Greatness comes in many forms. My being from Pittsburgh, PA, I have seen it on the football fields with the Pittsburgh Steelers or on the ice with Mario Lemieux in hockey. Hasbro though have proven they can dish out a winner when they want to as well, and truly take away the breath of the collecting masses by making what is arguably a “perfect” toy.
Well, nothing’s perfect, but Hasbro putting their super articulation formula on a main character like Obi-Wan Kenobi is a great way of dropping jaws. What’s more is that this came as a surprise since all early pictures of the Obi-Wan Kenobi (With Pilot Gear) figure had him in his robe accessory obscuring the poseable goodness underneath. Cut to now though, and collecting circles are raving about the quality we got with this figure and how it sets the bar to a whole new level once more.
There’s a lot to like, and a little to gripe about too (yes, like I said, nothing’s perfect), so I’ll get to the meat and potatoes on this figure because this Obi-Wan been a fun one to have on my desk to mess around with!
PROS
-Sculpt: The Obi-Wan figures we have gotten over the years have been hit and miss at best, especially from the prequel era. The majority I think would cite misses more than hits. I don’t think we have a good Episode One Obi-Wan yet even, and that’s been quite a while now. Hasbro didn’t even give us the best Obi-Wan figures for the Revenge of the Sith line… until now.
The likeness on this figure is probably the most accurate Ewan McGregor face we’ve seen in the modern line, and that’s a major plus since I was beginning to get used to mediocrity. The face has a distinct personality to it. A focus if you will. The positive is that it’s not so focused that this figure isn’t good for any scene you want. It’s really the universal Obi-Wan, but the expression just strikes me as PERFECT for when he’s standing in the doorway of Padme’s ship ready to unload on his bad student.
The headsculpt has a nice amount of detail not just in the likeness though, but it looks like extra effort was even put into the hair. Surprising maybe, but true, as the hair has lots and lots of strands sculpted into it, giving it an incredibly life-like texture, so there’s a lot to like on this figure before you even take your eyes off the face! I’m going to say that, out of my collection, this is probably the most accurate Obi-Wan Kenobi and maybe the most accurate sculpt to any actor on my shelf out of all the modern figures. That’s pretty impressive for 10 years of comparison there.
The body’s no slouch either for detail, as the Hasbro sculptors didn’t let this slide like other figures did. The Jedi tunic on Obi-Wan has the classic layers sculpted into it and giving it a distinct look of depth and realism. The cloth has a great amount of texture sculpted into it as well, and that’s maybe become a standard for Hasbro but it’s appreciated nonetheless and I noticed it doesn’t always look as sharp sometimes (check those Collection 1 figures sometimes where detail like this just seems lacking). A little detail to look for on the tunic/body that many maybe haven’t noticed, is that the Hasbro sculptor actually sculpted the sleeves of the shirt UNDER Obi-Wan’s tunic, so there’s some detail there I don’t think everyone’s caught even. Nice work Hasbro dude with sculpting tools!
The pants and footwear on Obi-Wan seem equally detailed to me, with lots of creases and buckles sculpted into it, as well as more texturing for the fabric. Obi-Wan also sports the beloved “skirt piece” we’ve all grown to love since seeing it in the Episode One line. The skirt-piece matches the tunic nicely in color and sculpt which is appreciated. And a nice little bonus the Hasbro sculptors saw (smartly) to include were two slits/cuts on the sides for allowing the legs their freedom of movement. Couple that with flexible plastic and you have a good skirt that doesn’t hinder the figure’s poseability much at all.
The skirt-piece has a belt sculpted onto it with Obi-Wan’s pouches galore for all his junk like re-breathers, communicators, home-midi-chlorian testers, chewing gum, a pocket knife, and a place to hide his stash? I dunno, he’s got a lot of pockets for stuff, and they’re all nicely detailed, as is the belt itself even. The belt has detailed plates, rivets, buckles, straps, and even a little place with a hole sculpted into it where the saber clips onto the belt. That’s a lot of little details to appreciate on just one part of this figure, much less all the little details on the rest of him.
One last little detail, and a great one I think, is that the sculptor saw fit to give Obi-Wan a little “life” by sculpting his hands nicely. The right hand’s in the average gripping pose, no separate finger since he doesn’t REALLY use guns (I know, I know, the Grievous scene, but whatever), however the left hand on Obi-Wan got all 5 of its digits sculpted separate or somewhat separately, and this gives Obi-Wan a neat hand to have outward-stretched using the force, or grasping something… It looks great, so an A+ for that little detail.
-Accessories: I’m bumping this one up a little bit because I wanted to show some love for giving a Jedi everything he needs for once while still appeasing the anti-removable blade fans for lightsabers and all that. Hasbro gave Obi-Wan plenty of stuff to make the figure look different, be ready for battle, or just stand around at ease too.
The first and second accessories are his lightsabers. Obi-Wan comes with two of them as one is ignited while the other is disengaged and has a post on it to hook onto his belt that I noted above holds a hilt. Very cool and this is probably the way most Jedi should be since there’s a number of complaints about the removable blade sabers breaking often. I can see that, though I haven’t had that happen to me on any saber yet but they are fragile. The best option is just including two sabers then I guess.
