“General Kenobi, years ago you served my father in the Clone Wars…” Now General Kenobi can serve in your Star Wars Black Series adventures thanks to this new exclusive figure from Hasbro and Walgreens!
I make no bones about being an apologetic Obi-Wan fan, and while many can grumble, “Prequel this, and Prequel that,” I find Ewan McGregor to be pitch perfect in his role as the venerable Master, and he elevates every Star Wars scene he is in. Needless to say, I beyond over the moon about the announcement of him returning for a Disney+ Obi-Wan series, and I cannot think of a better way to pass the time until that arrives than to collect more Kenobi figures. Between Hasbro and Bandai (and a slick custom piece), the addition of this Clone Commander figure is about the final piece of Ben’s looks up to this point. This makes me tremendously happy.
It also makes me tremendously happy that Walgreens continues to be, at least in my opinion, the king of retail exclusive partners for Hasbro. Between Star Wars and Marvel alone, the amount of essential unique characters and meaningful variants this partnership has provided is pretty insane, and I always seem to have good luck in finding the exclusives in-store. So, General Kenobi joins guys like Prototype Boba Fett, Emperor’s Wrath Vader, General Veers, and the previous Force Ghost Obi-Wan in a collection of impressive and meaningful SWB releases. Plus, this gave Hasbro the chance to right one of their worst wrongs in the Black Series and give us a good Ewan likeness from the Episode III timeframe.
The new head and Photo Real application are really the big updates that come with this figure. I remember waaaaaay back when the third series of SWB was announced and RotS Obi-Wan was there – I was so stoked that my favorite version of Kenobi was coming to the line so early. Then… the figure was released and the paint on the head was terrible (something the Black Series carried for FAR too long) and the head itself was undersized. So, I was left very sad and I had to wait until earlier this year when Bandai released their version of RotS Obi-Wan to finally get some relief. So, this new figure is important to me for the Clone Wars Kenobi it represents, but also so I can get a second one for a head swap onto the Jedi body.
Overall, I am quite pleased with this new portrait and likeness. I will admit that it does not hold up well to very tightly-cropped and up-close photos (as is often the case with this printing technology), but in-hand and IRL, he looks great. I know there was some talk awhile back about a certain sheen or shininess to some of the SWB Photo Real applications, but that is completely gone with this figure, and the face most certainly has more of a matte quality to it. The size and shape of the head are also a lot more accurate than before, so just getting that right was a step in the right direction for Hasbro, and it is very much appreciated after all these years. The head does successfully swap to the old body, so I wonder if an “Archives” release isn’t pending soon, especially since Anakin just recently got that treatment.
The rest of Obi-Wan’s frame is made up of, what I believe to be, the standard Clone Trooper body, which is appropriate since he sported that armor during the Clone Wars. This comes with all of the advantages and limitations of before, so while it does enjoy getting the rare double elbow articulation, I do find several of the joints to be a bit stiff and lacking in range of movement, particularly the shoulders. None of it is awful, mind you, but some of the armor plates and tight joints in the upper body can limit the dynamic Jedi posing a bit. The requisite addition of the Jedi robe pieces did turn out nicely, especially for being soft goods. The “robe” portion is definitely the highlight, but even if the “cape” lacks some definition, it is still mostly effective.
This figure includes two accessories: Ben’s trusty lightsaber, and the new clear SWB stand. The figure holds the saber in the left hand better than the right due to the trigger finger on the latter, but no uncivilized blaster was included. As expected, the blade is removable from the hilt, and, surprisingly, the Clone body does provide a place to hang the hilt when not in use. The clear stand is a holdover from the trash compactor Luke we got from Target earlier this year, and it does work well for things like running poses. I typically do not use stands in my displays, but this guy will be very useful for future pictures.
Hooray for more Obi-Wan adventures, and Hooray for more Obi-Wan figures! Overall, I really like this figure and it is a legit version to add to my collection. Hasbro has released two great Kenobi figures in a row with this and the previous Padawan version, but I think that, due to the likeness, this one has the slight edge. That is splitting hairs, though, and they are both new figures. I know we are in a vacuum of new figure news for the next few weeks for Star Wars (even though the leaks have already started), but I hope more Bens are on the way because we can never have enough. Thanks again to Walgreens for making this figure happen – you guys continue to kill it with your exclusives.
Thanks to my pal Mario for making this an unexpected but VERY welcome birthday present from the Great White North. Appreciate it, dude!
