Personal experience with the LOOSE 2003 figures; Obi-Wan's the biggest disappointment

[Tycho]

My friend got his figures from Hong Kong early again.

Today I saw and handled the first waves of Collections 1 & 2, plus the Imperial Shuttle and Wal*Mart Cantina figures wave Two.

Obi-Wan just made me so mad. It's Arena Rescue Mace all over again - although his saving grace is that the new Obi-Wan's headsculpt is a lot better and looks much more like Ewan McGreggor.

The figure cannot turn at the waist at all! The right arm has no poseablility for it's elbow articulation, because it must attach quite loosely for the stupid action feature to work. That's activated by pressing in a nicely disguised pouch on his utility belt (a plus for the camouflage at least). But when you do this, his forearm makes a jerking motion which PRECISELY resembles that which WILL NOT be discussed on this website due to age-appropriateness. But you get what I'm saying and you know what he's doing! It's sick! I bet they laugh about it back in Rhode Island, too. But I'm not laughing - not at all.

I did not try his spear-throwing feature to see if it worked, I saw him working his special action quite enough already. On the last positive note, his one-scene wonder pose will look great in dioramas, along with that improved head-sculpt.

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Dooku's cool. The action feature works the same way. Sadly his lightning doesn't connect to his hand like the Flash Back Emperor's did, so having the new sculpted lightning will be only as good as having the accessory Yoda comes with...or JarJar's electropol for that matter. Dooku himself is a great sculpt, he stands well, his headsculpt is improved, and overall I like this figure better than the first one. His cape - the way it's flowing - looks really cool and I think you'll like it.

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Padme - nice figure! I really like this one. Her ankles turn like Zam Wessel, so she can be put in a variety of poses - running - and balace by herself without the stand even - in that pose! Or she can be made to stand relaxed, casual like the vintage figures used to be able to do. This is a much better representation of Natalie Portman than the last figure in white (though her pilot figure's pretty accurate). The only thing I don't like is that her mouth is open like she's screaming (as she was in the droid factory scene). But she will look pretty funny "singing" at Shmi's funeral, though we'd all like that track "The Gungans Look Greener on the Other Side" added to the master edition of the Original Soundtrack, I'm sure. He cloak is OK for the funeral scene too, as it could be blowing in the wind, or flowing behind her as she runs the gauntlet in the Geonosian assembly line. Overall - a great figure!

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Jedi Analysis Droids - They're quaint. There's nothing special about them to me. I like droids, they just weren't at the top of my list. They also would be more impressive if they were white like they were in the movie (I think - unless it's the background that made everything look whiter in the movie - memory failure here). The droids my friend got should not have been prototypes, but they were grey. If this is an error to correct, here could be a major variation chase piece (the grey being more rare) but I think fans would rather have the white (but don't listen to me -watch the deleted scene again - I don't want to start any rumors. One thing that is not a rumor is that one of them is very well endowed. QLD this is your figure, and it should be very popular with the lady droids as well. :rolleyes:

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Tusken Raider - best of the entire bunch. The sculpt is amazing. His lower body is like Eeth Koth's though - no poseable legs - molded to the lower torso. But he twists at the waist and turns independent of his flowing outer cloak. His arms are really multi-poseable - shoulders, biceps, wrists. It's much like the Saga SaeSee Tiin's articulation. The head is attached by a magnet and comes off way too easily, in my opinion, but the sculpt is amazing.

Customizers: most of this figure would make an awesome A'Sharad Hett if he's given a lightsaber - and if you want to take him apart and lose the Tusken bandolier torso, the arms cloak with hood, and lower torso with legs would come together to make an excellent custom Jedi Knight!

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Imperial Officers - the new headsculpts are cool. It really looks like two different guys serving the Empire together!

The Rebel Fleet Trooper is barely different from the last POTJ one, but that's not bad.

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Kitik Keed Kak (Cantina Preying Mantis) - this figure is way cool! But not THAT cool...just cool. Two ARTICULATED legs and a Geonosian-like bug abdomen are under the skirt! She turns at the waist. The arms are ONLY articulated at the shoulders, the head / neck does not turn. Still, she's a superior sculpt, and TALL! She'll look very good in my bar diorama. She comes with two bar cups, but has no way of holding them.

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Wuher - everybody's heard about this one. Personally I think he comes with a larger beer-gut.

