Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,033: Kithaba (2023 Reissue, The Vintage Collection)

KITHABA Barada, Again
The Vintage Collection 3 3/4-Inch Action Figure
Item No.: Asst. E7763 No. F7338
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #56
Includes: Blaster, pike, shoulder strap
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $16.99
Availability: April 2023
Appearances: Return of the Jedi
Bio: Kithaba, a Klatooinian servant of Jabba the Hutt on Tatooine, escorted the Rebels to meet their fate at the Great Pit of Carkoon. (Taken from the Amazon description. There is no bio.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at Entertainment Earth! 

Click here to buy it at Amazon! 

Click here to buy it at eBay!

Commentary: Pulling the strings on Kithaba naming is annoying. In 1985, we had an action figure of this character named Barada. And it seems at some point in the 1990s, Decipher decided to call him Kithaba. Maybe there's another footnote in the Lucasfilm archives, but I don't know, and some of the naming of that era wasn't terribly consistent anyway. This figure is a reissue of the 2012 Kithaba [FOTD #1,825] which had either a brown or a red bandanna. The 2023 reissue only has red, and a few other deco changes.

The 2023 one is arguably the superior being. The dirty paint on the sleeves and much of the painted detail is ink dots - if you squint, you can see them. Before it looked a little more realistic, but most of our eyes are no longer good enough to notice the little pixels on the figure. Even the eyes have a little shine to them now, and there's a smidgen of pink outlining the eye - possibly to indicate the white actor under a mask? It's a neat detail, and subtle. 2023 Kithaba also has (off-center) silver buttons painted on the pouches on his shoulder strap, which is arguably an improvement if they were on straight.

Also sure to delight fans, the elbow and ankle joints are now properly colored to match the surrounding boot and shirt. The earlier releases were a mismatch and while ugly, it was easier to overlook at $9.99. At $16.99 for an old mold where Hasbro undoubtedly made their money back, we have higher expectations. Mercifully, they were met here.

The figure includes a pike just like the Power of the Force original, plus a nice blaster with some painted detail and a swell holster. I think this figure costs a little too much for a reissue, but at least you can point to some improvements. It's also significantly cheaper than the 2012 release which (as I write this) seems to be over $100 on Amazon, which is ridiculous. But I'm so old, I remember being sold a $2 Kenner Bag Barada out of some guy's garage. (Hi, Ron, if you're still out there!) It's a nice update of a classic figure, and if you don't get too close it's arguably the best version to date. Get it if you have a skiff that needs friends.

Collector's Notes: I got mine from Entertainment Earth.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,033: May 30, 2023

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,032: Han Solo (Endor, The Retro Collection)

HAN SOLO (Endor, Kenner Style)
The Retro Collection 3 3/4-Inch Action Figure
Item No.: Asst. F6866 No. F7276
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: Blaster, coat
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $11.99
Availability: February 2023
Appearances: Return of the Jedi

Bio: The Star Wars Retro Collection features design and detailing inspired by the original 1970s Star Wars figures. (Stolen from the marketing copy. Packaging has no bio.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at Entertainment Earth now!

Click here to buy it at Amazon now! 

Click here to buy it at eBay now!

Commentary: As a kid, Han Solo (Endor) was a figure that took me a long time to get - you just couldn't stumble over one in the flea markets, antique shows, or garage sales of the late 1980s. I think mine cost me the then-princely sum of $10, and that's about what this 2023 release costs. You lucky devils. While not as crisply sculpted as the 1984 original, and while the skin in the head is a little more ghostly, it's still pretty good.

Luke looks almost like a different sculpt, I think Leia was a different head, and Lando's sufficiently different - but Han? Han looks like someone really worked hard to get the painted facial details right. The sculpt is a little crisper than the other guys in the wave, but you can still see some softness and weirdness, particularly in the vest. It feels like the figure, with his five points of articulation, suffered a little generation loss when being copied for a modern figure - but we've seen worse. The sculpted wrinkles on the shirt and pants are good, but not as deep as the original. They still stand out as being better than most of the retro guys, but weirdly, the right hand was not improved in its design to hold a blaster. Other figures improved this a bit here and there, but not Han. His pose was also altered slightly, as a 1984 original's left hand will rest a bit on his hip when it hangs down. The 2023 version swings by without touching it.

