Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,318: The Stranger (Qimir, The Vintage Collection)

THE STRANGER (Qimir)
The Vintage Collection 3 3/4-Inch Action Figure
Item No.: Asst. G2611 No. G2786
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #382
Includes: Two lightsabers, hilt, helmet, cloak
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $19.99
Availability: January 2026
Appearances: The Acolyte

Bio: Adopting the alias Qimir, the Stranger acts as a shiftless drifter. Little is known of this dark sider who trains Mae Aniseya in secret, hiding his face from his pupil. (Taken from the figure's cardback.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at eBay now!

Click here to buy it at Amazon now!

Commentary: One of the few figures I wanted after seeing The Acolyte was The Stranger (Qimir), who makes a pretty strong case for "hey maybe release some figures before the show starts." Is it a spoiler? Sure. Does it matter? No, it's so cool that seeing a figure like this might make you go "I want to watch the show now and I want to know more." The Acolyte was loaded up with considerable talent in front of and behind the camera, and decided to shoot itself in the foot. There were some great things in this show. There were some terrible aging make-up effects, and all it took was for one song so uncool that I found pretty much any discussion of the show's positives could be unraveled simply with the phrase "the power of many." For a show jam-packed with neato stuff, that's a real shame.

Manny Jacinto got to strut around nude - a first in Star Wars - denying me the part I was clearly born to play. But he did so with aplomb, getting to play an a-grade weirdo and a pretty compelling baddie with some great costumes and lack thereof. Like so many things in the recent saga, it's a shame that developments seem to conspire to keep him from coming back. Why? Because this is a great figure with a wonderful costume. He's got huge pants, a great shirt, and some of Hasbro's better bare arms. The brace on his left arm do a good job keeping him from having wrist cankles, but the right arm is a little bulky around the wrist. The range of motion is good, but it doesn't seem quite as muscular as the arms appeared on-screen. Can't win 'em all, I s'pose, you wouldn't want to accuse him of being some sort of master of the universe. The hands have no problems holding the lightasbers, and I've found the giant pants to be very good at helping him be posed in a stable way. I really like how Hasbro translated the design to a plastic man.

The head is top-notch, with a separately molded wig on a face that looks pretty great. That modern printing keeps getting better, and the simple deco on this figure is hard to ruin. Hasbro nailed the sculpted figure. The lightsabers are all decent, but you can't connect them in any way. The hilt fits like a glove in a socket on the belt, making this a figure with tons of good features that just plain work. Normally I'm fighting the pose or the lightsabers, but here? Everything is smooth. I love it.

To make things even more interesting, we get a cloth cloak and a plastic helmet. The helmet is another one of the great props, probably one of the highlights of the Disney era. It's gleefully creepy with a toothlike mouth and no eyes on a worn metal dome. I suppose the implication with all of the wear and tear is that this is a man who's been hit on the head a few times, which is more comical than cool, but it looks awesome enough that you might not think about that. I think it turned out great.

I don't love the cloak - as with other figures, I'm thinking we're hitting the limits of what cloth can do. It doesn't have a lot of weight to it, so it looks sort of like what the barber swings around you when it's time to get a haircut. The plastic one in The Black Series looks nicer, and I think I'd rather have something like that here. The material is good, but it just doesn't feel right for this particular figure. There are two layers of cloth and if I had this figure in my hand before I saw the show, I'd just say it looked like an awesome figure.

Loud, proud fans of The Acolyte are few but I think it's worth seeing the show. It's not my favorite series, but there's a lot in there that shows winning imagination and great work on the part of the writers and designers. Also, some of the most embarrassing stuff. The bulk of the non-Jedi costuming is all amazing, with unique armor and clothing to delight and frustrate. Maybe they'll find a place to reuse this stuff, as the Stranger's helmet seems like something that has had other owners and could be passed down. But I digress - this is the best The Acolyte figure, and it'll look awesome in other displays too. The pre-prequel show won't ever have a big collection of toys, so I'd still recommend picking up a few to put in other scenes or to just enjoy as a neat action figure. This review is way more positive than I was expecting, mostly because I was assuming I'd find fault with the deco, articulation, or five accessories. Even at $19.99, this is a figure that feels like it's better at pulling its weight. Bravo.

