Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 1,692: Jarael

JARAEL and Rohlan Dyre
The Legacy Collection Entertainment Earth Exclusive Comic Packs
Item No.: Asst. 87504 No. 91774
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #15
Includes: Lightsaber, bag, Rohlan Dyre figure, comic book reprint
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $19.99
Availability: November 2010
Appearances: Knights of the Old Republic comic books

Bio: Jarael (born Edessa) was a female Arkanian Offshoot. She was hot-tempered with eyes and hands like Humans and pointed ears, bearing tattoos that were known as the Flames of the Crucible bearing the name "Jarael" in the ancient language of the Crucible meaning "protector." (Stolen from Wookieepedia.)

Image: Adam's old apartment's common area.

Commentary: I wasn't as excited to see Jarael as I was her pack-mate, because Rohlan Dyre has an awesome design with great gear and Jarael is some blue chick. There was a long list of characters from the Knights of the Old Republic comic I expected to see plastic, and I guarantee you she wasn't one of the first six I'd have bet on getting. With what's essentially a tank top and a cloth lower dress, the figure has a good range of movement and has no real problems holding her staff weapon.

While the deco on the head is exceptional-- the hair sculpting is great, the blue skin is awesome, the deco is dynamite and the tattoos are just amazing-- it's still a boring character. There's not much getting around that. This is a quality figure of a character I'm willing to bet most of you didn't ask for, and it really is a good one. I mean, considering this is the only one Hasbro will ever do, it's awesome. The little pouches, the painted buttons, it's obvious Hasbro put a lot of love (and paint) into this one. For fans of the character or comic, you owe it to yourself to get her and add her to your collection. For people that don't dig the extreme pre-history of the Skywalker clan... run away.

Collector's Notes: Released about a year ago, and still available if you want it. Her parts have never been reused and unless maybe they crib these parts to make Dani or another Zeltron some day, I doubt the tooling will ever see the light of day again.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 1,692: December 8, 2011

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 1,666: HK-50

HK-50 Build-A-Droid
The Legacy Collection Droid Factory Figure
Item No.: Asst. 87535
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: Rifle
Action Feature: Removable parts
Retail: n/a
Availability: Late 2009/Early 2010
Appearances: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords

Bio: The HK-50 droids series was based on the earlier HK-47 assassin droid. Like their progenitor, these droids possessed incredible linguistic skills and highly sadistic tendencies. (Stolen from Wookieepedia.)

Image: Adam's old apartment.

Commentary: It's no surprise that Hasbro tried to get the most out of its tooling investment, so the introduction of HK-50 in the build-a-droid line was more or less an inevitability. (Although if you ask me, reissuing HK-47 would probably have made more people happy.) The bluish metallic droid has a gorgeous paint job, one of Hasbro's best as of late, and might be worth getting just for that.

Since he can stand, sit, and hold his blaster, I'd say this is a worthwhile purchase. Even though he's from thousands of years before the time of the Skywalkers, I'd still say it's worth a look just because it could fit right in with the cast of Droids or work as some random robot in Jabba's Palace.

Collector's Notes: For some reason he's not too expensive on eBay-- I think HK-47 is taking all the attention.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 1,666: November 2, 2011

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 1,661: Bastila Shan

BASTILA SHAN Never Before Made as a Star Wars Figure
The Vintage Collection Basic Figures
Item No.: Asst. 97568 No. 32240
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: VC69
Includes: Lightsaber hilt, full lightsaber
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $9.99
Availability: September 2011
Appearances: Star Wars

Bio: Celebrate the legendary Star Wars saga that changed the universe forever! This collection brings to life the incredible story of good versus evil that captured our imagination and took us to a galaxy far, far away. Iconic Star Wars heroes and villains are captured with incredible detail and premium features to commemorate each epic tale in the Star Wars saga. May the Force be with you! (Taken from the figure's packaging. There is no bio.)

Image: Adam Pawlus' desk.

Commentary: The first and presumably only Bastila Shan has been a few years in the making-- fans have asked for her, and if history is any indication this Knights of the Old Republic character is probably going to be super-hot stuff in a couple of years. Video game collectibles, Star Wars or not, tend to have fans more willing to shell out the cash for things. Oh, and let me get this out of the way: I never played this game and shrugged when I heard she was being made as a toy. There's nothing wrong with the figure but this wasn't a figure I really felt I needed in my collection... but it showed up in the mail, so.

