Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,120: R5-D4 (The Mandalorian, The Vintage Collection)

R5-D4 It's Sort Of Like the 2011 One You Forgot You Bought
The Vintage Collection 3 3/4-Inch Action Figure
Item No.: Asst. F6878 No. F7322
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #303
Includes: n/a
Action Feature: Removable limbs and dome
Retail: $16.99
Availability: October 2023
Appearances: Star Wars: The Mandalorian

Bio: A battered astromech droid, R5-D4 has had a long operational span bouncing around various owners on Tatooine for decades. Now, he resides in Docking Bay 3-5 of Mos Eisley Spaceport in Peli Motto's employ. (Taken from the figure's cardback.)

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: This R5-D4 comes on a The Mandalorian cardback, but is probably better in our Lars Homesteads or Sandcrawlers from the original Star Wars. It's a bit of a pill to swallow at $16.99, as somewhat similar droids were made from build-a-figure parts as far back as 2008 and 2009, as a bonus on a $7.99 figure. You, like me, may have also forgot that R5-D4 [FOD #1,607] was released in The Vintage Collection way back in 2011 for just over half the price, but without the same paint job. It is, as I have been fond of saying, just different enough to make you mad. This 2023 release lacks The Mandalorian-specific deco, but does add the missing red panels on the back of the 2011 release. So it's better, but it's not the Mando edition you want yet. If you're expecting a more old-school version of the droid, I think you'll be happy with the quality.

Get this one to open, get the 2011 one to leave carded.

Much like The Black Series one we recently got, this figure doesn't have the streaming-specific scoring burn marks for the bad motivator on the dome or the restraining bolt on the body. But it does have more and better paint overall! The blue and silver vents are painted, but there are no silver stripes on the feet. No big loss, really. The deco is, otherwise, quite similar with painted silver eyes and greeblies, the red panels and boxes, plus a nice splash of painted dirt. It's not a match for what you saw on the show, but it's better than what we got for the 6-inch scale droid.

For those who have been here too long, this droid is the same basic scale of the astromechs we got starting around 2005 to now - it doesn't use the smaller R2-D2 bodies we saw in Saga Legends during their dalliance with 5-jointed figures, nor the bar R2-D2 we got a few times since 2010. Honestly I would have liked to have seen them play with that tooling, especially if it meant we could have a pop-up motivator play feature. Hasbro is not very big on play features any more, as it seems a small number of vocal collectors are ashamed of the fact that they collect toys and mustn't have fun with their playthings. At least this version has a head you can pop off, removable limbs, and a third leg - and there are rolling wheels, too. I don't find the wheels particularly functional, as they could never roll freely across a table, but they're there if you need them.

 For those of you who have been here forever, there have been other build-a-droids with red R5 parts - like Porkins' R5-D8 droid at Toys R Us, customizable droids at Disney theme park bins, The Saga Collection R5-D4 (which got tweaked barely and put in a 3-pack with a Power Droid and Death Star Droid for Target), and many others. Most of them share these proportions and build, so if you already have a build-a-droid that looks like R5-D4, R5-SK1, or the one with the remote control, you may have something similar. Expectations are everything, and this is a good figure in what I would say is the wrong packaging. It'll sell just fine as R5-D4 is a requirement for fans of the N-1 we got last year, but it's not quite right if you want his newest look. Hasbro is the company that got us to buy dozens of versions of Darth Vader, which are basically the same, because they paid attention to movie-specific details like red lenses, or different gloves, or changes in the cape or chest lights. They are less detail-oriented with the lack of changes to R5-D4 here, but at least they made a better build-a-droid version of Skippy for your 1977 dioramas. You are absolutely not going to feel like this figure is worth the money at the suggested retail price, but it's not like a 3 3/4-inch R5-D4 has been on shelves for years.

