Star Wars: The Force Awakens opened recently, and, in doing so, has kicked off another chapter in the galaxy far, far away. In 1999, we were very much in the same boat when The Phantom Menace hit the theaters as the first Star Wars movie in over a decade. Well, dollars and reception might have been a bit different this time around, but while so many of us are swept up in the Episode VII hype, Bandai is not forgetting to remind us that it is important to know our history. They released their latest entrant into their Star Wars S.H. Figuarts collection in the form of Obi-Wan Kenobi in his Menace look, and, as luck would have it, it is one of their best offerings thus far.
I said it before, but just as a reminder: I am not a Prequel Trilogy hater. In fact, there is a lot about those movies that I really, really enjoy. The ideas being dealt with were interesting and very high in concept, even if they were not always executed as best as they could have been. So I take what I like from them, and leave what I don’t, but I do that with just about everything, so it is pretty much a wash. By far, one of the very best parts of the entire Prequel Trilogy is Ewan McGregor and his portrayal of Obi-Wan Kenobi (and Alec Guinness, by extension), and it just turns out that, along with Chewbacca, Obi-Wan just happens to be my favorite Star Wars character – so yay for me. At the risk of being tossed into garbage compactor by many Star Wars fans, over time, McGregor has become the “default” Kenobi to me; that is not a slight against Alec Guinness at all. I mean, he set the foundation, but Obi-Wan just has a lot more to do in the Prequel Trilogy.
Needless to say, that meant that when Bandai unveiled this figure, I was pretty over the moon. Having the figure in-hand now on reaffirms those initial feelings of jubilation, so while I am very much looking forward to all of the important Star Wars characters getting a release in this line, I cannot wait to get EPII, EPIV, and especially EPIII versions of Obi-Wan – this figure is that good. Kenobi was absent for much of the second act of Phantom Menace, but other than that, he definitely has some of the very best parts in that entire movie. I enjoyed seeing his relationship with his Master, Qui-Gon Jinn, and his first meeting with Anakin Skywalker is one of the most important moments in the entire history of Star Wars, but by far, his most exciting stuff came with his duel with Darth Maul, and now we can recreate all of that awesomeness in toy form.
If you are familiar with the previous Star Wars Figuarts offerings, you will see a lot of the strengths of this line continuing with this figure, but young Ben here takes some of the best parts and pushes them forward even more. The timing of this release is pretty inspired, considering Darth Maul came out in September, so having a Jedi counterpart to fight to the finish with was a good move by Bandai, and Kenobi can definitely hold his own. As elaborate and posable as Maul is, I have to say, I think Kenobi bests him at about every turn, and that says a lot, but maybe it was expected since Obi dispatched the Sith Lord in an impressive and bifurcated fashion.
From a construction standpoint, Kenobi matches Darth Maul pretty closely in terms of articulation points. I realize that not everyone is familiar with that scheme, so a quick rundown reveals the following points:
- Ball-jointed head
- Hinged pectorals (x2)
- Ball-jointed shoulders (x2)
- Biceps swivels (x2)
- Ball-jointed elbows (x2)
- Ball joint and hinge combination wrists (x2)
- Floating joint torso (front to back and side to side)
- Ball-jointed hips (x2)
- Ball-jointed knees (x2)
- Partial ball-jointed ankles (x2)
- Toe hinge (x2)
While listed, that only looks like 22 functional joints, many of them have multi-purpose movement (like the shoulders and elbows), so Kenobi here checks in as not only one of my most articulated figures, but also one of the best articulated figures. What I mean is, all of the joints serve their purpose well, are strong but fluid, and add meaningful movement to the figure. Not one joint is extraneous or repetitive, but I am hard-pressed to find a hole in the overall scheme; Obi-Wan is very well put together. So while this setup matches Maul almost point for point (and moves past Jedi Luke due to better functionality in the hips), Obi-Wan’s costume is much conducive to elaborate posing, and there is nary a Jedi maneuver that you cannot pull off with this figure.
If the aforementioned Maul suffers from anything (and there isn’t much because he is awesome), it is that his lower articulation is somewhat, but not much, hindered by his elaborate robes. One of the first things that I noticed about Obi-Wan was that, while his standard-issue Jedi togs are not as long, where the jerkin hangs over the hips, Bandai has used some REALLY thin plastic. In fact, I don’t think I own a figure with plastic as thin as this; not to worry, while it moves and doesn’t inhibit the movement in the least, the plastic is not that fragile, and I have absolutely no worries that it will break, rip, or tear over time. It is very well done.
As for the rest of the sculpt, everything is pretty much spot-on, and I have very few nitpicks to discuss. I want to get this out of the way first, though: the 3D printing technique that Bandai uses for the faces of these figures is pretty groundbreaking, and in person, it looks absolutely stellar. I mean, I am looking at Kenobi right now, and I am pretty amazed at how much this figure perfectly resembles McGregor. That said, it does not photograph well, especially in the big, blown-up pictures, but remember that you are seeing extremely minute detail enlarged several times over. While it looks like the sculpt loses something here, I can assure you, it does not and the resemblance in both the placid and grittier faces is excellent. The sculpt of the hair, including that weird Padawan braid and ponytail, is great as well, but there are a few paint quibbles there that I will get into in a moment.