The painting on the cardback looks a little bit like Jennifer Connelly, while the head sculpt looks vaguely like the game-- female figures at this scale are hard to detail properly, while the hair seems nearly perfect the face deco seems a little blah. Her face on the illustration and in the game stills seems to be a little more colorful, darker. There's nothing wrong with the sculpt but I bet Hasbro could refine the paint applications to better resemble the existing illustrations. The outfit matches many of the illustrations nicely, but there are multiple outfits from which to choose. This one is mostly yellow with some brown, the legs are designed in a way where she can swing her legs forward and, were you so inclined, she can sit in a ship. The detail on the outfit is quite good, with lots of folds and wrinkles. It's a nice sculpt, but again, a little improvement on the deco would be nice. There's no real shading or dirt here, so Hasbro clearly cut corners on paint... well, maybe that's harsh. But they certainly didn't go out of their way to add a lot of color.

With 14 joints she has no problems holding on to her double-bladed lightsaber, which is great. She can also plug the unlit version to her belt, so Hasbro just flat-out did a good job designing this one. While she doesn't really fit in to the line as a whole, those who specialize in video game figures will probably just be delighted she exists. The face could be a little better, but the packaging is great and the sculpt is certainly good enough for now. If you want a Bastila Shan figure, get this one-- because you don't have many other options.

Collector's Notes: A new release, she hasn't exactly had a wide release just yet. I don't expect her to last for long. Unless Hasbro decides to reissue Darth Revan, Malak, and Shan in some sort of boxed set I expect fans to be upset and have to live without. (I'm assuming you all got Darth Nihilus.)

--Adam Pawlus

Day 1,661: October 26, 2011

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 1,561: Rohlan Dyre

ROHLAN DYRE and Jarael
The Legacy Collection Entertainment Earth Exclusive Comic Packs
Item No.: Asst. 87504 No. 91774
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #15
Includes: Blaster, helmet, backpack, Jarael figure, comic book reprint
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $19.99
Availability: November 2010
Appearances: Knights of the Old Republic comic books

Bio: Rohlan Dyre was a Human male Mandalorian Crusader and a former commander who fought in the early skirmishes of the Mandalorian Wars. He deserted the wars multiple times in an attempt to find answers pertaining to the war itself. (Stolen from Wookieepedia.)

Image: Adam Pawlus' apartment's rock pile. What a wonderful amenity.

Commentary: When Hasbro approached me with this wave as an exclusive for my day job at Entertainment Eart, I didn't realize that Rohlan Dyre would be the best of the wave. Truth is, I was excited to get Baron Fel with a decent head sculpt. This great ancient Mandalorian turned out especially well, with a removable helmet, amazingly detailed armor, a removable knife in his boot, a blaster in his holster, and a backpack. Really, you can't beat that for a comic pack figure. I'm surprised Hasbro didn't just hold back on him and sell him carded as a Vintage figure... it's certainly cool enough.

The sculpt of this Knights of the Old Republic comic book figure is wonderful. He has pits in his armor, gashes and cuts, little sculpted rivets (check out his back if you got one), loads of straps, wrinkles, creases, and other stuff. There could stand to be a little more dirt on the figure, but even as a clean release this blue and red armored warrior is pretty slick stuff.

Under the helmet is the character from the comic, complete with scars. I think the sculpt is wonderful, but the painted "scar" seems to clash with the character's dark skin a little much. It's not very subtle, like on Jango Fett figures. He's got nice hair and a decent expression, and my guess is Hasbro scarred this guy and made him meaner as a reaction to the Mandalorians sold in the Elite Forces of the Republic set a few years ago. There's no mistaking this guy for an accountant or an engineer, the dude under the helmet is a mean warrior type. As such, he should be welcome in your collection.

Collector's Notes: Hey, I sell this at my day job. You should buy one, support both this site and my employer so I can afford to spend more time writing about toys for you. I can't get too specific but it is indeed a limited edition.

Day 1,561: June 8, 2011

Figure of the Day: Day 1,104: HK-47

HK-47 Build-A-Droid
The Legacy Collection Composite Figure
Item No.: Asst. 87535
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: Blaster
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: n/a
Availability: July 2009
Appearances: Knights of the Old Republic (Various)

Image: Adam Pawlus' TV tray.

Bio: HK-47 was a Hunter-Killer assassin droid and Jedi hunter constructed by Revan shortly after the beginning of the Jedi Civil War to assassinate those who Revan believed would destabilize the galaxy. (Stolen from Wookieepedia.)