Releases like this really make you wonder about The Vintage Collection as a whole, sometimes we just get figures reissued with the same number and updated deco, and sometimes they make basically the same figure with the same tooling again and assign it a new number. And yet, somehow, there's still no Sim Aloo Imperial Dignitary, and our Bespin Guards were made out of Han and Lando parts. Like those, this is, for now, the best that you can get. Maybe we'll see another attempt later, perhaps in a gift set, or at a theme park. It is, as so many figures are in the last couple of years, OK. Newbies should love it, lifers will ask "don't I already have this?"

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

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,120: March 28, 2024

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,119: R5-D4 (The Mandalorian, The Black Series)

R5-D4 A New Chassis
The Black Series 2023 Window Box Line Look The Mandalorian Packaging
Item No.: Asst. E8908 No. F7045
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #33 - Star Wars: The Mandalorian
Includes: Bad motivator, 5 other accessories
Action Feature: Telescoping neck, there's a hard-to-pry-open bad motivator panel on the dome, opening red panels on the front
Retail: $24.99
Availability: December 2023
Appearances: Star Wars: The Mandalorian

Bio: A battered astromech droid, R5-D4 has had a long operational span bouncing around various owners on Tatooine for decades. Now, he resides in Docking Bay 3-5 of Mos Eisley Spaceport in Pelli Motto's employ. (Taken from the box 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: One step forward, one step back? R5-D4 was sold as a figure in The Black Series previously, using the original 2013 R2-D2 mold body. This uses the 2023 body, which has more opening panels, plenty of tools, and a telescoping neck - it does a lot more than the last one, but somehow, the last one is now available pretty cheaply. It seems like there's a slow exodus away from The Black Series' older releases, even though some of them are quite good - but neither R5-D4 has the clear edge. Some elements of the older figure were left unpainted - and on the new figure, different areas are left unpainted. Neither has the edge, neither is superior, although this one has more fidgety parts. But the other one has really nice shiny silver bits on the neck, and that release's eyes are painted silver, while this one is oddly molded in silver that doesn't quite match the other greeblies. In short, a repaint of this figure would be the ultimate release. But it doesn't exist.

This droid is a super-clean R5-D4. Sadly, he could benefit from dirt - the circle from where the restraining bolt used to be would be nice to have, or the burned out areas around his "bad motivator" panel. Everything here is squeaky clean, including what seem to be some scrapings sculpted around his eyes - a customizer could turn this into something really amazing. The eyes being unpainted makes the figure look a little cheap, as silver paint - which is what we've had since the first rocket-firing POTF2 figure in 1996 - has been the norm. His central leg is now completely undecorated, as are some vents on the sides of the chassis. Looking at some photos of R5-D4 from the set, the actual prop was incredibly battered and we're missing out on all of that gorgeous weathering here. In a retro context or a kid's line, it would be no big deal - but this is Hasbro's flagship collector line, its highest-price basic figure. I would really have loved a few more pennies put in deco. I could go on about how I wish the neck had reflective silver, or that the blue on the legs had a metallic shine, but really, we're just bumping into what Hasbro will do in terms of making a premium figure. $25 gets you basic - and $33 also gets you basic deco. I'm curious what it would cost to pick up something that leaves you awe-struck these days.

The figure's body is more or less the same as last year's R2-D2 [FOTD #3,087], which was pretty good and had a lot of the same areas left unpainted. R5 has a dome panel you can pop off to put in a bad motivator, the two red panels under his neck open, and the long rectangle panels on the sides open to insert any of his five arm accessories. You get datalink ports and other tools - I assume diorama builders are going to love these. I would be much happier with them if I knew what they were, or if Hasbro called out their functions on the packaging rather than give us five paragraphs of bio. The detail is good, there are little painted black and gold bits that pop just right - it's better than we'd get in the old days.

The amount of accessories and opening panels here are impressive for a modern figure, especially since the bulk of figures we get these days exist only to be posed and placed on a shelf. I like the parts and pieces, but also, we've had so many R5 figures that I was really hoping to get one with some deco specific to The Mandalorian, instead of a squeaky-clean version. If you just want a 6-inch scale R5-D4 this one is perfectly good - and arguably more fun than the previous release on a Vintage-style cardback. But that other one is cheaper, and arguably looks a tiny bit better despite being smaller. I guess the important thing is you have choices, only neither one is a clear-cut victor.

