KITIK KEED'KAK Mos Eisley CantinaRevenge of the Sith Mos Eisley Cantina Screen Series 1, Kmart Exclusive
Item No.: No. 34516
Number: n/a
Includes: Bar equipment, glasses
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $19.99, part of a gift set
Availability: Summer 2004
Appearances: Primarily Star Wars
Bio: On the planet Tatooine, the Mos Eisley cantina, also known as Chalmun's cantina, is the hot spot for entertainment and intrigue. Many species intermingle there, spying and conducting shady business. Bounty hunters frequen the seedy joint, hoping to catch their prey in an unguarded moment. obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker went to the cantina to find transportation off the planet, which led to their first meeting with Han Solo. (Taken from the figure's box.)
Image: Adam Pawlus' toy shelf.
Commentary: A classic alien from Star Wars, the very first figure of Kitik Keed'kak (released in 2002 or 2004, depending on how you count it) was given a "classic" blunder. The original Snaggletooth was way off, Ponda Baba had an outfit that didn't make a lot of sense, and Greedo and Hammerhead were off model as well. In this case of this mantis-like alien, the dress is correct, but the color is not-- Kitik is actually green in all color Lucasfilm photography. As Hasbro had multiple chances to fix this with the figure's "cancellation," it's a little shocking they didn't, but the end result is still a very nice figure with very unique coloring. With joints at the shoulders and waist, there's little range of movement that's meaningful, but the figure stands up nicely and fills out a diorama well. It doesn't really do much, it can't hold anything, it's one of very few figures that actually serves no purpose beyond adding character to a diorama. It can't sit, it can't shoot, it can merely be. So if you like the look of this figure, that's pretty much all you can expect to get out of it. Heck, print the picture out and stick it in your diorama, it serves the same purpose.
Collector's Notes: Few figures have had a turbulent "birth" as this one. In 2002, Hasbro informed the collecting world it would be a Wal-Mart exclusive, much like the 2002 Cantina deluxe packs that included 1 figure, 1 cantina section, and 3 glasses for about $10. Heck, even StarWars.com's own Cargo Bay confirmed it, and numerous sites (including this one) got packaged samples which shot up to be worth a whole heck of a lot of money. (I myself tracked down unpackaged samples shortly before Hasbro asked us to remove our images. Long story.) The actual figure we're showing in FOTD is one of these samples we found on eBay in 2003 which is virtually indistinguishable from the normal 2004 release, which I also have, but eh, it looks pretty much the same.
So why all the drama on this figure? Hasbro was denying it was to be made and was never announced after numerous fan sites obtained samples through various means. Also, in 1999 and 2000, and number of nearly-finished and in some cases packaged Episode I toys leaked to eBay, and were never released. As such, this figure made a lot of fans nervous as they assumed they would never be able to get one, and of course Hasbro made everybody happy by releasing it as a fairly easy to find exclusive in 2004, even if it did come with two figures fans didn't need.
Day 70: July 15, 2006
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