These sabers are pretty great little items in and of themselves. They feature fantastic detail and look like the best Obi Saber sculpts I’ve ever seen. They details on them are painted up nicely too, to include the brass, silver, and black details that make Obi-Wan’s weapon of choice one of the more colorful I’ve ever seen. Two nicely sculpted and painted accessories are nothing to blow your nose at no matter how tiny they may be.
The third accessory is Obi-Wan’s Jedi Pilot headset, which has been churned out before as a sculpted-on item (IE: Not an accessory at all) with the AOTC Obi-Wan Pilot figure… which sucked, and also then there was a pilot headset included with the Clone Wars Anakin figure which was way oversized. Hasbro seemingly nailed the sculpt on the Jedi Pilot headset now though, and while it’s not the paper thin thing we see in the films it is as good as I think it could be. It’s thin, flexible, has some detail sculpted into it, is cast in a metallic bronze color, and fits snugly to the figure without interfering with the looks of the figure at all. I like this a lot actually, for a tiny little thing, and it’s about the only accessory that makes this Pilot Obi-Wan a Pilot Obi-Wan.
The fourth accessory Obi-Wan has then is a plastic robe that has to be making the sculpted over softgoods fans giddy. The robe is sculpted to fit the figure perfectly, and not look bulky on him at all compared to similar previous attempts like the Episode One Mace Windu figure.
The sculpt of the robe has tons of texturing just like the figure itself, giving it a lot of life. Also there are plenty of folds and wrinkles that make this Jedi Robe look fantastic and life-like, just as if it were cloth hanging off the shoulders of the wearer. The robe obscures the figure entirely underneath it and short of its limiting the poseability of the figure (and his ability to sit in a fighter which is odd since he wore his robe in his fighter) then the robe’s pretty nice as an accessory.
The figure looks great with the robe on or off, but I prefer the cloak off myself. In the end though that’s a good bit of gear, lots of quality pieces too, so I like what Hasbro packed in with a figure that would’ve been pretty high quality just sitting alone with one saber in his bubble.
-Paint Aps/Decration: I have to say that, while most Jedi figures don’t have a terribly elaborate decoration that I’ve noticed (unless their species demands it), this Obi-Wan has a lot of little variety in colors and detail work with the paint. For instance, the tunic is all the simple tan color we saw in the film, no washes or anything, but that’s ok since Obi-Wan wasn’t really terribly dirty at any one point (even on Mustafar after the final duel he was amazingly clean compared to what one would expect). Hasbro made sure to paint the little dark brown spot at the collar/neck on Obi-Wan’s outfit though, which I could’ve seen them overlooking somewhat. It’s a nice blend of the brown of the shirt and the flesh of the neck peg on the figure, and neither color bleeds onto the other or onto the tunic at all.
The head is where a lot of the paint detailing is though. The hair for instance is just the right shade of brown and has absolutely no bleeding on my sample from the hairlines around the head or ears. The paint of course goes around his beard as well and also does not bleed onto the face at all, and it’s rather intricately applied around the mouth actually. Your mileage may vary with a missed application here and there, but my sample I have here is great. A nice little extra detail to the hair is that they painted the grey streaks forming around Obi’s ears/sideburns too. The grey is very feint and minimal but it adds a lot of realism to the figure.
The eyes are the classic three-layered style Hasbro often does, and look great. The black of the pupil and eyelid, the white of the eye, and the blue of the iris all look even, nicely applied, and they’re partly what gives the Obi-Wan his “focused” look on his face. Like he’s eyeing Anakin while he pours his heart out to Padme about the current “new” political situation.
The belt and shoes are the other areas of paint application, and both are nice. The boots probably deserve the least talk as they’re a simple brown paint with no real detail work. A wash on them would’ve done them some good to make them look more leathery like some other figures have gotten but the paint is even and smooth so it’s not too bad. There is work you can do though like the wash or painting the soles of the boots a darker shade to show the tread or whatnot.
The belt’s details in paint are numerous. The belt itself is a nice dark brown that’s a little glossy/leathery looking. The saber clip’s painted black. There are little silver details like rivets and a buckle on the front. There’s silver and brass “clips” painted at various points. The pocket on the right side/hip is a lighter brown with a silver button on it as well, though the other pockets/pouches are painted the same color as the belt. I noticed the lighter brown pouch in the film though so Hasbro painting it the right color on the figure is a nice little detail and a plus.
The overall paint job on Obi-Wan didn’t require a lot but what it does have is mostly detail work, so accuracy and details are important with this one. The boots are my only “disappointment” since there’s nothing making them look real leathery like a wash, but they’re not major, and you get a nicely decorated figure in this Obi-Wan, and that’s all you can ask.
-Articulation: Now we get to the good stuff! The articulation is what often makes or breaks any figure with me and on this figure it’s MADE by the articulation. Probably one of the great things about this super articulated Jedi is that it really was a surprise to the majority of collectors as to just what was hiding under those early pictures of him. When the first glimpses of Obi-Wan without his robe accessory were shown, it shocked everyone to see ball/socket joints galore, and even the super poseable torso joint being used for the first time on a non-armor-clad character. Nice!
