New JD Review: Garindan

[Jesse James]

We're back after a little slowdown because of Comic-Con and other factors...  We're picking up where we left off with the Tatooine Wave.  This week's review is for:


The snitchiest snitch of Tatooine, Garindan.

Clicky the button to ready the review...

So I went into getting the Tatooine Wave in general with a little bit of a chip on my shoulder.  Early photos showed the wave to clearly lack articulation that, had these come out in 2005, I really believe we'd have gotten something better.  Hell, even in 2004, we got a wave of Cantina figures with elbow, wrist, and knee joints on all 3 for no real reason at all...  Flash forward to '06 though and we're lacking knee joints.

Now that said, Momaw Nadon was as disappointing as I had imagined...  However, when I got to Garindan, he was a figure that first and foremost NEEDED a resculpt desperately while Momaw I could've lived without and I don't think many others would've cared either.  Garindan though was really one of those figures from the POTF2 line showing its age...  And Hasbro responded.

Is he perfect?  No...  Like I said, he is lacking knee joints which is a shame no matter which way you try to slice it...  It's 2006, Star Wars figures SHOULD have a better standard of articulation and Hasbro just doesn't set standards and keep to them with this line.  That will always be frustrating to me...

But the good this figure has far outweighs the bad.  The communicator, the cloth cloak, the incredible improvement to the working holster, the holster for the communicator (freaking cool little feature to me), and articulation that is close to being good...  There's definitely a lot to like there.  So I'll bitch less about knees this week in my review...  I'll certainly rave a good bit about the cool features on this figure though, and let me say that I love Hasbro's rendition of the Kubaz species and what they look like...  too bad his goggles don't come off and we get a whole headsculpt.

Read the review though, check it out...  this figure has a lot to like, and it's one of those times that pictures didn't do it justice and it really actually was a figure that my opinion changed on it after I got it, opened it, and enjoyed it while reviewing it.  Kudos to Hasbro for winning me over...

Now make better articulated figures a STANDARD already...  Get off your asses and just do it and stop with the 1980 articulation (mostly on the legs) as it's getting old. 

[ruiner]

I really like this figure too.  It's odd to see him being the last of the figures on the pegs.  Nobody around here is really buying him.

I think kids are playing with these figures - the Vaders, Hans and Lukes sell consistently well.

How long do you think it will take for me to lose his communicator?

 

[Jesse James]

I was gauging that question myself...  I haven't lost it yet but one good tumble from my shelf and I can see him being com-less quickly.  My gf's son got him though, and he's 8 going on 9, and he hasn't lost it yet...  I'm shocked.

In my area the only Tat Wave figure to sit heavily is Momaw Nadon...  THough to be honest all 3 of them are sitting (the aliens that is) to an extent.  Momaw is everywhere though and I completely attribute that to the fact he's A) not a resculpt anyone clamored for, and B) a weaker toy overall (6 points of articulation for god's sake, that's lame).  I see him everywhere though...  Even WM who are devoid of figures save for mostly Vaders, still hang onto a number of Momaw's around this area.

Garindan is doing better but that's been my experience...  He and Hem seem to sell a little better but Luke's are really uncommon.  Is he not packed as heavily?  Vader of course sits...  Han sometimes sat but he I see less of as well.  Sandtroopers I'm lucky to see one at this point which sucks because I'd buy more I'm sure if I had the $$$.

I was really surprised with my opinion changing on Garindan overall...  I find that generally the early photos are good gauges for what you're going to get, yet with Garindan it didn't do him justice.  Perhaps it was the cloak and such but really I was happily surprised with him after I picked him up.  It'd be great if Hasbro had ditched the boot swivel articulation (pointless on any figure) and put that effort into the knees...  But with the communicator, the better pistol belt, the cloth cloak...  There's a lot to love here.  Plus the softgoods cloak really made me forgive articualtion as cloth's a known cost increaser.  Had it been plastic, I think I'd have likely been a much more critical reviewer this time around.

