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