Tusken Raider (Desert Sniper) - POTJ - Basic

Also known as Sand People, the Tusken Raiders of Tatooine have not accepted homesteaders on their planet. They prey upon settlers and travelers foolish enough to try to cross the desert wasteland. Savage and extremely dangerous, Tusken Raiders should not be underestimated.

In the midst of all the controversy and disappointment (by longtime Star Wars fans, not the news ones) surrounding Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, even its staunchest critics found solace when there was evidence that George Lucas was attempting to connect the dots to the Original Trilogy. To see the many “cantina” and “Jabba’s palace” aliens in the streets of Mos Espa as well as the Boonta Eve classic podrace sequences warmed the hearts of many. Star Wars fans since the beginning needed to be validated, and it was through the addition of classic alien species that we found new relevance of Episode I (because the story wasn’t cutting it for most). During the [dreadful] podrace sequence, George Lucas added Tusken raiders to the scenes and we witnessed these creatures shooting at the flyby podracers. It drew controversy because for some it came off as comical. Because they’re vicious creatures, would they really spend any part of their day congregating to shoot at the passing podracers for sport? Without going off course, Hasbro developed their very first sand people action figure based on the Prequel Trilogy: Tusken Raider (Desert Sniper). Pretty much identical to the ones seen in A New Hope, it’s very hard to tell them apart from one another, no matter their place in the Star Wars timeline. Another figure that was planned for the Episode I line with the revised Comm Tech chip, it was tucked away until the refreshed Power Of The Jedi line went into effect.

Hasbro’s Episode I specific Tusken Raider (Desert Sniper) looks pretty darn good. You won’t find him packed with a gaderffi stick this time around, and his outer robes are nowhere to be found, the breathing apparatus is removed and replace with a scarf, but the sculpt is done nicely (incredibly well in many ways) and despite limited articulation, you can attain a nice assortment of poses that are screen accurate to Episode I (and even the Original Trilogy). Tusken Raider (Desert Sniper) comes with eight points of articulation which include head, shoulders, right elbow, left wrist, waist and hips. Hasbro cleverly designed the articulation in the upper body so that you could accurately recreate the Tusken Raider (Desert Sniper) figure to raise his arms above his head as well as welcome the included rifle to shoot at passing podracers. Please don’t misunderstand us. The Tusken Raider (Desert Sniper) figure doesn’t have a lot of options, but he looks good with the options he does have. The details in the sculpt are wonderful and the portrait in particular is pretty amazing. We wish Hasbro had the technology back during The Power Of The Force “2” line to develop a Tusken Raider than looks that good. We still question however why they bother adding hip articulation when the plastic molded skirt prevents any movement at all. It seems like they could save some money in instances like this.

Tusken Raider (Desert Sniper) has a pretty excellent paint job. We suppose he is a little light when compared to the film, but we think Hasbro got the color palette right in all of the important spots. The silver colors used in the eyes and other details on the figure are very pronounced and bring a little bit of sparkle to the action figure. We loved how they turned out in particular. Give us something shiny to capture our attention and we’re happy. That being said, the rest of the figure is nothing to sneeze at as well. Maybe that is the wrong expression because that implies that you should give this figure serious attention when in actuality we mean you just shouldn’t ignore it completely, but we think that this figure has more merit than people will give it. Tusken Raider (Desert Sniper) will engage Original Trilogy lovers as well. Maybe this figure is missing the outer robes and maybe the weapon is Episode I specific, but it’s a good sculpt and we think it will hold up well throughout the years. Maybe Hasbro should have included the Episode IV specific accessories here, but give this figure a chance regardless and see that it does hold water for yourself. The paint job is really impressive in our opinion and there is still room for Hasbro to make it even better. We’re excited to see what they’ll do with it.