Loved Skiff Lando as a kid... It was one of my favorite figures because of the helmet comign off, the whole "disguise" thing... I always dug that stuff. I know that helmet wound up on some Joes who were infiltrating Cobra, which is really dumb now that I reflect on it.
I thought the sculpt at the time was really ahead of its time too... I mean, you look at the old helmet, and it really just needs paint aps to make it much more modern looking.
That said, the Saga Lando is really neat to... He was a great figure when he came out. He sported all the following greatness...
-Nice Neutral Sculpting... This guy had what we wanted in this regard, and what most Saga figures had absolutely nothing close to. He was neutral, just standing around, and it was a great thing at that time.
-Removable helmet... Obviously something most every figure with headgear should have I think, and on Lando it was a key to the whole costume/character. Plus Hasbro sculpted the helmet in such a flexible plastic that it could be pulled down at the mask bit for the "unnecessary reveal". Intentional? That's debatable, but it's cool regardless.
-Great Deco... At the time, this was really ground breaking paint aps in some ways... The helmet alone had a lot of detail, and the costume got a good application and array of color as well. The helmet was really the highlight of deco though.
-The staff & pistol... The staff was cool, accurate, and wasn't horribly flimsy. The last part alone was a shock. The pistol had some deco IIRC, and both were cast in cool gunmetal color as well. Great accessories, nice sculpts. Cool updates unto themselves.
-Working Holster... A feature every figure with a holster should have. Nuff said.
-Good Arm Articulation... Poseable arms... Oh man. What a bitchin' idea that is! These were the arms that I felt every figure should have, minimum, as far as articulation goes. They allowed holding weapons 2-handed, but also allowed neutral poses, "struggling" or fighting poses... If his legs were good, he'd be great.
-Likeness... It's outstanding to me. It's my favorite Lando in my collection as far as Billy Dee's likeness, and while I love the new Lando Pilot, I wish this head were re-used there in some capacity.
All that said...
I'd gladly rebuy this figure, however this is one I'd happily rebuy if they just added better leg articulation I think, and he was somehow snuck into a battlepack or multi-pack instead. The arms could use an update, and you could go super fancy with maybe a removable armor piece, and all this and that... Sure. But honestly the slight retooling to the legs, and slipping him into a multi-pack of some sort for less money, would probably make me equally happy.
Or... Retool the arms to only have elbow ball-joints instead of elbow and shoulder. It's still a good figure though, just needs that extra umph to put him over the top in my book, and "up to date" with the rest of the line I guess.
