Tarfful - ROTS - Basic (III 25)

The heroic Wookiee Tarfful helps the Republic forces when the Separatist droid armies invade his home world of Kashyyyk. Serving under the command of Yoda, Tarfful fights valiantly to keep his planet free.

Tarfful is one of those Star Wars characters that has a much bigger role in the Expanded Universe than he does in the Revenge Of The Sith film. For example, did you know he was involved with a major conflict and was rescued by Delta Squad? Did you know he basically planned out the entire Battle of Kashyyyk with Luminara Unduli and Quinlan Vos? It goes on and on, but it’s a shame that Tarfful wasn’t given prominent screen time in Episode III because he probably would be much more popular than he is today. Not an official general, Tarfful was technically a chieftain during the Clone Wars, but his strength, endurance and fearlessness were three key traits that helped him be successful during the Great Jedi Purge. And let’s not forget his multiple conflicts battling Trandoshan slave traders on his homeworld of Kashyyyk. (Editor’s Note: Tarfful also had a major role in an episode of The Clone Wars showing once again his disdain for Trandoshans.) And perhaps the most important factor of why Tarfful should be more popular than he is: he's a close friend of Chewbacca. It’s something we were visually able to see in Episode III, but due to shortness of screen time Kashyyyk received, we didn’t see that relationship develop.

We were thrilled Tarfful was one of the earlier action figures Hasbro developed for the Revenge Of The Sith line. Sadly, Tarfful isn’t that great of an action figure. Tarfful, like most of the Wookiees, has an action feature built into him and it’s something that really bothers us. But even if Tarfful didn’t have the action feature, we still would be dismayed by the figure. Going forward, Hasbro needs to spend their tooling budgets on giving us a super-articulated Wookiee body form. And one of the most important features they would have to give this sculpt would be ball-jointed hips. The Wookiees are an active bunch and in order to do these characters justice, they would need unlimited movement. Even 2004’s VOTC Chewbacca, while we adore the figure, it isn’t an ideal sculpt for a Wookiee warrior. So we’re really hoping that Hasbro can find a way to finally give us our definitive base sculpt for these characters. Think of the limitless possibilities of scene-specific Wookiees we could get for our collections if Hasbro just buckled down to develop the all-perfect action figure! Sadly, the current Tarfful action figure, while some details look great, isn’t a figure you’re going to want to be the last word for this character.

The biggest problem with the Tarfful action figure is his legs. Forget about the annoying swivel hips and swivel knees Hasbro added to him. His legs are ridiculously too close together, so utilizing the articulation he does come with is maddening. You can’t get Tarfful in any believable action stance, and this is sad for a figure that's supposed to be a warrior. On the bright side, we do believe that some details on Tarfful are actually pretty good. He has a decent head sculpt and the coppery blue shoulder armor looks fantastic. Tarfful comes with some massive dreadlocks and Hasbro did a fine job sculpting them. They hang straight down and aren’t flyaway or anything like that. But perhaps the best feature of Tarfful is his overall paint job. Hasbro has made other Wookiees in the Revenge Of The Sith line look a little bit silly, but Tarfful really does look pretty good as far as his paint job is concerned. Tarfful comes with a crossbow/bowcaster and a cool club. We don’t recall him using either in the film, but it’s nice for a warrior to come with weapons. Here is hoping that a better Tarfful is coming down the pike. It’s a shame Hasbro just didn’t start off on the right foot with the Wookiees, but it’s never too late to fix one’s mistakes.