Jedi resculpts are something I really felt I could’ve gotten used to, pretty much right around 2002 when Hasbro dished out a bunch of pre-posed, barely articulated, sculpts of figures for the Attack of the Clones kick-off. Flashing forward to ’05 and Revenge of the Sith would have a lot of the same Jedi in it, and Hasbro ramped up the Jedi quality… Articulated figures, neutral sculpts, hilts for the saber clip… Hasbro made me just wish every Jedi would get a resculpt, but unfortunately the ’05 Mace Windu wasn’t anywhere near their benchmark work.
Now here we are, 2007, and the 30th Anniversary Collection (30AC) is upon us. Boy howdy have Hasbro given us some high quality figures… So what about a nice new Mace Windu? Can Hasbro match their past resculpting quality? Well, some will say yes with the 30AC Mace Windu, others will say no. This reviewer is just happy to finally see a Mace that is finally attempting something at poseability, even if he’s still held back by some other details.
Mace Windu’s a fan favorite, so will we get more figures? I think so, so I don’t think this’ll be his only sculpt we’re left to deal with. So if you hate him, rejoice in the fact that he may not be the last Mace of the line… He’s got some great qualities to like too, so don’t hate him too badly. I’ve heard griping on this one, but read on to see if everything is true on this figure or if Mace is getting a bit of a bum rap.
PROS
-Sculpt: I’ll start off the positives simply by saying that, if you look at this figure from his neck to his toes, you’re a happy camper… Read on about likeness though. The sculpt of the body overall is really fantastic though, and filled with rich detailing.
The Jedi tunic is a nice “heavy”, and “layered” looking sculpt. Each separate layer is sculpted to appear as though it has some bulk to it as it expands outward. There are various lines and folds in the sleeves and “skirt” piece that add to the weighty look of the figure’s outfit as well, making it appear as if it hangs off the body. The layered look adds a lot of depth to the figure as well, really giving an extra bit of life.
Sculpted into the tunic’s fabric are relatively deep and noticeable marks to simulate fabric texturing. They give the tunic a little more life and help set some of the outer tunic’s layers off from the inner layers.
Mace’s pants are a bit smoother sculpt that is obscured by the “skirt” piece almost completely. The boots however are filled with detail as Mace sported some of the more unique Jedi footwear from the prequals. Hasbro sculptors made sure to get the large cuff at the top of the boots that folds down over them, as well as deep wrinkles in the leather at the ankles as it should have. There are buckled straps on the top of the foot and Hasbro sculptors caught the buckle details perfectly. Likewise, the figure’s got a detailed belt sculpted on his skirt piece that sports several pouches, a riveted plate, and a lightsaber clip that appears to be made to hold a saber hilt (that doesn’t exist).
Like I said, from the neck down this figure is outstanding, but from the neck up not so much. Likeness sculpting can be tricky, but Mace seems to be the trickiest for Hasbro to nail down, even close, to accurate.
-Accessories: Mace comes with a lot of equipment and in general it’s almost everything you could want. Especially his softgoods cloak, which is really appreciated any time you get such an accessory with a poseable Jedi figure. Still though, he lacks one piece we’ll talk about later that he really needs. In the meantime, enjoy what he has!
Mace first sports a fully ignited purple lightsaber, his trademark weapon of choice. Mace’s saber appears to be a re-used sculpt, but it’s tough to tell. The sculpt is fantastic though, capturing the elegance of Mace’s saber hilt perfectly. Also the paintjob on Mace’s sabers are always a bit more complex, with silver, gold, and black details all over it. He does have one of the more “pretty” sabers of the Jedi characters as far as craftsmanship goes, so it’s always nice how Hasbro captures those nice paint details on the weapon too.
Included with, and for the saber, is a force lightning accessory. The piece is sculpted specifically to snap onto Mace’s saber blade, making him perfect to interact with a Darth Sidious figure as though he’s blocking the force lightning. The accessory is nice, it’s translucent blue (as it should be), it clips very well to the saber blade, and as an essentially “extra” piece it’s very appreciated.
Lastly comes Mace’s brown Jedi robe. I’m going to save this for its own category though, as a softgoods robe is something that deserves an extra nod of thanks to Hasbro!
-Soft Goods Robe: As noted, Hasbro runs into increased costs on a figure when they give us a Jedi robe made of cloth. Cloth has always been something that bumps up the value of a toy, even since Kenner’s vintage line of figures. With Mace here though, Hasbro recognized they had sculpted a super-articulated Jedi figure, and that only a cloth robe would suffice for that poseability! Thankfully they gave us what we’d need for a Mace who can duel with his robes on as well as off.
The robe is a nice dark brown, as it should be. The quality of the robes we get with figures varies, and sometimes the fabric is just not quite right where it should be, but with Mace’s robe here the color is just right. Also the robe’s texture is a very tight knit, so it’s small and looks fairly believable in this small scale. There is some billowy look to it, but this robe stretches some, and is able to be worked with so it looks nice on the figure I think.