Oh and his new pistol was cool too...  The quality of the sculpt for the pistol is cool and I'm still wondering if everyone knew where it originally showed up in the line.  There is an earlier sculpt of it, but it's maybe a mystery to many.    I like blaster diversity.

[ruiner]

Luke's are really uncommon. Is he not packed as heavily?

In the first assortment he shipped 1 per case.

I've only ever seen two sandies on the pegs...and they both came home with me.

[Jesse James]

There's still a Han hanging on at my nearest WM...  Luke though really didn't see as much action it seems.  His nifty little case was in demand though while Han didn't seem to offer enough new stuff to push a buy... 

Sandtroopers I saw, but not in heavy quantity for certain.  I ran into them a couple times but I saw far more Utapau Clones...  I could use more of each though honestly.

[Darth_Anton]

Spot on reivew. I liked this figure as well. Could it have been better? Sure, but if they never made another one, it wouldn't phase me.

[IshiTib]

its a great figure, i think its one of my favorites in my collection

only negative point: leg articulation

[Amanaman]

Knee articulation would ruin this perfect sculpt and its sturdiness. I'm not making stop motion films with these.

[Jesse James]

Hmmm, I can't agree there...  Knee articulation for toys is key.  Statues are best left to Gentle Giant to me.  Action figures are meant to be posed and at $7 a pop articulation is an important detractor on any SW figure at this point.  If they were $5 or so, I think I'd have not cited the knees as heavily as a negative though. 

[Amanaman]

There's no right or wrong answer, just different preferences.

If he had kneepads, I wouldn' mind it. But to me, he's perfect as he is.

Quantity of articulation makes not a good figure. I've seen far too many botched figures from mass market companies who  market POA's as a selling point to not know better. In short, sculpt is key, useful articulation follows.

[Jesse James]

Yes it's just preference, however when you're looking at toys I think articulation doesn't necessarilly outweigh sculpt but it's at the very least comparable.  Like I said, statues are best left to Gentle Giant and the like...  Toys are meant to be played with and opened up (even if you don't do so), and thus articulation ranks high when I review them...

Articulation can go out of control, and I don't know many kids who insist on a DML level of articulation on their toys either, but I do know a 9 and 12 year old who laughed at the Clone 3-packs and settled for 2 good poseable clones over 3 statues too...  As a toy, articulation may not matter to all the adults in the hobby but to a good portion of them it still does, and to kids it's definitely a big element of fun, so I couldn't review the figures any other way I'm afraid.

If the price had dropped some with the articulation, I'd be less critical...  To me Captain Antilles was a great figure in 2003, but you put that same figure in 2006 and he's disappointing with his limited articulation.  Garindan got brownie points for his cape, his nifty new style of belt, and just general inclusion of accessories...  If you took away his cape (or gave him plastic), and the communicator were molded into his hand, I would've put Garindan down quite a bit.  He'd still not be Momaw Nadon, a figure who beyond his sculpt isn't a single step forward from the POTF2 or Saga sculpts of the same figure, but Garindan would've fallen down a couple notches...  Momaw was disappointing considering you paid out the ass for him and didn't get substantial improvement in all facets of a figure, but I digress.

Still though, if I wanted statues I'd be buying GG busts, bust-ups, and Koto figures... Those are all outstanding and Hasbro's sculpts (while nice) don't come even into the ballpark of what GG and their ilk put out in terms of quality.  The figures have to have articulation come into play though since they're meant to be actually played with, and articulation certainly helps that...  Same as a GOOD action feature being employed (when it actually works, and doesn't otherwise detract from the figure of course).  To me, I may not use that feature ever, but if it's fun it's a positive for the toy.

In a similar vein though, if this is what ugly looks like...


Then I guess I just like ugly, haha...  Hasbro markets toys with premium articulation, and I've yet to see them drop the ball so I think they're quite adept at giving us premium levels of articulation (for the scale) while keeping it well hidden.  Marvel Legends or whatnot...  not so much.

[Artoo]

I'll sadly passed on this guy since I first saw him (Buying Endor figures & scouts) & now when I want him the most he's gone.