Figure of the Day: Day 405: Jawa

JAWAS (The short one)
Power of the Force Collection 2
Item No.: Asst. 69605 No. 69607
Number: n/a
Includes: Blaster
Action Feature: Light-up eyes
Retail: $9.99
Availability: Fall 1996
Appearances: Star Wars

Bio: Jawas were typically short humanoid natives of Tatooine. They were often scavengers, seeking out technology for sale or trade in the deep deserts in their huge sandcrawler transports. (Stolen from Wookieepedia.)

Image: Adam Pawlus' toy shelves.

Commentary: Ahhh, Jawas. Disgusting creatures, but great toys. In 1996, Hasbro put out this two-pack and it sold extremely well in many markets, as a lot of us bought several of them for what we figured was for the eventual release of a new Sandcrawler. Which, it turns out, was released in 2004. The figures are fairly simple, but it's not like they needed to do too much. You have light-up eyes, you have articulated arms, and you have a uni-leg. It might sound crappy, but keep in mind you got a tall Jawa and a short Jawa in a set together for a mere $4.99. The sculpting is good, you can see lots of texture and ragged bits of their cloaks as well as detail around the faces. Sure, it could be a little better, but for the time this was one of the shining beacons of light in the modern Star Wars action figure line-- after all, they aren't muscular, they aren't beefy, and they don't come with blasters as big as they are. (Plus these shipped in the same case as the "Attack" R5-D4-- so you can guess how awesome these looked just by comparison alone.)

The shorter Jawa has a pointier head, and since it's a little more small and such, looks like the original 1978 figure just a little bit more than his taller counterpart. His hand is a bit worse at gripping weapons, and his light-up eyes are great. The plastic is darker, and it adds a lot of variety to the line that two of the same sculpt would never have done.

Collector's Notes: This mold was reused a few times. In 2004, it was repackaged with the Jawa Sandcrawler vehicle, but without its weapons. Also in 2004, Hasbro rereleased these figures with new, dirty paint applications and a display base-- if you only get one set of Jawas, that Original Trilogy Collection set is easily the best overall. Hasbro has several other modern Jawa figures as well. One came with a Gonk Droid in 1999, another was packaged with a Ronto in 1997, and another still is coming in a few short weeks as a two-pack with the LIN Droid. Jawa lovers, you've got options.

Day 405: June 15, 2007