Bounty Hunter Jodo Kast - SW [SOTDS] - Basic (Exclusive)

In the comic "Boba Fett: Twin Engines of Destruction", Jodo Kast is a bounty hunter who wears Mandalorian armor. He pretends to be Boba Fett to take advantage of Fett's reputation as te galaxy's most notorious bounty hunter. However, the real Boba Fett is not flattered by Kast's impersonation and makes plans to stop him.

Who says Hasbro doesn't take care of us? In October of 2008, Hasbro needed to pad the year with a repack and repaint wave. One of those figures was Jodo Kast (BD 18) and many collectors were excited to get this Boba Fett impostor. But once the figure started showing up at retail, that glee turned to chagrin as Hasbro decided to use the inferior 2006 TSC Boba Fett (SAGA 006) sculpt to create Jodo Kast. This was actually such a terrible shame because most of us believed it was going to be the only time we would ever have the chance to add Jodo Kast into our collections. (Boy were we wrong.) The 2008 figure has a stupid action feature which completely destroyed the aesthetics of the figure. And what made this even more of a shame is that 2008 Jodo Kast has a most incredible paint job. It even rivals this new Kmart exclusive paint job in a few ways. Literally, it probably had the best paint job in the entire The Legacy Collection it was that good. But all of this is pretty much moot anymore because Hasbro has given us Jodo Kast 2.0 and all of the previous version's problems have been remedied to our complete satisfaction. Well, "almost" may be more accurate here. What we can confirm is that the 2010 version of Jodo Kast eclipses the 2008 figure by a landslide and let us just say that this is a figure you should definitely not pass on for your collections.

Not only do we now have a super-articulated version of Jodo Kast, we also have a version of him with a removable helmet. Hasbro gave him an all-new head sculpt and it looks simply fantastic. The figure shines from head to toe. It has a standard Mandalorian body sculpt, a stunning paint job and he can stand unaided even while wearing his backpack. The colors are brilliantly painted and while we think that the 2008 figure may have the slightly better paint job, you will be hard pressed to find any complaints with the new figure's paint operation, especially since they fixed the colors and placement of the insignias when compared to The Legacy Collection figure. Specifically, Hasbto correcetd his chest emblem and painted it in navy blue this time around. (It was painted red on the first figure. Unfortunately the digital monitor on his right breat plate was left unpainted – the 2008 figure didn't miss this detail.) The "bantha skull" emblem is subtly placed on his left shoulder and not as prominently like the 2008 figure. Ultimately, an updated Bounty Hunter Jodo Kast is a complete shock for us and even though we have seen it for months now and bought a sample ourselves, it is still hard to believe that Hasbro gave the figure another stab at him. But we are thankful. This is a figure that certainly could use a removable helmet and Hasbro included one that works fine, but it could be better. The helmet secures very tightly to the head. If you aren't careful while taking it off of his head, his head may pop off during the transaction. Our sample didn't really have this issue, but we have come across others that have.

Bounty Hunter Jodo Kast is a Kmart exclusive and it should likely be the only way that it will ever be available. It has interesting packaging too. Not part of the Saga Legends line and definitely not part of The Vintage Collection, he falls under the generic Star Wars [Shadow Of The Dark Side] banner. Arriving just in time for the launch of the new line looks, Bounty Hunter Jodo Kast is already one of the standout figures so far. If you think you have all the Jodo Kast you need with the 2008 figure, we can conclusively state that you're sadly mistaken. This updated figure is such an incredible upgrade to the action figure line and there is really not much more we can rave about than what we already have. Oh, there is one point of interest. Technically his belt comes affixed "backwards" for this release. But Jodo Kast and Boba Fett have remarkably different belts. So whether inadvertent or intentional, it makes sense for Jodo Kast to look like he is wearing a different belt. We hope that more exclusives are on tap that are made this well. Kmart has really gotten the shaft from Hasbro over the years. Most of their exclusives are just repacked figures in fancy new packaging. Bounty Hunter Jodo Kast is a new figure in new packaging and Kmart certainly deserves the opportunity to get a cool exclusive like this. Probably the last time they got a cool exclusive was 2005's ROTS Jedi Temple Assault Battle Packs set. (And unfortunately this set is now dated.) But a half of a decade is a long time to get the next noteworthy product from Hasbro to distribute as an exclusive. Jodo Kast is in a league of his own, and he is a figure that you should absolutely get for your collection!