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Dr. Evazan - the face looks worse, and his new legs that bend at the knees stand him up too tall. He just looks wrong. I wasn't planning on buying him as I have the old one, but now I'm not even the slightest bit sorry about that decision.

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The Shuttle: just awesome! I have a vintage one, but this one feels sturdier - like it's made out of lighter, but stronger plastic - and of course it's not time-worn. But the paint job make it look that way - and makes it look fanstastic! Everyone's gotta have a shuttle. This is a nice piece! I can't wait for my new one to arrive.

Seating capacity: in front - 2. In the back you can have Luke, Leia, R2, C-3PO, and ONE (1) Endor Rebel Soldier (if you're smart about your seating arrangements. - So that's really 4 figures in the back with "anywhere you can stuff an astrochech droid."

[Darth Trymybestus]

Ahhhh that's fine by me, I just put my figures in a pose then display them, as long as the sculpt is cool (which Obi-Wan - Acklay Battle is! It's a fantastic sculpt) that's all that matters to me.;)
Mace Windu Geonosian Rescue is pretty cool actually (did I just open a pandora's box there?:crazed: :D)

[sith_killer_99]

Color me green with envy.:(

You actually got to handle the new Shuttle!:eek:

Great review T. thanks for the low-down!

[2-1B]

Alright! The new Obers sounds GREAT, I'm sure he'll be perfect for the kids !
:rolleyes:


I'm pumped for that Praying Mantis chick ! :)

[Rogue II]

I can't wait to get the Imperial Officers and Rebel Fleet Troopers. I have some customizing to do. I'm also happy to hear the Tusken Raider turned out ok. I'll plan on getting all of the cantina sets anyway. I was worried about Evazan after seeing the first pics.

[sunshine]

Still can't wait to find them, but still need to find a Ephant Mon

[Tycho]

Yeah, figures are going to stagnate a bit in some stores.

Many Wal*Marts, Targets, TRUs and KBs are receiving the Mace Arena Wave (Vader, Luke, Chewie, Han, OB-pilot) or the Teemto wave without Ephont (or the Ephonts are getting picked up by employees etc.)

Here's the deal: I would not count on finding Ephont Mon in some areas right now, and he does not ship in the next several C2 assortments. As production catches up on Ephont Mon, I'm sure he'll be put in a later case with at least 2 of him per box again. You DO NOT need to resort to e-Bay or marked-up comic book shops. He will be pegwarming in June or July and you'll have him for 5 bucks if you wait until then, or find him now before Padme's case starts shipping.

So far as I've seen, the cases where the figures I reviewed are from are NOT OUT in the domestic United States. These came from Hong Kong when my buddy got them.

ONE COOL THING I FORGOT: THE TUSKEN RAIDER'S CAMPFIRE BASE STAND, IS SLOTTED AND PLUGGED TO FIT TOGETHER WITH OTHER BASES OF THIS NATURE - so evidence of one large Tusken bonfire party can be recreated. We'll have to wait until someone has multiples of this figure to see how they all look together.

[LTBasker]

Thanks for the reviews, Tycho. Is the Acklay Battle Obi head able to look ok on Pilot Obi and vice versa? Are the Imperial Officers less taller than the first one? And finally, how does the new Tusken Raider look with the other two Saga ones?

[Tycho]

I don't know. I don't have any of these figures except Kitik Keed Kak.

My friend got them early from Hong Kong and showed them to me after he opened them. We met at lunchtime and neither of us were carrying older figures with us.

I think the Imp Officers use all the same bodies, so they are the same height. If they vary, it was because one of them has their hat pushed down lower, (the brown-haired officer) and his head is smaller. It's funny, but they'd remind vintage collectors of Big Head, Little Head Han figures - but not that bad of variation.

[kdp100]

The Saga Imperial Officer that I have (lighter hair, broader jaw) DOES have the same body as the POTJ version - it's just the head that's different.

[Paul-Kenobi]

Quick question is Tyrannus's saber blade removeible?

[patchiswelsh]

Wow you got to see the Padmé

I can't wait for this fig. First on my list for 2003

is it the best Padmé around??

[JEDIpartner]

Well... I could have pretty much told you that about the Obi-Wan just based off of the pics. I will probably snag another one of these for the head and a second Padme to do a head-swap with the first Arena one (I bought a second for this purpose). I have no interest in having a "yelling all the time" Padme, but I still want to have an original version. Sad that we have to tweak the figures to make them look right!