Sadly, some of the figure's original texture is completely gone. Han 1984 had a bit of a feel on his vest and the 2023 one is flat and shiny. The pants and shirt are pretty similar, but the hair definitely lost some sculpted detail in the reissue process. I kind of prefer the new hair color, though, the brown just looks a little bit better.

I would say this is one of the better reissue retro figures, even if he's not perfect. If the face skin was a little less translucent and the right hand was a little better at holding the gun, I'd say this is a winner. The coat is good - it might even be a good replacement for a lost original's, despite not being the same. I guess Hasbro can't (or doesn't want to) perfectly replicate the past, but at least they came close enough that I don't feel a little insulted or hurt by it.

Hasbro, if you're reading - I'd love to see you guys do a "retro remastered" line with slightly better colors, revised sculpts, and improved things like hands that can better grip the accessories. I'd pay. I think others would too, especially if they came on non-weathered cardbacks (make 'em j-hooks if you gotta, or leave out the punched hole completely.) And remember, Return of the Jedi is 40 - that means any kid who was old enough to see this in the theater is also over 40. The nostalgia window is shrinking.

Collector's Notes: I got mine from Entertainment Earth.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,032: May 25, 2023

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,031: HK-87 (The Black Series)

HK-87 Droid Assassin
The Black Series 2023 Closed Box Line Look The Mandalorian Packaging
Item No.: Asst. E8908 No. F5533
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #29 - The Mandalorian
Includes: Blaster, cape
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $24.99
Availability: April 2023
Appearances: The Mandalorian

Bio: Based on an antiquated assassin droid design, a pair of HK droids serve as bodyguards for the Magistrate Morgan Elsbeth on the world of Corvus. (Taken from the packaging.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at Entertainment Earth now!

Click here to buy it at Amazon now!

Click here to buy it at eBay now!

Commentary: The HK-87 droid was a choice that made me shrug, but I was pleasantly surprised with this one. The robot head looks different than most of the other ones, and it has a cool helmet and lots of tan, gray, and red plus a cloak. While it resembles a lot of existing concept designs, most specifically an unused Ralph McQuarrie bounty hunter, the coloring makes it look more like it got squeezed through prequel and Disney-era dsigns with colors that seem to fit the post-Return of the Jedi toy world. I like it, is where I'm going.

If you've been buying The Black Series droids like K-2SO and Battle Droids, HK-87 is a lot like it. The range of movement on the shoulder is really impressive, moving in and out and up and down. The elbow bends, the forearm swivels, and the legs all move quite nicely but the limbs remain spindly. You have to balance him right or he'll eventually sag just enough to flop over. The little details on this guy are great, with little spokes jutting out of the knees, little silvery bits on the elbows and knees, and sculpted joints for the toes on the bottom of the feet. The greeblie-covered face looks a lot like the old McQuarrie concept design, and the cloth hangs nicely over the left arm. It's the real deal - and I assume he'll show up on the Ahsoka show if the scuttlebutt is right.

While I wish there were a 3 3/4-inch version - mostly because there are no 6-inch playsets and very few vehicles - it's a good figure. He can hold his blaster and he looks like something that belongs in the orbit of original trilogy-era stuff, even if "droid wearing clothes" was pretty scarce stuff back then. It's a good combo platter of McQuarrie concepts and prequel-era droid know-how, in a closed-box window style that proved to be so unpopular that Hasbro already shifted gears away from them before basic, normal, regular The Black Series figures shipped in them. It's a cruddy design that just shows how wasteful and packed with empty space these boxes are, but at least it seems durable. You'll just need to pray nobody swapped out the figure and re-sealed it down the road, which should do wonders for paranoia and collectibility. So if you're reading this review in the future and want this one, maybe you'll just want to buy a loose one off of eBay.

