Ak-rev - TLC - Basic (BD 5)

Ak-rev is one of the drummers in the band that provides musical entertainment for Jabba in the Hutt’s palace court. The Weequay’s serious demeanor hides an angry nature; he’s always ready for a fight. Along with fellow drummer Umpass-stay, Ak-rev survives the debacle at the Pit of Carkoon.

Ak-rev is not the most exciting figure. And purists of the original version of Star Wars Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi may find him to be an abhorrence. Our opinion of him lies somewhere in the middle, but we are more critical of Hasbro's approach for him as an action figure. Just like his band mate, 2007's TAC Umpass-stay (30 27), Ak-rev has a very awkward pose that works well for a mid-action pose, but after that, you may just be wanting more from him. Amazingly, Ak-rev is almost super-articulated (18 points to be exact) but the joints are nearly rendered useless since he is posed so "musician-like". He can certainly be positioned well in this action pose, but forget any static positions at all. We really wish that Hasbro would design ALL of their figures with an erect posture and let us pose them the way WE want to pose them. Ak-rev had the potential to be better, but this figure fails even as an 'average' action figure. Basically ranking second as "peg-warmer" of the year after the glorious 2008 TLC Yarna d'al' Gargan (BD 6), Ak-rev was either clinging to the shelves in terrible numbers or completely a sell-through depending upon your area. There are positive points to Ak-rev, he completes the Rebo Band diorama you have always wanted to complete, and he is another Weequay species (we love our Weequay figures). But as a final product, we have to side with the opinion that he is really less than thrilling.

All is not lost with this action figure however. You should know that despite his pose, we're quite taken with how bright it is. His outfit is way too colorful, very reminiscent of what was described as the biblical "coat of many colors" that Joseph owned. If you watch his appearance in the film, Ak-rev did not have the brilliant costume on that is depicted on the action figure. And while it is very likely that this has a lot to do with the lighting that was cast on him in the film, we still don't believe that the colors were this vibrant. Besides, the final version of the Special Edition leads the viewer to believe that his outfit is much darker than this action figure represents. Also, the onscreen character seemed much thinner whereas the action figure look thicker. But this could have a lot to do with his pose rather than anything else. One fine point of detail to the approach that Hasbro takes with Weequay species action figures is the way the eyes are decorated. Mostly, we tend to think that Weequay action figures that have been made with pupil-less eyes look so much better than those who have been designed with human-like eyes (pupils in the middles of the whites of the eyes). Figures like Ak-rev and 2006's TSC Sora Bulq (SAGA 015) just don't have the ominous and eerie stature of the original 1997 POTF2 [FF/TKC] Weequay Skiff Guard figure. This may not be a popular opinion, but we think it makes for a much more effective look.

Collectors may also be a little disappointed to discover that the drum half that came with Umpass-stay is not a perfect match to the slightly repainted drum half that came with Ak-rev. Why this slight change occurred must be inevitable when figures are released in two different action figure lines, but we wish better attention was paid to this. Neurotic collectors (like us) may be driven insane by this, but no matter what your take is on this, they are different enough. Ak-rev comes with two drumsticks as well, so he is very well-accessorized to say the least. Ak-rev is not exceedingly exciting in any way. He certainly serves a purpose to the basic figure line, but he won't make you do cartwheels. As a nice choice to add to any Return Of The Jedi wave, we are thankful that Hasbro attempted this character, but it just didn't come out how we had hoped. If you're listening Hasbro, please give these action-oriented figures a full 14 points of articulation and let us do the posing. Or, give us a static figure that is at least upright and not in a funky pose. We just want to have the flexibility to pose our figures without so much action in their appearance. Unfortunately, this is very similar to how we feel about Umpass-stay (but we think Umpass-stay was the better figure by far). We hope that this mistake doesn't get repeated on subsequent 'musician' action figures. And please make the original Sy Snootles next. She is very long overdue.