Figure of the Day: Day 257: Naboo Soldier

NABOO SOLDIER Battle of Naboo
The Saga Collection
Item No.: Asst. 85770 No. 87085
Number: 050
Includes: Big Freaking Gun
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $6.99
Availability: Fall 2005
Appearances: The Phantom Menace

Bio: Though Naboo is a peaceful world, the people of the planet understand that peace comes at the price of vigivlance. Outnumberd and outgunned by the Trade Federation, many of the humans of Naboo step up and volunteer when it comes time to rise up against the occupying droid armies and retake their cities. (Taken from the figure's cardback.)

Image: Adam's toy shelf.

Commentary: Keeping the names straight of all the various Naboo Soldier figures can be a real trial, so I prefer just to identify them by color or hat. This particular release has an unusually bulky costume with an unusually small head, which makes it a very amusing figure to look at. It has a peculiar knee joint that (in my findings) has been very stiff, but hey, that's just one of the figure's dozen points of articulation. It's a little generic, but that can be a good thing with figures like this-- Hasbro could recolor it and give it a different head next year, and it might make the basis for any of countless comic- or novel-inspired action figures. There's very little detail here, so once you get past the fact that the figure is practically super-poseable, it should fit in nicely with the figures Hasbro made from 1999 for the first prequel. Also, the weapon is reused from one of the Naboo Soldier figures from 1999, so it's unusually large and has two grips. At least I think it's a second grip, as I do not know a lot about guns.

Collector's Notes: Fans love army builders. Fans hate Episode I. What happens when you have a figure that combines both? Well, it depends on where you live. Where I shop, the Naboo Soldier was quite tough to find, although I have seen email complaining he's a real pegwarmer. I think I've seen close to a half dozen, two of which were on some sort of freak clearance when the figure was still new. It's a nice addition to you growing collection if you like prequel toys, otherwise skip it. For customizers, the figure is nicely generic-- you could probably make something really cool out of this one. Kudos to Hasbro for having the guts to revisit Episode I again, as you can count the number of waves focused on the first prequel since 2001 on one hand.

Day 257: January 18, 2007