Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 1,394: Shahan Alama

SHAHAN ALAMA Bounty Hunters from Hostage Crisis Animated Series Episode
The Clone Wars Target Exclusive Gift Set
Item No.: Asst. 19540 No. 19543
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: Knife, stand, pistol, additional figures, crappy DVD
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $24.99
Availability: October 2010
Appearances: The Clone Wars

Bio: Bounty hunters and droids take senators hostage on Coruscant. Robonino, Shahan Alama, assassin droids and commando droids help Cad Bane force the release of Ziro the Hutt. The villainous posse infiltrates the Republic Senate, captures a small group of senators, and frees the imprisoned crime lord. Cunning and ruthless, the criminal gang gets the best of clone troopers, Senate commando guards, and even Anakin Skywalker before fleeing the planet. (Taken from the figure's packaging.)

Image: Adam Pawlus' desk.

Commentary: One of the fascinating things about the TV series The Clone Wars is that they take a lot of shortcuts-- for example, a lot of bodies are reused and recolored with new heads to popular backgrounds. Sound familiar, toy collectors? the Weequay were cited as being modular and extensively reused models, but the real stunner is that Shahan Alama is more than a head swap of Hondo Ohnaka. Actually, the only part the figures may share is the torso, as far as I an tell it looks very similar but I am not 100% sure. Shahan has new arms, including a cyborg arm, plus jointed knees-- which Hondo did not.

The new parts are great-- I love the robot arm and the armor is actually a separate piece, so it doesn't hinder movement and it actually looks more natural than most other similar armor on other toys. The belt is nice, and he has no problems holding on to his knife or blaster. It seems the weapons and his hands were made for one another, which is a nice change of pace. Short of ankle articulation, the figure is essentially perfect with great mobility and a top-notch sculpt. The figure isn't impressive, but it is very good-- I mean, to keep the animated look and feel, there's only so much you can do before it looks weird. This one looks great, and I hope Hasbro reuses the molds and makes more Weequay pirates as soon as they see fit.

Collector's Notes: I would call the set of four figures acceptable for the price-- you get two new alien bounty hunters, two robots, and a DVD with nine minutes of Bounty Hunter footage from the saga. It's a waste. Making these things may be cheap but I would have to wager a print catalog or an entire episode of the show would be a more effective sales tool. This thing just kinda sucks. The figure is good though, and the boxed set featuring Shahan, Robonino, and the pair of Commando Droids is hitting stores this week in the USA. With two mostly new figures and two good repaints, it's worth a look. This is a great example of why this is a fun line to collect, it's rare that we get criminal gangs in the movie line.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 1,394: October 18, 2010