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

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,119: March 26, 2024

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,118: The Mandalorian (Epic Hero Series)

THE MANDALORIAN New Kids Line
Epic Hero Series Basic Figure
Item No.: Asst. F9405 No. G0099
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: Blaster pistol, Darksaber
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $9.99
Availability: January 2024
Appearances: The Mandalorian
Bio: The Mandalorian is a formidable bounty hunter in an increasingly dangerous galaxy. (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: I think we can all just assume whenever Hasbro makes a new scale, we're getting The Mandalorian - it just makes sense. Since the show's 2019 debut, this is the first kid-line 3 3/4-inch action figure. There have been Kenner-style figures, vehicle pack-ins, super-articulated figures galore, and a 6-inch cheapo figure, but this is Hasbro's first toy basic carded version of him aimed at kids outside of the food/drug/discount channels. While some of the figures in the mostly-yellow-and-blue Epic Hero Series packaging look like they were close to old-school Kenner, so is this one - except he feels more like a 1990s Power of the Force POTF2 figure. I love that.

Standing at 4-inches tall, he seems to be pretty much the exact height of The Vintage Collection Mando I had on my desk (from the Razor Crest set.) He's shinier, and changes some key details - the wrists now are painted Beskar silver, and the silver is much brighter than on most of these figures. The blue knee pads and brown straps on the legs aren't painted, and some elements of the armor were left undecorated. The dark gray elements below his belt over his junk and his hips is left undecorated, and the belt and bandolier are now an incredibly bright and saturated reddish brown. His gloves are now all one color, without the uniquely colored fingers. It isn't a closer match to the show, but I think some of you old-school toy fiends might appreciate the Kenner-style inaccuracies.

The figure also has holes. There's one in his back for a jet pack (not included) and one in each gauntlet to add a shield or the slide-out blade (which comes with Sabine.) His cape is removable, and it took me a minute to realize there's a cut in the left side of his neck that opens to remove it - you'll want to remove it for him to sit in a vehicle. The joints move nicely and it feels like an honest-to-goodness toy, with hands that easily grip his accessories. Also like most classic figures, there are no holsters for his gear. He has to hold them all.

His pistol is molded in gray, and the Darksaber has a white-edged blade that looks just as good if not better than what we got in the collector lines. There's no crackle, but that's OK. He's lanky and looks like a gunslinger, with a visor on his shiny silver helmet that seems just the tiniest bit narrower than on other figures. The sculpted detail is sharp throughout, and I think this might appeal to some of the fans who also liked the Retro figures, but in a different way. If this exact figure came out in the 1990s, your head would explode and you would be waiting outside Kay-Bee waiting for them to open to cherry-pick it off the pegs. It's the real deal, and as luck would have it, it's an easy to get figure because it seems Walmart is getting him in solid cases and in the assortments.

I hesitate to say $10 is a steal for this figure. It's a good figure. $10 is on the lower-end of what Hasbro charges in 2024. I think another company could have delivered a figure of equal quality at a lower price (have you seen Playmates' figures?) but Kenner and Hasbro have typically been on the more expensive side of licensed action figures. I like this figure enough to recommend it if you like this format. The shiny silver is more in line with the Carbonized figures - and I liked that silver a lot - with articulation that easily fits in the vehicles you may have without fussing with weird hips or ankle joints. The only thing Hasbro did wrong was to wait four years to make this figure - it probably would have been the best-selling product of the year in 2019 or 2020. Or 2021. Or 2022. Now we've all got a ton of other Mando figures, so it remains to be seen if the populace will see this one and go "that's the one I gotta have!" after having a crack at bigger, more detailed releases several times over.

I would argue this is the superior toy, and Hasbro should consider skewing a line of diverse aliens, heroes, villains, droids, and others in this format rather than its collector formats. Hasbro doesn't make the crazy detailed figures that Hot Toys does - so if you want the very best, that's a whole completely different price point. If you're playing in the world of $10-$25 figures, this kind of release easily slips in the Razor Crest and squeezes in the N-1 pilot seat without much fuss and looks spectacular in there.

