Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 1,508: Luke Skywalker

LUKE SKYWALKER Battle at the Sarlacc Pit
The Legacy Collection Target Exclusive
Item No.: Asst. 87931 No. 87798
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: Lightsaber, Sarlacc Pit, Skiff, 4 more figures
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $62.99-$72.99
Availability: November 2008
Appearances: Return of the Jedi

Bio: Luke gives Jabba the Hutt one final wanring before he launches an escape using his powerful Jedi abilities. (Taken from the figure's packaging.)

Image: Adam's desk.

Commentary: I get a lot of people asking me what the worst figure ever made is. Well, it might be this Luke Skywalker. Some figures may have worse articulation, poorer accessories, or the inability to stand, but the deco on the head is so bad that nothing can compare. First, let's look at the skin-- Luke is so pale, he's basically translucent. The whites of his eyes blend right in to the plastic color, and a tiny blue dot and eyebrows so poorly painted on it's almost unreal make up the rest of the face. I can't fault the hair too much, but do I have to? This figure is based on the 2004 Jabba's Palace Luke Skywalker, a well-received figure which many (ok, I) feel that hasn't been matched in terms of the quality of this specific outfit. And here Hasbro reissues it so badly that it's probably the worst figure you can add to your collection. I've seen lots of knockoffs, bootlegs, and fan-pressed figures over the years and I assure you that none of them look quite their skin just may be able to glow in the dark. Luke here is special, plus he uses a pre-2001 style of lightsaber blade which ordinarily isn't a huge problem but it certainly doesn't help this release.

Sometimes it doesn't matter if a figure has a good sculpted costume, 14 points of articulation, or what may be a good likeness. Deco can make or break any toy, no matter the line, and this figure exists as the single greatest example that paint matters. The 12-inch collectors have, over the years, frequently repainted the 1990s Kenner head sculpts-- the ones we may not have loved-- and have proven that they are in fact good enough if you just apply the right coloring to them. Here, we have the finest example of Hasbro's factory phoning it in. If you've seen me rail on about how important paint and decoration can be, this is why-- this Luke figure has a good head sculpt, but you'd never know it if this was the only version of the mold you've ever bought. Some samples are better than others (I think mine may be unusually bad), but still-- good lord!

Collector's Notes: If you collect vehicles and playsets, it's entirely possible you will end up with this figure in your collection. It came with a Skiff and a Sarlacc Pit playset, and those things are generally worth your while. The figures that came with it... not so much. But hey, if you ever want to show your friends the worst Luke figure ever made, at least you know which one to get. The set still goes for more than $50, but it's not like you were going to buy it for the figures anyway.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 1,508: March 25, 2011

Figure of the Day: Day 494: R2-D2 (Launching Lightsaber)

R2-D2 Launching Lightsaber
Power of the Force Flashback Figures
Item No.: Asst. 69680 No. 84043
Number: n/a
Includes: Lightsaber, flashback photo
Action Feature: Press button, saber launches
Retail: $5.99
Availability: December 1998
Appearances: Return of the Jedi

Bio: Though small and unassuming, the astromech droid R2-D2 has proven to be a pivotal figure throughout the quest for freedom in the galaxy. Whether delivering Princess Leia's message to Ben Kenobi or accompanying Luke Skywalker in his X-Wing fighter as he delivered the fatal blow to the first Death Star, Artoo's actions have become legendary within the annals of the Revel Alliance. But unknown to his compatriots, Artoo already had plenty of time and experience at the center of action. Many decades earlier, he served on board the ship of the young queen from the planet Naboo. Even then, he displayed an unmistakable knack for helping others out of dire circumstances. (Taken from the figure's cardback.)

Image: Adam Pawlus' toy shelves.

