Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 1,769: Star Tours Jedi Padawan

JEDI PADAWAN Small Boy
Star Tours Jedi Training Academy Set
Item No.: No. 87801
Number: n/a
Includes: Lightsaber, 4 additional figures
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $34.99
Availability: June 2009
Appearances: n/a

Bio: STAR TOURS takes you to the Jedi Training Academy where you train to be a Jedi Knight! You and your fellow Padawans will experience the power of the Force and learn to battle with a lightsaber from a Jedi Master. May the Force be with you! (Taken from the figure's box.)

Image: Adam Pawlus' big AT-AT.

Commentary: After thousands of figures, I think I have a sort of Stockholm Syndrome when it comes to Hasbro reusing the same bodies again and again. I should be irritated that this Jedi Padawan was part of a fairly expensive boxed set you could only get at a theme park, but it does have a new head and that's pretty cool. The kid has extremely short hair, dark skin, and reuses the same body we saw on the likes of Ashla in 2003. When you get right down to it, this set has 5 figures but the actual retail value is closer to $20-$25. Anyway.

Despite reusing a 2003 body, the head sculpt is really quite good-- the eye paint is some of Hasbro's best, the sculpt is very lifelike, the hair texture is excellent, but there's a reason for this. We have no concept of what this kid should look like. When it comes to the human face it's quite easy to say "hey, that dude looks wrong" unless we have no frame of reference. Since I have no idea if this is based on a real person or is a mishmash of kids from around Hasbro, I can only say that the paint is crisp, the design is fantastic, and the kid looks happy. Because it's not from any real source, it's basically an action figure of a tourist in Jedi gear, or it could fill out any Jedi training diorama you might have. There's no denying this is a wonderful figure with a fantastic paint job, but it's hard to enthusiastically recommend an anonymous extra when there are hundreds (or a thousand) other great figures of more famous faces you should get first. Still, I wouldn't advise you to skip it-- the overall quality of work is some of Hasbro's best.

Collector's Notes: This figure's price on eBay is odd. Individually, he sells for $10, but the complete set of 5 figures goes for $25ish. So it looks like the sum is cheaper than its parts, which you should keep in mind when getting these. Get it in the set if you can, just remember that you're basically buying yet another spare Darth Vader and four nameless human Jedi characters.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 1,769: March 26, 2012