Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 1,741: Rum Sleg

RUM SLEG Bounty Hunter
The Legacy Collection Basic Figures
Item No.:
Asst. 87535 No. 92915
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #BD09
Includes: Helmet, 2 blasters, backpack, L8-L9 piece
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $7.99
Availability: August 2009
Appearances: The Phantom Menace

Bio: The Boonta Eve Classic Podrace draws a huge crowd of spectators including bounty hunter Rum Sleg. Held just outside Mos Espa, the race is a death-defying competition, which doesn't stop young Anakin Skywalker from competing. (Taken from the figure's cardback.)

Image: Adam Pawlus' TV tray.

Commentary: At some point I think someone inside the Lucas camp decided to make any cool-looking character a bounty hunter, just because. Why not make him a space trucker? I have no idea, but Rum Sleg was a figure a few fans wanted and was one I found pretty exciting, as it's increasingly rare to see Hasbro release a completely new character. The red-suited creature was basically a big unknown before the figure came out, he had little history and his design was never fully explained. In the movie it was a guy in a suit-- was the skull-like mask his face, or just a mask? Hasbro's figure reveals it to be a mask, similar to that of noted slasher and movie star Jason Voorhees, best known for his appearance in the ongoing documentary series Friday the 13th. Behind the mask and under the helmet is a warty white skin, with hair-like things bundled over his neck. They extend beyond his helmet, and since (as far as I know) there is no photo reference of the costume under the helmet, this is literally it. As Hasbro does have a toyetic license of sorts to extend the character designs, filling in gaps, I don't yet know how true this is to the actual costume.

Sculpt is good-- the red suit has black and silver armor. Deco is fine-- nothing special, just does what it needs to do. This is a neat figure because it looks like it could be a background character or villain from any of a number of space toy lines or TV shows, it's not overtly Star Wars in appearance and, like I said, was a rare genuinely new character in the line. I doubt Hasbro will reissue him, but I doubt he'd sell poorly if they did. It's neat, it's unlike any other figure you have (if you don't have it), so I'd give it a strong "buy."

Collector's Notes: This one's not totally worthless on eBay, so you can get one for about eight bucks. I'd suggest trying to get him in a lot with his wave mates-- the L8-L9 build-a-droid is a genuine treat and one you should have.

--Adam Pawlus


Day 1,741: February 15, 2012

1 comment:

Graz73 said...

I really like this figure. He'd be a good candidate to include in the Clone Wars show.

If you look at that head under his helmet, it seems like his head is supposed to be a weequay. With the warty head and braid/dreadlock things. I bet he was intended to be a masked weekquay put painting the details under his helmet was considered unnecessary.