The Coruscant Wave had a lot of new figures in it, and some were hits while others were misses. One figure that falls somewhere in between there is the good Captain of the flagship of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, the Invisible Hand. The ship’s commander of course is Captain Lushros Dofine. The Neimoidian who stayed at his post in the heat of combat and actually had a few lines people can remember from Revenge of the Sith.
So what kind of figure does Lushros Dofine get? Well, he is one of those figures that falls into my category I call “Senators”. Not that he’s a senator in the film, but he’s one of these guys that stands around and doesn’t do a whole lot, and he’s wearing flowing robes as his outfit so as an action figure he’s hard to make fun and still have him look good. Figures like this tend to get flexibility from me then when I’m reviewing them. I can’t look at this guy and wish for super articulation on him because his legs couldn’t move even if they were poseable.
Where this figure has to excel beyond the norm is in its sculpt, paint aps, and other features that aren’t focused on how this one is posed. Did Hasbro make the cut this time? They’ve got a decent track record with figures like this and even surprised us with a few in the past (Mas Ameda from 2005 is a good example), so read on and find out if Lushros Dofine is fit for duty.
PROS
-Sculpt: The first key to a “Senator” type of figure like Lushros here really becoming something special is that he has to at least look great. You’re basically shelling out $7 for set-dressing for a diorama. These figure’s aren’t fun to play with for certain and so they have to be at least nice to look at. Hasbro doesn’t disappoint us with Captain Dofine here at all.
The figure’s outfit is sculpted with a lot of detail. The long flowing robes make up the bulk of the costume really, and Hasbro sculpts a whole lot of folds in them that run the length of the outfit. The cloth is sculpted to look as though it’s extra long too, and is bunching up on the floor somewhat. The result is a substantial bit of extra realism.
The robes also bunch up at the elbow, as the figure’s sculpted to have bent elbows for his pose, and the way they bunch up there tight but hang down at the wrists is very nice. There is also a lot of depth to the way the folds are sculpted, so it really looks like it has depth to it, and it’s pretty nice looking.
The robes do have some light texturing sculpted into them, though it’s hard to see. It gives the impression of a smoother fabric really and maybe something silkier/more expensive perhaps for the Neimoidian Captain’s outfit. The detail is nice, if not a tad subtle, and is appreciated.
Besides the main grey inner robe, the figure has an outer robe layer as well. The outer piece isn’t really a robe; it’s a more like a decorative fabric thing. It’s sculpted with wavy texturing vertically on it, and it looks very nice as well.
The figure’s headsculpt is nice, and looks very accurate to the character from the film. Neimoidians seemed to have slight facial differences and Dofine was memorable looking to me, and Hasbro seemed to catch all the details. Dofine’s got a molded-on captain’s hat as well, and it’s a comically huge Pope-ish looking cap. I love how it looks, but it could’ve been a nice extra accessory really.
The sculpt is ultimately not the most complex one Hasbro’s ever done in the line but it’s also nicely done for what it is. The character’s costume didn’t give Hasbro much room to be creative though so it’s good for what it is. Hopefully the big H makes up for the character’s duller nature with some of the other aspects of the toy.
-Accessories: One of the areas that Lushros Dofine does take a bit of a lead is in the accessory department. Hasbro got a little creative with the Captain, giving the figure a piece of the Invisible Hand’s bridge control screens, and also a nice little datapad accessory for Dofine to issue commands on. The pieces are different and colorful. They add something to the figure in the packaging, and if I had a complaint it’s that I don’t have more of these panels.
The control panel itself does add color to the packaged figure overall as it’s silver with a little gold, and the neon green colors of the control display decals. The sculpt of the screens is really nice and there’s a lot of little buttons and controls on it. It’s incredibly strange looking, as they were in the film, and Hasbro seemed to nail all the details. The main display is silver and there are a couple gold highlights on either side.
