Cantina Showdown - POTF2 [R/G] - Cinema Scenes (Exclusive)

On the run from Imperial stormtroopers, Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker enter the seedy Mos Eisley Cantina in hopes of finding swift passage to the planet Alderaan. Inside, among the gallery of criminals are the murderous Dr. Evazan and the brutal Ponda Baba – both of whom are thirsty for a fight with Skywalker. Reaching for their blasters, the villains are suddenly cut off from Luke by the pulsating blaze of Obi-Wan's lightsaber! Will Obi-Wan triumph and save the Rebellion's only hope?

After a very successful first attempt with the newly formed Cinema Scenes sub-line (although at that time we didn’t know it would actually be a sub-line), the Death Star Escape set showed everyone that there was money to be made with multipacks. Running with that momentum, Kenner decided to try another Cinema Scenes set and make it exclusive to Walmart. Dubbed Cantina Showdown, this set brings new versions of previously released characters in addition to one important and long-awaited new villain from Chalmun’s Cantina in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. Made up of a completely new Ponda Baba, Obi-Wan Kenobi and first time offering Dr. Evazan, Cantina Showdown is pretty much exactly what collectors want to see from the modern Kenner line. These sets recreate pivotal scenes from the Original Trilogy and they present an opportunity for Kenner to change things up a bit to give collectors something familiar, yet new. Maybe the Cantina Showdown would have gone over even better if Hasbro gave us three new characters instead of two repeats, but the point of these multipacks is to capture a scene perfectly from the film. And that’s exactly what the Cantina Showdown set does.

Dr. Evazan is a first time offering. He looks pretty cool and his pose, although action oriented, isn’t too dramatic where he wouldn’t look good by himself apart from this set. Just like in the film, Dr. Evazan’s right eye is blind and the skin around it is bruised. He has nicely applied salt and pepper hair and reddish facial hair. The head sculpt is great and captures the anger and attitude of this surly cantina patron. His costume is nicely detailed and captures the basic appearance of him in the film. He does have a rather thin frame, but he has a great center of gravity and can stand up well unassisted. In our opinion, Dr. Evazan alone is worth the purchase of this set. This has been a character that Star Wars collectors have wanted since the vintage Kenner era. In fact, many of us used Snaggletooth to take the place of Dr. Evazan in our playtime at home. (In retrospect how crazy is it that Snaggletooth got an action figure in 1979, but this character did not?) It is so great to finally have this character as an action figure in our collections now, even if the only way to get him right now is in this Walmart exclusive Cinema Scenes set.

Ponda Baba is an all-new figure. No part of 1997’s POTF2 [FF/TKC] Ponda Baba figure have been carried forward to make him. This time Ponda Baba is situated in some sort of action pose to perhaps escape the swing of Obi-Wan Kenobi’s lightsaber. Even his coloring Is different than the basic figure. We love the way Kenner has sculpted his jacket, in an open and flowing way to show the movement of his defensive appearance. He comes with the same articulation as the basic figure, but this time only comes with one gun. Obi-Wan Kenobi is also an all-new figure. Even though he looks very much like 1995’s POTF2 [R/G] Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi figure, there are all-new parts this time around. He comes with the same old cloak shell and lightsaber accessory, and has been molded in a strange posture that doesn’t look all that natural. We need an all-new sculpt and likeness of Obi-Wan Kenobi anyway. This version is beginning to looks dated now. Together, all three characters make up a splendid boxed set. Also included is a long base, the cantina floor, and a backdrop to help dress up the figures. It’s a beautiful setup and we’re glad Kenner is continuing with this line. There are so many scenes to do, we hope they pick the most popular.