Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 2,827: Greef Karga (The Retro Collection)

GREEF KARGA Kenner Style
The Retro Collection 3 3/4-Inch Action Figure
Item No.: Asst. F0937 No. F2025
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: Blaster, vinyl cape
Action Feature: Blaster fits in holster loop
Retail: $9.99
Availability: April 2021
Appearances: The Mandalorian

Bio: Greef Karga was a human male and former disgraced magistrate before becoming an agent of the Bounty Hunters' Guild following the collapse of the Galactic Empire. (Stolen from Wookieepedia. 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!

Commentary: I assume the fact that Greef Karga comes in his season two gear, while pretty much everybody else is dressed for season one, is a Disney issue. (The Vintage figure was also in this costume. That's why you don't remember it either.) Both make use of a simplified version of the costume and different facial hair... and it doesn't look quite as good as the 6-inch head. But do things ever?

Like Gideon, Karga has a vinyl cape - and I would say the cape looks good here. There's no cloth analog for Greef's cloth robes that would probably look great, Hasbro would have to probably develop something new and we'd complain about it. Or, they'd have to do something like The Emperor or Anakin Skywalker... and then we'd complain about that. Given how the robes hang, the goofy piece of vinyl folded over makes a lot of sense. It could stand to be longer, but authenticity is not what makes Kenner figures interesting - it's the errors that make them fun.

The quilted gloves look a bit like the Hoth Kenner figures - a little bulkier than the costume - and the boots are brown, rather than black. I'm not sure if that's how Kenner would do it, but it looks good, so I have no complaints. The buckle is painted gold, and the chest piece has a whopping five colors! That's a lot of detail, what with his shirt and vest and pants and belt and everything. His head has three colors, which seems a good choice when I look at all my old Kenner toys. There's not much to complain about here, other than you have to take the cape off to get him to sit in a vehicle.

I like the blaster. It seems like a deformed version of the TVC blaster, with some elements resized and enlarged. Also the trigger guard is gone. You know, typical Kenner stuff. They did a good job, and I was pleased to see you can shove it in the loop on the figure's holster too. Greef Karga has no problems holding the blaster either, Hasbro did a much better job with the fingers than Kenner usually did. I pulled out some of my Droids humans lately, and I forgot just how rotten Kea Moll's fingers were. Thall Joben's aren't very good either.

I'd love to see a Season One Greef Karga in this format with the mustache and the other costume - but this one is good, too. Cara Dune from season one and Greef from season two means they're not quite a perfect match, which is a pity. And also a very Kenner thing to do. (I mean we didn't get Slave Leia in the format ever, but we had a place for her in a playset.) If you see this figure on shelves, buy it. Better yet, buy the whole case so you can just get everybody - they're all good and neat, occupying a weird place between being art pieces and also some of the better actual toys Hasbro has produced. There's really no reason to skip this one.

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

--Adam Pawlus

Day 2,827: June 15, 2021

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 2,798: Greef Karga (The Vintage Collection)

GREEF KARGA Season 2
The Vintage Collection
Item No.: Asst. E5912 No. F1887
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #185
Includes: Blaster pistol
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $12.99
Availability: February 2021
Appearances: The Mandalorian

Bio: Greef Karga was a human male and former disgraced magistrate before becoming an agent of the Bounty Hunters' Guild following the collapse of the Galactic Empire. (Stolen from Wookieepedia. 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!

Commentary: The debut 3 3/4-inch Greef Karga is in his season two gear - while the 6-inch is season one gear. It's been a pretty haphazard mix of costumes in these lines so it's not really possible for a collector to build out a whole, accurate scene easily. If this were the early 2000s, I'd say "Oh this is brilliant, they can just re-sell us these characters in new costumes again." In 2021 it's less and less likely that Hasbro will revisit most faces, and it feels most of our figures could be the only character we ever get in that scale. Unless filming on new Star Wars stops and Hasbro (and other licensors) are forced to dig through recent assets instead. I'd much rather have stuff I know than stuff I don't, but I digress. At least with The Book of Boba Fett you can be pretty sure some of your cast will be able to hold to a mask mandate.

This is a pretty good figure with lots of great details, but could've spent a tiny more time in the oven. The face printing doesn't do justice to Carl Weathers' white beard, but you do get a patchy, printed grey one - it's better than nothing. The sculpting seems good, so a deco variant (which will likely never come) would do wonders for improving his facial hair.

I have to assume this figure was made during filming for season two if not before - so if we assume Hasbro worked from concept art, it's astonishingly good. If not, it's still pretty good. The elbows have an excellent range of motion, the ankles tilt, and the wrists both bend and swivel. I had no problems having him stand, although I don't like the mid-torso waist joint - it's ugly, and isn't nearly as pleasing to the eye as one around the belt. Still, his range of motion is excellent for a figure with a thick plastic cape.

The blaster fits in the holster or in his hand, but it's a weird fit. A lot of the blaster just hangs out of the loop on the leg, so I'd recommend having him hold it in his fist so it doesn't get lost.

I hope Hasbro does more Greef Karga figures in this scale, and it wouldn't be a bad thing to see a head variant on this one down the line. If you can find it, I'd say grab it - but remember there's never going to be a season two Cara Dune figure to go with him. He can still putter around on Nevarro, or hang out with a figure of Dave Navarro if they ever make one of those. Which is probably more likely than a Nevarro playset.

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

--Adam Pawlus

Day 2,798: April 8, 2021