The real color on the piece comes from bright green stickers on the two screens. Each sticker looks pretty detailed and shows a good bit of detail to it really. It’s a little extra effort and looks good. While not an especially complex accessory it’s a nice looking one, and new, so it’s great to me.
The datapad that Lushros has is also nice, and seems like a spiffy little bonus really. The item is a tiny little sculpt, but is full of detail. There are lots of buttons and devices sculpted onto it, and two small handle-like items on the sides. There’s a small screen on it, and for a tiny accessory the datapad actually seems like it’s more detailed than the viewscreen accessory.
The paint on the datapad is nice too with a little bronze and greys colors. Its paintjob highlights the little sculpt details in it, and it’s this kind of stuff you need to make the figure appealing on the pegs really.
Other pack-ins are then the usual suspects that have come with figures in 2006. There is an embossed stand featuring the film the character appeared in raised on its surface and a silver name of the character painted on the one edge. There is also a randomly packaged holographic miniature figure snuck into the packaging as well. While the stand and miniature are nice, both required molds and effort to be produced and it’s my opinion that the money put into these “gimmick” accessory pack-ins would be better put into the figure itself. I prefer quality toys over gimmicks.
-Articulation: I’m giving the articulation column a “Pro” mark because, honestly, it could be better but Hasbro has really done worse in the past I think too. For it to be better, Hasbro would’ve had to have ball-jointed the elbows and shoulders really, and while I think that’s possible it’s not really a necessity nor does it vastly improve what Hasbro went with like it does on most figures.
Lushros Dofine features articulation at:
- 2 standard shoulder joints
- 2 swivel elbow joints
- 2 standard wrist joints
- 1 ball/socket neck joint
That’s a whopping total of 7 points of articulation on a figure with a robe that prohibits all articulation below the waist. That’s not the worst, but it’s also not Mas Ameda type articulation there either. It’s acceptable and does let you pose Dofine so he’s sort of freaking out and ordering his droids to magnetize or fix something. He also looks good fiddling with the datapad accessory Hasbro included, as both his hands can come across it like he’s tapping out an order on it to some part of the ship.
The figure’s robes prohibit leg articulation, and while I’m a fan of softgoods/cloth being used on action figures, I know it is costly, and I think it can look overdone at times. Plus a super poseable Lushros Dofine would make even me and my articulation crusader status chuckle a little bit.
For what you get, Lushros Dofine is as good as he needs to be for poseability, more or less. I’m happy with him as he is at this point.
-Packaging: The Saga Collection packaging for each figure is an interesting mix of styles. You can definitely see some elements of the ROTS line mixed with elements of the OTC line, and that makes for a unique package on the shelves. I really enjoy the black cardback with silver lettering, and I hope it’s something Hasbro is willing to stick with for a long time to come.
I also highly enjoy the unique backgrounds for each figure. Pulling an element from the OTC line, the new Saga Collection packaging uses a film shot that pertains to each unique character, and really individualizes the figures. This is drool-worthy for the carded collector and it makes even the die-hard openers want a figure here and there to keep carded just because of how special the backgrounds are.
The bubble is a little closer to the ROTS line in its overall size and shape, but should lend itself more to staying mint for the carded guys. There’s also an insert depicting the specific character and the character’s name, packaged into the bottom of the package just as the Revenge of the Sith figures had. The insert features the bold blocky silver lettering of the Saga, and lets fans know that this is the universal collection of figures encompassing the entire Star Wars universe.
There’s a lot to like with this packaging so I hope it stays as the standard for a while. I would say that The Saga Collection and Original Trilogy Collection will go down as some of the most liked packaging by collectors for quite some time if Hasbro gives it a while, and this is coming from a guy that rips almost everything off its card at some point or another.
CONS
-Paint Aps/Decoration: Figures like Dofine really can’t afford to have too many “Cons” in their review or they’ll fall from grace. I mean, he’s already dull and unposeable - how much more can anyone stand?!?! Well he has a couple little flaws haunting him, but are they the kinds of things that make you turn on this guy? Paint applications may do it.
