Sunday, July 1, 2007

Figure of the Day: Day 421: Holographic Plo Koon

PLO KOON Jedi Hologram Transmission
Revenge of the Sith Collection 2
Item No.:
Asst. 85174 No. 86740
Number: III-66
Includes: Lightsaber, display base
Action Feature: Single Color and Lack Of Paint Saves Hasbro Money!
Retail: $5.24-$6.99
Availability: Fall 2005
Appearances: Revenge of the Sith

Bio: Jedi Master Plo Koon is a member of the Jedi Council and comes from a long line of Jedi. Serving as a General in the Clone Wars, he leads a squadron of Republic star fighters against the Separatist forces on Cato Neimoidia. (Taken from the figure's cardback.)

Image: Adam Pawlus' toy shelves.

Commentary: At first, Holographic figures were a nice novelty. We got a trio of them during Episode I, a couple of mini-holo figures for Episode II, and they just kept on coming. Plo Koon was a harder-to-get holo from late 2005, as this figure was (as far as I can tell) packed in but one assortment. Being a bright blue figure, there wasn't a lot of work for Hasbro to do to earn their five bucks on this one. The figure itself is a 2000 Plo Koon from Power of the Jedi, while the lightsaber and stand are the basic 2005 Plo Koon figure's accessories, but done up in clear glittery blue. Depending on how you display it, this figure looks damned striking-- against a black background, it looks gorgeous. I'm a little sick of the whole holographic figure thing and when I look at the picture I took for this article I just said "wow, that looks really nice." It shouldn't, but it does. The figure has five meaningful points of articulation, as everything under the robes pretty much ain't goin' nowhere. There's no paint to speak of, and the deco is consistent with most holo figures that would come later. (Prior to this figure and Aayla Secura, pretty much all of them were a purple color which wasn't exactly accurate either.) It can't sit, like he's seen in the movie, but it still looks really good if you're a collector who can look at a bright clear blue alien and say "dayum." I can't imagine a kid would be overly pleased with a Jedi ice sculpture, but there it is-- it's nice, it is what it is, and it certainly could have been better (or could sit on a Jedi council seat.)

Collector's Notes: I so wanted to rip on this figure. But for some reason I can't, probably because it's surprisingly photogenic. It's somewhat hard to get but it's still fairly cheap-- you can probably get one for about the same going rate as any other average modern (and currently available) figure. If you don't like holographic figures and just want one, I feel this is one of the better looking ones overall. (Darth Sidious from Episode I being my favorite, even if it isn't the best.)


Day 421: July 1, 2007

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