Jawas - OTC - Basic (OTC #24)

Jawas are scavengers who live on Tatooine, home of the heroic Rebel Luke Skywalker. Jawas ride through the desert in their huge sandcrawler vehicles searching for wayward droids and discarded scrap. They trade and sell their equipment and hardware throughout the colonies. Jawas capture R2-D2 and C-3PO when the droids land on Tatooine, and sell them to Luke's uncle.

With prices surging for figures, it's sometimes fun to remember the seesaw surrounding the $4.99 price point. Back in 1996, the Jawas debuted at a paltry $4.99 in The Power Of The Force collection, and after several price increases we got a hefty decrease in 2004 when this particular 2-pack hit stores. Rather than tackling the pack-in Ronto version from 1997 or the all-new statuesque sculpt from 1999, Hasbro brought back the original 2-pack for its 2004 DVD tie-in line with enhanced deco and pretty much the same accessories and features. A small blaster and a larger ion pistol are joined by a grey display base, which is unique to this release of the figures.

While already somewhat passe in 2004, both Jawas feature a light-up eye feature through the use of a window at the top of their robes. While bright yellow painted eyes might actually appear better in most display environments, it wasn't in the budget. This line of 38 carded figures only had 7 new molds, 2 of which relied on existing tooling. As such it was somewhat remarkable that Hasbro managed to improve the paint job on both of the little guys by adding a black wash and a little fake dirt. This revealed the subtle creases and wrinkles from Kenner's original 1996 design which sort of faded into the underdecorated releases of the 1990s. Obviously Hasbro has done figures with more articulation, but there's a high level of faux realism you can get in plastic. Sometimes real cloth can't provide a satisfying representation of clothing at this scale.

Each of the two Jawa figures is jointed at the shoulders and leg; the heads appear to be separate pieces their range of movement is basically nil. Even with their limited articulation, these figures both still look excellent and display well any droids or other Jawas you may have. Neither of The Original Trilogy Collection Jawas will set the world on fire, the deco makes them the definitive releases of these molds and for the asking price back in the day, fans knew they were still getting quite a bargain. Along with the Tusken Raider, Greedo, Gamorrean Guard, and Bib Fortuna, Hasbro squeezed some fairly nifty redecoes into a line which was mostly the first quick, although gorgeous, nostalgia packaging-based line. History may prove the lavish Sandcrawler backdrop on the packaging more desirable than the figures themselves.

Adam Pawlus is a renowned Star Wars collector and enthusiast whose ceaseless work in the Star Wars community has been regarded as some of the finest the hobby will ever see. On staff at GalacticHunter.com and owner of 16bit.com, his contributions are unprecedented to Star Wars fans around the globe. Adam has provided the Star Wars community on the internet with news, reviews, and commentary since 1995.