Mace Windu’s one of those popular characters in the prequals that has really gotten the “shaft” (Oh hah! I slay me!) over the years. So far he’s gotten very little treatment in plastic, and some people still consider his Episode One figures to be his absolute best in terms of overall quality. Well, Revenge of the Sith’s figure line-up featured one Mace figure, and little improvement over some slightly improved articulation than what we’ve so far seen.
That’s not to say he’s a horrible figure either though, he just fell prey to the Collection 1 Curse. I will say though, Hasbro’s Collection 1 line in this movie’s line of figures is substantially superior to almost everything we’ve seen for the other prequals. Mace just doesn’t get a whole lot of respect I guess.
Check out the review though for a figure that just doesn’t have a whole lot to comment on. It’ll be somewhat shorter than others I’m thinking because there just isn’t a whole lot here to comment on (good or bad).
PROS
-Articulation: A noted improvement, though not near what I would love to see for a Mace Windu figure in the Collection 2 style, is this Mace’s articulation count. It’s not a ton compared to the Clone Troopers or some of the other Jedi figures, but it is definitely better than previous Mace Windu’s, so I give Hasbro an “’A’ for effort” as they say.
Mace Windu features articulation at:
-2 ball/socket elbow joints
-2 ball/socket shoulder joints
-2 standard wrist joints
-2 standard hip joints
-1 waist joint
-1 ball/socket neck joint
10 points of articulation total isn’t going to win Mace Windu here any awards, especially with the way a lot of figures have played out in this line. I mean, background Jedi have come with more articulation right alongside Mace on the pegs, so I’d have liked to see a bit more and that I’ll make sure to comment on.
Still though, you can get some ok poses out of Mace… His articulation has problems that I believe are a direct result of his action feature though, so even with improved poseability over previous versions, this Mace loses points all over the place.
-Body Sculpt: Not bad at all as far as the sculpt of the figure goes from the neck down. It seems like someone worked pretty hard on the figure. I think the action feature detracted from the detail that was put into the figure’s sculpt though, so it’ll be listed separately as a “Con” later as well. And there’s no way I could cite Mace’s head as anything remotely positive about this figure. Sam Jackson must be a real pain in the ass to get an accurate likeness.
The outfit Mace sports though is done in great detail… His Jedi robes featured a nice checkered “stitch” texture in the sculpt, while his pants and the little bit of his undershirt you can see at the neck and cuffs shows a smoother/finer fabric. It’s a nice effort to make the figure stand out.
Also his belt and boots are nicely detailed… The belt features lots of little pouches and things that you really wouldn’t even notice in the film but whoever made this figure seemed to capture them all. And Mace’s boots are no shortage of detail with plenty of folds and creases to look lived in and “worn”… There’s not much else to say except that the figure is pretty solid looking, just lacking in other ways.
-Neutral Pose: Compared to his Saga counterparts, this Mace Windu is a god-send. No goofy action-pose, just a nice neutral-stance Mace figure that you can play with. I like the feature for what it is, but not what it detracts from. But the way it’s hidden inside the figure it’s good. Add that to the neutral pose and this is the kind of Mace you wished for in the Saga line but never received. That’s a major plus.
The figure may lack in other areas quite a bit, but Hasbro learned that figures with gaping mouths, spread legs, bent arms, and all that bad stuff best left to the Unleashed Line are death as action figures… It’s real telling when you can’t find too many ROTS Mace Windu figures but Saga Mace Windu’s were $1.99 and still clogging the pegs.
-Action Feature: Now, don’t throw tomatoes just yet… I still hate most every action feature I’ve ever run into, however I like to give credit where it’s due, and Mace’s feature works surprisingly well.
The feature is one where you squeeze the legs together and he raises/lowers his arms in a swiping motion (swinging his saber), while his waist twists about ¼ of the way around for a large swiping motion with his lightsaber. It’s very fluid, his arms move well with it, and it looks surprisingly nice. For a kid it’s probably one of the better action features since it legitimately works and could likely be fun… The problem with the action feature is how it takes away from the figure in other ways (aesthetically).
CONS
-Accessories: I’m a fan of putting a little something extra in with a figure that’s sparse. While Mace could’ve used just about anything to make the package look a little more “valuable” to most, Hasbro neglected one accessory that Mace wore even in his final duel… HIS ROBE! Once again, Mace Windu goes Jedi Robe-less, and that’s a shame. Even just a reuse of the VOTC Obi-Wan softgoods robe would’ve been welcomed by many (though it is a bit bulky).
Aside from that though, Mace features only a single-piece Lightsaber and a Force Lightning effect you can wrap around him (for his climactic supposed demise). BTW if you’re spoiled by me letting that cat out of the bag then you are too cheap to pay full price to see a film and that’s not my problem.
Anyway, with 2 accessories only, that’s pretty skimpy… Hasbro could’ve included ANYTHING in here and made it better. For instance, why not include a disengaged lightsaber hilt with a peg that you can hook to a hole in Mace’s belt? There’s no reason that feature should only be for the Collection 2 Jedi. Mace, I’m sure, hangs his saber up from time to time as well.
Or here’s an idea, maybe a hologram of Obi-Wan could’ve been included? Or a lightning effect that attached to his lightsaber blade so you could make him interact with the appropriate Palpatine figure? Or what about one of those cool, multi-piece Jedi Robes such as Agen Kolar’s, if not the aforementioned softgoods one? Basically, anything would’ve been better than a saber and a lame blue lightning suit.