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

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,118: March 21, 2024

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,117: Ahsoka Tano (Epic Hero Series)

AHSOKA TANO New Kids Line
Epic Hero Series Basic Figure
Item No.: Asst. F9405 No. G0103
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: 2 lightsabers
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $9.99
Availability: January 2024
Appearances: Star Wars: Ahsoka
Bio: Once a Jedi Knight Ahsoka Tano now forges her own path in the galaxy. (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: Whenever a new line comes out, I'm never sure if it's going to immediately click with me or if I'm going to roll my eyes. Those $80 8-inch figures - while impressive - just didn't seem to serve a purpose. I liked the quality of the Mission Fleet vehicles, but the scale seemed destined to be incomplete, despite being generally neat. Epic Hero Series 4-inch figures are starting off super slow, but they're generally good. Ahsoka Tano - a figure I absolutely do not need more of - tuned out particularly well. While she lacks the personality quirks of vintage and POTF2-era figure sculpts like bent elbows and poses that give them a little more life, she's not a boring fixed-posed soldier either. The colors are good and the results may be a little simple for $10, but you know what? She's good. Hasbro did a nice job here.

I'm sure most fans would rather have the super-poseable ones we've had multiple times in other packaging styles (or the Retro Kenner one), but this one occupies a lower-cost middle ground. In an alternate timeline where you might not see the Vintage Ahsoka at Ross for $3.99, I would steer you toward this one. She may be a hair taller, but the detail is good and she's sturdy. She holds her lightsabers well, and stands easily, and has no problems sitting down either. There aren't any vehicles for this line as of yet, but if there were I assume she would easily fit in whatever you had handy.

In terms of texture and sculpting, they did a nice job with pants that look like cloth, armor that looks like armor, and skin that looks really close to Rosario Dawson. The nose is right on, the facial markings look good, the blue highlights look great. The eyes and lips look good, and she generally looks like what you would imagine a modern "vintage" Kenner figure to be. If anything, I think - minus the lack of waist joint - she might push a lot of the nostalgia buttons of the 1990s kid. Those lightsabers remind me a lot of Kenner's revival offerings with a silver hilt and a clear blade with no flourish at the base.

If you take a look at all of Hasbro's figures at their retail prices, this is on the lowest end of Ahsoka toys and turned out well. She also came out a little late for her TV show, without any vehicles, and is in a line that doesn't really have its footing yet. A figure is just a figure - it's nothing, it needs a vehicle, or playset, or more pals to hang out with before you can usually say "this is the line for me!" It's a great demo of what Hasbro can do, and it has my hopes up for more figures of this style. Having said that, you may find $3.99 Ahsoka figures at Ross or Ollie's right now too - and this one has yet to get much distribution outside the Walmart Easter bins or online shops. I'd recommend it for fans of Kenner figures from the 20th century, especially if you got ten bucks in your pocket. Hopefully this line clicks with kids and fans at a more fair price than Hasbro's other offerings, but these figures are not necessarily better than what competitive toy makers crank out for similar price points.

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

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,117: March 19, 2024

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,116: R3-Series Astromech Droid Clear with Orange

R3-SERIES ASTROMECH DROID Clear Dome with Orange and Silver Markings looks like R3-A2
Star Wars Droid Factory
Item No.: ???
Manufacturer: Disney
Number: n/a
Includes: Head, 2 legs, torso, central third leg, optional hat
Action Feature: Comes apart
Retail: $12.99
Availability: Fall 2015
Appearances: n/a   

Bio: These figures do not have specific packaging or configurations. As such, we will be treating each dome as a unique "figure" as that part is the most plentiful. This batch does not have Hasbro on them - markings read "© DISNEY" and "© LFL" as well as "China" on each leg. (Taken from the packaging)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at eBay now!

