What Unmade S.H.Figuarts Star Wars Prototype Is Your Most Wanted Figure?
SH Figuarts like to tease fans, or so you might think when you recall all the yet unmade prototypes they have shown at various Japanese toy fairs and events over the years. Some figures eventually see the light of day years after their first appearance as a prototype. ANH Han Solo had been spotted as a prototype long before the figure eventually got made. But then there are things that were seen ages ago which have yet to see an announcement. So click through for some of the yet unannounced SH Figuarts Star Wars figures and pick your most favorite ones!
SH Figuarts Queen Amidala Prototype
First up, Queen Amidala, it is unknown if she actually qualifies as an action figure or more as a statue:
SH Figuarts Queen Amidala Prototype
Statue or not, I think she could make for an excellent addition. And instead of articulation (which this version of Queen Amidala not really needs all that much) SHF could add LEDs that light up the dress, there certainly is enough space to hide the electronics and battery compartment. The headsculpt looks sublime and the level of detail is amazing.
And next, one of the most controversial Star Wars characters before the sequels, the most favorite Gungan:
SH Figuarts Jar-Jar Prototype
Now there are very strong rumors that Jar-Jar will come in The Black Series in early 2020. So maybe the need for him to get made by SHF is not as strong as for some other figures. Anyway, SHF has had a strong prequel focus and Jar-Jar would fit in perfectly with the other figures. He’s also an essential character that is still missing.
In the background you may notice one of several yet unmade astromechs. SHF has shown quite a few of them over the years.
And another prequel character, General Grievous:
SH Figuarts General Grievous Prototype
The Black Series Grievous figure is commonly regarded as a disappointment. My TBS Grievous also has a week left knee and cannot stand at all without support by a stand. Now, behold the SHF version, crisp, clear details, the arms split and can be articulated any way you want and notice the cape that is much thinner than what Hasbro gave us and is properly tucked away under the neck armor piece. So even though the Black Series version exists, the SHF version of Grievous appears to be vastly superior and should see a release maybe.
And we’re still in prequel territory with yet another unmade prototype, the Super Battle Droid:
SH Figuarts Super Battle Droid Prototype
Think of the prequels whatever you like, but you cannot deny the great designs the movies had, innovative, new and not boring at all. It’s strange that neither Hasbro nor SHF have made a Super Battle Droid yet. But if it got made, then I hope SHF would make one, because they would make sure the figure is made of rigid plastic with crisp details and legs that don’t bend or are too rubbery, like the Hasbro Battle Droid’s legs are, unfortunately.
More recently, SH Figuarts also started showing prototypes from other movies as well. Here’s a figure we already have from Hasbro (albeit a quite terrible version), Rey from The Force Awakens:
SH Figuarts Rey Prototype
Think of Rey what you will, but the SHF figure looks great. Headsculpt seems to be improved compared to the Last Jedi version from 2017. The question is if fans still want a TFA Rey in 2019 (more likely 2020), especially when her TROS costume looks so similar, only white instead of tan/beige. But the figure looks so great, especially the headsculpt, that making TFA Rey might still be worthwhile and something fans of the character would buy.
The following prototype is quite old, several years now. And probably the weakest figure by far here, Jabba The Hutt:
SH Figuarts Jabba The Hutt Prototype
I think the Hasbro version is all we need, while the SHF version once more has crisper details the articulated tail, while nice in theory, does look a bit weird and overengineered perhaps. But maybe you’ve always wanted a Jabba that can actually move his tail all around.
And now a prototype of yet another figure Hasbro is soon going to release, Emperor Palpatine with throne:
SH Figuarts Emperor Palpatine Prototype
This figure would either come with a second pair of legs or else this version of the Emperor would mostly be a statue with articulated arms and head. Now if all this Emperor needs to do is sit, then he certainly doesn’t need articulated legs. The question is if the SHF version of Palpatine is substantially better than the upcoming TBS version. The Hasbro face sculpt seems to be superior here. Without a doubt sculpted plastic robes look better than soft goods, so it comes down to a choice of aesthetics and what you prefer, good looks or articulation. This Emperor, if he came without articulated extra legs, would not be able to electrocute Luke, so he would forever sit in his throne.
And next up is a figure (and species) that is mysteriously absent from The Black Series.
SH Figuarts Wicket Prototype
Wicket the Ewok. And since he’s quite small, SHF also sculpted a very detailed tree trunk for him to sit upon – similar to the upcoming Yoda figure which gets a senate chair for Yoda to sit upon. Now this Wicket looks sublime, if you ask me, great details, and look at the details on the spear tip. I don’t think Hasbro would come close here. And SHF pursues a different approach here, Wicket is not as articulated as other figures, but the sculpt looks fantastic. But the lack of elbows (and knees) may be disturbing. Maybe it’s really just an early prototype without much articulation here. Unless SHF plans on giving the figure several extra arms for all the poses you need, which would make the lack of elbow joints acceptable, especially when Wicket looks so fantastic.
In the background you can get a glimpse of an Obi-Wan Force Spirit figure, which I don’t cover here.
And finally Empire Strikes Back Luke Skywalker in his X-Wing/Snowspeeder outfit:
SH Figuarts Luke Skywalker Prototype
And a better look at his face:
SH Figuarts Luke Skywalker Prototype
In my opinion he looks fantastic, and while maybe not 100% like Mark Hamill ca. 1979/1980 still much, much better than any Black Series version of Luke we’ve got so far. It remains to be seen how the Black Series Dagobah Training version of Luke will look like, we’ve only seen a render of the sculpt so far. But a SHF X-Wing Luke would certainly be very welcome by most collectors.
So these were most of the unreleased SHF Star Wars prototypes (I left out a FN-2187 prototype, basically the FO Stormtrooper with a Finn headsculpt and also a prototype of the Imperial Royal Guard, who appears to be a statue with almost zero articulation, but he was displayed in an official promo photo of the upcoming Darth Vader figure), there also are a few clones, battle droids and several astromechs SHF displayed over the years, but the figures here are major action figures, not just variants and have a better chance at getting a release perhaps.
So far, SH Figuarts has a pretty good track record of eventually announcing previously seen figures of human(oid) characters. That may give SHF collectors hope to get some or maybe even most of the figures shown here.
But if you had to pick… what are your most favorite figures here? What couple of figures absolutely must see a release? Leave your thoughts in the comments!
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