up his saber in Phantom Menace, maybe it was just a different color then?

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I honestly don’t recall this promotion at all, which is strange, since I was very much collecting the line at the time.  I vaguely recall the final figure, mostly seen at toy shows and comic shops around the time, always for far more than a seven-year-old would be looking to pay.  For whatever reason, even later, I just never got one, perhaps because he quickly became comically cheap.  As it stands, Mace gets the significance of being the very final Power of the Force figure I needed to round out my full run of all the figures.  Not on purpose or anything, mostly just because he happened to be the last one.  He’s also the last one I’m reviewing here on the site.  He’s a fitting, I suppose, as something of a transitional figure.  And, after almost exactly 30 years, my Power of the Force collection that started with a comedically muscled Dagobah Fatigues Luke is complete. Weird.

#4059: STAP & Battle Droid

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

STAP & BATTLE DROID

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

“The STAP is a small, one-pilot, repulsorlift vehicle outfitted with two laser cannons. It is extremely maneuvarable, making perfect for patrol, reconnaissance and battle. STAPs are operated by battle droids who function as the infantry of the Trade Federation army.”

In 1998, the world anticipated the first film in the long-anticipated Star Wars Prequel Trilogy. Kenner (or rather Hasbro, who owned Kenner and were preparing to move operations in house and dissolve the Kenner brand), then quite deep into Power of the Force II, a decidedly OT-based line, was working on a dedicated line of figures for this as of yet unnamed Star Wars: Episode I, but before getting there, they injected a little bit of product into the currently running line.  In what became a standard practice for the Prequel era, a small selection of “Sneak Preview” items were dropped in advance, in order to help drum up interest.  For Episode I, the focus at retail was on a single item, a small vehicle and pack-in figure in the form of the STAP and Battle Droid, which I’m taking a look at today!

THE TOYS THEMSELVES

The STAP and Battle Droid were a standalone “Sneak Preview” release from Kenner’s Star Wars: Power of the Force II.  The set was dropped with a decent amount of fanfare (including an honest to god TV commercial) in 1998.  It’s a uniquely sized item for the line, not really occupying the same footprint as other small vehicle and rider set-ups from PotF.  It was definitely built more for display in package, which does me zero good, since I totally ripped that sucker open!

The Single Trooper Aerial Platform, or STAP, was a pretty solid choice for the first official prequel offering, since they remained a recurring element pretty much all the way through the end of Clone Wars.  This one was obviously an all-new mold at the time, but would see quite a bit of re-use over the years, again, up through Clone Wars.  It’s not hard to see why; it’s pretty accurate to the source material, fairly sturdy, and even has a pretty cool flight stand.  There’s a feature where the missiles launch when you push up on the foot plate, which is gimmicky, but still pretty fun.  The color work is pretty respectable, matching the movie’s tones pretty closely, and also offering up a nice amount of accenting, wear, and texturing.

Our first trooper from the new movies was the Battle Droid.  We got a whole lot of them over the years, but this one was the first, and he was designed specifically with the STAP in mind.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 9 points of articulation.  Since he was specifically designed to pilot, that means he actually gets working knee and elbow joints, which are surprisingly uncommon for small scale Battle Droids, given how easily they work into the design.  That said, he’s really not designed for standing on his own; his ankles are tilted back, and his toes are pointed inward, which makes him a bit precarious.  Also, his shoulder and elbow joints are very loose, in order to not hinder the action features on the STAP, so he just sort of flings them about when he’s not on the vehicle.  It’s kinda goofy.  He’s just a basic Battle Droid, with no command markings.  He’s got some shading, as well as a little bit of “wear,” and looks pretty much like all the other Droids from the movie, which is hardly a bad thing.  As essentially an accessory to the vehicle, he works well to do what he needs to.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I don’t recall *exactly* when I got this one, largely because it’s an exceedingly common piece.  A lot of speculators bought it, and pretty much no one opened it, so it’s everywhere.  It got traded in at work, like, a lot, so I had my pick of offerings.  One of the times it came in, I decided that was specifically the time, and thus, one came home with me.  You know, and then it sat, sealed, on my shelf, for a few years.  Yeah.  Look, I finally got to it, and that’s the most important thing, right?  Right.  I do like this set.  It’s basic and there’s some definite gimmicks, but I think it did a good job of selling hype for the movie, and it’s a pretty nice little piece.  If you want a neat little Battle Droid toy, you can’t really go wrong with this one.  And, thus, for the last time, I feel like I put off opening a Power of the Force figure for longer than I should have, because, at their heart, they really were pretty fun, right?

