Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Figure of the Day: Day 971: Felucian Warrior

FELUCIAN RIDER with Rancor
30th Anniversary Collection Target Exclusive
Item No.:
Asst. 87630 No. 87383
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: Battle Rancor, saddle, club thing
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $39.99
Availability: May 2008
Appearances: The Force Unleashed

Bio: The Force-sensitive Felucians patrol their jungle homeworld astride ferocious rancors that ae marked with luminous warpaint. Together, a Felucian warrior and his rancor mount pose a formidable threat to even the most skilled Sith warrior. Felucia is heavily forested with fungal life forms and immense primitive plants that can be dangerous when disturbed. As one of the planets caught in the Clone Wars, Felucia becomes a battleground between opposing sides, pulling the native Felucians into the midst of the conflict. (Taken from the toy's box.)

Image: Adam's toy shelves.

Commentary: When I first saw this Felucian Rider I wasn't sure what to make of it. I'm still not. It looks like some undersea creature wearing a tiki mask of some sort. Usually when I get an alien toy I can look at its head and go "that's an eye, that's a mouth," or something like that with whatever elements are present. I'm not sure what the Hell I'm looking at here. Are french fries growing out of his head? Are those goggles? Is that a mustache? I do not know. I can tell that the figure has armor, as several flexible pieces are around what is undoubtedly a waist. There are limbs which may be arms, but they've got extra arms on them. Like, there's suction-cuppy things where the normal hands are, but out of the forearms are additional smaller arms. I think. What are these?

The ornate coloring and distinctive costume immediately allows you, the buyer, to know you're looking at a creature from a primitive culture. The vocabulary of its design is extremely well done, but the problem I have with it is that it's so alien that I don't have a connection with it. The droids all have a sort of an animal-like appearance, and the ships all feel a little alive or at least are close enough to something real where I can get behind it. Even for Star Wars, this creature is genuinely weird, which is saying something given the franchise's rich property of otherworldly life forms. If you're going to buy the Rancor anyway, this is a figure you'd probably want to add to your collection. However I find it one of very few that I'd probably not miss if I never bought it. (The Rancor's pretty sweet, though.)

Collector's Notes: To date this is the only Felucian action figure from Hasbro. So if you want it, well, this is it.

--Adam Pawlus


Day 971: March 4, 2009

3 comments:

Homie Bear said...

I found the same in the game- they were too busy on the eye to really get a sense of what they looked like. What they were doing.

JGS said...

Ditto on how weird looking this thing is, Adam. I've not played the Force Unleashed game, so when I first saw pictures of this little guy online I definitely had a WTF reaction. I wasn't too keen on the Rancor redux either. It looked like somebody spilled a bucket of purple paint on him. Pass.

Sinkchicken said...

I like them! So if you hate them and have them send them my way!

I see all the points and find for some reason that I feel it is more SW than say the Gungan design by far. To me it is a mix of the best of the Cantina patrons and the Ewoks obviously unreadable dark eyes. What can I say, they work for me!

(seriousy, I'll buy them off people if they have them!)