Figure of the Day: Day 336: Barada

BARADA Jabba's Skiff Guards
Power of the Force Cinema Scenes Collection
Item No.: Asst. 84035 No. 84061
Number: n/a
Includes: Blaster, display base
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $19.99
Availability: Fall 1998
Appearances: Return of the Jedi

Bio: Barada was a Klatooinian who served as chief mechanic for Jabba the Hutt's sail barge Khetanna. He was one of the most loyal and hardworking of Jabba's servants and his loyalty would last until his death at the battle at the Great Pit of Carkoon. (Stolen from Wookieepedia)

Image: Adam Pawlus' Toy Shelves.

Commentary: There's a bit of hubbub about this figure. Since the original figure in about 1984, the alien action figure with this face was marketed as Barada, but the name has been applied to other aliens of his species known as the Klatooinians. So if this is Barada, when will we see the red-pants alien from the vintage line, if ever? (Who, by the by, is known as Kithaba these days?) It's a big argument in fan circles, or at least some of them. For the sake of this article, though, we're going to ignore them and just look at this figure.

Made in 1998, this figure was the victim of Hasbro's attempts to make figures look more dynamic and gritty-- as you can see, the figure's head, belt, and hands are the victim of some sort of horrible paint wipe process. The figure's sculpt is decent, and with six points of articulation he's nothing to sneeze at. Unfortunately, the attempt to paint this figure is so awful that it's hard to look at this figure as being especially good, even with this in mind. Why on Earth would there be the same green wiped on the skin, hands/gloves, belt, and headband? It doesn't make any sense. The figure's costume is great, the shirt and pants are sculpted well and painted appropriately. If you like the unique paint decoration on the head-- and I absolutely don't-- you should probably go buy this one, as it appears in two multipacks released nearly 5 years apart. Obviously, Hasbro liked it enough to crank it out twice with no significant changes before a third release in 2006 gave it a better paint job, leaving some fans pleased with the upgrade while others were irritated that we didn't get Kithaba or an all-new sculpt instetad.

Collector's Notes: A nearly identical (or for the purposes of this column, completely identical) Barada figure was sold in the Skirmish at Carkoon multipack in 2003 (and beyond) at Toys "R" Us. In 2006, this mold was heavily repainted and it looks, well, less crappy. If you have the chance to buy the newer Saga Collection release, I advise you to get it. The original 1998 version was packaged in a three-pack with Klaatu and Nikto action figures.

Day 336: April 7, 2007