“For over a thousand generations, the Jedi knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the old Republic.”
And Obi-Wan Kenobi was the best of them.
San Diego Comic Con always plays host to a wide variety of exclusive merchandise, and all things with the words “Star” and “Wars” are in high-demand, no matter what. No one leads that Star Wars SDCC hype charge like Hasbro, and when there is something you want from them, the terror of the Hasbro Toy Shop line is a very real thing. Last year, when the SW Black Series exclusive was just a standard First Order Storm Trooper in special packaging, I did not even bother. However, in 2016, they put my all-time favorite Star Wars character, Obi-Wan Kenobi, into that exclusive category, so I KNEW I could not be denied.
Sure, the Episode IV Kenobi will be a standard release later, but even exclusive accessories have their appeal, and I REALLY wanted my boy Ben as soon as possible. I have to give props to both RoboKillah and MattK on this one, because they were left in the dust on this ONE item (we were actually able to get everything else we wanted from Hasbro), and I know that consideration was given to me because I love old Ben so much. With that get comes responsibility, though, so I want to make sure that give the best Jedi ever a solid feature.
Looking back, it is kind of weird for a kid to like old man Kenobi as their favorite Star Wars character. Sure, I love Chewie just about as much, but even though his time was pretty limited in the Original Trilogy, Obi-Wan was still my favorite. Fortunately enough for me, Kenobi was also far and away the best part of the Prequel Trilogy, so be it Guinness or McGregor, I love all incarnations of the stoic Jedi. The EPIV Kenobi is the third version of the character to join my shelf, and with the Episode II Ben coming from Bandai, that will give me all of the important movie versions (though, I still hope for a better EPIII and a “Spirit” version, too), so again, I count myself lucky.
So, while it was not going to take much to surpass the EPIII version (there were a few production issues with that figure, if you remember), I can happily say that I believe this is the best version of Kenobi Hasbro has done to date. Just about everything hits in terms of success with him, so my list of nitpicks is decidedly smaller than some of the other recent Black Series figures to come to my shelf. Plus, the exclusive accessory is really, really neat. I might have gears to grind with this line, but Hasbro definitely gets some credit for producing a pretty strong figure.
To get a little deeper into that, I think that the sculpt and articulation of this figure are both really nice. I was really excited to learn that the robes would be made of a soft plastic (rather than cloth), and I think the likeness to Sir Alec Guinness is actually really, really strong, at least in the sculpt. Also, while Ben doesn’t perform many Jedi acrobatics by this time in his career, he most certainly has the articulation to do so, so I am glad that his point count was not reduced just because he wasn’t as active onscreen in IV as in the Prequels.
The sculpt work in the aforementioned robes is great, and I appreciate the textural details in the tan robes, and the differences between those and the darker robing around his collar. Additionally, the belt, pouches, and saber hook are all faithfully rendered, and the boots and under robes are not left out either just because they are mostly covered. From the neck down, this is a very strong embodiment of the old Jedi, and Hasbro did a great job. That is not to say that the sculpt is bad on the head, because it is absolutely is not; in fact, I think the Guinness likeness achieved here is one of the best actor likenesses of the entire Black Series line.
The continuing problem with it though, is that you have to look for it a bit. I promise this is the only place I will harp on this, but again, this line’s approach to painting faces has failed another figure. It is not as bad here as with some others, but damn it, the face paints really need to improve with this line. It is not just a case of losing out on details any more, the paint actually DETRACTS from the sculpts now. I really believe that the sculpted likeness is fantastic, but the basic paint applications do not do the piece any justice. Hasbro, please, I implore you, give us better paint details on the faces. It would make a solid “B-“ and “C” piece an easy “A.” I really love this line and I want it to be the best it can be, so I know you can do it. Please.
Again though, overall, Obi-Wan still looks great and I am very pleased that my #1 got such a great treatment. This is enhanced by the fact that, for the first time ever in the line, a Jedi got his proper robes. Yes! I am sorry, I am pretty steadfast against soft goods as a general rule, but all Jedi should get a cloak like this. Ben is rarely seen without it in A New Hope, so it is pretty much requisite for this release, but that does not make it any less cool. The cloak fits well and the hood is handled about as well as can be expected at this scale; it doesn’t fit his head perfectly, but if you jigger with it for a bit, it looks pretty good. I have been spoiled by getting some great cloaks for my Jedi from eBay, but it is REALLY nice to get a proper one released with the actual figure, so I really hope Ben can set a trend for the upcoming guardians of Old Republic.
Now, the whole reason you wanted to fight for this exclusive release of Obi (aside from getting him early) the included accessories. He comes with his, as well as Anakin’s lightsaber, and both of them have detachable blades. They are certainly cool, but both of them have been released in the line before, and you know that the standard version of Obi-Wan will come with at least his elegant weapon, so there is not much to get hyped about there.
No, the REAL reason this release is so cool is because it includes Ben’s coffee table. Pretty awesome, right? I know, I know — on the surface that doesn’t sound exciting, but what DOES sound exciting is Princess Leia delivering her distress message. Yep, not only do you get the table, but also the hologram of Leia, as projected by R2-D2, AND a press of one of the gold doodads plays a shortened and full length call for help. I *usually* don’t get overly hyped about something like this, but it is really cool to hear. The Hasbro team got the actual recording of the line from the LucasFilm archive, and it sounds great.
If you want to hear it yourself, well, just take a listen:
All in all, this Obi-Wan release comes together for a GREAT SDCC exclusive, even though it took some work to get. Con goers (and those lucky enough to snag him from HTS after the con) have a cool exclusive piece in the talking table, but, as Kenobi is such an essential character, he will also get a standard release. I will be buying my fair share of the standard release as well because the body is great for customs, so I imagine others will be thinking the same way. Obi-Wan is a great figure of a great character so I hope Hasbro continues with these strong releases, while still improving their paint applications. There are a LOT of upcoming figures, and you know, that whole new Rogue One movie to support.