Collector's Notes: I got mine from Entertainment Earth.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,031: May 23, 2023

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,030: Hunter (The Vintage Collection)

HUNTER The Bad Batch
The Vintage Collection 3 3/4-Inch Action Figure
Item No.: Asst. E7763 No. F7330
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #268
Includes: 2 blasters, knife, backpack, helmet
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $16.99
Availability: April 2023
Appearances: The Bad Batch
Bio: I think I'm a clone now. Every pair of genes is a hand-me-down. (There is no bio.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at Entertainment Earth!   

Click here to buy it at Amazon!  

Click here to buy it at eBay!

Commentary: While there are some disappointing figures in this wave, Hunter is excellent. It you got The Black Series Hunter [FOTD #2,787] it seems it's pretty much the exact same design, with slightly different joints and it seems to be missing a couple of paint applications. The 6-inch figure had some red vertical tripes around his armor underoos, the 3 3/4-inch does not have them. Otherwise? Just as good.

My only real complaints about this figure are whiny. One, it took a couple of years to get this figure - he was on The Clone Wars before COVID, and he's the only member of the team we've had so far in this scale. Two, he's got more gear than he needs. You get the commando rifle, the tiny clone pistol, a helmet, and a knife - and there's still no holster for the pistol. There's also a swell backpack, and I wish it could pop open to store the blaster. Each of the accessories are good. The figure's paint job is good. The articulation is good. Presumably we'll see this mold used to get other clones, a new Delta Squad, and so on.

I love the sculpt - it's just like the big one, with an expressive face, a great helmet, but there's one big difference. His armor doesn't have sculpted dents - there are some silver painted scuffs, but the armor itself lacks teeny tiny dents. That's a good choice. The joints all move smoothly, with a great cut in the elbows so he can hold a blaster with both hands. The hips are greatly improved with an excellent and smooth range of motion. You can store the knife on his wrist, and he can hold the blasters. Most amazingly, though, the helmet fits really well - not too snug, not too lose. This feels like a figure engineered by someone who understands how a consumer will interact with it, and you should be able to make good use of him in vehicles, playsets, or even just on your desk. The grays and reds all look fantastic. His facial expression and painted detail look like a cross of the animation and real life. This is one of those figures that goes on your top 10 list of the year.

Unless you hate The Bad Batch you should buy this figure. It's great. I wouldn't be surprised to see Hasbro reissue it in a multipack at a later date, but if they don't, fans will be chasing him for years. Kids will want him, fans will want him, collectors of course will want him. He's a major character and one of the best-made figures in the size. Get it, it's worth it.

Collector's Notes: I got mine from Entertainment Earth.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,030: May 18, 2023

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,029: 4-LOM (The Retro Collection)

4-LOM and Zuckuss, Amazon Exclusive
The Retro Collection 3 3/4-Inch Action Figure
Item No.: No. F6983
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: Blaster
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $27.99
Availability: March 2023
Appearances: The Empire Strikes Back

Bio: Cold, calculating droid 4-LOM and Gand bounty hunter Zuckuss were summond by Darth Vader to locate the Millennium Falcon and her crew in STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKE BACK - and together, they make a deadly pair. (Taken from the figure's outer packaging.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at Amazon now!

Commentary: There's something funny about 4-LOM being an Amazon exclusive. As one of the very last The Empire Strikes Back action figures, it may have been first sent to many homes from a Kenner mail-in offer. (Remember those?) You could send off some proof-of-purchases and get a free figure. The reason for that was to clear shelves - kids would buy a few figures they maybe didn't want to get the special new mail-away figure, making stores and Kenner happy without markdown dollars or buybacks or clearances. Now, they just prefer to sell the figures and have the figures sell out - and right now, 4-LOM is busy not selling out on Amazon.

But how is he? I was surprised they reissued him, because you could buy a Kenner original relatively cheaply - and while there are differences, they are not as significant as Zuckuss. The brown rubery vest isn't identical, but is extremely close. A lot of the detail on the front - especially the shoulder straps - was smoothed out and removed, but on the backside it looks pretty much the same. The head is also smoothed out, losing some of those deep grooves and bug-like skin markings. The eyes and facial detail is also a little washed out, sort of like someone had a meter to push the depth up a bit so the colors match and the basic shapes are there, but if you get in close, you'll realize this is the new one. This is annoying, because an eBay photo on your phone looks pretty much the same for the 1982 or 2023 releases - only in person can you easily tell the difference.