Commentary: I'm slowly going through pegs of unopened figures and I cringe that this R3-Series Astromech Droid with a clear dome and orange panels has been sitting since 2015. But that speaks to the very real glut - I can open a few figures a week, every week, and not hit the end of this very long collection. I'm glad Disney stopped making new figures for its customizable build-a-figure bins, instead focusing on a larger and more expensive product. That's a pretty good example of where the industry is going these days - nobody wants to make money selling value-priced figures. They want to sell $30 or $50 or $80 figures. This one was only $13.

Mine has the only orange body for sale at the time, which was an R7 body. Sadly, this body hasn't shown up in the movies yet, but I'm hopeful. There are more angled parts and a lot more paint than usual, with nice white highlights popping (but absorbing some of the silver.) It looks good in a dimmer display too, and the white panels match the white feet pretty nicely. The exterior legs have jointed feet, with all three having articulated wheels. As with the other bin figures, you can pop them apart at the bottom foot, the dome, and the arms.

What makes this figure stand out is the dome, with glossy orange panels and a silver box around the central black eye. Hasbro's orange domes typically have an unpainted box around that eye, and when Hasbro did a Droid Depot R3-Series Astromech Droid [FOTD #2,732] figure for Target it had an orange box around the eye. That makes this one distinctive - also note the red light below the eye, and a couple of silver greeblies. Also note there's a hole in the top of his dome for a hat peg. At most angles, it blends in to the clear plastic quite nicely (but looking at it straight-on, it's quite obvious.) Depending on your point of view, this figure may be just different enough to make you mad. But we've got over 200 astromech droid figures which means we're well past the point of a sane, sensible collection here unless your focus is droids exclusively.

 Having said that, there are two Hasbro R3-A2 figures that also feature clear domes with orange highlights on mostly white bodies. That may be preferable for you, but they're all priced similarly. The advice I would give you - and not take - is that you don't need every last astromech droid variant out there as you have plenty of orange R3 alternatives.

As I write this, I see two people selling this exact build on eBay. One is $35, one is $60. I wouldn't pay $60, but it's a cute figure and I like orange things. If you don't have too many droids, whatever your definition of that is, this is a perfectly nice figure and I think $35 for a theme park exclusive that's nearly 10 years old is a steal. If you disagree, you are bad at math. Parking at Disneyland, tax, and shipping adds up fast so even if you could just run in to grab it and leave, you probably couldn't get one for $35. If you're collecting a lot of these guys, though, try buying them in a lot or as part of a larger collection to get the per-figure price down.

Collector's Notes: I got mine in 2015 and I am actually not sure how long these parts were made in the bins. I got this from my pal Shannon who was cool enough to get me a set from Disneyland.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,116: March 14, 2024

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,115: Paige (Resistance Gunner, The Last Jedi Line Look)

PAIGE Resistance Gunner
The Last Jedi Basic Figure Teal Assortment
Item No.: Asst. C1531 No. C1538
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: Blaster, helmet
Action Feature: Force Link sounds
Retail: $8.99
Availability: September 2017
Appearances: The Last Jedi

Bio: Paige Tico, nicknamed Pae-Pae by her sister, was a human female who served as a gunner on a MG-100 StarFortress SF-17 in the Resistance during their conflict with the First Order. (Stolen from Wookieepedia. Packaging has no bio.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at eBay now!

Click here to buy it at Amazon now!

Commentary: When making toys from an unreleased movie, you're at the mercy of your licensor - hopefully you get some sort of access to the script, the sets, and indeed any part of the filmmakers you can get. Before a new movie is released, most toys are equals - Constable Zuvio, Finn, Rey, and Poe Dameron were all on the same footing. The same was true in 2017 when we got Resistance Gunner Paige, who could be a major character in the movie. Or not. It turns out the character was not a major player in the movie - heck, most of the movie line's figures were a mix of repeats - ad it didn't help that Paige and Rose shipped together in matching mustard-colored Resistance uniforms. Fans were not excited - heck, she sat unopened on a peg in my basement until last month (along with a few other figures from the sequel era) because we've had a ton of things to review and sometimes, things just keep getting kicked down the road. And that was about five and a half years ago.