[Tycho]

Originally posted by Paul-Kenobi
Quick question is Tyrannus's saber blade removeible?

I never thought to look. I was playing with his lightning since it was a new feature to be included with Dooku. I'm sorry, but I don't know.



Originally posted by patchiswelsh

Wow you got to see the Padmé

I can't wait for this fig. First on my list for 2003

is it the best Padmé around??


Yes, I'd say so! It's a real figure with no action features (thank the Force!) I think her pilot figure is very cool too, but this figure's a little more useful since she wore that outfit in a lot of scenes: Shmi's funeral, the Droid Factory, the deleted scenes Negotiations with Dooku, and the Trial, and finally when chained up in the Arena (before the Nexu wounded her).

JEDIpartnr : It's a cool idea to swap her head with the current Arena Battle Padme. I might do that with 1 of mine. I agree that I like to keep a mint, loose version of many figures, but if she's screaming when she's wounded (2nd head on first figure, and calm while at the funeral (1st head on 2nd figure) that makes a lot of sense doesn't it? Residents of Pawtuckett, Rhode Island: do not attempt to figure this out ;)

[Darth Trymybestus]

If you look at rebelscum.com they've updated their figure archives and they have detailed pictures of Darth Tyranus - Geonosis Escape and Obi-Wan Kenobi - Acklay Battle.
I do think that Dooku's saber blade is removeable :)

[Prince Xizor]

I have a question, Does Padme's cap stay on tight, and how hard is it to remove?

Thanks for the reviews, though.

[Tycho]

I think it has a big head-hole so it goes on and off easily, but stays on if you want it that way.

[Paul-Kenobi]

you had or have the figure and you didnt bother to look ? :confused:

if it isnt removeable then how the hek did they permently glue the blade on to that metal hilt? the top of it is plastic.

well if you would as to be so kind to cheek to see if it is removeable.

thanks :)

[Hasbro'sBountyHunter]

I can't wait for these, especially Dooku!

[Tycho]

I called my friend and he said Dooku's blade IS removeable. He had all the figures' accessories in a sandwich bag and I only removed ones I wanted to use with the character I was examining.

Sorry I didn't know. I just wasn't as excited about another Dooku lightsaber, versus seeing the Tusken and Padme. Dooku does look good and his relaxed pose would look 10 times more dramatic on the Arena Balcony then does the current figure. Like I said, he still has the action feature, and the new one works the same as the current one (squeeze the legs together) but I've actually liked that on both figures of the Count. His action feature is cool and I never minded it. The new one is joined better at the waist though. Remember how the first one had a little gap kind of the way it was assembled to have an action feature? They corrected that, so there's no bad news about Dooku except that he's not: the Arcona, Dorme, the Rodian Senator, General Rieeken, or Poggle the Lesser - and I'd be much more excited if a figure of them is what I saw. But Dooku is awesome!

[Paul-Kenobi]

thank you so much Tycho i really appreciate it :) injoy the figures :)

[Teeska Mon Eebon]

Yesss! That's great that the blade is removeable I want to do a EU scene of Dooku training Qui-Gon and now I can put in a green or blue (haven't decided) to make him look Jedi! wondering what body to use for a younger Quigon and thinking about making a very young Obi using an anikin body but not sure of a head to use.

[Tycho]

Tips for young Obi-Wan custom included. First commentary.....

He-he. Remember, Obi-Wan was not even born when Dooku trained Qui-Gon.

Qui-Gon was approximately 60 in TPM, Obi-Wan was 24.

Before Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon trained Xanatos, a young Jedi who turned to the Dark Side and who later lost his life against Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan (but by Xanatos' own poor choice). So if Qui-Gon spent about 12 years with Xanatos, before Obi-Wan, he was in his thirties when he trained Xanatos (anywhere from 30 -48) He'd have been 48 when he started training Obi-Wan.

Jedi are apprenticed at age 13, and Xanatos was trained all the way up to his Trials, when he failed and abandoned the Jedi. (His final trial had been to settle a peace between warring factions on his homeworld, but he could not resist the opportunity to sieze his birth family's wealth and inherit his father's throne).

Every Jedi faces different Trials - they are designed to apply directly to the specific Jedi.

Anyway, so if Qui-Gon was 30 at the youngest when he trained Xanatos, Obi-Wan would not have even been born. Furthermore, it would be even longer until Obi-Wan was born, if you take Qui-Gon back to when he trained under Dooku.