Under the robes, there is some loss of detail but at least from the parts I examined, it's not as bad as the head. Much stranger are the foot peg holes - they're small. Very small. Compared to other Kenner reissues, they're tiny - closer to The Vintage Collection foot holes. As much as I'd like to give them the benefit of the doubt, this is just sloppy work - foot peg holes should be a consistent size in a line, especially if the original figure had room for a standard, bigger one. You won't be able to fit him on old Kenner foot pegs. Articulation is the same, though, so there's that.

The accessories are largely pretty good. The fabric on his outfit is very similar, but not identical, and it feels pretty good for a material sourced 40 years after its original release. Similarly, the blaster isn't bad - you lose a little sculpted detail fidelity, but also they scrubbed some of the recessed circles on the bottom of the rifle off the 1982 original. That's an interesting choice - I like a major (but not significant) change so fans can immediately identify a reproduction beyond "compared to the original, it doesn't look as good." Heck, they could put a little R on these for all I care.

I'm always torn between "this is good" and "this is terrible" on some of the retro remakes. Hasbro is repeatedly doing what I assume has got to be an intentionally bad job with soft detail, because after six full waves and various exclusives, if they're still getting it wrong, it has to be a choice. You can't possibly make this many accidents - and if you see the new Retro Indiana Jones, woof. Horrible, worst one yet. Thanks to 4-LOM being mostly covered in cloth and he's able to hold his blaster well, I think this figure - standing on a shelf - is a fine replacement for an original. But you can also just go to eBay and buy an original for about $20. And if you have a junker original, you could probably steal the remake's parts to fix him up. I don't think the set is an improvement in any way, but in the sense that it's got a few differences, it's interesting. You'll want to keep the originals, though.

Collector's Notes: I got mine at Amazon. It was delivered to the wrong house. My friend's evaporated en route. This set carries a curse.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,029: May 16, 2023

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,028: Reva (Third Sister, The Black Series)

REVA (Third Sister)
The Black Series 2020 Line Look Obi-Wan Kenobi Packaging
Item No.: Asst. E8908 No. F4362
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #03 - Obi-Wan Kenobi
Includes: Double-bladed lightsaber, 2 single-bladed lightsabers
Action Feature: All four blades are removable
Retail: $24.99
Availability: July 2022
Appearances: Obi-Wan Kenobi

Bio: Obi-Wan Kenobi is set years after the dramatic events of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith where Kenobi faced the corruption of his friend and Jedi apprentice, Anakin Skywalker turned Sith Lord Darth Vader . (Yes, this useless copy is taken from the packaging.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at Entertainment Earth now!

Click here to buy it at Amazon now!

Commentary: "Did Hasbro make too much?" is a common query in my Q&A column, and for the assortment - not necessarily the figure - featuring Reva (Second Sister) the answer seems to be "yes." There's limitless demand for Darth Vader toys - he'll sell eventually - but everybody else in the wave tended to sit around a bit in my neck of the woods. And there are good figures in there too - this one, packed at one per case, is no slouch. As I write this in April, she's $17.77 on Amazon. That's usually a sign of production exceeding demand, and the reaction of fans to the character before the show was, as always, even-tempered and sensible. (I'm kidding, of course, because people are monsters.) Hasbro did do a good job of ensuring Reva as out as a Retro, Vintage, and Black Series just after the show was on - and you need to do that for these things, lest the attention span wander. Sadly late is late, and having a ton of arguably identical 3 3/4-inch Reva product was a bit too much at once, despite the fact they're all excellent.

 There are a lot of middling figures, but Reva turned out really well. She stands nicely, the joints are all cut well, the outfit accurately replicates what we saw on-screen, her face looks like Moses Ingram, and they even did a good job getting the hair about as good as I would expect on a painted figure of this size. Her lips are well-painted, her nose plastic is just the right translucency that a little bit of light passes through it (making it seem more lively), and her eyes shine nicely. In case it isn't obvious, I'm looking for things to nitpick, and can't find any. Hasbro did well here.