Obi-Wan Kenobi features 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 joint
With a total of 14 points of articulation, he meets Hasbro own standard of “Super Articulated”, and with the ball/socket waist he surpasses even his case-mate the AT-RT Driver. The joints are all nicely hidden too, as I cannot rave enough about how great the ball/socket joints are that Hasbro uses for not only giving maximum poseability but also for how they really look nice too. They often blend in as a fold in the fabric, or a chink in the armor of a figure.
Hasbro daring to use the ball/socket waist joint on a non-armored figure though is just great. Shows them taking a baby-step forward in using this joint on anything that isn’t a Clone basically, and I think it is a joint that could improve many future figures in the line. The range of motion that this style of waist joint offers is really impressive and it only adds to the fun in playing with the toy. Articulation should surely be something thought of not just for collectors, but also kids.
So we have a winner here, and the way you can pose this Obi-Wan puts him up there with the best in the modern line.
CONS
-Ankle Pin: The negatives are few on Obi-Wan, and really they’re generally minor, but there’s one that does stick out, and about the only complaint I’ve seen mentioned by multiple people on this figure. The problem is the pin molded into the foot for the ball/socket ankle joints. The pin is molded in the same color plastic as the pants, which isn’t the same color as the boots, and thus the pin (not being painted, and chipping if it was painted anyway) sticks out like a sore thumb on the feet.
The color of the pants is noticeably brighter than the boots, and so it’s easy to see the pin at the top of the feet or the heel of the shoe. More of the pin shows depending how you pose the foot at any given angle too.
It’s not a huge deal and I take the poseability over this minor blemish, but it is a little frustrating that they didn’t cast the pin in the color that the feet were cast in for instance, rather than the pants. This is most likely a communication error between Hasbro’s designers and the factories where the figure is produced, however in early samples this should’ve shown up and the appropriate measures could’ve been taken to fix this before it went to production. The end result is a slight blemish on an otherwise great landscape.
-2-Handed Saber Pose: It’s not impossible to get Obi-Wan to hold his saber with 2-hands by any means. It’s rather easy actually, however his number of poses you have him in while holding a saber with 2 hands is a bit limited. The reason for this is that the sculpt of the shoulders sort of overlaps the shoulder joints and limits how high you can raise his arms just slightly when they’re clasped together.
This is a minor beef, and yes I’m stretching here to find flaw. I don’t mind this, though it means you won’t have him swinging a saber over his head with both his hands, but that’s a minor pill to swallow at best.
-No Cloth Cloak: I personally prefer softgoods/cloth to a plastic sculpted robe, especially when poseability is key. The plastic robe looks good, like I mentioned above, and it’s a nice accessory. It’s better than no cloak at all as well, but there’s a problem with the plastic cloak and this figure.
This Obi-Wan is to be his pilot rendition, and he has the headset, but in the film Obi-Wan wears his heavy Jedi Cloak when he’s flying around the galaxy in his various rides, and this figure simply can’t sit in a ship with his cloak on. A cloth cloak, nicely done, would’ve been appreciated for certain, but that’s not to say it’s a major problem that we didn’t get that. I would’ve liked it, but I’ll gladly walk away with a single super-poseable Obi-Wan from ROTS that is good for pretty much every other sequence in the film than how he looked flying a ship. That’s more than worth it.
OVERALL
Hey, I had to list SOME negatives right? The ankle joints are really the only legitimate complaint I think I have, though I have noticed some say he looks a little skinny in the legs. I think he looks alright and his height matches up well to average sized figures too so I’m pretty happy about the figure looking to-scale as well.
Basically this is just like I said at the start. This is probably the best Obi-Wan figure they’ve ever made, and it’s up there with being one of the most accurate figures in the line I believe, plus super articulation, lots of accessories… I’m a happy collector, and the surprise of seeing pictures of him having all this articulation just makes it like opening up a gift you didn’t know you were gonna get.
This figure’s even ideal Jedi customizing fodder for guys like me. I know he’s been tough to find in my area but that’s changing slowly, but I’ve still got to pick up some extras for Jedi customizing when I do finally see some extras on the pegs.
Hasbro did a good job on Obi-Wan Kenobi (With Pilot Gear), and if they would start aiming their efforts at making main characters in this kind of quality early, they’d be able to do a lot more re-releasing of sculpts rather than entirely new sculpts.
This Obi-Wan is definitive for ROTS and I’d even dig a “mustafar damaged” paintjob one released some time down the road with dirt and burn marks on the outfit maybe. Seems like a good companion figure to have standing over the KFC Anakin Skywalker figure (errr, really he’s pretty much just a torso at that point, but I digress) lecturing him about brotherhood and all that jazz.
My hat is off to Hasbro overall on this figure. He’s a hit in my book, and a nice replacement to the earlier ROTS Obi-Wan figures. So now they need to get to work on figures like this of the main characters from all the other films. I hear the Endor gang are in need of new sculpts!