The rest of Kenobi is a prototypical robed Jedi figure, and all of the folds and different cloth pieces are represented well. There is the smallest amount of texturing in the robes that adds a great level of detail and it becomes very tactile the moment you touch the figure. The crossing robes on the upper body and also separate pieces, so that should help facilitate some of the more complicated posing you might have in store. Frankly, with some slight paint changes, this figure is primed to be the EPII and EPIII base for Obi-Wan, and I can envision several Jedi, like Kit Fisto, Sasee Tinn, and Ki-Adi Mundi, utilizing this upper body base for figures. So, Bandai, please get right on that. If I had to nitpick anything with the sculpt, it would be that I find the legs to be *slightly* too skinny, but it is not anything egregious, and I am getting more and more used to it.
For the most part, the paint on the figure is also pretty flawless, save for a couple of spots. Admittedly, there is not a ton of paint on the figure since the basic robes are cast in the base color, but what is there is, overall, is very nice. There is some great detailing in the belt, and the added silver, gold, and red accents look very nice. Other than that, most of the paint is on the head(s), and with the color-printed face, that tends to be an animal all to itself, and as addressed above, we are pretty much left with the painted hair. If you do not like the use of the gold paint on the Luke Skywalker figure, you will probably not be a huge fan of it here. I get what they are going for with the sheen and color, but it doesn’t always work perfectly, even if it doesn’t bother me. Additionally, the transition from the darker hair in the front to the blonder portion can be a bit abrupt up close, as can the front hair line, but like the face, at normal size, it doesn’t look bad at all to me. The braid has a couple of bands in red and orange that were not overlooked, so I always appreciate the strict attention to detail this line employs.
Like more of the previous Figuarts releases, Obi-Wan has a pretty nice cache of accessories that includes four sets of swappable hands, his lightsaber (ignited), lightsaber hilt, two heads, and Qui-Gon Jinn’s lightsaber (ignited). The blue saber and hilt are required for any Jedi or other saber-user in this line, so I am glad we got both here. The detailing on both is very nice both in sculpt and paint, and with the “gripping” hands, Kenobi can hold them well. The tiny bottom portion of the hilt pops off so you can fit it in his hands, and while it serves its purpose, it is VERY tedious. I actually wish the saber would have just split in half, because that little round knob is VERY small and a bit difficult to remove and reattach. PLEASE be careful when changing it out and note that it will make different poses a bit of a chore.
The hilt snaps perfectly into place on Kenobi’s belt for when the saber in not in use, but I have a hard time posing a Jedi on the shelf without him or her holding their saber; it just looks too cool. Qui-Gon’s saber is an interesting inclusion with the figure as well, as you would expect this to come with the (hopefully) eventual Jinn figure. However, it does play a pivotal role in Kenobi’s battle with Maul, so it is cool to have in all of its fine detail.
As mentioned, the figure has four sets of hands, and they include fists (as packaged), grips, splayed for Force pushes, and dynamic hands that I am calling “attack poses.” I will be using the grips pretty much exclusively because the serve the best purpose, and like all Star Wars Figuarts, the hands can be a pain to switch out, especially with that tiny peg. I will probably make use of the Force-push hands from time to time, but I don’t really have any use for the fists. The attack hands are kind of neat, even if one is a bit of an anachronism. The “peace sign” hands can be fun for on-shelf shenanigans, but Kenobi never really struck that pose until Episode III, so I am sure these will be reused there when the figure comes around. Hey, even if I am boring and will likely only use three of the hands with any regularity, I will NEVER argue against freedom of choice in these instances, so I am glad to have the variety.
Finally, Kenobi has two heads, a gritty “battle” expression on one, and a more calm and placid look to the other. Both are really done, and the level of detail throughout is great. Personally, I think I prefer the more expressive gritty expression, but that might just be because I prefer to pose him with the saber, there is no arguing that the other face is the expression of a calm and collected Jedi. So, like with the hands, you are free to choose your own adventure.
I did not think it would happen because my favorite characters usually somehow never get perfect figures, but this Obi-Wan is pretty darn close. I have a few slight quibbles, but overall, I think this might be the best Star Wars Figuarts release thus far. Even if you are not a Prequel fan, this figure does not disappoint, and since Obi-Wan is pretty much the best part of the Prequel Trilogy, you can give him so rad new adventures to help complete his Padawan training. This figure just amps up my want for a figure of Obi-Wan from every Episode (especially III, my favorite look for him), so I hope we don’t have to wait too long, Bandai has already shown off an EPII prototype. Additionally, this figure is made infinitely more fun by the fact that I also have the Darth Maul figure, so one of the best duels in the history of Star Wars can really come to life. What it required now, though, is Qui-Gon Jinn to complete group. I NEEDS him. Badly. Bandai, please get on that, okay? Thanks!
