Thoughts on some of the recent 2003 Saga figs

[JediTricks]

Recently, I've had some good finds leading to filling almost every void in my 2003 Saga basic figure collection to date (only missing Dannl Faytonni now). While I've obviously missed some of the discussions on these figures - and probably these same issues because of that - I felt like discussing my thoughts on some of the finds I've had lately.

- Secret Ceremony Anakin: not a bad figure, but doesn't look much like Hayden still. Removable cloak looks awful, if this figure had been in the packaging not wearing it, I might have bought it a lot sooner. Figure seems really tall though. Ankles are a disappointment visually, they could easily have been hidden and still totally functional. Fig should have had universal-jointed hips.

- Library Droids: nice enough, but flimsy materials kinda suck, mismatched colors from limbs to body is another annoyance, and they both seem way too large to me.

- Yoda & Chian & Padawan 2pack: wish Yoda had a 2nd cloak that wasn't all flared out. Also, what's the deal with his legs? There's a big peg in the center keeping them together, I had already read about that, but on mine the legs are glued together as well! Good articulation on the arms, nice face sculpt. Also wish they hadn't used Yoda's shrimpy lightsaber for all 3 kiddies, it's too short for their hands. Oh, and the packaging was so overboard on this set that Chian's feet were bent forward so it couldn't stand up without help from a stand (turning the lower body sideways let it stand all night and the feet have started to return to correct angles but still). Helmets have terrible paint details, the sloppiest I've seen in this line maybe ever. Jempa's helmet has a hard time staying on.

- Snowtrooper: not what I consider an improvement over the old POTF2 version, this one is actually not even representing the same character/rank, this one is the snowtrooper commander seen in the AT-AT head, this is why it's missing kneepads, has a holster, a rank-pip cutaway on the chest, and the shoulder armor is upside-down; odd how they then got the head-skirt wrong, representing the grunt version instead of the commander version. Big gun is a rehash/slight redesign of the POTF2 deluxe one, I prefer that one to this. Semi-extreme pose kinda bugs me, and that ball-jointed ankle doesn't do much for my tastes.

- Wat Tambor: looks good, but it seems like they cheaped out on the paints. Less metalic paints & colored plastics used on the production model than the proto makes Wat look too dull; head is too dark green. Why did they go with these flat yellow eyes? Console is ok. What's with the universal-joint shoulders when the armor prohibits the "flapping" motion these joints have? Base curls up near the edge where Wat stands, that is a bummer. Great sculpting overall (except for the eyes) though.

- Coleman Trebor: good execution, fairly good paint, my lightsaber blade is bent at the little peg and was slightly glued into the hilt, knee and ankle articulation as well as one of the hips is awfully loose. A little more preposed than I'd like, lacking his cloak, and the tiny hole in his right hand looks very odd. I wish he had a universal-jointed neck, otherwise a solid figure. Base seems cheap and hollow, not something I intend to use.

- WA-7: the waitress droid looks cool, but the stand is a royal pain in the butt. Her articulation is pretty darn good from the waist up, though I can't tell if her lower-neck is a point of articulation or not. The figure came out of the tray bent at her "leg", I honestly can't tell if that's supposed to be on purpose or not. I had her standing all night on the stand but when I woke up, she was leaning to her right badly, she bent around a quarter inch overnight judging on where her left hand was. Paint is pretty good, her right eye is a little sloppy though. The wheel wants to come out of either or both sides of its housing where the pin meets the cup - between this inadequate designing and the softer materials she's made of, this is a bit of a disappointment. However, I removed the wheel and turned it around, turned her a quarter to her left, and so far it seems to be working better this way than how it came out of the package. Hasbro should have opted for a stand with a pin that goes into a hole in her back (there's even a hole available when you remove her headpack box from her back) or a u-shaped stand that held her from the middle. If the materials used here had been better and there was a pin for her wheel, this figure probably would have been 100% better; as it stands, a close-but-no-cigar figure.