On Lushros, the figure’s paintjob is simple, and I think Hasbro missed a golden opportunity to spice up this otherwise lame plastic lump. The paint on the eyes is ok, as is the green of the head, it’s what it should be, however I’m more disappointed with what Hasbro didn’t paint up to highlight the work they did on the sculpt. The brown outer robe piece could’ve really used a wash on it to highlight the wavy texturing to the sculpt. For that matter, the inner robes that make up the majority of this figure’s looks could’ve also used a slightly darker grey color to highlight all those wrinkles and folds in the robe.
A wash would’ve really stood to make this figure a bit more colorful and lifelike, but as it stands now it’s looking a good bit more toy-ish because Hasbro skimped on the paintjob here. Paintwashes aren’t complex, but they can really add to the figure’s looks, and that’s all Lushros had going to help him stand out, so there’s definitely disappointment Hasbro dropped the ball there.
-Molded-On Hat: In the modern line, at this point anyway, it’s really comical when Hasbro doesn’t go to the extra effort of making anyone with a hat have that dome cover be removable. Lushros has such a freaky tall hat though, and it just looks like it should be removable. Seeing as how the folks over in Pawtucket saw to it that past Neimoidians have had removable hats too, it’s a little disappointing this figure lacks that feature.
This little detail isn’t a deal-breaker for me, just annoying as all get out that this figure falls short of other similarly dull figures. Why aren’t hats and helmets always removable? That just doesn’t seem like it should be a big deal to me.
-Price Hike: Star Wars figures have taken a jump in price at most all retailers in 2006, and while we paid $5 - $6 for most of our Revenge of the Sith figures throughout most of 2005, figures are up to $7 after tax at most retailers, even the usually stalwart for cheap prices, Wal-Mart. Hopefully Hasbro and Retail will see the light that price increases in this day and age means that people may become more tight with their spending.
I know a price hike will affect my buying habits, and I’ll buy fewer extras of any figure I maybe wanted extras of. I’ll cut back on army building, custom fodder buying, and other areas that I otherwise maybe would have spent more freely. That $1 or $2 starts to add up over 60 or so figures though. With no retailer seemingly wanting to budge on their standard price, things aren’t looking good for a decrease anytime soon. So keep your eyes peeled for sales because when they happen I’ve noticed that figures that were sitting suddenly fly off the pegs.
The price hike sucks, and what really is tough to accept is that in 2006 we’ve seen many fewer figures with “great” articulation like we saw in last year’s line for ROTS. This decrease in overall “quality” coupled with the price increase just hasn’t sat well with me about this year’s line-up. Though those nicely articulated gems like the AT-AT Driver or whatnot do sneak in there.
OVERALL
So that’s Lushros Dofine in a nutshell, and I don’t know how happy or sad I am that I bought this figure. The character wasn’t one that I was clamoring for after seeing Revenge of the Sith. He is unique, he does have some lines and screentime, but Neimoidians have proven to not be the best sellers too. Lushros is pegwarming here in Pittsburgh right away too so he seems to be no less immune to that curse.
At the same time, I’m usually a fan of the “Senators”. I loved Mena Tills and Ask Aak when they came out last year for instance, and really Mena Tills is very similar in physical design/poseability to Lushros, so why do I find that I like the Mena figure so much more than this?
Well, that one had a much MUCH more elaborate paintjob, came with a blaster (Lushros could’ve, why not?), and just seemed like you got more in details on that figure. That said, Lushros comes with the cool screen and datapad, and for what he is, he is very satisfactory for that character’s figure. It’s as good as I feel that I need for it, but at the same time it’s a figure I’d probably pass on if I were not a completist in my collecting habits.
With him being out there in abundance, it’s my best suggestion to you to wait and maybe nab this figure on sale if you have the patience. Like some others in 2006, this figure just stings for $7 because you really are not getting a whole lot for the outrageous retail we’re paying for these things these days. Wait if you can, if not, well he’s out there en masse for you to pick up so don’t worry about missing out.