Commentary: While I enjoy poo-pooing some Knights of the Old Republic fans' requests for figures, even I can't deny that some of the designs for the robots and villains are stunning. HK-47 in particular looks both like a modern design or something that would have been at home as an original creation in the vintage Kenner line. Seriously, if this was some random thing that Luke had to fight, I'd believe it. Its red eyes, battle-damage, and panels seem like something out of a bygone, yet decidedly futuristic, era. The figure's parts come split between 6 different figures, actually, technically, 12 total. Each limb, when combined, will give you a super-articulated figure that's pretty fantastic. If you're a fan of the character, this figure should do right by you. Aside from the neck-- which isn't a ball-joint-- it's about as good as you should reasonably expect of a figure of this construction. Oh, but there's no ball joints at the shoulders, just FYI.

My only real beef with the figure is that he doesn't seem to like holding his gun too much. A lot of figures have this problem, but given there were no rubber bands to deform his hands, there's less of an excuse. It should just work, and unfortunately, it didn't for me. But hey, those that want this figure should still try and track it down.

Collector's Notes: You can't really use the RA7 limbs with it, because HK-47's are longer, but I suppose you could make a lopsided pile of junk if you wanted. This wave is a little difficult to find currently, so who knows what the future holds for this very popular game character. A silver repaint is, of course, on the way shortly.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 1,104: September 7, 2009

Figure of the Day: Day 849: Darth Revan

DARTH REVAN Sith Lord
30th Anniversary Collection Basic Figures
Item No.: Asst. 87500 No. 87339
Number: #3034
Includes: Lightsaber, hilt, cape, coin
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $6.99
Availability: September 2007
Appearances: Knights of the Old Republic

Bio: In the days of the Old Republic, thousands of years before the rise of Darth Vader, a Jedi named Revan falls to the dark side. While chasing Mandalorian raiders with his Jedi companion Malak, Revan is consumed by destructive Sith energies on the planet Malachor V. He becomes a Sith Lord and lures Malak to the dark side as well, as his Sith apprentice. (Taken from the figure's cardback.)

Image: Adam Pawlus' toy room.

Commentary: After years of waiting, does Hasbro's Darth Revan figure-- a Fan's Choice winner-- have what it takes to be awesome? I guess, sort of. After winning rounds of voting through a ToyFare Magazine-sponsored poll, fans were allowed to peek in on his development. The good news is that he's here-- he's real. The bad news is that as toys go, he isn't so great. The worse news is that it doesn't seem to matter because he sold so gosh darned well, proving that if fans are genuinely interested in the character, that character trumps quality by a huge leap.

Revan is a decent figure-- once you distance yourself from being concerned with the "action" part, that is. His arms have ball-jointed shoulders and elbows, he has normal hips and wrists, a ball-jointed head, and a normal waist. His Sith robes prevent the legs from moving much. If you look at this release as a really great tiny statue, you're going to like it a whole lot more. He can't sit or do most things you'd want a toy to do, but it seems to me the audience for this figure would be a group of older fans who will have him stand around on a desk, and the chances of him piloting an X-wing are minimal at best.

Hasbro's sculptors did a good job, as we're basically used to. The mask is there, and once you take off the hood you can see the somewhat battered human head of this character. (But not the face.) Revan's robes are pretty nicely sculpted, as part of the lower "skirt" actually extends up and acts as a sort of a belt over the chest armor. This doesn't feel like one of Hasbro's normal figures, and it wouldn't surprise me if they used it as a bit of an experimental platform for the line. There's certainly room for more paint detail, but the various ridges, textures, buckles, and other bits are all here. He doesn't disappoint, but then again, I had extremely low expectations in the first place. It's also worth noting his lightsaber's hilt does not match the hilt of the lightsaber hilt, if you catch my meaning.

Collector's Notes: This figure was pretty popular, and produced for a very brief time. If you blinked, you missed him-- and now you're going to pay accordingly. No reissue is planned at this time, but it seems to make sense to bring him back as a pre-order bonus for the KOTOR-themed MMO or something else. Sith Lords are an easy sell-- I'm sure Hasbro could sell a new one they made up monthly if they really wanted to do so. Given that this one is from a popular Xbox game, it's not at all surprising that collectors actually want this figure a great deal.

Day 849: September 15, 2008