Shoutout to my friends at All Time Toys, from whom I purchased this figure for 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 #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.

#2817: Qui-Gon Jinn

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

QUI-GON JINN

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“A venerable if maverick Jedi Master, Qui-Gon Jinn was a student of the living Force. Qui-Gon lived for the moment, espousing a philosophy of ‘feel, don’t think, use your instincts.'”

Though opinions have changed a bit on the prequel trilogy in the two decades since it began, the movies, especially The Phantom Menace, have been the slowest to find their way into The Black Series, with really just a trickle of items, every so often.  In the case of TPM, we aren’t even averaging one figure a year, and don’t have much of the core cast yet.  I’d gotten all but one of the ones released up to this point, and now, I finally got that one.  So, today, I’m looking at arguably the film’s lead character (even if he’s not part of any of the films that follow), Qui-Gon Jinn.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Qui-Gon Jinn was figure 40 in the Phase III Star Wars: The Black Series line-up.  He was released in the spring of May 2017, as part of the assortment that also included the Royal Guard, Lando Calrissian, and the Tusken Raider.  It was one of those sets that showed up more in theory than anything else, since it was the last assortment before the change-over for Last Jedi product, and earlier Rogue One launch product was still lingering.  Qui-Gon was only our second TPM figure, following up on the Darth Maul from the very first assortment.  The figure stands a little over 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 27 points of articulation.  Compared to more recent figures, Qui-Gon is definitely more restricted on the movement front, but it’s still pretty workable.  Additionally, given that Neeson’s portrayal of Qui-Gon had him generally being more reserved in his movements, it works alright for the character.  His sculpt was a wholly unique one, and has only been shared with the recent re-issue of the same character.  It’s a pretty good one, honestly.  Neeson’s tall and lanky build is captured well, and the details on his clothes are fairly impressive.  The head sculpt also does look quite a bit like him.  It’s a little bit harder to see it with the older style paint work, but the likeness is very definitely there (something that the recent re-issue with the new paint only further pushed).  The hair does get in the way of the neck movement a little bit, but that’s really hard to avoid, unless you’re going to try rooted hair or some other nonsense, and that’s just not gonna work at this scale.  The paint work definitely does mark this figure’s biggest short comings, but, honestly, it’s not quite as bad as you might expect.  The face is definitely not as life-like as later releases, but nor is it quite as lifeless as some of the figures that closely preceded it.  It’s an okay middle ground.  Additionally, they’ve actually gone to the trouble of giving him some accenting on his robes, so that they aren’t just all flat molded plastic colors.  It certainly looks much better that way.  Qui-Gon was packed with his lightaber, as well as two alternate left hands, one for gripping, and the other in open pose.  While it’s too bad we couldn’t at least get a robe for him, the alternate hand was still kind of a big deal at the time, and even now, that’s more than we get with a lot of the Jedi figures.  Heck, it’s more than we got with TPM Obi-Wan.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Full disclosure: this section’s about to get a little sad and sentimental.  This is the first review I’ve written since my wife’s passing, which will have been almost a full month ago as you read this, but is, for me, four very long days behind me.  Obviously, this soon after, I am still finding my footing and my new normal, but Jess did not want me to stop writing, and she was quite adamant about that.  So, I am going to try to keep writing, at least a little bit.  Qui-Gon being the subject of this review, is a bit serendipitous, I suppose.  I already had him on the schedule a month ago, but it feels appropriate, since one of our earliest conversations was about The Phantom Menace and how Qui-Gon was always her favorite character in the prequels.  I remember her being frustrated that I never found this figure when it was new.  When I did finally pick it up just this year, she was quite excited when I showed him to her.  It’s an excitement I’m going to miss as my collection continues, but one I’m going to try to keep in my own mind moving forward.