- The Emperor: very shrimpy compared to Supreme Chancellor Palpatine - too bad that's not his worst feature, it would have been forgiveable by itself. Emp's worst feature is inmpressively evident right in the package, the hood is way too big and nearly a quarter-inch-thick at the top, it looks bad and there's just no reason for this, Hasbro could have had a very top-notch figure here if not for this major gaffe. The arms are universal-jointed at the shoulders and have rotating wrists, but the large hanging sleeves make the arms look a little odd when not hanging right next to the body. The hands are frail and decrepit-looking, but I cannot imagine how this figure is supposed to hold his cane with these things making this one of the few figures that I believe MUST keep the original rubber band holding the accessory to his body. The colors are pretty good, the face seems a little more "sad and pathetic" than I'd like but it's a great sculpt. I took the arms out of their sockets to remove the over-cloak and found that the back of the Emp's head is flat right behind his ears, this looks weirder than weird! I also found that the neck and upper torso are both universal-jointed, so when you count them with the visable articulation and the rotating ankles (he has no legs, so the feet just rotate), this is a pretty articulated figure. The cloak is the main downside to much of that articulation making it a double-hit on this figure. Finally, there's his lightning accessories which are so short they barely get past his fingers, they look ridiculous like the Emp is going to Force-tickle Luke to death or something - these should have been left behind or traded in on a stand with a hole for that cane to stand on its own so the figure can look like he's resting on it.

[Turbowars]

Hey JT, it sounds like you should get your money back. I have an extra LT. if you want it. LMK

[Billy_Dee_Binks]

Wow, you are really picky in some cases. You should look around on the shelfs paying more attention. I for myself am very picky with likenesses. Hasbro ruins some of the nicest sculps when they add the paint (especially on the eyes and eyebrows).
I found two very good painted SC Anakin´s that resemble Anakin quite good.

[LTBasker]

I took the arms out of their sockets to remove the over-cloak

"That's because a droid doesn't pull out a person's arms when they lose. JT's are known to do that."

I finally was able to find a Palpy to open last night (also found my first Barriss after how many months? ) and I know what ya mean. He looks ok from the back hunched down on his cane, but that can go for alot of figures anyways. I don't think I'm gonna use his force lightning manacure set, so that's stayin in the package.

[TheDarthVader]

I guess the figure I am most diappointed in are:

1. Yoda from Chian two pack
2. The research droids (although they look cool in the package)
3. R2-D2 Droid Factory flight
4. Lama Su (looks flimsy)

Those are the worst figures (IMO) for 2003. I have every figure so far except maul repack and the new bail organa & outlander club waves.

[Deoxyribonucleic]

I'm actually quite excited about all these figs...they all look really good to me and my favorite of the AOTC ones is the waitress droid...she's spot on!!

I like all the cool backgrounds/stands they come with too, a far cry from POTF2

Likenesses still amaze me too on something so small, I find that hasbro does a pretty darn good job with likeness, except one complaint is the face on throne room duel luke, not a big fan of that face but I still like the figure!

And I saw all the new hoth wave that'll be coming out soon at ComicCon 2003 and they all look ROCKIN' in person!!

[Mad Slanted Powers]

I'm really liking most of the figures so far. I like the fact that many of them have stands and accessories that help them to fit in with other figures or scene packs.

Right off, one figure that I was kind of disappointed in is the Emperor. He looks kind of small, sad and pathetic rather than evil and powerful. I think the previous versions of him were better.

I don't always notice the details. Since I am somewhat of a completist, at least on the basic line of figures, I will buy the figure anyway because I never know if this is a figure I may not see again. I'm just happy to find a new figure, so I don't always look closely at the figure before I buy, and sometimes not even after I get it. So it wasn't until I read about the R2-D2 factory flight figure in the collectors database did I discover that his dome wasn't right.

Also, I mostly open only duplicates at this point. These are mostly army building characters. I just got an extra Tusken Raider Tatooine Camp Ambush. I was opening the figure and the head came off and I thought "I sure hope that is supposed to come off." So, with all those figures I haven't opened, I don't know how well they stand, hold weapons, how well they can be posed, or what special features they may have.