Her costume is great, with an Empire brand on her right arm and the shoulder armor plus separately molded pauldrons. The range of arm movement is excellent, from the rotating shoulders to the better-than-average bend in her elbows. And while looking at her gloves, you can see a couple of buttons on right left wrist that didn't get painted. Odds are most fans won't notice nor care, but it's the kind of thing you'd like to see fully decorated if you shell out $25 for an action figure given mot of her is molded in color. Her cape sits nicely too, with a new, simple cut that just lets gravity do its thing. The boots are great, too.

I took a while to open this figure - and a lot of figures - and that's no knock on it's quality. There's just too dang much coming out right now. Hasbro should be applauded for cranking out what may well be the definitive release of the figure the first time, because it's unlikely the show or its characters will be making a heck of a lot of return appearances given how the anticipation quickly resulted in a wave of indifference. If you have any love for the show and this character in particular, this a good figure that interacts with her accessories well and is easy to keep standing up on my desk. It's a low bar but with this line, "doesn't fall over" and "can hold lightsaber" are things we don't always get.

Collector's Notes: I got mine from Entertainment Earth.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,028: May 11, 2023

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,027: Cassian Andor (Aldahani Mission, The Vintage Collection)

CASSIAN ANDOR (Aldahani Mission)
The Vintage Collection 3 3/4-Inch Action Figure
Item No.: Asst. E7763 No. F7329
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #267
Includes: Hat, blaster
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $16.99
Availability: April 2023
Appearances: Andor
Bio: In an era filled with danger, deception, and intrigue, Cassian Andor embarks on a path that will turn him into the rebel hero who will challenge the evil Galactic Empire. (Stolen from Hasbro Pulse. There is no bio.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at Entertainment Earth now!

Click here to buy it at Amazon now!

Commentary: Hasbro really phoned in Cassian Andor (Aldahani Mission). The Black Series one - which I skipped - is a bit better. The Vintage Collection release is a retool of a retool. You can see the mold marking on his foot for The Black Series 3 3/4-inch Shoretrooper C0665, so you can immediately tell that they reused those boots - and they're the wrong boots. The arms and torso are reused from The Mandalorian Morak figures Migs Mayfeld [FOTD #2,972] and Din Djarin [FOTD #2,971] from last year. Only Cassian's head, "skirt," and hat are new - he even lacks the blaster he had on the show. I know cost cutting is a thing, but this is ridiculous and somewhat insulting. (And I didn't even enjoy Andor all that much.)

Let's start with the good - if you're forced to reuse parts, other than the legs, they made sensible choices. You don't get the over-the-shoulder strap seen on the show, but the chest and shoulder armor are repuposed from previous series - it's good enough. It's just that without the strap, and the colors seeming off, it starts to be a problem. The older, not-as-good hip joints are annoying as getting them to move at all requires a lot of effort and makes this toy much less fun than newer releases since last year... or the old ones from the 1970s. The boots are completely wrong, but I guess they're counting on you not shoegazing during the murky, dour, shouty and sad episodes of the show. It reeks of "good enough," which is acceptable for a repaint wave. It's acceptable when figures were under $10. But this is $17, and if you're telling me Hasbro can't make a new figure when necessary for $17, perhaps they shouldn't be making collector lines. Even if the reason was to get this figure out the door quicker, it's important to remember that mediocrity is forever and there's a lot of forever mediocrity showing up lately, and what's so infuriating is the brand new figures are all excellent. Given how much money we're putting into collecting these things (and their repaints) I don't think asking for screen-accurate action figures is a lot to ask.

The face looks good. Cassian shaved during this part of the series, so he has a lot less scruff which is more or less picked up well by this figure. The new skirt pieces more or less matches the show, with the holster on the correct side of his body - they did a good job there. Also notable, his hat fits extremely well. That's a big plus. Over the years, helmets or hats that are too big, or heads that are too small, were frequently an issue. Hasbro's sculptors got it right here - it looks good and while it's a smidgen big, it fits well and it's not a hassle to get it to stay on. They did a good job here.

