Bantha And Tusken Raider - POTF2 [FF/TKC] - Creatures

HEIGHT: Over 4 Meters
HOMEWORLD: Tatooine
CHARACTERISTICS: Large, unintelligent pack beast. Though usually peaceful, it can be dangerous when frightened.

An immense, shaggy beast, the BANTHA lumbers across the barren Tatooine landscape. Suddenly, the peaceful image is destroyed as its master, a vicious TUSKEN RAIDER, erupts in a violent ambush on farmboy Luke Skywalker. Known throughout the galaxy, BANTHAS are magnificient creatures that stand over four meters tall. The peace-loving herbivores are able to survive for weeks without food or water, making them the perfect pack animal for Tatooine's infamous Sand People. They also serve as beasts of burden for the planet's moisture farmers and are raised in some parts of the galaxy for food and clothing.

Kenner decided that The Power Of The Force “2” line needed a refreshing of sorts in 1998. So they cleverly came up with a pack-in premium that would be of great interest to collectors and give the Star Wars line a boost. They developed the Freeze Frame Action Slide as the pack-in premium. And the joyous elation from collectors assured Kenner that this was the right direction to take. Not only would we be getting all-new action figures, but accompanying them would be “film” cells of the Original Trilogy to serve as the reference data of the included figure. It was collectible. It was cool. And it probably couldn’t be outdone. What’s more, they also packed some of their older figures into this format which required collectors to repurchase previously released figures just to ensure they could collect all of the Action Slides. Although the POTF2 was altered to promote the new pack-in feature, Kenner also added a logo entitled “The Kenner Collection” to every product designed for 1998 including basic figures, vehicles and other related products. To top it all off, Kenner also determined that unique products should also be released to support the basic figure line. So they developed a Creatures sub-line which gave us modern updates to those made in the vintage Kenner era, as well as those that were never offered before now. One such release is the Bantha And Tusken Raider set. A truly remarkable release, it gave collectors a beast they wanted since 1978. Hey, two decades late is better than never!

We’re proud of Kenner for their take on the Bantha And Tusken Raider set. The Bantha itself is truly remarkable. It has a distinctly wonderful silhouette of the actual beast seen in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope and mimics the shape and stature of the elephant that played it in the film. On top of a proportionately accurate sculpt, Kenner rewarded collectors with the inclusion of beautiful and screen accurate soft-goods hair. The packaging even boasts this wonderful detail. You just know Kenner had to have been proud with the final results as well. The fur is soft and has a wonderful coat. The fibers all stay is an orderly fashion as if this beast has been well groomed and/or taken care of very well. Multiple color fibers have been woven together here to give the Bantha a truly authentic appearance. On top of this, the coloring, texture and drape of the soft-goods fibers make the Bantha look like a real living beast. It is impressive to say the least. The head sculpt is particularly satisfying. Kenner molded the face and horns beautifully. And the Bantha has very warm and full eyes that are very calming in our perception. It’s hard to believe these gentle giants are utilized by the most savage people on Tataooine: the Tusken Raiders. The Bantha comes with a saddle that is removable. It too is beautifully sculpted and painted and fits the Bantha very nicely. It is secured with a plastic snap underneath of the figure. All four legs articulate as well as the tip of the tail.

If the Bantha wasn’t enough, collectors are treated with a wonderful new take on the Tusken Raider. The figure has an impressive ten points of articulation. Thigh and knee articulation bring four additional points of articulation to this character so that it can interact with the Bantha naturally since it needs to ride the beast sort of like how humans ride horses down here on Earth. Even better, when the Tusken Raider isn’t riding the Bantha, he can stand unassisted in a natural position. In other words, the articulation added to make the Tusken Raider sit naturally on the Bantha hasn’t affected how this figure looks without the Bantha. And, the Tusken Raider comes with a gaderffi stick which fits well in his left hand. You can make him wield it as you choose. For us, the best part of the Tusken Raider is the inclusion of a soft-goods skirt. This has been done to allow the figure to sit atop the Bantha obviously, but it brings a new dimension of realism to the figure that plastic molded cloaks just don’t bring. The Tusken Raider can theoretically be considered an all-new figure, but it borrows the right arm of 1996’s POTF2 [R] Tusken Raider figure. Together, beast and rider look fantastic together. If we had any complaints we would have preferred a little more articulation with the Bantha. But it’s hardly a complaint. The Bantha And Tusken Raider set has an MSRP set at $29.99. This may be a little too high for some collectors, but we think it is priced correctly.Keep in mind that this is an all-new sculpt for both the Bantha as well as the Tusken Raider. For that alone this is modestly priced.