Before the movie, this was an interesting new pilot figure with a cool helmet. And after the movie, none of that changed as we saw a character have a brief, appearance that served as a way to help define her sister Rose Tico. In a movie year, it's always a little upsetting when your "sneak preview" figures wind up being of little consequence in the grand scheme of things. The sculpting is really good, with Paige having that somehow form-fitting-yet-baggy look that seems to show signs of wear, but without the painted weathering. The vest is a light gray, and every bit of her clothing has the illusion of feeling used and old despite being shiny and new. I'm impressed. She also had a Resistance (or Rebel if you're nasty) symbol on her sleeve and a vaguely familiar checkerboard pattern on her removable helmet. The face sculpt is good, and the face deco is pretty great for pre-Photo Real. I would love to see more paint on the straps and buckles, but at least her leg straps and boots are painted. For her time, this was a pretty great figure in a time where The Vintage Collection was on hiatus.

Her pose is typical of the time - skinny, straight limbs that swing forward with no problems whatsoever. I assume many people in their 40s (or 50s) will turn their nose up at this figure, but the only complaint I had would be getting the mask on her chest plugged in to her removable helmet. It's a great feature, but it's really hard to get it in there and to have it hold in place despite having pegs. She has no problems holding her blaster, and the helmet fits like a glove. Or helmet. It's a good fit, is where I'm going, and you may as well leave the mask off so you can see the face.

I assume the dud of a toy line that was The Rise of Skywalker pumped the brakes on future generations of fans collecting sequel toys later, as it didn't quite come in for the kind of landing we saw with Star Wars originally in The Power of the Force line or the numerous victory laps we saw from Revenge of the Sith figures. The Last Jedi had an action figure series I would call acceptable, Solo had a good enough one, but there weren't a lot of thrilling or weird figures to be had. Paige is aggressively well-engineered, nicely-sculpted and decorated, priced more or less fairly... but she's another boring human. The main thing she had going for her at the time of release was that she was one of very few new characters in the line, and today, I would probably bet you $50 she'll never have another action figure in the next five to ten years. Or longer. She's cheap if you can find her at a comic shop and I doubt you'll find the figure disappointing unless you just don't want another pilot figure. I'd love to see Hasbro make more figures at around this price point and level of quality for a modern audience.

Collector's Notes: I got mine from Entertainment Earth in 2017. They are long sold out... but there's a nonzero chance a 99 Cents Only store near you might have a few dusty ForceLink-era figures on their pegs.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,115: March 12, 2024

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,114: Yak Face (The Retro Collection)

YAK FACE A Licensed Remake!
The Retro Collection 3 3/4-Inch Action Figure Hasbro Pulse/Shop Disney 6-Pack
Item No.: No. F6988
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: Staff, plus Mon Mothma, Yak Face, Emperor's Royal Guard, Gamorrean Guard, and Admiral Ackbar
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $72.99
Availability: November 2023
Appearances: Return of the Jedi

Bio: Star Wars Retro Collection includes Star Wars action figures from the 40-plus-year legacy of the Star Wars Galaxy, including movies and live-action series. (Stolen from the marketing copy. Packaging has no bio.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at eBay now!

Commentary: For the first time in America, the old Kenner Yak Face is just a toy anybody can easily get for a fair price. Back in the 1980s, this figure was legendary for having most likely not been sold on US soil. A tri-logo Return of the Jedi version was sold in Europe. A Power of the Force carded version with a coin (with French and English on the packaging) was sold in Canada. I have heard some people say they saw Yak Faces in Kay-Bee stores in the Pacific Northwest as they were being closed out, but I don't know if this was substantiated or not - point is, if you were an American fan you probably didn't have one of these in the 1980s. I got mine in 1990. Kenner (and much later Hasbro) would go on to make new versions, with an orange coat version from Kenner in 1997 and a super-articulated version from Hasbro came out in 2019 (and reissued in 2023.) They're all very good and slightly different, but none of them were the (fake) real deal.