#2765: Jar Jar Binks

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

JAR JAR BINKS

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“As an outcast, Jar Jar spends much of his time in the Naboo swampland. It’s there that the hapless Gungan encounters a pair of Jedi as they elude enemy forces.”

In the over two decades since the Star Wars prequel trilogy began, the opinions on it have shifted somewhat.  In general, it does seem to at least owe to the fact that Star Wars fans just like to hate the newest thing, and there’s the new era of movies to hate on, so I guess that helps?  We’ve come so far from the hatred of the prequels, that even the most hated element of the prequels, Jar Jar friggin’ Binks, isn’t even all that hated any more.  I know.  I’m shocked too.  Even more shocking?  There’s an honest to god deluxe release Black Series Jar Jar, like, actually available to buy.  Like, from real stores.  I know.  And now I’m reviewing it.  Again, I know.  Weird, right?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Jar Jar Binks is figure 01 in the Phantom Menace sub-set of Star Wars: The Black Series‘ fourth phase.  So far, we know of no more TPM figures, at least in the main line, but Jar Jar’s presence suggests there will probably be more.  It’s thus-far the least explored entry in terms of Black Series, so it makes sense to do some more.  Jar Jar is at the deluxe price point, which makes him the second such figure since the line’s re-branding under the new phase.  There’s been a little bit of discussion about whether it was wise to put him at the higher price, and if he truly warranted it.  Whatever the case, the figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 27 points of articulation.  Jar Jar’s articulation isn’t *quite* up to the standards of other Phase IV figures, but it’s certainly on par with a lot of the better Phase III figures, suggesting that he was possibly designed a little earlier and then held onto?  There’s certainly a lot of good posing to be had with the articulation he’s got, and he’s a far cry from the line’s earliest entries.  The sculpt is a pretty strong recreation of Jar Jar’s 1999 animation model.  The proportions are definitely there, and there’s plenty of smaller detail work that’s gone into him.  The head’s get the best work, which isn’t terribly surprising, I suppose, since his TPM design was largely pretty unimpressive apart from the design of the head.  The head sculpt gets all of the important details, and presents a far more reserved Jar Jar than we see for most of the movie.  It’s certainly a different choice.  Honestly, it’s probably the right choice.  The figure’s paint work is actually pretty solid for the most part.  The patterns on his skin are definitely impressive, as is the work on the face, which makes use of the printing technique.  There’s a lot of rather subtle work on the skin, and I definitely like to see that.  The only thing I’m not too crazy about is the wrist joints, which are molded in the off-white of his under arms, a color which is exposed when his hands are posed.  It’s kind of a necessary evil, and generally pretty minor, though.  Jar Jar’s accessory selection includes a staff, shield, and Atlatl weapon (the ball on a stick thing).  The shield and staff are pretty sizable, and are presumably meant to aid in justifying the cost.  Personally, I’d have liked to see some more character specific stuff, like maybe some extra heads with different expressions, or maybe even an extended tongue.  I mean, the Gungan battle stuff it cool too, and will certainly have more re-use potential if they decide to do other Gungans, but it feels sort of out of place with Jar Jar himself.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Alright, time for my crazy, controversial opinion: I’ve never really hated Jar Jar.  In fact, when the movie first came out, I kinda liked him.  Don’t get me wrong, I get some of the complaints about the character, and there are certainly some discussions to be had about some of the potential stereotypes present and the negative connotations they might carry.  But, on his own, I don’t find him quite as monumentally bad as some people did.  I mostly went along with it, because it felt like a bit of an uphill battle.  Fortunately, time, as well as his appearances in The Clone Wars have at least quieted down the hatred a bit, so, hey, he’s gotten another toy.  Cool.  I knew this guy was coming before he was officially announced, and I knew he’d be deluxe, but I didn’t quite know what that would entail.  I wasn’t really expecting the extra weaponry, and I question whether it was the right choice.  Jar Jar is, even in these slightly more Jar Jar-tolerant times, a harder sell than other characters, so adding the extra $10 to his retail might be an iffy prospect.  That said, the core figure is pretty nice, and the extras aren’t the worst thing.  I’m overall happy with my purchase, and I think most people who are willing to pick him up will be, too.

