Hmmm… So what can I say about Tion Medon, the first figure I’m picking apart from the Sneak Preview Wave for Revenge of the Sith? Well, he’s a “senator-like” figure, and by that I mean he’s pretty boring, but that doesn’t mean he came out as a flop from Hasbro… That just means his character looks about as much fun/interesting as a piece of dried fruit. Can’t blame a toy for that, right?
I will say, he makes for a very strange looking action figure if nothing else, but his poseability is limited by his lovely ensemble of blood red robes. Not exactly conducive to a poseable action figure, but Hasbro did him some justice, and carried over the higher quality articulation from the latter OTC waves into the Sneak Preview Wave as well.
Personally, I like figures that are Senators, or “Senator-like”, as I put it. Hasbro’s done them rather well, even during Saga’s run. Figures like Orn Free Taa were maybe dull, but they were as poseable as they really could’ve been, sculpted well, and some have had nice accessories, so with that standard set, let’s take a look at this goofy looking fool they call Tion Medon, and see what we can find right and wrong about him.
PROS
-Sculpt: Sharp is what I’d call it, just on initial observation. Everything from the heavy texturing of Tion’s outer-robes to the seemingly sculpted in layers to his inner-robes, he’s just “sharp” looking to me. It’s the different styles of textures that are on his outfit that the Hasbro sculptors captured just right. Smooth surfaces, rough surfaces, lined/ribbed surfaces… Tion seems to have them all on his clothing.
Another area of seemingly intricate sculpt is Tion Medon’s head sculpt which features some leathery looking skin that has thin ribbed lines in it. Hasbro’s sculptors nailed this unique skin texture perfectly to all the early shots from Revenge of the Sith that I have seen. It makes for a certainly unique looking alien, and since this figure isn’t high on any lists to be resculpted I’d think, then I am happy to see an accurate figure the first time around.
The head sculpt has a lot of personality to it as well. The sort of sneering face has slightly protruding fangs, but nothing that make him look awkward like some of the Luke figures we’ve gotten that had open mouths. His eyes are small, and sunk into the skull as well, but nicely sculpted even though they are very tiny/beedy looking, even having eyelids and everything which would’ve taken quite a steady hand to add such little details. Good sculpt on this figure, all around.
Another neat, but minor sculpt feature though, is his right hand’s ability to hold one of his accessories. I’ll touch on this in just a little while, but suffice it to say that his right hand was sculpted specifically for one item he comes with. It’s always nice when the accessory interacts with the figure right, and so this sculpt detail is important, though barely noticeable.
-Articulation: Tion Medon is about as good as you can expect on these “senator-like” figures, as far as articulation goes. He can pull off some nice gesturing poses; he can stand there neutrally… That’s more than the ill-fated Senator Jar Jar figure from the Saga line can say.
Tion sports articulation at:
-2 ball/socket shoulder joints
-2 angle-cut elbow joints
-2 standard wrist joints
-1 ball/socket neck joint
-1 standard waist joint
With 8 points of articulation total, and 3 of them ball/socket joints, Tion Medon fairs better than most basic figures did in the earlier years of the modern line when 6 points of articulation was the max. For a guy who has useless legs because of his long robes, that’s not such a bad job, though the argument could be made for cloth robes, or perhaps ball/socket elbows. Personally though, I’m pretty happy with what we got, as he’s not exactly exciting as far as figures go.
-Accessories: I’m not sure what to make of Tion’s accessories. First it appears that the once standard “Star Wars” stands are now a thing of the past. Preview figures don’t seem to have any stands, while the ROTS basic line is a mix of some figures coming with stands, and some not. I’m not really disappointed to see the rectangular “Star Wars” stand gone though, especially if it means a superior quality figure as far as articulation or other accessories.
Tion does however come with two nice, new accessories specific to him from the film I would assume. The first one being a nicely sculpted rifle from his people on the planet Utapau (I believe that’s it anyway). The gun it is nice because it’s a very detailed sculpt itself, with smooth curves, sharp cuts, and a general load of detail. The gun is also a nice sturdy plastic that most rifles in the modern line have lacked. It doesn’t bend, sag, or anything... Proof that Hasbro can improve some of their plastic on things like Battledroid legs though, as far as I’m concerned.
The rifle’s also a 3-tone paintjob, sporting an overall gunmetal color, highlighted by light purple details. This is a very ornate accessory for Hasbro, as they usually don’t go all-out when painting up accessories, if they paint them up at all.
And lastly, Tion comes with a rockin’ pimp cane. It’s probably my favorite accessory, and to be honest I can’t even see that guy using his rifle in the movie, but I can see him walking out in style with this cane.
