Mr. JabbaJohnL
06-01-2006, 07:03 PM
Hem Dazon is the only never-before-made figure from the Escape From Mos Eisley wave (as it is called on this wave's cardbacks). Based on a head that appeared for three seconds in ANH, how does this figure stack up?
First, let's start with the good.
The body is based on a Hasbro worker's imagination, as far as I know; as such, it's pretty hard to mess up something that's never been seen before. Hem is articulated at the head (ball-joint), shoulders (ball-joint), elbows (two points on each arm, one could be classified as "wrists"), waist, legs, and ankles. Unlike some other figures, the shoulder articulation is hidden quite well and looks very nice. His body is quite skinny and his legs are posed in an "alien" position; since this was an all-new creation, and not based on a costume from the movie, it's nice to see Hasbro take some liberties with it and make it slightly less "human." Still, this is a body I NEVER pictured that head to be on (I was thinking less humanoid), so it's a little odd in that way.
Hem comes with a few accessories - TSC base and holo, bandolier, blaster, cup, and table. The base, thankfully, reads "Hem Dazon" and not "Dem Hazon" as some places had reported. The holo (Darth Vader in my case) is red, as they will be from now on; though they're not like the holos from the films, they look pretty cool and are a nice mix-up from the blue ones. The bandolier's not really an accessory, but it can be taken off of the figure. The blaster looks like a more in-scale version of Ponda Baba's, and fits in his hand or holster fairly well. The cup is pastel blue with some white "foam" at the top. The table is fairly small; I think it's kind of like the one Luke knocked over when he fell down, maybe slightly smaller. It's nice to get some pieces with which to decorate the cantina.
And now to the bad.
Hem's head is, well, pretty much all wrong. This is especially frustrating since it's the ONLY part of him we EVER see, so you'd think they'd take a little extra time to get it right. From the front, he looks pretty good. From the side and back, he looks like utter crap. He has a very pronounced chin, while in the film he had none at all. His head goes back quite a bit to accomadate the ball joint head . . . think "E.T.'s head with Hem Dazon's face, plus a big ol' chin." If you actually watch Hem's appearance (which I did to check the accuracy of the figure), you'll see that his head is pretty much flat in the back and doesn't go way back as the figure does. I suppose if you look at it from certain angles, it looks decent; but I would've preferred they ditched the ball-joint altogether and didn't have a chin or idiotic lump on the back of his head.
All things considered, Hem gets a C+. The body is nice . . . too bad it was never in the actual movie. It's also too bad that the head sucks.
First, let's start with the good.
The body is based on a Hasbro worker's imagination, as far as I know; as such, it's pretty hard to mess up something that's never been seen before. Hem is articulated at the head (ball-joint), shoulders (ball-joint), elbows (two points on each arm, one could be classified as "wrists"), waist, legs, and ankles. Unlike some other figures, the shoulder articulation is hidden quite well and looks very nice. His body is quite skinny and his legs are posed in an "alien" position; since this was an all-new creation, and not based on a costume from the movie, it's nice to see Hasbro take some liberties with it and make it slightly less "human." Still, this is a body I NEVER pictured that head to be on (I was thinking less humanoid), so it's a little odd in that way.
Hem comes with a few accessories - TSC base and holo, bandolier, blaster, cup, and table. The base, thankfully, reads "Hem Dazon" and not "Dem Hazon" as some places had reported. The holo (Darth Vader in my case) is red, as they will be from now on; though they're not like the holos from the films, they look pretty cool and are a nice mix-up from the blue ones. The bandolier's not really an accessory, but it can be taken off of the figure. The blaster looks like a more in-scale version of Ponda Baba's, and fits in his hand or holster fairly well. The cup is pastel blue with some white "foam" at the top. The table is fairly small; I think it's kind of like the one Luke knocked over when he fell down, maybe slightly smaller. It's nice to get some pieces with which to decorate the cantina.
And now to the bad.
Hem's head is, well, pretty much all wrong. This is especially frustrating since it's the ONLY part of him we EVER see, so you'd think they'd take a little extra time to get it right. From the front, he looks pretty good. From the side and back, he looks like utter crap. He has a very pronounced chin, while in the film he had none at all. His head goes back quite a bit to accomadate the ball joint head . . . think "E.T.'s head with Hem Dazon's face, plus a big ol' chin." If you actually watch Hem's appearance (which I did to check the accuracy of the figure), you'll see that his head is pretty much flat in the back and doesn't go way back as the figure does. I suppose if you look at it from certain angles, it looks decent; but I would've preferred they ditched the ball-joint altogether and didn't have a chin or idiotic lump on the back of his head.
All things considered, Hem gets a C+. The body is nice . . . too bad it was never in the actual movie. It's also too bad that the head sucks.