Nikto - ROTJ - Basic

What’s up with Jabba’s skiff guards and baby blue clothing? Of course, it’s just a coincidence, but Nikto shares a similar color scheme to 1983’s RETURN OF THE JEDI Weequay figure, complete with all the same charm. Nikto was the first Star Wars action figure to come with a vibrostaff. The same accessory would be repacked with Barada and the elusive Yak Face figure a year later. Nikto is plainly named, but well detailed. At the time of his release, we didn’t have THE POWER OF THE FORCE Tatooine Skiff, but we knew it was coming thanks to its announcement in Kenner’s 1984 catalog. The figure looks very much like the onscreen character, but Nikto is a character that wasn’t easily seen during the Battle of Carkoon. In fact, the card back reference image used was from a “behind the scenes” photo shoot of the actor walking around the Sarlacc Pit set. Although we received many various aliens in the RETURN OF THE JEDI line, we didn’t get too many skiff guards. So, Nikto is one of the few and proud that meet this criterion. He wasn’t one of my favorites, but Nikto was a necessary purchase for me. I think there were other skiff guards with more prominence that Kenner could have produced instead, but I am still glad they made him. As proof that packaging matters, Nikto on a 1985 THE POWER OF THE FORCE card back (with the incorrect Warok coin no less) is one of the rarest vintage Kenner figures money can buy. But on his original RETURN OF THE JEDI card, he’s a dime dozen (and one of the cheapest vintage Kenner action figures).

Hasbro's Most Definitive Modern Counterpart: 2012's THE VINTAGE COLLECTION Nikto (Skiff Guard) (VC99) figure.