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

#2130: Darth Maul

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

DARTH MAUL

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES ARCHIVE (HASBRO)

“The evil Sith apprentice Darth Maul engages in a fierce lightsaber duel with Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi.”

Star Wars: The Black Series‘ debut line-up was an interesting assortment.  Though everything included was instantly recognizable and a distinctive Star Wars element, everything was sort of adjacent to top tier.  The Luke included wasn’t his main look from any of the movies, the trooper included wasn’t a standard Stormtrooper, and the Sith lord included wasn’t Darth Vader.  It was Hasbro’s bid at trying out the line without potentially sacrificing any truly pivotal figures to possible early-line production issues.  Given the slightly more middling line-up, the first series was a much smaller run compared to later in the line, and some of its figures became quite tricky to track down as the line progressed.  In order to give new fans a chance to catch up, Hasbro instituted a new sub-line, dubbed “Archive” as an easy way to re-pop in-demand figures from older assortments.  While the first series was completely focussed on the Original Trilogy, the second line-up adds in some of the Prequel characters, including by far the most marketable character to come out of the Prequels, Darth Maul!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Darth Maul is one of the four figures in the second Archive line-up, and the second of the original Black Series figures to be featured (the third to get a re-release, counting the 35th R2; only the Sandtrooper remains without a reissue).  Rather fittingly, this assortment arrived at roughly the same time as the latest series of the main line, so Maul and Obi-Wan hit shelves together.  Maul stands just under 6 inches tall and he has 27 points of articulation.  Compared to more recent releases, Maul’s articulation is slightly more rudimentary, and a little less fluid; essentially it’s just the Legends articulation of 2013 applied to another line.  It’s most noticeable on the neck joint, as that’s an area where the two lines have most clearly diverged.  At the very least he has the ball-jointed torso to mix things up, which ends up being a pretty major saving grace of the figure’s articulation.  That said, it’s entirely workable even in its current state, and honestly a little better than some of the mid-line figures that would follow it.  Maul’s sculpt was always really the star offering of the initial line-up, being a solid recreation of his on-screen appearance with well-integrated articulation, and a decent level of detailing.  While it’s not all quite as sharp, it’s still a solid selection of work.  Maul’s paintwork isn’t too involved for the most part, with the body just being variants of matte and shiny black.  The real star work is on the face, and it’s also the only place where there’s a change from the original release, since he uses the new face printing for his eyes.  It’s not a super noticeable difference, but it helps him fit in better with the more recent figures.  The original pitch for the line was as close to one-and-done as possible, and Maul’s accessories were designed with that in mind.  He’s got an extra head with robes attached, his binoculars, and his double-bladed lightsaber, which has removable blades and can be split in the movie.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like a fool, I passed on the original release of Maul when the first assortment was out, because I was trying to stick to the “no prequels” rule, which I hadn’t yet abandoned.  By the time I’d rethought it, he had jumped considerably in price, and so I had to play the waiting game.  While the Archive line-ups so far haven’t been for me, Maul was on my list as soon as his name was floated for the line.  He’s definitely a strong figure, and probably one of the best from early in the line.  He also pairs really nicely with Obi-Wan, which is a huge plus.

Maul was purchased from my friends at All Time Toys.  If you’re looking for Star Wars, or other toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.