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

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,318: February 10, 2026

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,237: Jedi Master Indara (The Vintage Collection)

JEDI MASTER INDARA Pre-Prequel Jedi
The Vintage Collection 3 3/4-Inch Action Figure
Item No.: Asst. E7763 No. G0904
Number: #345
Includes: Lightsaber, hilt, commlink, robe
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $16.99
Availability: January 2025
Appearances: The Acolyte

Bio: Jedi Master Indara has exacting control of her Force abilities, exuding a sense of command and authority with just her presence. Though she does not seek combat, she is skilled enough to engage on her own terms. (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: The good thing - or bad thing - about collector figures like Jedi Master Indara from The Acolyte is that they set a high bar that we immediately take for granted. Older Vintage figures look poor by comparison, and any reduction in articulation will be taken as an offense. (And, arguably, rightly so given the price points these days.) As I assume The Acolyte will always be an "incomplete" line due to how the show clanged with fans, I would have to recommend this figure on her own merits. She'd fit in well in any Jedi-adjacent diorama you may be building, and every single bit about her looks precisely as I might hope. I have the new Mos Eisley playset on my desk and she looks like she belongs there. If you have enough figures? Obviously, you don't need one more. But if you see her in a store, or are filling a shopping cart online, consider giving her a shot.

When it comes to visual entertainments, you have to look at the art, and the craft. There are a lot of both in the 21st century Star Wars entertainment-flavored products, but it doesn't always gel in a way that appeals to the 50-year-old of today like it did for the 11-year-old of 1977. Nor should it. The Acolyte is not a "faster, more intense" fairy tale for kids of all ages, nor is Indara a toy action figure for little boys. It's a more thoughtful, ultimately incomplete series and an adult-marketed plastic collectible. It is, to say the least, a challenge to determine precisely how to support the increasing number of Star Wars fan constituencies in an era of manufacturing where we are about to wax nostalgic about $16.99 being the price in the cheap "good old days." That's democracy for you.

But getting back to the craft, on a good day, Hasbro are masters. It is somewhat remarkable that we've gone from seeing baby-faced lemon-headed plastic people in 1978 to eerily realistic portraits with separately molded wigs and meticulously crafted face paint in 2025 that fairly accurately portray very specific features of one of showbiz' most famous faces. If you had this Carrie-Anne Moss Jedi figure in 2002 you'd have driven all night to go to the right Walmart to find her, and you wouldn't care if she had 5 joints. Today you can have her mailed to your house. This figure is a synthesis of things sci-fi fans love, and she has been nicely engineered. The knees bend nicely and hide the joints in the folds of her pants. The waist joint is positioned just above the belt, not making a big fuss. There are tiny holes for her commlink and lightsaber hilt - but be careful, they seem easily lost. Her robes are pretty good too, and the lit lightsaber is no slouch. Her hips also allow her legs to swing forward almost fully, which is a rare thing on any sort of figure with a skirt. There is little to grouse about here beyond the typical "why can't we get a figure that's $10 worth of awesome in a $10 package" that I frequently make.

The figure matches the show nicely, with a unique pattern on her Jedi robes that set it apart from the rest of the pre-prequel and prequel era Jedi. The collar looks good too, and the belt seems like standard stuff. The fingerless glove hands are on swivel wrists - no bending, as far as I can tell, in part due to her flared sleeves. She stands well, the joints hold nicely. Unless you get an Indara with a wig glued in an unusual direction, I think you're going to have to really appreciate this figure. I doubt we'll see another live-action appearance of this character on-screen, and I doubt Hasbro is likely to make another action figure of her in this size. If this is the only one we ever get, I'm glad to say Hasbro did an excellent job.

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

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,237: May 1, 2025

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,230: Jedi Master Sol (The Retro Collection)

JEDI MASTER SOL Kennerized
The Retro Collection 3 3/4-Inch Action Figure
Item No.: No. G0386
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: Lightsaber, cloak, another 5 figures
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $59.99
Availability: October 2024
Appearances: The Acolyte

Bio: The Star Wars Retro Collection is inspired by the original 1970s Star Wars figures and features original figure design and detailing! Continue your collection from a galaxy far, far away. (Stolen from the marketing copy. 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!

Click here to buy it at eBay now!