Before I continue, I should point out that "customizers" (bootleggers) have also made reproduction Yak Face figures. I don't have any of those, so I can't speak to how they're unique. But I can tell you that if you never got an original, $72.99 for Yak Face and five other figures is a deal. I hope Hasbro does more sets just like this, with one ultra-rare figure mixed in with other reissues, for an average of $12.17 per figure. (Confidential to Hasbro: if you can sell these figures at more places than Shop Disney, they will sell. Shop Disney is not the preferred destination of Generation X and Elder Millennial Star Wars fanatics who would buy Kenner toys for themselves.)

His accessory is a staff that has a little give to it and feels incredibly close to a vintage sample. Tri-Logo Yak Face figures usually had no weapon, although I have seen a few packaged with a Tusken's Gaffi stick. Coin carded Power of the Force ones came with this staff - except it was slightly shorter, and darker in color. The 2023 one is a lighter gray, so it'll be easy to tell a fake one from a real one if they're both in the same room.

As to the figure, it's incredibly close to replicating the original. I would say the new one is close enough for those who don't have the budget for the real deal. Putting them side-by-side, I immediately noticed the 2023 figure has blue sleeves and pants that are darker and more saturated than the original. The figure's painted skin is almost identical to the original, but the molded plastic head is slightly paler. The hair around the neck is a little different, as are the boots - but they're close. The skin of the 1985 figure head is a little glossier and slightly more opaque, arguably making it a barely superior option if money is no object.

The sculpts are a little botoxed in 2023, but not entirely. The neck hair is a little washed out, but the bumps on the hands are seemingly just as good - if not better - than the original figure. The wrinkles on the outfit are virtually the same, just a little more rounded, and the head's many bumps, wrinkles, and hair show slight signs of generation loss. It looks like they made a copy off an original figure, but for all I know it was a not-as-good-as-it-could-be digital scan. I know which one is which in front of me thanks to thinks like copyright and a couple of paint dings, but I'm quite impressed how similar they look. If anything, the richer blue on the 2023 version almost makes me think that should be the original.

The other figures in this set are all good, but let's be honest - you could have bought Wicket, a Gamorrean Guard, an Emperor's Royal Guard, or Admiral Ackbar by now if you really wanted one. They were cheap for years. It is very unlikely that Yak Face has ever been anything close to "affordable" for American collectors, even adjusting for inflation this 2023 set is cheaper than buying all six carded around 1990. While it's not a perfect recreation, it's the best alien in the entire set - it's so close and there's nothing like the Gamorrean's eyes or Wicket's nose that stands out as being "off." I hope all the teens and young adults who couldn't afford a Yak Face at secondary market prices in the 1990s find out this one exists so they can get it. This is a big dang deal, and Hasbro has a few more they could make to really ignite the old fans again like double-telescoping lightsaber Luke, Darth Vader, or Obi-Wan, a vinyl cape Jawa (although Stan Solo has cheap ones now), the blue Sears Snaggletooth, or Vlix. Just throwing that last one out there.

Collector's Notes: I got mine from Hasbro Pulse, who seem to have sold out days after shipping. Check ShopDisney for availability but they also seem to be out.

Extended ramblings: It's my hope this line continues until Hasbro remakes the entire original Kenner line. All of it. I really appreciate having low-cost close-enough versions of these figures I can just pick up and play with, without the concern of "this is worth a lot of money and is old and rare." I've never know Yak Face to be anything other than a holy grail figure - everybody else, I got for $25 or less. In most cases, $10 or less. A lot less. I've been enjoying just picking up a "rare figure" and putting him in random vehicles and having him in my pocket, changing the context of this particular action figure from "holy grail" to "something new that might actually wind up on clearance some day." If I could, I'd buy literally every Kenner action figure, vehicles, and playset in this style just to experience them again as worthless toys. As a kid I got to play with about 40ish figures just after the line just ended and it was flea markets or bust. Getting to hold a "rare figure" like it's worthless is quite a joyful moment. Anyone that wants it can just get it. It would be wonderful to see Hasbro continue with Stormtrooper Luke, Amanaman, EV-9D9, and so on. The originals can still be valuable pieces of desirable toy history, but having more easily available reproduction 1970s and 1980s figures that people can just play with in the sandbox and beat up again - maybe even with their kids or grandkids - would be truly priceless.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,114: March 7, 2024