Commentary: As an update of one of the original vintage-era Power of the Force figures, we all had high hopes for R2-D2 here, as he had an actual spring-loaded launching lightsaber. In theory, that's some exciting stuff-- one of the panels on his chest was a very well disguised button, which, in theory, could result in a figure with a completely hidden action feature. In theory, that is. The end result is one of the worst figures ever made by Kenner or Hasbro, because there's just so much wrong with it. For starters, the sculpt has a fully extended third leg that's swelled up something fierce. The figure has two points of articulation-- each leg is jointed, and that's it. The dome can't move, and for that matter, it's not painted very well. This figure was the first modern-era non-vac metal domed figure, and it seems like someone forgot how to paint for a while here. The figure's silver paint is uneven, and you can see spots of white. This isn't an issue of aging, they were all like this on release. The "dirt" is crappy, sub-par even for its day, and just looks like someone threw some reddish brown specks on it. In other words, it just looks sloppy. The blue paint on the front panels is hit and miss, the "eye" sculpt seems off, and that's ignoring the fact that this is a figure from 1998, before Hasbro really hit their stride on how to make a rockin' astromech droid. In short, this figure was bad when it came out, and several years later, I look at it and try to remember why I'm too much of a packrat that I can't burn these things. Sorry, anonymous Hasbro employee(s)-- I mean you no personal disrespect. It's just that this figure sucks so much.

Collector's Notes: If you're a collector, take note: don't buy it. I know some of you have to collect them all, like me, because you don't know any better. Since some of you do know better, take warning, and save your money. You could spend it on something good, like a nail to drive through your big toe. I have hopes Hasbro will revisit this particular action feature again some day, and hopefully the end results won't make me sad to be a fan.

Day 494: September 12, 2007

Figure of the Day: Day 474: SK-Z38

SK-Z38 Star Tours
Star Tours Collection 3
Item No.: No. 10147
Number: n/a
Includes: n/a
Action Feature: Opening mouth, spinning prop
Retail: $10.00
Availability: 2003
Appearances: Star Tours

Bio: SK-Z38 was a droid that worked for the Star Tours travel agency. (Stolen from Wookieepedia.)

Image: Adam Pawlus' TV tray.

Commentary: Just because there's a lot of fan demand for something doesn't mean Hasbro should do it-- wisely, Hasbro cranked out a limited number of Star Tours figures for theme parks, and figures like SK-Z38 never soiled the pegs of your local stores. The theme park ride was packed with droids to make, and Hasbro made some of the best ones almost immediately, leaving stinkers like this for later series. The figure has virtually no articulation, his legs are stuck together, and the plastic is so weak and flimsy, he will absolutely sag on your display shelf-- you need to prop him up or there's like a 90% chance of him falling over. The detail is lacking (as there doesn't seem to be much to work with), but he is cute. As a collectible. As a toy, your kids will hate this thing. It really isn't a lot of fun to play with as all it can do is stand around and observe things. While fans clamored for figures from the theme park ride, and complained about their park-exclusivity, figures like this remind you that sometimes, Hasbro really does know what it's doing.

Collector's Notes: This is a figure you don't buy because you like it, but because it's to complete a set. Or perhaps if you lost a bet. Initially, this figure was delayed and retooled slightly to make the edges a bit rounder, initially leading fans to worry they might never get it. Oh poor foolish fans of 2003, you do not know what crap awaits you. This figure can be had for about $10, probably less if you're patient, and is worth at least half that. Were this figure constructed of stronger materials and didn't have soft plastic legs the thickness of a paperclip, I might be here telling you how it's a weird little figure that you might want to consider reserving a space for on your shelf. But it sucks, so don't buy it unless you have a compulsion to do so.

Day 474: August 23, 2007

Figure of the Day: Day 314: General Grievous

GENERAL GRIEVOUS Exploding Body!
Revenge of the Sith Collection 1
Item No.: Asst. 85173 No. 85425
Number: III-36
Includes: Lightsaber, cloak, exploding parts
Action Feature: Push button for exploding action
Retail: $5.24-$6.99
Availability: April 2005
Appearances: Revenge of the Sith

Bio: The supreme commander of the droid armies is tracked to Utapau by Obi-Wan Kenobi. A powerful combination of droid and alien, Grievous is a formidable fighter, and ultimately confronts the Jedi in single combat. (Taken from the figure's cardback.)

