Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,070: Garindan (Custom)

GARINDAN (Manufactured Custom)
Fan-Produced Custom Figure
Item No.: No. n/a
Manufacturer: n/a
Number: n/a
Includes: Black reproduction of Cloud Car Pilot communicator
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $39.00
Availability: ca. March 2022
Appearances: Star Wars

Bio: Stan Solo Creations custom reproduction action figure. This figure is professionally made in the vintage style. It is scaled to work with the 3-3/4” vintage figures. This figure is injection molded plastic. This is a new loose figure. (Stolen from the Stan Solo Creations web site. There is no bio.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at eBay now!

Commentary: When some of the fan-made unlicensed figures were called "customs" I wasn't sure if that seemed like a fair shake - until I got Garindan. At first glance it's the Kenner-style Long Snoot snitch of your dreams. You get a vinyl cape like Kenner might have done in 1979, on a skinnier build, with a Cloud Car Pilot communicator cast in black. Pretty cool, right?

Then I got it in my hands, and while it's a perfectly nice thing to display on your Creature Cantina, it's actually a hacked-up mass-produced 1990s Kenner Power of the Force Garindan - so it's actually a custom with a large production run. The head and slightly thicc limbs tipped me off, so it would not be wrong to say this is a customized version of existing toys. It does a great job of mixing up 20th century styles to give you something you'd probably recognize as Kenner-vintage-retro-chic, but the snoot would've needed more work to not be a dead giveaway. The outfit is pretty simple, and the cuts and wrinkles are all pretty good. Too good, really. Thanks to the poses of the shiny gloves, at first blush, it totally looks like a new old-school alien toy though.

I know a lot of fans say "these are better than anything Hasbro could do!" When it comes to Slave Leia and some of the R2 units, I'd agree with that. But not with Garindan. He's not bad, but at $40 you may just want an actual authentic 1997 Garindan figure instead. After all, that one's only worth a couple of bucks on eBay right now. There's no substitute for a weird skinny figure with a vinyl cape, I know, but just be aware that what you're getting isn't exactly the complete newly-sculpted retro package.

Collector's Notes: I got mine from one of Stan Solo's US resellers.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,070: October 5, 2023