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,113: Princess Kneesaa (Ewoks Cartoon, The Vintage Collection)

PRINCESS KNEESAA Cartoon Version
The Vintage Collection 3 3/4-Inch Action Figure Fan Channel 2-Pack
Item No.: No. F8300
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #283
Includes: Bola, bag, hood, coin
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $36.99
Availability: October 2023
Appearances: Ewoks

Bio: Clever and courageous, Kneesaa embarks on adventures with her EWOK friends on Endor's forest moon. (Taken from the cardback.)

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: Some of you are going "Wow, it's the first-ever Princess Kneesaa figure!" but it's worth noting Kenner made a few in its preschool line in the 1980s, plus this exact figure was sold as Kneesaa [FOTD #1,868] way back in 2012. But there was a twist - while this figure was in a 2-pack for $37, the original release was in a 5-pack with tons of accessories and newly tooled parts for the wallet-stomping price of *checks notes* $40. Call it inflation or just a bigger reach for wallet share, but this is basically the exact same figure - minus a "movie hood" - but adding a coin and a bag for more than twice the price. Hasbro sold figures with coins for $6.99 in 2007, so while inflation is real, this is another one of those things where fans have to ask if it's worth the price to buy it again. As that set sells for $150-$200 in the box, this is probably going to be your cheaper alternative assuming you don't want the other furballs.

Through gritted teeth, I recommend this to a certain kind of 80s kid who loves Saturday morning cartoons. Hasbro did a decent job painting an existing movie-style figure with cartoon-style deco, even if it means a higher price with far fewer paint ops, accessories, and figures from her previous release.

Kneesaa is essentially Wicket with a new head and a pink hood. This release keeps the same joints and body parts, but drops the dirty fur paint in favor of a cleaner (cheaper) deco and new added dark fur around the eyes. This brings her closer to her cartoon appearance. Hasbro doesn't bother to paint the stitch deco on the hood either, rather just giving us a weird blue line over the top of her head. The blue feathers are still painted, but the plastic is nice and pliable and it feels great. Hasbro also included a reuse of Wicket's bag, which was not originally sold with Kneesaa in 2012.

 She also has some ropes with rocks on them which she can wear. It's not a weapon per se, but it is a carry-over from the aforementioned gift set. I think this version of her does a good job replicating her cartoony fur colors, but it comes with a lot of cost-cutting. As far as I can tell the set sold out cleanly, but I sometimes see them at GameStop stores for roughly retail price. I hesitate to say it's worth $37 because compared to other Hasbro Star Wars product, you're not getting your money's worth. But if you want these characters, there aren't a lot of options on the market and the original releases of these figures will cost you more money. It's a far cry from 2 Ewoks and a Freeze Frame Action Slide for $5.99 in 1998, but it would seem the younger fan (or "child") market is no longer the goal here.

The one thing that may throw the whole price calculous out the window is old-school Kenner coin fans. For an all-new coin, right now, given there may never be another one, this is a hard proposition to poo-poo. I think collectors will probably be fine with this set for the price thanks to the brand-new Kneesaa coin. Since Kenner's original Kneesaa concept never got far enough along to get a prototype coin, we've never seen one of these before. The coin's artwork looked very familiar, and Hasbro, if you're reading - I'll even pay $20 for Kneesaa's coin again if you pack her with that Kenner-style prototype figure, finally produced for the mass market. For some fans money is no object, but it depends on the specific product - if you really like a format or want to add a specific piece to your collection, the one Ewok thing being sold to you from the cartoon series in decades (other than apparel) may be a "shut up and take my money" proposition for you. I had no problem throwing down a couple of Jacksons to get this set, but also, I assume that it is extremely unlikely we'll ever get more 1985 Ewoks or Droids toys before the 40th anniversary in 2025. And if not then, probably not before we die.

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

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,113: March 5, 2024