Commentary: I'm writing these way before they go live, popping open a figure every day (or couple of days) because I like taking time with Retro. The final figure I opened in The Acolyte set, Jedi Master Sol is a pretty good figure that I assume a lot of fans would skip. For this reason, if Retro takes off in 2025 with that new Star Wars-themed set, these figures may be expensive down the road. For whatever reason, the world failed to click with the series and the action figures. This shared online exclusive Retro set was probably doomed from its conception. As soon as I heard Hasbro say "we're making a new show as Kenner figures!" I knew that there's a really good chance that the Kenner audience would immediately reject something that doesn't fit in with "the adventures of Luke Skywalker." They don't even need to see it - as a group, that's an older audience that mostly wants the format to fit the goings-on of the age of the Galactic Empire. The Acolyte Retro figures are generally all very good, but I assume quite a few fans are aging out of their 1970s hobbies. It's sort of like the various Frank Zappa 50th Anniversary fancy boxed sets. Are they cool? Absolutely. But how old is the audience who might want these? Would it have been better to put them out when they were more likely to haunt record stores and had better hearing? Yeah, probably. (But I'm listening to The Mothers 1971 box as I write this, so what do I know?)

Digressions aside, you can't fault Hasbro for doing a good job. Sol had a few slightly different looks during The Acolyte, and Hasbro opted to do the one with the white cloak and trim that was mostly seen on Coruscant. This costume is distinct from the ones Hasbro produced in Vintage and The Black Series. The thin fabric of his white cloak is excellent, and the material looks superb. It hangs, it's not too bulky, and I wouldn't mind seeing more new figures given this exact material down the road.

The lightsaber is the same mold you've seen on most retro figures, and is pretty much the same as other blue sabers. They're not identical, but if you handed me a bag of them I couldn't tell you which one went with Anakin or which one went with Sol. His hands grip it well, as Hasbro did a bang-up job ensuring the hands could grip the lightsaber without dropping it. Accessory compatibility shows great improvement over actual Kenner-era figures and most earlier Retro releases.

As one of the show's leads, it makes sense this is who you'd get as a figure. Kenner Sol does a good job translating Lee Jung-jae to Kenner-era sculpting, but seems to have shaved off a few years from his face in the stylization process. The hair looks a bit like Qui-Gon's, although it's worth noting that there's a partially separately molded weave. Everything above the ears is painted and part of his skull - everything below the tips of the ears are molded in color and a separate element. Kenner of old didn't tend to do anything to add to the tooling budget, so presumably these guys are a little bit cheaper to make these days as Hasbro puts in some pretty nice improvements. Kenner would likely have just shortened his hair, as they did with Leia.

When it comes to the costume, Hasbro did a good job translating it to plastic. The robes have little raised elements that do a good job simulating the stitching on the costumes. Gold paint keeps it from being too shiny. There are little wrinkles and other details everywhere, arguably making this the best "prequel" Jedi costume we've yet seen in The Retro Collection. Sure, I'd love some more texture, but it's fine. The belt and robes have a whiter trim than the other Jedi, making it so he doesn't quite fit in with the other figures, making this kind of a grab bag of a set where you're going to have to use your imagination when using your imagination and playing with these. The limbs all swing forward, and everything just plain works. One thing about this figure that stands out as different are his shorter tunic - the crotch zone seems big relative to the shorter "skirt" that shows more of his legs than a lot of other retro Jedi figures.

It would have been fun to give any figures that take place during (or before) A New Hope an embedded, telescoping lightsaber out of some silly sense of conceptual continuity. Hasbro did a good job making this figure appear as if it could have been made in the 1980s - maybe not with the extra hairpiece - and it's one of the more successful figures in the set. The costume is simple, and the figure nails it. I don't think it's the coolest in the set - it's hard to compete with the three Aniseya figures - but it's the strongest of the Jedi half. I'd recommend this set of six carded figures at (and especially under) $60 if it comes across your radar. I'll buy a second set if I see it on sale.

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

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,230: April 8, 2025

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,224: Jecki Lon (The Retro Collection)

JEDI PADAWAN JECKI LON Figure Debut
The Retro Collection 3 3/4-Inch Action Figure
Item No.: No. G0386
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: Lightsaber, cloth robes, another 5 figures
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $59.99
Availability: October 2024
Appearances: The Acolyte

Bio: The Star Wars Retro Collection is inspired by the original 1970s Star Wars figures and features original figure design and detailing! Continue your collection from a galaxy far, far away. (Stolen from the marketing copy. 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!

Click here to buy it at eBay now!

Commentary: On the Jedi half of The Acolyte The Retro Collection 6-pack, Jedi Padawan Jecki Lon is a perfectly good figure in her own right. She has the same cream-colored sleeves, tan pants, and brown boots, and gold vest area as the other Jedi, which makes her and her Jedi pals a little less interesting in the area of costuming. That's not Hasbro's fault, but it is a good reminder that uniforms are pretty boring. Hasbro has given us 18 Retro figures in 2024, and eight are a riff on this same robe costume. To put that in perspective, the entire original Kenner line had a total of eight movie Ewoks, and only three figures had this sort of quasi-Jedi costume. Variety is good, especially in multi-packs. It doesn't mean a figure is bad, but it does make it a little less fun than a pack of mixed creatures and droids and Sith and such.

