Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 2,226: Sarco Plank (The Force Awakens)

SARCO PLANK Scavenger
The Force Awakens   Snow and Desert Figures
Item No.: Asst. B3963 No. B4176
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: Gun, bigger gun
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $7.99
Availability: September 2015
Appearances: The Force Awakens

Bio: A scavenger and trader who scours frontier worlds for riches, Sarco Plank must wear a specialized mask that keeps his native atmosphere circulating through his alien lungs. (Taken from the figure's packaging.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at Entertainment Earth now!

Click here to buy it at Amazon now!

Commentary:  I was considering waiting to write up Sarco Plank until I knew more about it, but then I found out he was included in a recent novel to menace Luke Skywalker.  With that in mind, I'm assuming that - like the Ephant Mon/Ki-Adi-Mundi thing in the comics - it's pretty likely that Sarco Plank won't be doing much of anything in the new movie beyond showing up and saying hello.  So I'm assuming we won't be seeing him do all that much, but really, I have no reason to assume this beyond the book connection.   It's a pretty neat figure!  

One of the things about character design in the prequels I didn't care for was more gowns and less pants.   This continues that trend.   Sure, the figure's legs are sliced up so his legs can move but chunky gown legs do impose limitations on movement, regardless of how you joint the legs.  The arms move fine, the neck is more or less stuck thanks to the design of the hood, and the legs swing forward but not enough to fit in most vehicles.   They did a decent job there, but the sculpting is really, genuinely something.   The exposed green skin and hair feels truly alien - even for Star Wars, you don't see a lot of green hairy guys. 

The face mask looks like a bug, with wonderfully intricate tampos giving it a weird, presumably reflective, form of light.  His cloak is insane - there's a great fabric pattern but also really nifty stitching, with an obvious change of texture about ankle-high on the figure.  What's more, if you look between his legs - and really, who wouldn't? - there's even more to see there.  The nutty people at Hasbro actually painted the interior of his pants, a detail you will never see unless you have one leg kicked out and the other one left alone.  Separately designed breathing gear is integrated to the head and as a backpack, which just adds to the weirdly alien look that - amazingly - continues this line's tradition of covering up most alien faces.   It's amazing how they really turned the whole creature design aspect of so many characters on its head by just not showing them to you.

As weapons go, he has a wrapped-up cobbled-together blaster by default which fits in his hands and works just fine.  There's no paint, and I assume it's accurate to the movie.  Minus the whole paint thing, at least.  It fits, it works.

It is joined by a "Combine Weapon" blaster which is similarly proportioned, but much larger.  It's silly, and you can plug it in to Ezra's mortar weapon and Kanan's Portal gun to make an incomprehensible and utterly worthless piece of hardware.  As a gun, it's decent - just big.   As these weapons go it's pretty nice, and only mildly ridiculous.  Sarco Plank can even hold it - a rarity for these things, so that's a plus.

I like this figure because it's really bizarre.   One of the great things about the original Star Wars was how we were treated to exotic forms of life with no backstory - they were just there.  Over the years, that got eaten away.  It's likely Sarco Plank will get more of an origin, and maybe we'll see him unmasked.  I hope not.  I really like the idea that there are some strange worlds inhospitable to humans with weirdly colored beings who, even in their presence, we may never really truly see.   I've got a lot of weird toys, and this one really does strike me as odd.  Get it if you can.

Collector's Notes: I got mine from Entertainment Earth.  

--Adam Pawlus

Day 2,226: October 29, 2015

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 2,224: Unkar's Thug (The Force Awakens)

UNKAR'S THUG and BB-8 and Jakku Scavenger
The Force Awakens 2-Packs
Item No.: Asst. B3955 No.  B3956
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: 2 action figures, blaster, staff, net launcher
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $14.99
Availability: September 2015
Appearances: The Force Awakens

Bio: The strong-armed bullies who work for junk dealer Unkar Plutt help keep his scavenging business running on the remote world of Jakku. (Taken from the figure's packaging.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at Entertainment Earth now!

Click here to buy it at Amazon now!

Commentary: From the copy, I'm guessing Unkar's Thug might be one of Rey's coworkers.  With his similar pole and similar employment, it would stand to reason that they may see each other at the office Christmas parties.   For the time being Unkar's Thug has no actual name and may represent what I consider to be everything you should do with a new movie line.  Specifically: 1. make obscure dudes who people will buy before they know any better.  2. Package weird dudes with the dude people want.   It's a win-win.  I don't know if I like Unkar's Thug - or for that matter, Unkar - but I do know that right now, things like the Guavian Enforcer seem damned exciting.  Removed from context, Unkar's Thug is actually a pretty fascinating costume.