If you’re NOT a fan of softgoods though, well I can’t really say this is a positive for you. For me, this is the way toys are supposed to be, and cloth Jedi robes add to the fun. Kids like it, and half the collectors seem to like it, so to me it’s the way to go. I hope more Jedi come with a nifty robe in the future like this.
-Articulation: The articulation on Mace is Hasbro’s Jedi best, and there’s not much more you can ask for there. Kudos to them for finally giving one of the more beloved Prequal characters his just desserts as an action figure, and finally a nicely poseable version. This is without a doubt the best “toy” Mace Windu ever because you actually can play with this one some, get some cool poses going and things.
The 30AC Mace Windu sports articulation at:
- 2 ball/socket shoulder joints
- 2 ball/socket elbow joints
- 2 standard wrist joints
- 2 standard hip joints
- 2 ball/socket knee joints
- 2 ball/socket ankle joints
- 1 ball/socket neck joint
- 1 ball/socket waist/torso joint
That’s a whopping total of 14 points of articulation, almost all ball/socket joints. That’s super-articulated baby! I have had Mace dueling with Pilot Obi-Wan, Evolutions Dooku, Evolutions Palpatine, and more. He looks great getting shocked with some extra force- lighting I had sitting around too that I could wrap around him, his hand pops off if you want to (not something intentional though I don’t believe), so that’s cool for that death pose. I can’t figure out how to get him in a pose where he’s a greasy spot on a Coruscant street, but some things you just have to give up, right?
I will say, there is some inhibited movement at the legs, due to the “skirt” piece not being slit at the sides like Pilot Obi-Wan had. This is frustrating because it’s a pretty decent amount of posing that is cut back here. Still though, there’s good posing to be had, and it’s still far superior to any Mace figure on the market. Enjoy, and hope Hasbro improves any new version that rolls out down the road.
-Coin Pack-In: So in 2007 Hasbro’s decided to take the pack-in concept a different direction. They’re bringing back an idea we haven’t seen since 1985 as the original Star Wars line was dying down. Now we’ve got pack-in coins to collect with each Star Wars figure in the 30th Anniversary Collection, and I have to admit they’re kind of cool.
The coins are fairly substantial in that they’re weighty, made of real metal (Aluminum I’m guessing), and are nicely sculpted/detailed and shiny. Each coin is unique to the character it’s packaged with. They each feature the figure’s number in the collection, a raised image of the character, and on the reverse (“tails”) side of the coin is a logo or emblem specific to that character’s affiliation (an Imperial Logo for Imperial figure, Rebel Logo for Rebellion characters, etc.).
The coins are collectible themselves, much more so than the “miniature holographic figures” of 2006, which I think many of us have a drawer full of at this point. These actually feel like you’re getting something that’s a separate, interesting collectible apart from the figure itself. And so long as it’s not impacting what we pay at retail, I’m ok with little stuff like this.
If coins are why we pay $7 a figure before tax though… Then I want no coins or anything. I want a less expensive toy instead. But Hasbro says these pack-ins don’t impact the price, so then the coin is pretty cool to me.
CONS
-Likeness: Right off the bat, and without a shadow of a doubt, the biggest complaint about 30AC Mace Windu is that he’s just not an accurate face sculpt. Now, I personally can get past Hasbro’s inability to nail down an actor/character’s likeness. They’re hit and miss with Harrison Ford, Mark Hammil, and god knows Carrie Fisher isn’t exactly a figure they get perfect every time they sculpt her. For some reason though, Sam Jackson is one of their sculpting nemesis over the years.
This Sam’s face seems too long/oblong looking to me. His expression isn’t extreme or anything, it just doesn’t look like anything Jackson ever showed in the films. It’s hard to put into words just what is wrong with the face, other than to say it’s just not quite right. As I said though, this is not likely to be the last Mace Windu we ever get in the modern line, so there’s hope for the future. Just pray Hasbro works extra hard on that face sculpt in the future. 
(It should be noted again, I honestly don’t MIND this face sculpt. I can deal with this, as it is, I just am acknowledging that fans in general aren’t happy with it. Can’t blame them, it’s just not a deal breaker to me, as a collector.)
-Paint Aps/Decoration: Unfortunately one area Hasbro could have excelled at, but didn’t, is the paint application/decoration of Mace Windu. These are the kinds of flaws that I really have a harder time excusing when Hasbro drops the ball on them. It’s not as though Mace’s paint details are that extensive, they really aren’t, but Hasbro did miss out on a few places they could’ve improved.
First, the eyes on my sample are oddly painted and look almost like the character is surprised. Hasbro should’ve tried to go for the “concentrating” look with the eyes, and maybe not painted so much white to the eyeball. The eyes are at least even and straight, that’s good, but they’re just odd looking to me.
The body lacks a lot of detailing on it in general. The buckles on the boots for instance received no paint details. The boots themselves are a simple glossy brown, which in one way is ok but in another way it would’ve been nice to have gotten a slight wash with a darker shade to drive home the impression of leather footwear.