Of the three Jedi, this one may be the most interesting in that the Padawan is one of very few short figures. She's an alien, and her skin color is a light lavender - we don't see that very much. I like the yellow details around her eyes - "Kenner" left extra deco out on the backs of her hands - and the dots and textures around her eyes are missing too. I can't really say "this is what Kenner would have done" because precious few figures had any sort of stripes around their eyes. I like that they painted her horns (which is what Kenner did with the Tusken Raiders), but I'm surprised the wig is a separately molded element. Mine seems to be a touch uneven, but I've only seen the one sample so far... and mine has uneven eyes.

The figure is as functional as any other good Kenner release. The arms swing, the head swivels, and the legs move forward. She stands, and thanks to a little bit of "give" in the fingers, either hand can hold her green lightsaber. The robes are sculpted about as well as any figure in the line (this means, a little soft on detail compared to a real Kenner toy) and I think any person who sees her on a card or on a shelf who is in their 40s or 50s will probably think she looks great. To have any real issues with sculpt or paint, you're going to need to have great eyes, or get in real close, or have really bright lights.

Looking at the paint, the colors are nice. The blue behind her belt was exaggerated slightly and pops nicely. I'd say the body is roughly as good as anything Kenner would have done, with the head showing evidence of that advanced future manufacturing witchcraft. I'm hoping to see another up-close, because overall, I think the separately molded wig is the best move Kenner didn't and should have made back in the 1980s. I hate seeing worn hair or nose dings on painted faces, and this gets around that problem. It's clever.

My favorite design choice was the padawan braid. While Hasbro has sculpted the braid on a shoulder before, Jecki's wig is a bit longer than Obi-Wan Kenobi's - as such, it looks a little more "connected" in most poses. It's not perfect, but it tends to work very well in most poses and was the right way to go.

Jecki has two accessories. One is a pretty good robe that wraps around the figure, preventing you from seeing Hasbro's hard work in the packaging. It's easy to put on or off, and the color seems right. Her green lightsaber is a reuse of the 1980s-style non-telescoping Luke lightsaber, which has been included with no fewer than a dozen other figures. If you've ever dreamed of official lightsabers in many colors, oh has your ship come in.

For what she is? She's fine. I find Jedi costumes to be dull - and in this set, repetitive - but I like Kenner stuff so I'm going to pick these up while skipping the 6-inch ones. (I'd rather have these, they stand and sit with less of a fight.) I don't think any old-school Kenner fanatic will prefer The Acolyte to any of the original 3 movies or the D+ streaming lines given their generally good mix of armored dudes, droids, and even a few aliens, because it's hard to one-up an Ewok or Yak Face or Zuckuss. They're great. But she's pretty good, and with the neat colors she'd be just at home on a shelf with characters from the Droids cartoon. I'd recommend getting this one if you're a fan of the format. I know, she's not a bounty hunter or a rubber-mask alien, but I'd say I find her more satisfying than the average collector-level figure. She gets the job done.

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

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,224: March 18, 2025

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,214: Mae (Assassin, The Vintage Collection)

MAE (Assassin)
The Vintage Collection 3 3/4-Inch Action Figure
Item No.: Asst. E7763 No. F9790
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #327
Includes: Cloth cloak, face mask, 2 daggers
Action Feature: Backpack and holster are removable
Retail: $16.99
Availability: September 2024
Appearances: The Acolyte

Bio: Set at the end of theHigh Republic, a former Padawan reunites with her Jedi Master to investigate a series of crimes, but the forces they confront turn out to be far more sinister and personal than anticipated. (Taken from the figure's cardback. Yes, it's the same non-bio Osha got.)

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: In many respects, it's a shame people didn't show up for The Acolyte. The story will never be finished, the figure line will likely go underserved, and fans will miss some of Hasbro's best work like this Mae (Assassin) figure. I really liked the retro Kenner one, and this one is also quite excellent. The only thing she has gong against her is that she isn't from a Star Wars that most people bothered to watch... which seems like most of them, nowadays.