The cane’s sculpt is fantastic with lots of detail on the shaft, and it comes to a fine point. There’s a handle on the cane at the top of the shaft, and it looks as detailed as any of the lightsaber hilts Hasbro has put out. I can only imagine this cane is really accurate because it is just so detailed looking now as it is. The cane then is topped off with a nicely painted purple jewel/ball thingiemadooby. It’s very cool looking, and it makes me think that more figures should come with canes at this point. Especially if they’re boring guys like Tion here.
-Paint/Deco: I really can’t gripe much on Tion’s paintjob, however it is rather dull and simplistic. It does feature some color though, and enough detail work to warrant a positive review on it. Hasbro did what they needed to for them to make this figure look better than average.
Tion’s outfit is mostly just 2 shades of red overall, but Hasbro has a nifty wash on both shades to bring out the color. On the outfit then there are grey details on the chest portion, and silver/metal tips on the center robes. Some paint straying is here and there, but nothing terribly off. I’m not sure if this is just my getting a good sample or if it’s average. I didn’t exactly look this over when I bought it.
Tion’s boots, though you really can’t see them at all, sport a nice paintjob on the soles that separates it in color from the rest of the shoe. Very nice detail for something that really is just hidden by the robes when you have the figure standing.
Tion’s head has the best paint application of the figure overall though. The “ribbed” look to the skin’s texture is a grey color that Hasbro washed a darker grey over. It took to the detail of the sculpt tremendously and highlights how the skin is leathery looking. Tion’s mouth and teeth have detailed paint application to bring out the teeth/fangs and make them stand out on the face. His sunken eyes are surrounded by a red coloring/pattern, and the whole eye is painted black with a weird white around it. It’s very small detail work, but doesn’t really look off at all. It’s very nicely done.
-Neutral Pose: Not that Tion Medon should have anything less than a neutral pose, I think it stands to reason that we should list this as a positive thing when Hasbro does it, especially after that Senator Jar Jar fiasco.
Tion’s your basic vanilla stance as far as figures go, but his articulation does allow for some nice poses like he’s having conversation with someone. That’s probably all he does, so that’s all you’d want out of him for the most part. He can’t hold his rifle (with 2 hands, that is) really, and that could be listed as a complaint. However, since I don’t think that Tion was meant to be runnin’ and gunnin’ in the movie I’m not particularly upset by this inability to “aim” as far as his stance or his articulation are concerned.
To me, he’s just a “senator-like” figure, and as such I’m pretty happy to have a guy who can stand there straight up and down, hold his cane, and just look good. He’s got little else to do, and certainly doesn’t need to be all action posed like that Jar Jar. *shudder*
CONS
-Dull Choice: Sneak Preview figures tend to be something that, from my perspective, you want to use as a means to entice people, and draw their attention to the new film. They are there to build hype and curiosity. Tion Medon does none of the above.
This guy is not interesting to look at really, though he is a little freaky looking alien. He’s a boring toy though, and it’s characters like the Wookiee Warrior, or Greivous who will really draw attention to the film, not Tion Medon. Even the preview wave Astromech droid is at least appealing because it’s a droid. Tion is just a guy that looks like a Dracula film reject.
This seemed to lead to Tion being one of the less popular Preview Wave figures, and as I write this he’s still pretty easy to find.
-Accessories: While I listed this as a “Pro” as well, I feel that the Accessories could’ve also used a little bit of a push to make the figure more interesting. When you’re dealing with a dull character than something he comes with will perhaps improve him to a potential buyer.
Tion has his neat cane, and a nicely sculpted rifle, but that’s it. There’s no stand, and I’m not sad about that really, but maybe he has some piece of equipment you could have packed in with him or whatnot. Just something to make him a little bit more interesting than watching grass grow. Perhaps a hologram of his planet, or a computer? Something just to make him look better in the packaging.
OVERALL
He’s not a figure you’ll kids clamoring over, and I doubt you see many adults going nuts over this figure either. He’s just a weird guy in red robes. His rifle and pimp stick aren’t going to make him the hot seller, and I think an Anakin figure (for the preview fighter) would’ve been a superior choice, but that’s my opinion.
Tion excels at being what he is though… A weird guy who stands around, maybe talks a little bit. That’s all he likely is in the film I’d think. If he’s more action oriented, for whatever reason, I’d be surprised and sort of disappointed in this figure I think.
I can’t say I’m a fan of Tion Medon as a figure. He’ll have his spot on my shelf, and I think he does make a nice figure for what he is, but not a fun neither one, nor one that will get anyone all fired up to buy him. He’ll suffer from the dulls forever. If you’re a picky collector and only want the most interesting figures, you’ll really not want this guy. If you appreciate a nice representation, as good as it pretty much can be, of every character though, then I’d say Tion is a must-have. How you will feel about your $5 - $7 spent on this though, that I cannot say.