He has a short blaster which fits in the holster, but lacks the distinctive rifle which was called out on the show. There was even a whole scene on this slow-paced slog of a story making a fuss of how to hold these rifles. Given how important it was to the show, and that it appears on the cardback, its absence is a problem for me. I'd be more willing to overlook the wrong boots if he had the right blaster, and if he had the right accoutrements hanging over his torso.

When it comes to clones and droids, repaints and recycling parts are a sensible thing to do. In this case, they cut corners a lot and it shows. Just because you have existing tooling you can use, you shouldn't necessarily use it. The first two Andor figures are lingering on pegs off and on here as of early April 2023 when I write this. My hope is they'll all sell, as will this one, but I'm not going to lie to you - this is a half-assed figure. If you don't care that the colors don't quite match, that the armor isn't quite right, that the boots are wrong, and that he's missing a key accessory, you should happily buy this figure. So if you are a carded collector that never watched the show in the first place, go ahead and buy this figure, because clearly you are not a discriminating buyer. If it were 2006 or 2007, I'd say "wait a few years, they'll make a better one." Now? I doubt it. It's this or nothing, and given how much other, better things you can buy from Hasbro in this scale? Consider going with nothing.

Collector's Notes: I got mine from Entertainment Earth.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,027: May 9, 2023

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,026: Zuckuss (The Retro Collection)

ZUCKUSS and 4-LOM, Amazon Exclusive
The Retro Collection 3 3/4-Inch Action Figure
Item No.: No. F6983
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: Blaster
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $27.99
Availability: March 2023
Appearances: The Empire Strikes Back

Bio: Cold, calculating droid 4-LOM and Gand bounty hunter Zuckuss were summond by Darth Vader to locate the Millennium Falcon and her crew in STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKE BACK - and together, they make a deadly pair. (Taken from the figure's outer packaging.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at Amazon now!

Commentary: If inevitability has a name it's Zuckuss. Boba Fett is a given, but when IG-88, Dengar, and/or Bossk show up you know 4-LOM and Zuckuss are just around the corner. In 1982, Zuckuss was the name on the package of a silver/gray robot which fans realized was wrong years later in the 1990s when books and games started to correct the mistake. It really speaks to Kenner's then-dominance over the perception of these characters and films, as toys and toy marketing materials were the reference material a lot of kids had on-hand. Neither figure in this set is going to set the world on fire, but I like what Hasbro did here. Zuckuss has enough changed about him that, if it were the early 1990s and I were going to garage sales still, I would buy this variant because it's distinctive.

So what's new? The silver/gray color is changed, and the hand was retooled to better hold the blaster. The butt triangle is a little different, and many of the sculpted details are a little softer - the circles on the chest are clearly changed. In many respects, the 2023 Amazon-exclusive reissue looks more like what I remember - it doesn't have the metallic swirl baked in, the fingers nicely grip the blaster, and the details on the furrowed droid brow aren't quite as severe as the 1982 release. His joints are stiff, but so are many originals - this was one of the later releases from The Empire Strikes Back and the original 4-11-year-old Star Wars kids were a creaky 9-16, so some kids just got them as gifts and they sat in a carry case or a vehicle, unlikely to go on any adventures like Boba Fett did just a few years earlier.

The sculpting looks typical of the time, minus about 20% of the crisp detail. Hasbro softened the chest details, knee panels, finger joints, and so on to give you something that's good, but could be better. Every last detail from the movie is not represented on the figure, but you get the key ones - some of which are even correct. The Kenner toy coloring is much cleaner than the brown-lined movie costume with green eyes.