Image: Adam Pawlus' toy shelves.

Commentary: While he wasn't as popular as some characters prior to his appearance in the movie, General Grievous was redesigned to become several unique action figures. Some just look decent, others have a four arm attack. This one explodes, awkwardly. It doesn't hold together especially well, as the figure tends to split at the waist very easily. It also doesn't like to stand up on a shelf over long periods of a time. In short, the "action" ruins the figure. While the idea was cool-- exploding torso with guts inside-- the end result is a figure that doesn't make for a very good figure with weak legs and surprisingly good paint. Unfortunately, the cloak in this configuration is probably something fans don't want, so if you're looking to skip a Grievous, this is the one to skip.

Collector's Notes: In 2006, the figure was released in the first waves of the "Episode III Heroes & Villains Collection." In later assortments, the figure was replaced with the four-armed version, which was more stable and gobs more fun. The figure is cheap but even so, cheap doesn't necessarily mean you'll want to add it to your collection. For those who leave their figures packaged, though, the Heroes & Villains version is pretty nice. As a toy, though, it's really no fun-- as a collectible, it tends to fall over, as the legs are weak and even a stand can't help it stay upright. This is a figure that, with any luck, will never see retail pegs again.

Day 314: March 16, 2007

Figure of the Day: Day 233: Holiday Edition Darth Vader

DARTH VADER Holiday 2005 Edition
Original Trilogy Collection-style Holiday ShopStarWars.com Exclusive
Item No.: No. 85965
Number: n/a
Includes: Lightsaber, display base, cape, greeting card, removable right hand
Action Feature: Open Package for Buyer's Remorse
Retail: $14.99
Availability: Holiday 2005
Appearances: Nothing, ever

Bio: It is a festive time for the Empire. After a rough year of crushing Rebel uprisings, terrorizing the Outer Rim, and choking incompetent underlings, Darth Vader decides that even a Dark Lord of the Sith needs to give in to the fun side of the Force. Donning his most celebratory red armor, he leads his Imperial forces to the ice planet of Hoth for some much-deserved holiday festivities. Vader uses his lightsaber and mastery of the Force to create the most detailed ice sculptures in the Galactic Empire, from TIE fighters to star Destroyers. He even gives new meaning to "snowtroopers" by creating an army of troopers from snow. Thanks to Vader's expert planning, this year's Hoth Holiday Bash is primed to be the best the galaxy has ever known. (Taken from the figure's cardback.)

Image: The toy shelves of Adam Pawlus. Specifically, the "figures of the damned" shelf that also holds Lava Reflection figures and Star Tours stuff like Jedi Mickey.

Commentary: Man does this figure suck. It also represents a problem I have with the fanbase (and myself), but let's start out with why the figure sucks. Darth Vader never, as far as I can tell, gets attacked by the cosmic hate plague as seen in the Return of Optimus Prime episodes of the original Transformers show. Yet, here's a figure that looks like just this situation happened. Marketing materials indicated that this figure ties in with a Lucasfilm holiday card. Well, the card bundled with this figure has a black Darth Vader making a snowman. The closest I've ever seen to a "festive" Vader was from a UK Marvel comic cover where Darth Vader has a Santa Hat and gloves, and that would make for a neat figure. This figure, however, is just a repaint of the Emperor's Wrath figure, but in red. Previously, the figure has also been repainted in all black, in black with some white to make snow, and was retooled into a new Emperor's Wrath figure-- so this mold is nothing new. The base is new, though, but hardly a selling point. Now, if it had that awesome Stormtrooper Snowman from the greeting card...