Mae looks just like Osha, but different. Both are played by the same actress and Hasbro uses different plastic wigs, but similar paint. Both have glossy eyes with a lively sparkle, and shiny lips that give her a little more life than your average figure. Mae's hair is a little longer in front, plus she has an optional mask you can use to change up her look. You have to remove the black cloth around her neck - which I found tricky - by sliding it forward, and then the mask clamps over her neck without your having to decapitate her. Nice work, Hasbro, I wish there was a manual or a picture explaining this to me before I tried popping her noggin off. The mask fits well, and Hasbro did a nice job with some very tiny, fine detail in her hair. I have no snark here, Hasbro did a good job.

The costume was similarly well-executed, with sculptors and painters translating cloth and metal - with signs of wear and actual tear - to the figure's limbs quite nicely. You're getting your money's worth with this one, with so many textures and moving parts that don't seem to clash. The elbows swivel well, the wrists easily hold the tiny daggers, and despite having a lot of moving bits she stands without falling over too easily. I especially like her cloth cloak, as the hood sits on her head nicely. My one complaint with the figure was that my sample was assembled oddly, with the lower part of her robes twisted funny and it took me some doing to finagle the waist, skirt, and legs in the right position after opening the package.

My main gripe about this figure - indeed, most figures - is that The Acolyte seems to be doomed to a small figure line and we probably won't get The Stranger or the other characters from the show that would make it even more fun to collect. If Kenner only made Luke, Leia, Han, and Chewbacca in 1978 I don't think we'd be talking about toy collecting today. If you don't have any thrust behind your figure line, there's no reason to collect it. You'll be missing out, but probably also feeling good about not buying as much stuff to keep around. Hopefully Hasbro and Lucasfilm will build out bigger collections for future shows, especially as The Acolyte currently has a grand total of checks notes one 3 3/4-inch figure now.

Both Mae and Osha were packed at one per case, and their prices seem to be dipping. I assume there will be units at Ross or Ollie's this year, and I'll probably buy a second of each if the price is right because of Mae's choker and easily lost daggers. If she winds up around $3.99, it's cheaper than buying another one later and paying for shipping. Even if you didn't watch (or don't care about) The Acolyte, it's a great figure with amazing detail and is a handy way to get an Amandla Stenberg figure or two if you're a fan of her work. Also this is one of the best costumes in the Disney+ era of Star Wars, and one of Hasbro's best figures of said work. Maybe they're showing something fancier at Toy Fair in a few weeks, but this is a high bar and I don't assume it will be easily surpassed. Go get one if you see her, you're good for it.

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

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,217: February 20, 2025

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,210: Mae (Assassin, The Retro Collection)

MAE (ASSASSIN)
The Retro Collection 3 3/4-Inch Action Figure
Item No.: No. G0386
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: Vinyl cape, 2 knives, another 5 figures
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $59.99
Availability: October 2024
Appearances: The Acolyte

Bio: The Star Wars Retro Collection is inspired by the original 1970s Star Wars figures and features original figure design and detailing! Continue your collection from a galaxy far, far away. (Stolen from the marketing copy. 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!

Click here to buy it at eBay now!

Commentary: A ninja! Well, more or less - for whatever reason we haven't had a lot of figures that make me say that we're dealing with the arts of ninjutsu, or at least its American pop culture ideal, in Star Wars. Mae (Assassin) does a pretty good job of taking a good costume and giving us a compelling figure. Osha [FOTD #3,191] looks great, but Mae - despite being a twin - share zero parts. I assume Hasbro broke some law of toy manufacturing to bring us this much variety. She has two new knives, a vinyl cape, and a lot of sculpted detail.

Mae's hair is secretly amazing. Because of the vinyl cape, her separately molded plastic wig looks like it's the same as Osha. If you slide the cape off, you'll see it's actually a very long piece. The vinyl cape also obfuscates all of Hasbro's hard work sculpting what may be one of the most fascinating costumes in recent Retro memory. She has chain mail under her top, as well as extra armor over her chest for bonus protection. Is it any good against a lightsaber? We'll never know. Her boots are shiny but don't look like there's much going on - but she has enough belts, wristbands, and cloth elements draped over her person to make up for it. There's a mask covering her face, and from behind (sans cape) there are lots of sculpted cloth bits, hair, and other bits and pieces.

New Retro figures tend to eschew inner-leg detail on "gown pants." Most new figures are just flat - but Mae has some exposed pants inside her right leg. I appreciate the extra unnecessary detail because this sort of thing adds cost to a figure, but somehow, did not cause the price of the set to exceed the very fair $60.