Packaged with a blaster in his hand and shown with a pole in an illustration, this costume looks not too far removed from some of the lower-budget costumes on Tatooine in Star Wars and Return of the Jedi.  With the blacked-out goggles and creepy mask evocative of Darth Vader, we know he's probably not a good guy just by looking at him.  We also know he's not wearing pants, as robes and gowns became the norm for this franchise and I find that troubling.  Seriously, what's wrong with pants?   The quilted vest looks like a lot of heat for a desert world, but we don't know if this guy is human or some sort of snow alien.  We do know that Abrams' crew brilliantly bypassed the burden of making new and believably Star Wars-y masks by giving him survival gear that looks like something out of this galaxy.   The gloves and shoes are nice, but he has problems sitting thanks to the bulky robes.  This figure feels a little undercooked with a squared-off butt area and the aforementioned can't-quite-sit legs.   The gun fits in his hand, the pole fits in his other hand, plus he looks good.  He's exquisite if you see this as a 3-pack and him as a $5 action figure.  (I do.)

With no new movie on our radar yet, this guy is really only measurable against the yardstick of other desert dwellers - Jawas, Tuskens, and the like - and he looks like a more genteel, more L.L. Bean cast-off take on that.  Those fancy shoes and vests just don't come from any space dumpster.  If I stuck this guy in the back of Jabba's Palace or a cantina display, it'd fit.   If you saw this guy as a background alien in a comic, it would be convincing.   By not buying this set, you are a bad person.   For $15, it's probably the best deal in the entire line - admittedly not high praise given the dollars vs. value proposition so far, but 3 figures for $15 works for me.  I assume his role in the movie will be about as fleshed-out as Bane Malar.

Collector's Notes: I got mine from Entertainment Earth.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 2,224: October 27, 2015

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 2,222: Jakku Scavenger (Teedo, The Force Awakens)

JAKKU SCAVENGER and BB-8 and Unkar's Thug
The Force Awakens 2-Packs
Item No.: Asst. B3955 No.  B3956
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: 2 action figures, blaster, staff, net launcher
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $14.99
Availability: September 2015
Appearances: The Force Awakens

Bio: Teedo is a small, brutish scavenger that roams Jakku's vast wasteland on his semi-mechanical Luggabeast. (Taken from the figure's packaging.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at Entertainment Earth now!

Click here to buy it at Amazon now!

Commentary:  He has a name!  And apparently, a Luggabeast.  Teedo's derivative name is better than the on-box Jakku Scavenger, which bears a TM while Teedo does not.  Curious!  This is a good set, with some bad gear.  Teedo makes for a nice figure, but his accessory is one of my least favorite in the line.  And I hate a lot of the accessories in this line.

This little guy is most likely a new species.   Like his companion thug, his face is covered so we don't get a good look at him - this has the added bonus of making him appear more menacing (see also: Jason Voorhees, Tusken Raiders) while employing a great cheat of making the movies look more real.   Subtlety and nuance are often lost as budgets increase, movie makers are more concerned with overly realistic designs and showing them off - here, at least so far, it looks like we're seeing a more conservative approach to alien design by considering the environment and pulling back.

By not showing the face, it's left to your imagination - we see some green reptilian skin on the back of his head, but we have no idea if he looks cute, goofy, or terrifying yet.   We may never see his face on-screen, like with the Jawas and Tusken Raiders.  (I am assuming this is an intentional nod.)   Mystery is good, but licensing partners want to show and tell us everything - it's a bad idea.  Not showing us Boba Fett's true face from 1979 through 2002 paid great dividends for the character, and it's possible the approach could work here too.  The little green guy is wrapped in beige cloth (shades of the Tuskens) and sports bandoliers crossed on his chest (see also, Jawas).  The mask is unique, with "snowshoes" for the desert and little bits of gear dangling off his costume.   While a simplistic design compared to the preposterously ornate gowns and suits of the prequels, it feels like it would be right at home in Jabba's Palace or a Cantina.  Were he to show up in a comic, you'd assume he belonged there.  He's Star Wars-y.  He also doesn't feel cheap despite being short and one of three figures in a great $15 set.

I like the pole accessory.  I love the figure.  I hate the big accessory.  He comes with a spring-loaded rocket launcher with nets on it, and if you're old you may recall similar accessories in other lines.  The designs are tough to execute, and generally don't play well - trying to catch an enemy in a spring-loaded net is tough, and that's when they're designed sensibly.  (Scavage Predator had a bola that worked quite well, though.)  This launcher is far too big for the figure to hold, and requires  you to deploy two flick rockets simultaneously in order for it to fly.   Needless to say, this does not work well.   The gun is too big for a 6-inch figure, and some sort of pole or tripod to prop it up would be nice.  And so would a better launching mechanism.   And a cloth net, rather than this fragile-looking plastic one.

For all I know the weapon integrates with an as-of-yet unrevealed Luggabeast, or maybe it serves some other better purpose.  Right now, it's a cruddy gimmicky thing that doesn't work well and prevents me from netting BB-8 like the photos suggest - an actual small cloth net I could drop on him would be more effective.   It's not fun, and it doesn't work well.   So - the figure is good, the accessory is not.  I still strongly suggest buying the figure, just be prepared for a weapon that should make children cry.

Collector's Notes: I got mine from Entertainment Earth.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 2,222: October 23, 2015