Ki-Adi-Mundi - EI - Basic

As part of the twelve-member Jedi Council gathered on Coruscant at the temple of the Jedi, Ki-Adi-Mundi must help must help make many fateful decisions as the council is called upon to consider the invasion of Naboo and the future of young Anakin Skywalker.

Whether or not you like the film, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace introduced Star Wars fans to many never before seen creature and alien species. The film introduced us to a vast array of aliens in the Jedi Council alone. One of these aliens, Ki-Adi-Mundi, was one of the first realized in action figure form for the Episode I line. Ki-Adi-Mundi is an impressive action figure. Interestingly, Hasbro became a little more adventurous with the Jedi in the Episode I line. These were the figures to receive added articulation instead of “in motion” poses. But coincidentally Ki-Adi-Mundi was one action figure that just received the basic articulation of six points. That’s fine, because the sculpt isn’t compromised in any way whatsoever by unnecessary cuts for articulation, and Ki-Adi-Mundi has some impressive paint operations on him that will surely impress collectors looking for excellently sculpted and decorated action figures, whether or not you know anything about them. Ki-Adi-Mundi fits this bill quite well. He is a gorgeous action figure with some unique features.

Ki-Adi-Mundi has the largest cranium of any Star Wars character we have seen to date. It reminds us of a refined version of the Coneheads characters from Saturday Night Live, but of course, there is no comedy element to this Jedi Knight, and it looks realistic instead of silly. But hopefully, you get the idea of the proportions of his head. His outfit is equally interesting. He dresses differently than the average Jedi, yet fits in seamlessly with the dozen Jedi that makes up the Jedi High Council. As one character who helps determine the fate of whether or not Anakin Skywalker would train to become a Jedi, he had a few speaking lines in the film and Star Wars fans quickly warmed up to him and wanted to know as much as possible about him. Although we didn’t see any Jedi except for Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi wield lightsabers in The Phantom Menace, Ki-Adi-Mundi comes with a lit purple lightsaber which is a color we haven’t seen in the Original Trilogy. Various Episode I related reference books and Expanded Universe sources do show this Jedi with a purple lightsaber, so it is “screen accurate” from a certain point of view.

But perhaps for the purposes of fitting better with The Phantom Menace, it might have been better just to give Ki-Adi-Mundi and the other Jedi in the toy line (in the Jedi High Council at least) just a lightsaber hilt instead of the full ignited blade. Then again, adding a fully lit lightsaber does add a whole lot more play value for kids buying these figures. Ki-Adi-Mundi has a sculpt that is pretty general. He has a slightly awkward center of gravity. Generally speaking, he has no issues standing up, but if he isn’t perfectly balanced facing certain directions, he can fall over a little too easily for our liking. It is imperative to note how impressive his paint operations are. Just look at his head sculpt to see how much detail went into how this figure was decorated. His light green eyes have been accentuated with violet eye shadowing, and then for some attitude, the bottoms of his eyes have been given a red streak. Then Hasbro gave his eyes black eyeliner to make his beautiful eyes pop. (And all of this detail is accomplished just in the face!) The rest of his outfit is equally painted as nicely. Ki-Adi-Mundi also comes with a CommTech chip, but then again so do all Episode I figures.