Her accessories are good, but not amazing. I wish Hasbro went with a cloth cloak rather than the vinyl cape, but at least the vinyl cape slides off so you can see the fantastic costume. Mine came pre-wrinkled, and I'm a little scared to heat it with a hair dryer or hot water because I haven't tested this material under those conditions. (I should have bought a spare Reva or Grand Inquisitor as a guinea pig.) The stock photos of the vinyl cape look amazing, but the reality is that it feels about as good as any old Kenner plastic accessory. It's thin, it's fine. Her two swords also look good, and both hands can grip without dropping them. In short, Hasbro executed this figure almost to the very best of their ability. The only way I think Hasbro can improve this figure - and indeed future figures - is to get rid of the inner "tray" in the packaging as it seems to distort the vinyl capes and wrinkle them. I haven't seen this happen to actual 1978-1985 Kenner figures - these trays are a menace. Still, even without the cape, this is one of the very best of these figures. I didn't expect to love it - sure it looked cool, but I was continuously impressed the more I looked at her. It's a shame she won't have more stories, but I guess that means I can have her show up pretty much anywhere my toy box can travel.

This is a good figure. Even if you threw your arms up at the show, this is one of those toys I wish I had as a child. Maybe it wouldn't be everybody's favorite, but who wouldn't have wanted a cool Star Wars assassin with all of this detail? The costume is as good as anything we saw out of Jabba's entourage, and it has more textures and materials than just about anything else we got out of Retro in the past few years. I'm not going to recommend this figure to you if you're not on board with The Retro Collection, but I'm going to suggest you pick this set up if Kenner is your jam. She's not a cool alien, that's true - but as human costumes go this may be the best to hit this format. I know you're not going to listen to me, but don't skip this set. Despite it being 50% Jedi, it's still really good.

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

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,213: February 6, 2025

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,204: Mother Aniseya (The Retro Collection)

MOTHER ANISEYA Figure Debut
The Retro Collection 3 3/4-Inch Action Figure
Item No.: No. G0386
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: Another 5 figures
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $59.99
Availability: October 2024
Appearances: The Acolyte

Bio: The Star Wars Retro Collection is inspired by the original 1970s Star Wars figures and features original figure design and detailing! Continue your collection from a galaxy far, far away. (Stolen from the marketing copy. 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!

 Click here to buy it at eBay now!

Commentary: As of my writing this, this is the only Mother Aniseya figure we've seen. Will there be another? I don't know - but I doubt it. Hasbro did a good job sculpting a figure that looks like a Kenner design, but Disney did a better job making a costume and make-up job that was designed for higher-definition televisions. If you watched the show, you'll have noticed incredibly ornate fabric patterns, incredible hair, and jewels galore. This level of detail is fundamentally incompatible with old Kenner designs, which is part of what makes it interesting - someone has to be an editor, and very carefully decide what the budget can carry. At $60, this 6-figure set was relatively cheap and given Ms. Aniseya lacks any accessories, you can see that Hasbro decided to put the budget into her hair pieces and paint.

Given the nature of the show, it makes sense. It's rare to hear me say this, but I think this figure would've been best in Vintage - she's the only "flashback" figure in the set, so she's kind of the odd one out as it is. Having said that, it's an interesting choice in that there aren't a lot of other figures like her. Most humans in the Kenner style have been white dudes, and almost all hair is short. Her design is not unlike Bib Fortuna, with long hair in the front and back featuring a hint of flexibility so it doesn't snap. Like Bib and the Emperor, her "gown" legs are split in the middle with no wavy fabric patterns underneath. Her purple gown is incredibly striking, but it lacks the intricate pattens from the show. The angled grid on her blue elements are closer to how Hasbro handled them on the Hoth figures of the 1980s, not quite raising the grid like on the show. But everything is more or less where it should be, with various jewels and ornamentation in the hair. It's clear Hasbro was working from good reference materials, giving us a figure that looks like something we could have had in the early 1980s.

If I was handed this figure with never having seen the show, I'd say "wow, this is cool!" She looks like she could fit in anywhere in Star Wars, and given her witchy tribe, young kids, or younger antagonistic Jedi will never be made in this format, that's handy. It's weird to have a figure like this that won't necessarily belong anywhere, and she's off-model enough that you could believe she could be hanging out with C-3PO or Mon Mothma or the Emperor. That shows that, at their core, the Disney designers more or less nailed the costume. Unfortunately they did such a good job making the face distinctive that she looks very little like her TV counterpart beyond the most superficial elements, like "has eyes." The figure downplays the distinctive make-up, with no chin or forehead ornamentation. The eyes are more defined on the show, but that's not the kind of thing Kenner would try to replicate. It would be great to have those silver markers there given how they stand out, but alas, it was not meant to be. Hasbro did a great job capturing the spirit of the costume and Kenner aesthetics here, which is more or less what I want out of this line. It doesn't have to be perfect - and goodness knows, it isn't - but at least it's different than the rest of this collection.

