Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,070: Garindan (Custom)

GARINDAN (Manufactured Custom)
Fan-Produced Custom Figure
Item No.: No. n/a
Manufacturer: n/a
Number: n/a
Includes: Black reproduction of Cloud Car Pilot communicator
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $39.00
Availability: ca. March 2022
Appearances: Star Wars

Bio: Stan Solo Creations custom reproduction action figure. This figure is professionally made in the vintage style. It is scaled to work with the 3-3/4” vintage figures. This figure is injection molded plastic. This is a new loose figure. (Stolen from the Stan Solo Creations web site. There is no bio.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at eBay now!

Commentary: When some of the fan-made unlicensed figures were called "customs" I wasn't sure if that seemed like a fair shake - until I got Garindan. At first glance it's the Kenner-style Long Snoot snitch of your dreams. You get a vinyl cape like Kenner might have done in 1979, on a skinnier build, with a Cloud Car Pilot communicator cast in black. Pretty cool, right?

Then I got it in my hands, and while it's a perfectly nice thing to display on your Creature Cantina, it's actually a hacked-up mass-produced 1990s Kenner Power of the Force Garindan - so it's actually a custom with a large production run. The head and slightly thicc limbs tipped me off, so it would not be wrong to say this is a customized version of existing toys. It does a great job of mixing up 20th century styles to give you something you'd probably recognize as Kenner-vintage-retro-chic, but the snoot would've needed more work to not be a dead giveaway. The outfit is pretty simple, and the cuts and wrinkles are all pretty good. Too good, really. Thanks to the poses of the shiny gloves, at first blush, it totally looks like a new old-school alien toy though.

I know a lot of fans say "these are better than anything Hasbro could do!" When it comes to Slave Leia and some of the R2 units, I'd agree with that. But not with Garindan. He's not bad, but at $40 you may just want an actual authentic 1997 Garindan figure instead. After all, that one's only worth a couple of bucks on eBay right now. There's no substitute for a weird skinny figure with a vinyl cape, I know, but just be aware that what you're getting isn't exactly the complete newly-sculpted retro package.

Collector's Notes: I got mine from one of Stan Solo's US resellers.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,070: October 5, 2023

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 789: Garindan (1997 Debut)

GARINDAN Long Snoot
Power of the Force Collection 3
Item No.: Asst. 69705 No. 69706
Manufacturer: Kenner
Number: n/a
Includes: Blaster
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $4.99
Availability: Summer 1997
Appearances: Star Wars

Image: Adam Pawlus' mousepad.

Availability: Click here to buy it at eBay now!

Bio: Garindan's eyes were hidden beneath dark goggles, as they were extremely sensitive to the harsh sunlight of Tatooine. His name translates to "Blessed One", "burnt wood", "dust from a windstorm", "ugly", and "toast" in five different languages. (Stolen from Wookieepedia.)

Commentary: It took 20 years for Kenner to crank out the very first Garindan action figure, and for its day, it was pretty good-- it also signaled the start of a new, bad direction for the toys. With a cloak, a communicator molded into his hand, and a nicely detailed face, fans gobbled this figure up, even though it wasn't colored totally correctly. With the little comm to contact Sandtroopers and a gun of his own, he was a welcome addition to the line and a much-needed new face for the Cantina or the streets of Mos Eisley. Unfortunately, Hasbro gave him a non-removable cloak which prevented him from sitting, or really doing much of anything but standing there. Arm articulated was restricted by this plastic garment, which effectively reduced his number of points of articulation to about two or three, depending on what you consider acceptable. More a statue than a toy, the figure showed signs of good design marred by one bad accessory which can ruin the whole thing. Still, fans as a whole liked it (myself included) so it's hard to complain too much.

Collector's Notes: This figure saw rerelease in 1998 with a Freeze Frame Action Slide bonus, and an entirely new Garindan figure was released in 2007. The 2007 release is arguably superior in almost every way, so if you want Garindan, I suggest you get the new one.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 789: July 3, 2008

Figure of the Day: Day 113: Garindan

GARINDAN Escape from Mos Eisley
The Saga Collection
Item No.: Asst. 85770 No. 86800
Number: 034
Includes: Blaster, Commlink, Cloak, Personalized Display Stand, Bonus Holographic Figure
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $6.99
Availability: Spring 2006
Appearances: Star Wars

Bio: This Mos Eisley-based spy trails the two wanted droids, C-3PO and R2-D2, as they meet up with Luke and Obi-Wan at Docking Bay 94. He uses his comlink to inform the Imperial stormtroopers of the location. His actions enable the stormtroopers to engage the Millennium Falcon's new crew just before they make a daring escape. (Taken from the figure's cardback.)

Image: Adam Pawlus' TV tray.

Commentary: In 1997, Kenner first made Garindan and it was considered fantastic, with its molded commlink, plastic cloak, and reasonably non-muscular build. Today, Hasbro's remake of the alien brings near super-articulation, even better sculpting, a cloth cloak, holsters for accessories, and much, much more. Actually, not so much more. Pretty much exactly just what I wrote there. Since the figure can sit, be posed in a variety of ways, and has amazingly improved detailing, it should be a painless purchase. Of course, there's more to it, as he has little pointy ears under his hood, which is really the area the figure tends to fall apart. Everything on it is nearly perfect, except the hood doesn't always rest on the head perfectly-- although it does so better than most (if not all) other cloth hooded figures, so it shows Hasbro is indeed aiming for big improvements and we'll probably see even better cloth capes with hoods in the coming year.

The figure isn't perfect, but it's getting there. Surely, in another 9 years we'll get a version with knees and ball-jointed elbows, which are really the only two features this figure lacks. His boots have articulation, as do his shoulders, wrists, elbows, waist, and hips. Oh, and he's got the obligatory ball-jointed neck required on pretty much every action figure since the Saga Collection started. It's a fine example of an upgrade, but for the picky people expecting it to be everything, well, it isn't. But it's very, very good and I don't feel it wasn't worth the money, so get one if you see it.

Collector's Notes: Now available pretty much anywhere, this figure is one of many new releases based on the original film-- and naturally, people are snapping it up. Cantina aliens still seem to be quite popular even if they're characters people bought before, so hopefully continued decent sales of figures like Garindan will lead to even more Cantina aliens in the future. Before Garindan (and Momaw Nadon and Hem Dazon) were re-released, the last wave with more than one Cantina alien was early 2005, when Hasbro put out the equally impressive Trevagg, Myo, and Dannik Jerriko figures. Well, the pipe smoker kinda sucked, but the other two where fantastic. Here's hoping for more!

Day 113: August 27, 2006