Jedi Spirits - POTF2 [FB/CT] - Cinema Scenes

Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and Yoda – three individuals with lives intricately intertwined. Before Obi-Wan Kenobi was forced into a life of hiding, before Anakin Skywalker gave in to the dark side and became Darth Vader, even before Yoda was known as the last Jedi Master, a young Anakin was presented to the Jedi Council for permission to train the boy in the ways of the Force. Many years later, the Galactic Republic crumbled and the evil Empire rose in its place. Only after the defeat of the Empire, at the hands of Anakin's son Luke Skywalker, would the three great Jedi be reunited after death as spiritual guides for Luke and the New Republic.

We’re not sure we can explain why this is so, but the Jedi Spirits Cinema Scenes set is one of our most favorite items released in The Power Of The Force “2” [FlashBack/CommTech] line. Whether because this three-pack is a manifestation of Yoda’s affirmation that we are all “luminous beings” or because it forever solidifies in plastic the conclusion of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of The Jedi, Jedi Spirits is a simple reminder of how great the earliest products in the modern Star Wars line are. All three figures in the Jedi Spirits Cinema Scenes are all essentially statues, but they capture the look and feel of the characters when Luke Skywalker offers them a smile as he looks out contemplating the restored freedom in the galaxy. What’s interesting is that all three figures are screwed to the included base. In fact, Kenner/Hasbro issued a revised box that featured an “Adult Assembly Required” warning since a screwdriver was needed to remove the figures from the base. Each figure looks very nice and aside from Anakin Skywalker it seems as if the figures are based on their “non-Jedi Spirit” iterations, although, a non-Jedi Spirit version of Anakin Skywalker was part of The Power Of The Force [FlashBack/CommTech] basic figure line too. But that figure is somewhere within the Expanded Universe as we never saw him onscreen.

Obi-Wan Kenobi isn’t new to the “Jedi Spirit” treatment. Originally released as a mail-away offer (1997’s POT2 [G/FF] Spirit Of Obi-Wan Kenobi figure – a Pizza Lays exclusive), the figure gets a new lease on life with some noticeable changes including new arms and a slightly new head sculpt. While the figure has different tooling when compared to 1997’s POTF2 [FF/TKC] Spirit Of Obi-Wan Kenobi figure, they're also very similar looking as well. The figure also comes with a completely different finish, and we have encountered some Jedi Spirits sets with more "frost" than others which we find interesting. This time a final frosty opaque kind of coating is added to each figure, and it greatly helps with the definition of the figures. You’re able to make out features that were harder to see with a completely transparent action figure. Again, all of the figures in this set are free from any articulation, even though Kenner/Hasbro tooled separate parts (like the arms for example). As a display piece, the Jedi Spirits Cinema Scene doesn’t offer much in the form of action figures, but we know that collectors are impressed with how Kenner/Hasbro packaged the figures. The base is based on the walkway of Bright Tree Village. It looks like they’re atop real log planking. But more importantly, the dark background with brightly lit fires in the scenery bring this set to life. And you feel like you’re watching the end of Return Of The Jedi.

While it is easier to make out the likenesses to these figures thanks to the outer layer of deco, it still isn’t perfect. From what we can see, Anakin Skywalker has a great likeness to the onscreen character. So do Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda. George Lucas explained that a Force ghost appears to the last state of that character as a Jedi. So in the case of Anakin Skywalker, he is wearing Jedi robes now, not the suit of Darth Vader. And as we painfully know, Sebastian Shaw was replaced by Hayden Christensen in the Special Edition. Anakin Skywalker has a slightly forward-being lean, but it’s not anything too terrible. Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi look more familiar as we’ve seen similar “opaque” versions of them in the basic figure line. But you’ll recognize the tooling similarities. This set was also a popular bootleg target in Asia. You could find all three characters (in different packaging) throughout Japan in the late nineties. It’s likely we will never receive updates to these characters in this style for the foreseeable future, perhaps ever again. The set didn’t perform too well at retail, and by the time the allotment should have sold through, Hasbro was busy preparing for Episode I and back-stock made them instant clearance fodder. We still are fond of this Cinema Scenes set, and we hope that we see updated Jedi Spirits characters soon.