Naboo Royal Guard - EI - Basic

Their freedom threatened by the invading Trade Federation army, the Naboo Royal Security were forced to go underground before readying their defense. With help from the Jedi, they emerged to take back their beloved capital city of Theed.

It made complete sense that if you had a Queen in a basic action figure line, you’d also have her protectors. Hasbro made sure that we got at least three of these said protectors in the Episode I basic figure line before it ended. Captain Panaka was her leading man, but the Naboo Royal Security and Naboo Royal Guard also fleshed out the ranks of the Naboo Security Forces, and were particularly important during the Battle of Naboo. The Naboo Royal Guard, perhaps the finest of all three security types in the Episode I came towards the bitter end of the line. Due to distribution issues, he was nearly impossible to locate. Packed alongside Darth Sidious as the only two new figures of a newer Collection 2 assortment, Naboo Security Guard became one of the many final Episode I figures collectors were starting to pay a premium for sadly on the aftermarket. Naboo Royal Guard eventually became easier to find as backlogged product finally began to trickle out, but thankfully the figure itself has turned out beyond expectations. Yes, he has been sculpted in an action pose, but this one succeeds, and many collectors decided to army build him despite his very specific facial-haired likeness.

Naboo Royal Guard has been graced with enhanced or updated articulation, but like we alluded to above, we think this is a figure that you can easily overlook as not being given premium articulation. The detail is magnificent. From the puckering of his rubber-like shirt to the intrinsic detail in his facial features, Naboo Royal Guard absolutely stands out as of the finest figures in the Episode I line. Admittedly, the figure does look a little silly without his accessories. This is where swivel forearms, wrists or elbows would have updated the sculpt for the better. But once you add the gun to the figure’s hand and put on his helmet, you will undoubtedly be incredibly impressed with how believable the figure looks. His right hand holds the handle of the gun while his right hand cups it. (There is even a beveled “square” in the cupped hand to make room for the gun for closer fit of the two hands.) You only have a small range of movement to raise and lower the gun before the hands begin to separate, but it works for the most part. While we always prefer the static poses of Star Wars action figures, we’re fairly confident that we would have wanted Naboo Royal Guard no other way but this, save for super-articulation.

We also have to spend a few moments raving about the design of the helmet too. Firstly, it’s as snug as a bug on the figure’s head. It fits like a glove and won’t come off without you allowing it. The Naboo Royal Guard helmet’s have an ornate pearly finish to them. Hasbro replicated this effect very well. While we don’t see the full iridescent effect of the nacreous helmet as portrayed in the film, we believe what Hasbro did here works well beyond our expectations. If we had one complaint, and it’s a small one, we would have preferred a Naboo Royal Guard without facial hair. Otherwise, you’re really limited the character pool of what specific Naboo Royal Guard this could be. No facial hair opens up that option a whole bunch more. Helmet on or off, the Naboo Royal Guard looks fantastic either way, but we love the option to have removable helmet, if they’re done right, with our action figures. It reminds us of the good old Kenner days. Naboo Royal Guard also comes with a CommTech chip, but by 2000 these were nearly obsolete (meaning no one cared any longer). The lines were silly and not all of the characters interacted with each other. Use it as a stand like most of the free world.