The paint is crappy-- it chips and feels like it was done in some bizarre, awkward aftermarket process because this thing feels like it'll fall apart. The articulation isn't anything special (eight points, whooptee-doo), and there's no decoration to speak of-- no lights, no lenses, nothing. It's red. That's it. If it were clear, it could at least pass for some sort of holographic thing. If it were clear blue, it could be a holograph and an ice sculpture. But no. It's just this metallic red plastic piece of junk that I, and by my estimates, 3,000-15,000 of you also probably got snookered too. Seeing as this came out about six months after the equally ridiculous Lava Reflection Darth Vader, it seems someone at Hasbro realized that Vader + paint = PROFIT.

I blame myself for buying this figure-- I passed on it at the club, but bought it on eBay (for slightly less) after it sold out (and I cannot BELIEVE it sold out) because, like so many of you, "it was the one figure I didn't have." Dammit. I also point blame to everybody else who bought it, because figures like this are what are the root of what most of the complaints I get. "Why does Hasbro make crappy repaints?" "Why do they keep making Darth Vaders?" Why? Because all of us keep buying them because collectively, we're all too stupid to say no too much of the time. (And yet, good exclusives like the Snowspeeder with Zev go on clearance. What's wrong with us?)

This is my least favorite figure in the entire line. This includes new figures, old figures, beefy sculpts, and figures that were pretty much entirely inaccurate to their source materials. This one is the worst, and it's really a shame the line got to a point last year where someone said "let's paint Vader red again, the fans eat this crap up."

Collector's Notes: This is the fourth release in the holiday series. The first was a Fan Club exclusive that ended up going to Wal-Mart because, as rumor had it, someone didn't have the ability to foot the bill. And that set had Santa C-3PO and Reindeer R2-D2, and was arguably the very best of all the holiday releases. Second was Santa Yoda, a real Fan Club exclusive, yet I saw one at a Toys "R" Us in LA in November of 2006. No, I'm not kidding. Number three is still available, and that was a pack of Holiday Jawas-- and yes, it was the third best of the series, and was another Fan Club exclusive that was defaulted upon, according to lore. It was sold through Entertainment Earth.

This year I got lots of complaints/demands/worries regarding the lack-of-a-2006-Holiday-Figure. I replied, usually, like this: "Aren't you glad after last year? That's one less sub-par release." Most fans were very upset with my dismissive attitude. I'm upset with our low demands of quality. The first set had significant remolding. The second was virtually an all-new figure. Number three had new arms, a new base, and was two figures. #4 was a figure we all bought four times over with red paint-- at this rate, a jolly green Ewok or Chewie as the Grinch didn't seem so farfetched, and let's face it, the last thing we need in Star Wars as a line are new excuses to not buy things. My standards are low-- I like pretty much everything, be it bad or good, because I do derive pleasure from toys. If it's a good toy, it might be fun to have at my desk. If it's a bad toy, I can complain about it for pages upon pages. (Obviously, not all of you have columns where you can just spout off, but if you have a chance I advise you to start one.) My point is this: we as fans don't know a good thing. Even when the good thing is an absence of a bad thing.

"Holiday"-themed releases are not a thing of the past, however, although the next almost-totally-confirmed release is a "Holiday Special" Boba Fett. This is expected to be a specially decorated version of an existing toy to look as the character did in the Star Wars: Droids episode The White Witch and the animated segment from the legendary Star Wars Holiday Special. If this one comes to pass, this is exactly the kind of thing we as collectors and fans should clamor for, but there is one slight downer-- this particular figure has absolutely no real tie-in with winter or the holidays of the season beyond it having been on TV around The Most Wonderful Time of the Year.

Oh, and on that note, MERRY CHRISTMAS. I'm counting my blessings, and near the top of the list (as far as the hobby goes) is that Hasbro opted not to make a holiday figure this year. After the red Darth Vader, let's just stick with non-Earthy-themed things, please.