Mace’s belt is really where there’s no paint detailing going on though, and Hasbro had a lot of opportunity to do so. The saber clip on his left hip lacks any metallic paint detail like other Jedi have gotten. Actually, the only silver paint detail on the belt is on the buckle in the front. The “plate” in the back, the buttons on the packs/pouches and other possible places to add a little color, were all overlooked by Hasbro. Adding insult to injury though, my figure’s belt had paint straying onto the tan fabric of the skirt piece, which is rather annoying, plus it was at the back so I couldn’t tell when picking out my figure.
The figure really lacks a lot of color in general, so it’s really bad when the color that is there has strayed on the figure. In general the paint aps were a disappointment overall to me.
-Skirt Piece: I’m all for the “skirt” extension on a figure with a costume like this. It looks great on Imperial Officer figures, it’s fantastic on Jedi, the Kamas on clones are great. However Hasbro isn’t consistent at all with making the “skirt” a pliable piece that moves with the figure’s articulation.
On Obi-Wan Pilot from the ROTS line in ’05, the skirt was slit on the sides and flexed a little so the figure could move and be posed. The skirt didn’t inhibit the leg movement much at all, you can even get him to sit in a ship just as his name would imply. On Mace Windu though, none of that is possible.
The skirt is one fairly rigid piece of plastic, no slits, and it pretty much completely removes any poseability of the figure’s legs at the hips. Hasbro’s got it within their means to give us that flexible skirt piece though, so I’m hopeful that enough complaints will get us that “feature” more often on figures where we need it. Mace definitely needed it. This is easily my biggest gripe with the figure overall, as it’s a major factor against poseability.
-No Saber Hilt: A bit of a big complaint for me with Jedi figures, and again a matter of Hasbro being consistent on this, is that I really like the saber hilt you can attach to the belt. I love when Hasbro either makes the blade removable on a figure, or they give us a saber that’s got the blade on and an unlit hilt piece separate. Either way is fine by me.
It seems like maybe that was intended with Mace here, as he has the clip hole on his belt. It looks like they were considering giving us the hilt or something, but just chose not to. There’s been no Mace with a hilt for the belt hook either, so it would’ve been a nice first with this figure.
Unfortunately either Hasbro’s just not considered it important or they feel it’s too many accessories or something. I’d much rather have had the saber hilt over the lightning accessory though, but I don’t know how it could cost them that much to give us that tiny saber hilt either. Either way, it’s a little disappointing not to get especially when you see other figures that do receive the hilt routinely. Even some from the Order 66 2-packs have the hilt and they’re far worse figures in general.
Come on Hasbro, it’s the little details like this guys. 
-Price Hike: 2006 sucked for one major reason. $6.99 was the “standard” for most of the country at retail. You were paying $7 before you even got to tax on a single 3.75” Star Wars figure… This trend is carrying over into 2007, as retail hasn’t seen fit to lower the retail price of Star Wars figures, and actually my first couple figures for 2007 were obtained at K-Mart stores for $7.39 before tax.
This is really starting to add up unfortunately for some of us. The quality in 2006 was dubious at best, with figures having tons of articulation sometimes, and others having a whopping 6 points total. If 2007 quality stays high, I’ll be more accepting of the price, but it stings with any “smaller” character you get like a Jawa or Ewok, and any time corners are cut on any figure like removing knee articulation.
Hopefully a $1 price break to $5.99 average is due us soon. In this scale $7+ a figure is really overpriced despite some of the great figures we get at times.
OVERALL
So that wraps up yet another Jedi resculpt, and another of the 30th Anniversary Collection. As far as Wave 1 goes, Mace Windu’s not in the top of the running for it with me, but I cannot lie when I say I’m overall pleased with the figure. I think Hasbro has an amazing base figure that they can re-use in the future, with little effort, to make a much better Mace figure.
A new headsculpt, a new skirt piece (or cloth), add a saber hilt… Voila! Hasbro would have Mace perfection, so long as the headsculpt was a nice likeness to Sam Jackson, everyone’s favorite bad ass.
This is one of those figures that spark the collecting conspiracy theorist in you. You really begin to wonder if little things like we noted on this figure were all intentional “flubs” by Hasbro, so they could re-use this figure down the road with minimal cost in new parts, to sell you the same figure again in a year or two. I’m ok with that actually. Call me a sucker, but I actually like this figure and if they offer us an improvement down the road I’ll buy it and be that much happier.
Still, I wouldn’t be a good reviewer if I didn’t point out the flaws. Mace is pretty even keeled with the good and the bad... Great articulation, bad likeness. Nice accessories, but a bad paintjob and no hilt. There are some flaws there obviously, but there’s something to like too, and so that’s why I think you should do yourself a favor and at least get one. Plus, he’s as good as it gets for Windu right now. I don’t think any other version of him holds up as a toy right now.