Given the figure's price, and how unique she is, I'd recommend picking her up even if you don't like the show. The three Aniseya family members seem to be the best in the collection, with distinctive costumes and unique hair - and if they show up at Ross I'm buying another set. Aspiring customizers will probably come up with great ways to improve her head paint, and if they do, I hope they share links with me. Also if you line up all your Kenner or Retro figures, this would probably be the first in the timeline.

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

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,204: January 7, 2025

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,196: Jedi Knight Yord Fandar (The Retro Collection)

JEDI KNIGHT YORD FANDAR (The Kenner Republic)
The Retro Collection 3 3/4-Inch Action Figure
Item No.: No. G0386
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: Lightsaber, cloak, and another 5 figures
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $59.99
Availability: October 2024
Appearances: The Acolyte

Bio: The Star Wars Retro Collection is inspired by the original 1970s Star Wars figures and features original figure design and detailing! Continue your collection from a galaxy far, far away. (Stolen from the marketing copy. 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!

Click here to buy it at eBay now!

Commentary: Hey, it's Charlie Barnet! Yord Fandar was a character on The Acolyte who you were happy to see, and then died. He didn't get to do much - but since he was in the first couple of episodes of the show, we got him as a Retro figure. Because he's a good actor, it's fun to have him as a toy figure, but I can't say I'm thrilled by this set's character selection. It makes sense Hasbro made him - why wouldn't all these cool guys survive the show? Well, now we know, they don't. You get three Jedi in this set, but the thing that kind of stinks about pre-Original Trilogy Jedi figures is that they're all pretty similar. But if you don't have enough Jedi, you should get this one because it understands the premise.

While not a perfect match to the actor - or the costume - it does feel like a step closer to what fans want out of a new Kenner figure. The pose has some nice bends in the elbows, arms out just a bit, and a tiny bit of a curve to the neck. It's a bit more human, still a tiny bit stiff but it's nice to see another figure that just doesn't seem to be repeating the old Bespin Luke pose. Everything swivels nicely, but his center of gravity is a little off - you're going to want to use his cloak to prop him up, or tilt his arms (or torso) ever-so-slightly forward or he falls backward. I'm not crazy about that, I just want to stand them upright and have him stand.

The figure's sculpting is pretty good - a bit chunkier, a bit less elegant, with colors that probably aren't quite right and a head sculpt that's just a bit off. In other words - arguably, they nailed it. The gold armor is a bit more saturated than the other figures, with a face that seems a hair too tall (with tall hair that's fine and a face that can't capture Barnet's stare) and enough landmarks that show Hasbro had decent reference. The boots seem a little more wrapped than the other figure, but hey, at least it looks interesting. The belt has a lot of sculpted bits with no painted highlights - which is how Kenner would usually do it - and perfectly nice boots. There's nothing particularly special about the pose, and the colors seem a bit saturated - it feels like someone put him through a toy compression process, and there's just enough of a lack of the actor likeness to make it feel old. It's not perfect to what old Kenner would have done, but it's got the spirit right - by getting it a little wrong.

Hasbro made the hands rather tight, so he's in no danger of dropping his lightsaber. The robe fits pretty well, but we're back to a hood that's kind of hard to fold down - just like the old days. I don't think I'd have done things particularly differently were I asked to chime in, so I would rate the gear as a success.

I think Hasbro did a good job with the character, the format limitations, the deco budget, and what I assumed was no useful information as to the character's fate. If you told me I could pick only 100 figures to make (or reissue), Yord wouldn't be a top contender - but he turned out fine, I probably would have argued about Prune Face too. Now that these figures seem to be exclusively based on non-classic sources and sold only in boxed sets, Hasbro is really hitting their stride - I hope they consider bringing them back to physical stores some day, but for now, this guy is a fine shared online Fan Channel exclusive.

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

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,196: December 10, 2024

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,191: Osha Aniseya (The Retro Collection)

OSHA ANISEYA (The Kenner Republic)
The Retro Collection 3 3/4-Inch Action Figure
Item No.: No. G0386
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: Blaster, droid buddy Pip, and another 5 figures
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $59.99
Availability: October 2024
Appearances: The Acolyte

Bio: The Star Wars Retro Collection is inspired by the original 1970s Star Wars figures and features original figure design and detailing! Continue your collection from a galaxy far, far away. (Stolen from the marketing copy. 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! 