Some figures I really liked were the Geonosian War Room and Jedi Council 3-packs. Now I have the entire Jedi Council in some form or another. They should continue this idea with other scenes.

I also liked the 4-packs, especially the new droids. The Imperial Forces set gave us some army builders. The rest of the figures are mostly repacks, but since I will open all of these, it will give me a chance to display some more figures without opening the original carded figures. One thing I noticed in the Hoth set though, was that Leia almost looks like she is black.

Overall, I like the good mix of new characters that haven't been done before and older figures either repacked or redone. There are always new collectors starting the hobby and new kids discovering Star Wars that want figures to play with, so it is important to have a few rehashed figures from time to time. Even better if they can improve on an older figure.

posty

[JediTricks]

Hey JT, it sounds like you should get your money back. I have an extra LT. if you want it. LMK

Even though I'm pretty broke right now, the only one I feel like trying to get my dough back on is that Snowtrooper, but it's such a pain in the behind to get money back on open figures these days that I'm not even gonna try.

Thanks for the offer on that fig, I'm too busy to meet up with ya to pick it up though, but I appreciate the offer.


Billy Dee, here in LA there is rarely a chance to pick & choose new figures, it's so rare to find 'em at all most of the time that when you find any, it's usually just one of any, so most of the time "beggars can't be choosers". I don't think the sculpt on Ani SC looks anything like Hayden, so on that one it really wouldn't make a difference which one I chose. I should have been more careful about his hand though, the paint is sloppy.

I know what you're saying about the eyes & eyebrows, that's been one of my biggest complaints in this Saga line since day one. Some of the worst offenders have been dlx Ani and HD Ani, I have some real ugly versions of each. I did eventually find a better HD Ani, but since my first one came in the mail soon after he came out, I got stuck with a really bad face there.


Force lightning manicure, that's a good one! "The dark side of the Force - you're soaking in it right now!" "Gee Madge, I had no idea the dark side was so mild and gentle."



TDV, I understand on the others (heck, my Lama Su came apart at the waist when I removed him from the tray, so he IS flimsy ) but how come you're disappointed in that Yoda? I saw another one with wonky paint at the eyes, but besides that and the big robe and the mono-leg, what is a downer here for you?


Deoxy, I think Throne Room Luke's face looks like Harpo Marx. I hate how his neck starts almost behind his head tho'.



Another 2003 figure I got somewhat recently is Tyranus. This figure is a surprising mix because it has a lame action feature (ugh, loose arm!) and a blast-effect and the saber hilt accessory has a terrible paint job and is the wrong shape, but the overall figure seems pretty good, a nice contrast to the first Dooku figure. Plus, the Force lightning doesn't sag as much as most of 'em (even if it is the wrong shape).

[Deoxyribonucleic]

Plus, the Force lightning doesn't sag as much as most of 'em (even if it is the wrong shape).

Saggy Force Lightning, whooda thunk it??

The Empire just doesn't make things like they used to in the good ol' days!!

[Kidhuman]

So far I have seen about 18 figures from 2003. I have purchased:

Hoth Han
SC Anakin
Mace Arena
Tyranus
Padme DF
Library Droids
Lama Su
Tusken TA
Imp. Officer
and Obi Acklay


I have passed on the RFT. Also saw Eeth Koth and Teebo. I didnt have money topurchgase them, but will get those two even though I have the POTJ ones. Also saw the Jango and Obi Kamino battle deluxes. I didnt like the way Jangos helmet looked. It didnt fit on his head all the way. They were all like that so I dont know if it was packed that way or not. It moght goall the way on, but if it doesnt it would be a rip off. Since I leave em carded, it wouldnt look right to me. Obi looked horrible. I know he was supposed to be rained on and have the "wet" look, but I didnt like it.

As for the library droids, I think they look awesome. As previously stated, I dont open them, so they look pretty good. I am glad that I dont open the packages because I would get irate at the flimsinbess of some figures and the errors on others. It probably would have led me todiscontinue collecting them. But allin all I am happy with the ones Ihave found so far.