The one silver lining is Mace’s saber hilt is nicely painted with silver, black, and gold detail. Very sweet looking paintjob on it, but that won’t pull the accessories out of the “Cons” fire.
-Unsightly Articulation Points: Mace features some UGLY articulation, even if it is an improvement on poseability, and I attribute this to the action feature. Mace’s ball/socket shoulders are not sunk into the body so they stick out substantially. This is most likely so they move freely when you use his action feature… Which again, his feature does work well, but his feature takes away where I don’t think it needed to.
Besides the bulging shoulder joints, which I whole-heartedly believe they could have been sunk into the body of the figure better so they just looked a LOT better, Mace also features some unattractive elbow joints. They’re ball/socket styled joints, however they’re not the injection molded style ball/socket joint, but rather a pin goes through the forearm and connects to a ball-pin in the bicep. A bit hard to explain, but it makes for big ugly pins sticking out of his elbows, big gaps at the elbow joint, and just a basically ugly figure. It also has made for some loosey-goosey arms too I’ll touch on as a “Con” now.
-No Leg Articulation: Well, he does have the hip joints so that’s a little misleading, but I’d have liked Mace to be able to take some better action poses by having ball/socket knees. I feel this way especially with the lacking accessories. It wouldn’t have hindered the action feature, and would’ve improved the figure tremendously in my eyes… unsightly arm joints and all.
As a Collection 1 figure though, articulation wasn’t the focus I guess, nor were accessories, nor was much of anything but getting that action feature in there and working right. Knee joints are always welcome though.
-Loose Arms: The arms are incredibly loose at the elbow, and it is tough to get the Mace figure to hold his pose at the arms sometimes. I again attribute this to the action feature, as I think Mace’s arms are supposed to be loose so they don’t stop up the action feature while it’s in motion. I can see the point in this however I’d rather have a figure that the action feature only worked if he wasn’t holding a saber with 2 hands rather than one that can’t pose his arms at all. As it stands, this is a big negative in my book.
-Head Sculpt: I praise the sculptor for some very nice work on Mace from the figure’s neck down, however I believe he missed the mark on the likeness by a longshot. It’s not a great looking Sam Jackson likeness if you ask me, but sometimes this is more a matter of opinion I’ve found. Some may like this one, but for my 2 copper Lincoln’s worth, I’d say that both the Episode One figures are a better sculpt at this point.
The head seems a little oblong to me, and sort of misshapen. I’m not even a huge fan of the Episode One versions of Mace… They just strike me as better. So far I can’t think of any Mace figure I’m truly ga-ga over though. For what it’s worth though, no open mouth and clenched eyes equals a huge step in the right direction!
-Paint Aps/Decoration: Mace here is another example of a simplistic paintjob where even though it didn’t have a lot of paint application needed, what it did get was lackluster.
For instance the belt is one area where some detail work would’ve helped improve the look of the figure, yet Hasbro put minimal effort into bringing out the finer points of the sculpt. Instead the figure got a simple brown paint application with a few metallic paint details on the front such as the buckle. This is all basically on the front, while some patches and places for metallic detail on the back were left unpainted and it looks bland and cheap.
Mace’s boots are another area where a little better paint application may have helped. Previously the Episode One Mace Windu basic figure had his soles on his boots painted, as do many figures in the modern line, however Hasbro just gave the ROTS Mace’s boots a brown paintjob with a faint wash on them and no detail work… They’re bland.
Beyond that, the head has decent paint applications… The whites of the eyes are clean, his pupils are straight, and his eyebrows are also ok with no paint straying or errors. That’s all there really is to him except the little yellow spots of his undershirt. Very bland, so I expected a little bit more in the way of detail work… A quick wash on the figure’s robes would’ve brought out the texture of that the sculptor put into the fabric and done some justice to the figure overall. Something minor like that would’ve been a plus and helped the paintjob be more a positive than a negative.
The paintjob on the figure makes you really appreciate what they did with the lightsaber hilt. It is a little bit funny when accessories are treated better than figures I guess.
OVERALL
The figure has been very popular since his release, so despite my opinion the fans seem to like him. I think he has a lot of appeal to kids, as I know the kiddies I talk to love Mace Windu from the film so the figure’s a hot property to them too. I think that the fact Revenge of the Sith was popular overall, coupled with the fact Mace Windu’s kind of a popular character as it is, then this figure had a lot going for it that was outside what kind of a toy he turned out to be.
My opinion stands that I’d like a Collection 2 styled Mace Windu with a nice softgoods robe though sometime in the not-too-distant-future. Mace could really use the Super Articulated treatment, and I wouldn’t mind a removable limb for his final battle with Palpatine. I know if something came out that was better articulated, say in the Evolutions line perhaps? I’d be all about it even if the headsculpt were only mediocre (not to say I wouldn’t love a great Sam Jackson likeness… It just seems so difficult to obtain).
As it is right now, Mace Windu moved a bit better than the other Collection 1 figures though it seems. Obi-Wan and Anakin are still easy enough to find in my area but Mace seems long gone. The power of the kid demographic at work? Well, I think that “power” fades pretty darn quickly, yet someone seemed to like this figure a lot and they’ve sold seemingly well… The question is will a super poseable Mace be an even hotter selling toy then? I think it could do well.
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