Since you can get the original pretty cheaply on eBay I was initially grumpy they picked Zuckuss to reissue, but Hasbro did a great job updating the figure. Sure, a Snowtrooper might be more exciting, but Zuckuss in a visibly different color with a retooled hand that better can hold his blaster? I'm all in for functionality. If you collected old Kenner toys and are a variant hunter, I'd suggest you get this set for that reason alone. It doesn't quite have the same metallic luster as the original, and it doesn't have the history behind it, but as someone who loves toys I just appreciate that Hasbro made the hand better. I'll buy anything from that era again if it's improved, even if it's not a 100% improvement. At least I can interact with it differently than I would the 1982 original.

Collector's Notes: I got mine at Amazon. It was delivered to the wrong house. My friend's evaporated en route. This set carries a curse.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,026: May 4, 2023

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,025: Princess Leia (Ewok Village, The Black Series)

PRINCESS LEIA (Ewok Village)
The Black Series 2020 Line Look Return of the Jedi Packaging
Item No.: Asst. E8908 No. F4352
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #09 - Return of the Jedi
Includes: Blaster, spear
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $24.99
Availability: July 2022
Appearances: Return of the Jedi

Bio: After a battle with Imperial scout troopers, Leia encountered a strange, furry being – an Ewok. He took her to his village where she would remain until she and Han led a ground assault on an Imperial shield generator. (Taken from the packaging.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at Entertainment Earth now!

Click here to buy it at Amazon now!

Commentary: As I write this, Princess Leia (Ewok Village) has been popping up in stores and has been findable. On Amazon, she's $9.99 (and that may change), which I believe (but do not know to be fact) is a result of this wave seemingly being made in bigger numbers than usual. It could be a coincidence, but it could be less demand for specific characters - her wave seems to be around, and on occasion it's cheap.

But it's a good figure! Leia has a blaster. She has a spear you can give to an Ewok. She has no problems handling the gear, either, although I don't remember a scene in the movie where she was shooting in this dress or stabbing Duloks or whatever. (Hasbro: please make Duloks. Or Yuzzum.) The painted detail on the blaster is nice, but so are the stone tip on the spear and fuzzy grip on the spear.

The figure is sculpted and engineered well, although every time I see it I want to know what kind of tailors Ewoks keep around. How did they comprehend she is not like them, nor Donald Duck, and must not be pantsless? I guess I shouldn't ask, but Hasbro managed to replicate it nicely with her white sleeves and brown gown. There's not a lot of paint here, but the color in the movie wasn't exactly wild. It's simple, and it looks more or less like you remember. I like how Hasbro jointed her - the waist joint is at the belt (and not cutting her ribcage under the breast), and that's great. The elbows bend well, and the hands swivel and bend nicely. Her feet have nicely sculpted and painted sandals with rocker ankles, plus you get to see something unusual for Hasbro - bare plastic legs! They did a nice job engineering her pinless legs, with the knees looking perfectly fine.

Hasbro managed to make a figure that looks like Leia, but not Return of the Jedi Leia. Carrie Fisher's eyes were darker and her cheeks were redder, so this figure looks younger and more lifelike. A repaint would probably make her look more like the movie, but the sculpt is very good. Her hair seems more like a plastic wig, as you can see the seam just above her hairline. Having some of the hair molded to her head, with the rest glued on, looks a little strange - I'd vote for all-wig or no-wig. And what a wig! The sculpted hair detail looks great, someone spent a lot of time getting the ties in there and curling everything fairly well for plastic. Obviously her hair can't look as frizzy as the movie, so it doesn't - but her eyebrows look a little thinner too. Customizers, please post links to any repainted heads you made, I'd love to see them.

For $10 this figure is an absolute steal, but also it's a lesser costume. We may never get another official Slave Leia figure, and the Boushh mold is nearly a decade old, so this is what we get. It's not perfect, but it's on the happy side of decent. Since The Black Series line has frequently reissued old molds with improved paint, I'd say wait and see if they try again if you don't like what you see in the pictures. I think it's absolutely good enough that I struggle to think I'd pay Hasbro $25 (or more) for an improved paint job, but I've bought some pretty stupid things. If Hasbro wants to make her in 1980s Kenner style, I promise to buy at least two. And if they don't want to do it, maybe Stan Solo could use a few bucks.

Collector's Notes: I got mine from Entertainment Earth.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,025: May 2, 2023