Eopie And Qui-Gon Jinn - EI - Creatures

Riding atop an eopie, Qui-Gon Jinn hauls a T-14 hyperdrive generator to the outskirts of Mos Espa where the Queen's disabled Naboo Royal Starship waits to be repaired.

There have been distribution woes in the Hasbro Star Wars line pretty much since the beginning of time, but one of the saddest victims of this unfortunate trend is the Eopie And Qui-Gon Jinn Creature Sets from the Episode I line. Episode I products started to decline in sales by the end of 1999, and by 2000 the line came to a screeching halt. Many new products sat in warehouses for months before they got released, and then some sadly didn’t make it out at all. Much to the chagrin of avid Episode I American collectors, the Eopie And Qui-Gon Jinn never made it to the United States, save for aftermarket sources. The various beasts Hasbro produced for the Episode I line was hit or miss, but they should have done a little more due diligence with the Eopie And Qui-Gon Jinn set because they were featured prominently in the film. Any animal that farts onscreen is a must-have purchase for Star Wars collectors. But because distribution became bottlenecked and retail was losing their attention on the Episode I shelf space, the EopieareAnd Qui-Gon Jinn was canceled, and only made it out to international markets. The set is nice, and we get a decent “sitting” version of Qui-Gon Jinn with a beautiful soft-good poncho. Let’s take a closer look.

Hasbro gave the Eopie a decent paint job. They’re lighter creatures in Episode I, but perhaps they’re not as “fleshy” as this toy claims. Hasbro articulated the Eopie creature simply. It comes with a swivel head, and four swivel legs (which all articulate at the hips). The level of authenticity of this creature is above average, but we’re not sure if we’d claim it is perfect. The creature has a beautiful speckled pattern running along its underbody, and the hooves and joints are decorated with some gray paint to show some dirt collection here and there. The saddle is also beautifully sculpted. It’s colorful, in orange and maroon, and the reins, although a little stiff, are pliable enough for Qui-Gon Jinn to hold without concern or worry. Hasbro designed Qui-Gon Jinn to sit atop the Eopie perfectly. They design the curvature of the saddle to interact with the way Qui-Gonn’s legs angle when lifted for a seated position. It’s quite remarkable how wonderfully they nailed the sculpting of both parts so that they interact well with each other. Whether riding the Eopie and standing next to it, this is a perfect pairing of beats and rider. The scale is great. The sculpting is fantastic. And the paint operations are above par. Collectors should be happy with the final product.

The pack-in Qui-Gon Jinn figure is excellent as we’ve already mentioned. He’s an all-new sculpt and Hasbro added a surprising action feature to keep this set a little more interesting for kids and collectors. Qui-Gon Jinn comes with seven points of articulation including a swivel head, two swivel shoulders, a swivel waist with an action feature button, and two swivel hips. When you press the button on the back of the figure’s belt, it creates a swift “swinging” action for the figure. This feature looks great while Qui-Gon Jinn is holding his lightsaber. We’re not crazy about action features on figures, but this is diminutive and hidden and adds a little extra play value. The soft-goods poncho is our favorite part of Qui-Gon Jinn, and the cut and drape of it are ideal for Qui-Gon Jinn. It’s a little difficult to add it and remove it on the figure, but if you’re patient, it’s not that difficult to switch things up. You may not be a huge fan of Episode I or the creatures that starred in it, but Qui-Gon is a staple Star Wars character, and this version is all-new and may be the best-looking of them all. As you might imagine, due to its relative scarcity, the Eopie And Qui-Gon Jinn set goes for a pretty penny on the aftermarket. It will likely be out of your price range.