Figure of the Day: Day 1,249: T'ra Saa

T'RA SAA and Tholme
The Legacy Collection Comic Packs Wave 7
Item No.: Asst. 87504 No. 89779
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #12
Includes: Lightsaber
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $14.99
Availability: March 2010
Appearances: Republic, Legacy comic books

Bio: Jedi Masters T'ra Saa and Tholme battle their own personal difficulties during the Clone Wars. T'ra Saa is severely wounded when bounty hunters attack a triage unit she is overseeing on Null. Her close friend Tholme is alarmed when circumstances indicate that fellow Jedi Quinlan Vos has truly turned to the dark side. (Taken from the figure's packaging.)

Image: Adam's neighbor's yard.

Commentary: The comic pack assortment has always been a bit of an odd duck-- two figures for $10-$15, plus a full-size comic book reprint. You're generally always getting your money's worth, particularly when the figures are entirely new sculpts and super-articulated like T'ra Saa here. When announced, it's unlikely anyone said "it's about time!" so much as they said "wait, who?" She appears in multiple time periods, and in the far future of Star Wars she's basically a tree whose head is planted in the ground, sort of. There's not a lot of plant people in Star Wars, so in that respect she's pretty unique, but as sentient vegetation she's pretty much predisposed to be a boring character-- but most comic Jedi were a little dull. It's not only surprising that this figure ever got made, but that it got made so well.

Saa has 14 points of articulation, ball joints as expected, and a great head sculpt. Her dress is cloth where it should be, allowing her to sit or stand or fight or whatever. Heck, her lightsaber also appears to be a new, unique sculpt with a definitely unique deco. She basically looks just like her comic book counterpart, her outfit has a lot of detail, and she's definitely a case of Hasbro basically nailing it the first time. We don't even have a Star Wars-based Princess Leia figure that turned out this well yet. It's a shame the comic packs line had to go away before getting to even more characters, but with packs like this one it's obvious they're going out on a high note. This is a quality product.

Collector's Notes: This figure comes from the final retail wave of Comic Packs which, at press time, has not shown up at retail. Our sample was obtained online. For fans of largely unknown Jedi, this is a can't-miss figure from a pretty good set. Since the characters are both exclusive to it, you may decide it's worth tracking down. I did. A packaging note: the photo shows Tholme holding two lightsabers, one of which was unlit. Mine had one. I didn't see a place for a second.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 1,249: March 29, 2010