IG-88 (Bounty Hunter) - POTJ - Basic

The most infamous and feared of all assassin droids, IG-88 has made a career as a ruthless bounty hunter. The tall, slender, gray droid was produced at Holowan Laboratories. IG-88 is equipped with an array of head sensors that allow him to see in all directions at once, and a variety of lethal weapons including grenade launchers, missiles and a flamethrower.

Never content with a first try, Hasbro made one of the most popular bounty hunters from The Empire Strikes Back a priority in the Power Of The Jedi line. The first modern attempt was interestingly released in the Shadows Of The Empire lineup, and Expanded Universe multimedia event that captured the attention from fans of the Original Trilogy. In was in this line look where Hasbro introduced Comic Packs. They created two unique sets. One contained a retooled and repainted version of Boba Fett and the other figure was the first modern interpretation of IG-88. In a surprising move, Hasbro borrowed most of the original tooling from the 1980 vintage Kenner figure, tweaked it here and there, repainted it and called it a day. It didn’t really fit in with the rest of the figures at the time. But most of did not care as the release of this Comic Packs sent meant that we had IG-88 once again. As quickly as our elation crept in our hearts and minds, it quickly dissipated. We soon realized that the figure didn’t hold up to the technology of the time and the figure was ironically aging more briskly than the vintage Kenner figure. Thankfully, relief was on the way, even if that meant we had to wait a half a decade longer to receive it.

Hasbro developed the all-new 2000 POTJ IG-88 (Bounty Hunter) figure for collectors. The figure is good, but it’s not exactly perfect either. It’s biggest issue? The darn figure is much too short. This assassin droid doesn’t have the least bit of a commanding presence and doesn’t even come close to towering over the other bounty hunters in the modern basic figure line. In a strange move, Hasbro decided to follow the same approach with this IG-88 (Bounty Hunter) action figure as they did with the one from the Shadows Of The Empire line (and the vintage figure), save for one or two extra articulation points. In short, it looks like yet another gradual upgrade of more of the same rather than a fresh new revisit or approach. So we find this figure doesn’t excite us like we anticipated it would have. The best part? IG-88 (Bounty Hunter) has a removable bandolier which helps to give this action figure a little more depth and personality. The worst part? He comes without his signature E-11 blaster which we feel defines this bounty hunter as a consummate liaison for the Galactic Empire. (He thankfully comes with his larger blaster rifle.) Graciously, Hasbro produced a 12" version of IG-88 in the same POTJ line which forgave most of the basic figure's sins.

As far as aesthetics are concerned, we’re quite pleased with his proportions and the included detail. A variation exists where his hand is closed so that he can hold the gun better, but a running change was made to make him more screen accurate. IG-88 (Bounty Hunter) comes with seven points of articulation. He has two points of articulation in his head (the center of the head swivels horizontally and then the neck also swivels. He comes with two swivel shoulders and two swivel hips. And lastly he comes with a swivel waist. The paint operations are very nice and cleanly applied. The series of orange lights on his head look great (and are very bright) and the rest of his metallic frame shows signs of wear and tear and plenty of dirt accumulation. As an action figure, we suppose IG-88 (Bounty Hunter) accomplishes what it needs to accomplish. You get enough movement out of him, but in this day and age collectors are looking for ways to be a little more clever with the way they pose their figures. You don’t have too many options here sadly. We believe that had Hasbro made this action figure in a better and more accurate larger scale, we would find a lot less to fault it. But for now, this is the best one we have.