VELKEN TEZERI Figure Debut
The Vintage Collection 3 3/4-Inch Action Figure
Item No.: No. F6986
Number: #286
Includes: Blaster, helmet, 3 more carded figures
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $72.99
Availability: October 2023
Appearances: Return of the Jedi
Bio: Protected by Skiff Guards, Jabba the Hutt's sail barge bustled with court members, henchmen, and dregs of the galaxy who attempted to curry favor with the grotesque crime lord. (Taken from the figure's set's box.)
Image: Adam's photo lab.
Availability:
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Commentary: The first-ever action figure of
Velken Tezeri is here! If Wookieepedia is correct, Larry Holt played both this guy and Taym Dren-Garen in
Return of the Jedi, but the heads under the helmets are not identical. Multiple characters in Jabba's employ wore a very similar vest, so maybe we'll see these parts recycled again on other figures down the road.
The upper legs and hands seem shared with Taym Dren-Garen, which despite being a lifelong fan of the film seems like a nonsense phrase. Both humans are part of a 4-pack, and are rarities in that Hasbro has made very, very few new figures to go with Jabba the Hutt in the past 10 years. Actually, they've made very few in the past 15 years but we got a few like Brock Starsher, Vizam, Vedain, and Wooof. I can't really sugarcoat it, because Hasbro (and before them, Kenner) went to town in the '00s bringing us a who's who if aliens like Ephant Mon, J'quille, Tanus Spijek, Hermi Odle, and also Pote Snitkin, Amanaman, EV-9D9, and so on. But not so much the humans... these are things we thought we'd never get as I got a lot of whispers about a lack of motivation to do unmasked humans to which likeness rights may never have been requested. As such, it's a minor miracle Velkan Tezeri has a toy, or a name, because he's an amazing and bizarre choice for the 40th anniversary of a movie. "Stuntman in helmet and puffy vest" is a kind of a toy you can only get in
Star Wars and is what makes the whole enterprise just so fantastic. I'm not here to buy 20 Darths Vader in every scale or variation imaginable. I just want every weird new guy that can possibly exist.
Admittedly, he's not a weird figure. Velken has a great beard under his helmet, which has a connected face mask. The silver is great, as are the painted rivets. His eyes are excellent, the hair under the helmet is top-notch. For a figure with recycled parts he's generally stellar with perfectly good pants, a working holster, and a little water bottle on his belt. A wash gives his vest a weathered, dirty look and he has bend-and-swivel wrists.
This is an action figure that exists for action figure collectors. Movie fans probably won't care. Kids don't know who this is. You're only going to want him if you've bought nearly every other alien from the movie, and I have, so Hasbro coming to me and asking $73 for one old figure and three new (newish) ones hurts a tiny bit. I can't say I'm upset though - I want new characters from the original movies, or from any aspect of the 1980s. I don't want another super-articulated version of a character I own, but I'll show up for any adventure Hasbro wants to go on in terms of obscurity. The quality is there, the form fit is good, the sculpting is a good as it's going to get, and I'd recommend this to anyone who has been grousing about a lack of freshness in
Star Wars. I can't get excited about trooper builders from a video game, but I had zero problems plonking down a lot of money for a character like this. As far as I'm concerned there's no such thing as "too obscure" and if Hasbro ever made Velken in "Kenner style" I'd buy two more. That's a lie, I'd probably buy three more.
Collector's Notes: I got mine from Hasbro Pulse.
--Adam Pawlus
Day 3,232: April 15, 2025
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