To conclude this most foul holiday edition of Figure of the Day, I would like to add the token "some of my favorite figures are Fan Club exclusives." ShopStarWars/The Fan Club brought us the following in the USA over the years: Wuher, Cantina Band Member, Oola & Salacious Crumb, Death Star Droid, Hoth Leia, Pote Snitkin, AT-AT Driver, the Covert Ops Clone Trooper, Shadow Stormtroopers, Holographic Emperor Palpatine, Stormtrooper Troop Builder Packs, Holographic Leia, Baron Papanoida, Chi Eekway, Terr Taneel, and the aforementioned Santa Yoda. I may have forgotten a few as I was trying to cut this column short, but the point is this: Hasbro and the Fan Club brought us some wonderful (if pricey) items over the years, and something this cheap shouldn't be this expensive. On eBay, Red Vader goes for about its original retail price.

Day 233: December 25, 2006

Figure Of The Day: Day 198: Obi-Wan Kenobi (General)

OBI-WAN KENOBI with Stormtrooper* Armor
Revenge of the Sith Battle Packs Jedi vs. Sith
Item No.: Asst. 85554 No. 85667
Number: n/a
Includes: Lightsaber, removable armor, lance
Action Feature: Squeeze legs together for lightsaber action!
Retail: $19.99, part of a gift set
Availability: Summer 2005
Appearances: Primarily The Clone Wars

Bio: Obi-Wan accompanies Qui-Gon Jinn on a mission to Naboo and encounters the deadly Sith for the first time. Later, Obi-Wan agrees to train young Anakin Skywalker and uncovers dangerous secrets that threaten the stability of the galaxy. (Taken from the figure's box.)

Image: Adam's Clone Wars shelves.

Commentary: I wanted to like this figure so bad, it hurts. Unfortunately, the distance of over a year since this Obi-Wan Kenobi came out proves that the truth is while it was a wonderful idea, applying "quick change Batman" style accessories to a figure this small doesn't work. The Obi-Wan Kenobi figure by itself is pretty cool-- with loads of articulation, a squeeze-legs-for-saber-slash action, and an entirely new sculpt, it's quite good. Were it released sans armor, I'd probably have a lot nice to say about it-- but it didn't, so I don't. The figure is covered in holes for the armor to plug on to and due to molding problems, in some pieces, it doesn't quite plug on properly. Also, the figure has some problems sitting, no doubt due to the mechanism gumming things up. (Anakin has the same problem.)

The snap-on armor is where the real problems start, because if you look at the show or Gentle Giant's statue, you can see that the figure is supposed to be basically just a regular Clone Trooper with some Jedi robes and a removable helmet. That's it. All Hasbro had to do to make it perfect was to take the 2003 Clone Trooper, retool the torso, slap on a new head, sculpt a removable helmet, and the figure would be perfect and hold together well. As Hasbro did design this for kids first, the play feature of snap-on armor was more important and as such, didn't please collectors. And as someone who opens these, I didn't much care for it because it looks sloppy and you can't get the armor to stay on, that and the sculpt of the helmet wasn't so hot either. Also annoying: the lance's plastic is so bendy that I don't think I've seen one out of its box that can remain straight. It's just so poorly made you may as well forget it came in this set, because, well, you'll probably toss it in a box somewhere.

In short: as of today, this is the best armored Obi-Wan you can get. However, I'm holding out hope Hasbro revisits this with an armored Obi-Wan that holds together well and maybe even throws in a Speeder Bike with a less bendy lance for good measure. I know I'm not the only person who'd buy one or two or three.

Collector's Notes: Sometimes the ideas work and sometimes they don't. This box set is an excellent value because you get 5 figures, one of which is excellent, two you likely have, and two that are just OK at best. There are no known plans for a rerelease or new versions as of today, but with the upcoming Clone Wars TV show I fully expect the concept to be revisited and hopefully actually work a little bit better. I'd rather be sold two separate figures than one that doesn't really do a good job of either mode, which is really how this one turned out.

* - Yes, I know it's wrong, that's what the box said.

Day 198: November 20, 2006