Yarna d’al’ Gargan - TLC - Basic (BD 6)

Yarna is a dancer in Jabba’s palace, entertaining the Hutt with a graceful ballet that soothes the irascible gangster when nothing else can. Yarna stays behind at the palace on the day of the planned execution at the Pit of Carkoon, a decision that saves her life.

Poor Yarna (or poor Gargan if you are a vintage collector). She just didn’t get a fair chance at retail. While that may seem preposterous being that she was about the only The Legacy Collection that ever seemed available (and visible) on shelves, she should have been packaged in a line look that was either vintage or as close to vintage as possible. We think packaging killed this figure and we may just never be able to prove our case. Yarna is spiritually a vintage figure and Hasbro designed the modern version of her for the sole purpose of nodding to her candidacy as an action figure back in time around 1983-1985. We will probably never be able to figure out why there is such a lack of interest with her for kids (and apparently collectors), but longtime and the hardcore collectors have waited over 25 years to finally get her as an action figure. But despite the die heard fans wanting her made so badly in 3.75" scale, Yarna basically just sat collecting dust. This is a shame for multiple reasons. For one, Yarna has the distinction of being one of two possible figures during the vintage era that were conceptualized and made in prototype form. As stated earlier, she was on Kenner's drawing board for action figure release before the line was canceled (R1-G4 was the other one) Thankfully the droid was released as 2004's SW [S - P3] R1-G4 (Tatooine Transaction) ('04 #06) figure. Collectors tend to want things that they cannot have and perhaps we like her so much now because we couldn't have her back then. But if that is the case, why did she fail as a figure? She was beautifully sculpted and a long-awaited release as an action figure.

Regardless, we have finally gotten her into our collections and we are very happy. It is so wonderful to have these two abandoned vintage concepts forever immortalized in our collections! Yarna is very well sculpted and excellently colored. And the best thing is that she has been faithfully recreated to her Episode VI appearance. Her sculpt is right on par with what we would expect Hasbro to present us with including the colors used and the accessories given. These fine details perfect Yarna and she is a nearly flawless action figure. She has a pose that isn’t action-oriented and she will fill out your Jabba’s Palace dioramas out very nicely. She comes complete with her dagger and drinking glass (and a lot of extra unclothed body mass showing). She has a mix of flesh colored plastic and flesh painted plastic on her body and this is about the only detracting thing about her. These applications can easily chip over time and we don't know why Hasbro didn't cast them all in flesh tone like the rest of her limbs. She can hold her accessories very well and while you may not be able to get her to shake her thing, she will do her part by looking swell in your collection. She unfortunately was far from being a best seller of the wave and we can't help to wonder how many incomplete R7-Z0 Build A Droid figures exist out there since her droid piece was needed to complete this droid. So, is there an army out there of misfit R7-Z0 droids in need of their last leg? We don't know, but it would make sense since the peg-warming Yarnas all have the same part! Are R7-Z0 completists waiting for a universal brick and mortar clearance sale before buying this figure?

Hasbro has hinted that The Legacy Collection wave 1 was produced in much higher numbers since it was part of the new launch of the line. They admit that too many Yarna d'al' Gargan figures were made as a result. Interestingly, they don’t seem too worried about it either. Yarna had more screen time than most other Jabba's Palace aliens and fans clamored for her for years, so we are completely perplexed and puzzled by fan disinterest in her.When Yarna was finally announced by Hasbro, it was one of the most exciting pieces of news in a long time. Apparently our excitement was not backed with our dollars as she continues to clog the pegs. Lackluster sales could mean lackluster character choices if we don't vote with our dollars. With so many Episode VI fans out there, we are still surprised that collectors are not too keen on adding her to their Jabba's Palace dioramas. To us, Yarna was one of the most prominently displayed denizens of Jabba's Palace and would be one of our first choices to add to ours. After all, she is very long overdue. She also had a lot more screen time than so many other characters in the film. And she is a figure made with high quality and great attention to detail. If we were to nit-pick another detail, we would recommend checking out your sample of Yarna before purchasing her. Yarna sometimes suffers from are poor paint applications on the face, but this tends to be more of a random issue. She's a great figure and you really need to complete your Build A Droid too! So complete your droid and add another great figure to your collection at the same time! (Editor's Note: In October 2009 Hasbro has sent out store representatives to clean up and remove all the extra Yarna figures from the pegs and they have been destroyed. You had your chance!)