Watto - EI - Basic

The owner of slaves, Anakin and Shmi Skywalker, and a notorious gambler, Watto is a Toydarian junk dealer who supplies the denizens of Mos Espa with all manner of mechanical odds and ends.

He may not be colored as he appeared in the film exactly, but most collectors were able to overlook this oversight because the Episode I Watto may be the greatest sculpted figures in the entire line. That may be a bold statement to make, but we’ll stand by it and challenge you to critique the figure up closely yourself. There probably isn’t a figure in the modern Star Wars line to date that is graced with this much sensory-overloaded detail. But what’s more is that despite the wrong shade of blue because Watto looks more green than blue, Hasbro gave Watto one of the most impressive paint jobs of all the figures in the Episode I line as well. Compare Watto to most of the other Episode I figures, and we’re confident you’ll be equally astounded with how far ahead he looks compared to the others. We also love the simple approach to his sculpt. Watto comes with a mere five points of articulation,, and quite frankly he wouldn’t want any more than that. That may sound blasphemous, but additional joints in his arms and legs could compromise his delicate frame. Watto is truly perfect the way he is, save for an updated paint job.

Not only does Watto look gorgeous, but he also comes with brilliantly tooled accessories too. Some collectors may not like the fact that a hole remains in Watto’s back if you remove the torch, but we think the construction is ingenious. Along with the torch comes a datapad. We’re not exactly sure what this does, aside from assuming it has something to do with his inventory of parts for his junkyard business. But we’re simply dumbfounded by the amount of detailing in the sculpt and the wondrous effort put into the deco to make this little accessory shine as brightly as it does. Not only does it look good, but Watto can hold it in his left hand with minimal effort, and it looks awesome. We have to question why a “B” character like this would receive so much attention. We wouldn’t question it negatively, but it is quite perplexing that some of the main characters from the Episode I line aren’t even close to looking as halfway good as Watto does. The shading of his creamy belly into the blue of his exterior color is flawless. And the washes added to accentuate the wrinkles and crevices in his skin are as artful as they are impressive. There is a great deal to appreciate with Watto.

If we’re honest, we’d admit that Watto’s articulation is mostly unnecessary. While his hips articulate, moving his legs in any other position than having his feet flat on the floor is mostly moot. But, at least collectors have that option and can articulate the legs to obtain the best balance on the feet. The head and shoulders articulation is mostly perfect and can achieve most 360-degree movement if you so choose. We think the neatest aspect of Watto however are his swivel (and removable) wings. His wings add extra personality to this surly character, and the option of removing them is pretty cool (not that Watto is ever without his wings or anything like that….). Even the wings have been given incredible attention to detail and also come with brilliant paint operations as well. For a Star Wars character of short stature, Hasbro packed a lot of punch in this Toydarian junk dealer. Watto was sadly a peg-warmer during the entire Episode I run. As type A collectors, we don’t understand how most collectors didn’t pick this figure up because he is the shining star of the entire line. Watto also comes with a CommTech chip which allows him to “speak” and “interact” with other action figures. But most of us are using them as display stands.