Click here to buy it at eBay now!

Commentary: When I first heard The Acolyte was going to have figures, I quietly sighed - mostly because "new timeline for a modern show" and "old-style figures, of which 50+-year-olds will be the most vocal" was a formula for fan complaints even before we knew what the show was. The figures had some really neat costumes from the Aniseya family, and some pretty repetitive ones for the Jedi. Osha Aniseya came out of the show in the best shape, and her figure was the first one I opened. Her The Vintage Collection figure was excellent, and her Retro figure seems surprisingly willing to jump on some very modern production decisions. Is she good? Yes. Will she please those who insist Hasbro make these things exactly like the 1970s and 1980s? No.

I'm a toy fanatic, and I find that many "collector figures" - even great ones - just feel like they're extracting money from my wallet that should be spent on more toys. I've got both flavors of Osha on my desk now and while both are great, I assume this Kenner one is going to get more attention even though the Vintage one has stunning articulation and exceptionally good attention to detail. Why? Because one may require care when posing, and the other I can pick up, pose, and put on a flat surface without even thinking. I like the simplicity.

The figure itself seems to have understood what needed to be done. Like Leia, she's a little taller than true 3 3/4-inch scale. She has five joints, no more than two colors of paint per piece, and her pose isn't quite as stiff as some other figures - but that may be because of her hair. Functionally, she gets the job done - each hand can grip one of her two accessories. Like most Kenner blasters, hers is a little bit bigger. The blue Pip, on the other hand, is pretty much the same size - but more simply sculpted, and painted. Painted accessories are very uncommon in Kenner's original Star Wars line, with nearly everything save for a few Ewok accessories and Amanaman's staff being molded in color. I assume that this was done because it was too expensive to make another mold to crank out Pip cast in blue, but seeing the extra orange paint app goes above and beyond what Kenner would likely have done. Is it bad? I don't think so - so it does stand out to those of us who had to make do with single-color lightsabers for up to 17 years.

Osha is more than just a fancy sculpt run through some smoothing filters. Creases are in different places, and her vest shows some signs of thought. Her vest's ribbing has 7 lines instead of 8 (or 7 1/2) on Vintage, and Kenner Osha's badge is completely smooth as opposed to having some painted detail like Vintage. Back in the 1980s, one variant of Hoth Leia had a smooth badge as well - I assume that's what Hasbro was opting to capture here. The Kenner-style figure opted out of representing Osha's holsters. This makes sense, few figures had any sort of functional accessory storage back then.

But what about the head? It's fine - but strange. The skin is a bit more translucent than most of the figures I had as a kid, so it makes it a little harder to see some sculpted detail. The silhouette is similar, but not identical, especially in the chin. Kenner humans were often pretty lacking in the chin department, and this one follows suit. What surprised me was that Hasbro gave her a separately molded hairpiece. This is something we only started to see in the 2010s in Vintage, and it looks great when it works well - it's just a bit of an anachronism. Hasbro did a good job getting it right as the "wig" fits perfectly, and because it's molded in red it's not going to scrape and show skin-colored plastic. I suspect it may have been done to give her long hair - Kenner rarely did this back in the day, so molding on a separate piece could well have been something they came up with (along with shorter hair) to give the figure's head a little more authenticity. The head swivels, but the hair does get in the way. The plastic wig is not at all what I would have expected on the final figure. I don't hate it, as it is a modern solution to an old problem.

If you ignored The Acolyte as a property, this is still a good figure. It shows Hasbro experimenting with improving their techniques and trying to deliver a better new (old) experience. There's no way they could deliver this hair technique in the 1980s, but it's probably better than just giving her a shorter hairdo. I like both 3 3/4-inch Osha figures for completely different reasons, and have no desire to unload either one - but I'm biased to like Retro more, even if the other one is more impressive. For $60 this is a pretty good set and I'd be lying if that didn't color my preferences. I'd even go as far as to say I'd love to see Hasbro do a few (very few) other figures - Bazil and The Stranger would be great, as would Vernestra Rwoh, but I don't assume any toys not already in the works will ever see the light of day. I like what Hasbro made, and how they priced it, too much to steer you away from this (sadly) mostly human collection. At least they picked some pretty good mostly humans.

Packaging Notes: The cardbacks are much sturdier than many Star Wars Retro figures. The cardstock seems sturdier than the old-school ones too, but it still has the sticker and faux weathering, both of which I could do without. Cardbacks are unpunched.

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

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,191: November 21, 2024