Now for a good Young Obi-Wan: use the Snobi-Wan figure head (Cold Weather Training) on the new Coruscant Chase Obi-Wan body. Snowbi-Wan has the youngest looking face of any of the Obi-Wan figures. The T-plug is a little long and won't settle perfectly snug into the new Obi-Wan body (Coruscant Chase). I chose to keep it articulated (though you can cut and glue I suppose). I had parts to other figures from customs, and I put Princess Leia Ceremony's removeable belt (Leia Collection) around Obi-Wan's neck to make his slave-collar from Bandomeer when Xanatos had him captured and sent out to the deep ocean mines of that colony planet. Anyway, the new Obi-Wan body (slightly undersized so he's light enough to hang from the Droid) looks exactly right for the 13 year old Obi-Wan if put next to the Soft-Goods Qui-Gon (about the tallest Qui-Gon they made).

Anyway, that worked for me. It was only today that I learned that the picture I took didn't come out because I used one of those disposable cameras and didn't think I needed it's flash.... :rolleyes:

[tgr3328]

Originally posted by Tycho
But when you do this, his forearm makes a jerking motion which PRECISELY resembles that which WILL NOT be discussed on this website due to age-appropriateness. But you get what I'm saying and you know what he's doing! It's sick! I bet they laugh about it back in Rhode Island, too. But I'm not laughing - not at all.

Sounds a lot like the EP1 deluxe Obi Wan, except he was two-handed!

[jblodgett]

Wow, after looking at those pictures over on rebelscum-- that Obiwan is just BAD. I was really looking forward to that figure too. But boy- the pose (and that right arm!!) is just HORRIBLE.

What is it with Hasbro and these gimmick figures? And what is it with this sudden passion to make everybody left handed??????

[Teeska Mon Eebon]

Thanks for the Help Tycho I'll try and get a picture on here as soon as I get it done. :D

[187-Maul]

sounds cool, but I take it that the new dooku still turns his waist when you sueeze his legs? I know the first one "slashes" and turns his waist (I have him) but I think that the waist turning ruins the action feature and I was hoping that the new one only slashes down (the pic on the cardback looked as if he wouldn't turn his body with the af)
so is the feature exactly as it was on the old one?

[sith_killer_99]

Well, I just found, and passed on, the new Obi-Wan and Dooku figures.

One of my local Wal-Marts had a couple of each Obi/Dooku. At first I was like "Wow, cool, I never find anything first."

Then I looked at them, I mean really looked at them. Then I hung my head in shame that I still collect this line (how can a line that gave us Ephant Mon and the newer Royal Guard produce something like...this). Then I slowly put them back on the pegs.:cry:

The new Obi-Wan makes the Choco Dip Obi-Wan from POTJ look like a masterpiece! It is hands down the most revolting hunk of plastic I have ever seen. Hasbro has hit a new low with this figure.

Monkey-face Leia is lightyears better than this thing. I mean it. Simply disgusting, words can't even describe....

I have to go now.:cry:

[Tycho]

What did you think of the head sculpt on Obi-Wan?

While I detest this figure, not everything's bad about it.

[Mr. JabbaJohnL]

sith_killer_99! Get one of each for me! PM me if they still have them and we'll work a deal if they do!

[Adam]

My god. Hasbro has forsaken me again. I was so glad to find Obi-Wan that I didn't really even look at him till I got home. He adds a new level to suck! I'm like jblodgett, I was really looking forward to this figure. He's HORRIBLE. What's the point of giving a figure handcuffs that he can't use? The column is the best part of this figure.

Will Wal-Mart accept a return for a figure that's already been opened?

Tyranus on the other hand is pretty cool. He would be perfect if his right arm were ball jointed, like his other arm.

[187-Maul]

so you also have Dooku, Adam? one question: can he hold his lightsaber with both hands somehow? (I guess not but I want to be sure)

[patchiswelsh]

ahhhhh
i can't wait till the new padmé comes out
but does anyone have any idea when they are coming out over here in the UK?
Thanks :)

[Adam]

Originally posted by 187-Maul
so you also have Dooku, Adam? one question: can he hold his lightsaber with both hands somehow? (I guess not but I want to be sure)

Yeah, I found him along with Obi-wan. He cannot unfortunatly hold his saber with both hands. He's a good figure though. Way better than the first Dooku.