TIG FROMM The One, The Only
Droids Basic Figure
Item No.: Asst. 71760 No. 71830
Manufacturer: Kenner
Number: n/a
Includes: Collector coin, baton
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $3.79
Availability: ca. Fall 1985
Appearances: n/a
Bio: The leader of an underworld gang of thugs and cutthroats who prey on the weak and helpless of INGO. (Taken from the packaging. The cartoons had bios.)
Image: Adam's photo lab.
Availability: Click here to buy it at eBay now!
Commentary: I was feeling uninspired, so I decided to review an actual pre-1990s figure for a change. I got
Tig Fromm from a toy dealer in 1991 (hi Ron) because, at the time, nobody really wanted the cartoon-original figures from
Droids. Anyone from the
Star Wars movies was a big deal, but people weren't excited by Sise Fromm or Tig or Jord or Kea - but they'd pay a princely sum for Boba Fett or an A-Wing Pilot. I saw Tig at Kay-Bee Toys in the 1980s when they had pegs of unsold figures, but as a child with zero allowance it was hard to convince my parents to get me the weird alien gangster since he wasn't in the movies they saw. I even saw this guy a couple of years later at the Horton Plaza Kay-Bee in San Diego, but I was after R2-D2, C-3PO, Logray, and Wicket - and I found Logray (and Klaatu) on that trip. The
Droids and
Ewoks figures were somewhat hard to find, I bought every single one carded for a couple of bucks because opened ones weren't even available - people still were hard at work getting rid of these guys. Well, bully for me I guess. Older fans didn't watch the cartoon, but I did - and that's why I have him today.
I didn't play with him a whole heck of a lot, but he did spend time in the Side Gunner. The figure included the same staff you got with 2-1B, and is one of two Tigs I would see near show business. (The other being Tig Notaro, who I had the fortune of seeing host Comedy Death Ray when I lived in Los Angeles.) This guy was a gangster, but he was actually more of a tech bro. His whole thing was robots and engineering, designing machines to do the dirty work while he put together a weapons satellite that was expensive because it was made of teensy-weensy little components. As a character, this guy was a mix of stock bad guy and evidence of some real visionary work on the part of the writers, who clearly understood that the future was in technology and automation before most people even had a computer at home. Tig was a bit of a weasel, but so was Starscream and people can't stop writing about his imagined exploits.
His sculpt was pretty fantastic - especially for 1985. Kenner's quality for humanoids was all over the map, with fat and thick necks on some characters and basically a turtleneck for the evil green Steve Jobs here. Each hand has a thumb and three fingers, with a suit that looks like it's out of some Jean Giraud art. (Actually, the whole
Droids cartoon feels like a big tribute to the works of the late Moebius.) Comparing the figure to the artwork, it's a pretty good match with puffy shoulders, a big collar, a distinctive belt, bizarre toed shoes, and a few signs of what seem to be cybernetic enhancements. Tig has them, Vlix and Sise do not. Did I mention this guy was bullied by Vlix? Yeah, this is the guy who was bullied by Vlix, and a big reason why Vlix was so memorable on the show. I love the deep grooves carved in the outfit, exaggerating the belts and vests so old eyes don't have to squint. I got this guy as a child, so I never once gave that any thought - I just appreciated the fact I had another awesome alien to play with in an era where
Star Wars seemed like it would be dead forever.
The sides of his head aren't a perfect match for the show. His unpainted cybernetic tabs over his cheeks look similar to what should be above his ears, but aren't. There are some odd unpainted vent-like details there instead, hinting at another character model used to inspire the toy sculpt... or maybe someone just made it up because it looked cool.
The colors aren't a perfect match for his animation cel, as Tig-the-figure lacks any of the red seen in his cart art. Kenner's figure's eyes were painted a little strangely, with extra green under the peepers. He could have benefitted from a couple of black dots to bring out his eyes. There are no sculpted (or painted) red cheek dots to indicate anger/rage, but at least there's a lot here you could work from in order. If this guy were still worthless, I'd probably buy a second one to repaint it - but he's not worthless. The amount of money people spend for him today - north of $500 - is what I expected I'd some day have to pay for Vlix, given the chance. That hasn't worked out so well for me, and I'd be hesitant to recommend you spend $500 on one of Kenner's very last alien Star Wars action figures from the original era. He's one of my very favorites, and he stood up well to age.
For a five-jointed figure, the sculptor did a dynamite job. His left leg has a knee bent slightly, so it looks like he could be shifting his weight from one side to the other - Hasbro doesn't do this with their "retro" figures very often. The right hand is posed to grip an accessory, but the left is turned a bit so you can pretend he's typing at a computer or working the controls on a ship. The wide mouth is a bit of an exaggeration, but it looks pretty close to his frown on the show. I think it gets the point across - this is the bad guy.
You won't find a figure with sleeves quite this puffy from the 1980s, I'll tell you that. While sadly no longer priced as an impulse purchase, you can get one for the price of one of the more expensive game consoles. I'd love to see Hasbro reissue this guy, and if they do I'd love to recommend they cash in by doing a two-pack with "toy colors" and "cartoon colors." (I'm good for it.) I don't know if a ton of people are dying to own this guy, but he got captured by Boba Fett - that has to make him more than a little interesting to fans of the oldest-school Star Wars stories. To my knowledge this character has not had a second action figure - although there are certainly fans working in the industry who have been making requests for the past couple of decades.
Collector's Notes: I got mine from Ron at a toy/collectible round-up in 1991. Thanks Ron, I owe you/I blame you for enabling me.
--Adam Pawlus
Day 3,364: July 21, 2026
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