Tarados Gon - TLC - Basic (BD 49)

Tarados is one of the two hundred Jedi who arrive on Geonosis to stop the execution of Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Padmé. The Klatooinian Jedi storms into the arena with his lightsaber ablaze to fight the Geonosian warriors and battle droid army.

Every now and again, Hasbro sneaks in a background Jedi Knight from the Battle of Geonosis as seen in Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones into our ever-expanding collections. Tarados Gon is one of these great Jedi action figures that got noticed by Hasbro. It is such a shame that he was only a background Jedi, because he is really neat. With the releases of the prequel films, we learned that many of the species that we originally thought to be "bad" guys can actually be "good". This further expands the Star Wars universe to new and exciting levels. Tarados Gon falls under the same species as Barada and Kithaba, but this time he serves the galaxy as a protector of peace instead of working for some evil crime lord hell bent on causing trouble. And it additionally opens the door for a very rich Expanded Universe background story! (Why did Tarados follow the straight and narrow while others in his clan didn't for example?) Gon was one of the 200 Jedi dispatched to assist with the rescue of Skywalker, Kenobi, and Amidala and although he survived the battle, he died alongside Eeth Koth when the gunship he was on was blown out of the sky as the Clone Wars quickly began its start. Interestingly, Sora Bulq was on the same vehicle, but he survived – and apparently wreaked havoc on the universe as a doer of evil in the subsequent Expanded Universe storylines.

Tarados Gon is a really excellently constructed Jedi action figure, especially since some of him has been recycled from good parts of other action figures. We have come to expect Hasbro to reuse other figure parts when introducing new Jedi characters since so many of the costumes are very similar. Gon is basically a retool of 2006's TSC Sora Bulq (SAGA 015) (the coincidence is uncanny) and has a new head, hands, legs, and a soft-goods skirt. He can be posed much more freely than Sora Bulq because unlike Bulq, Gon is super-articulated. While not a prerequisite, it is truly great to get Jedi with super-articulation or even more points (especially those that fought in the Battle of Geonosis). As stated earlier, Gon is the same species as Barada, but he has a much lighter skin tone and much better and clearer detail. The paint job on his head and hands is unbelievable and gives the illusion of very life-like skin. Hasbro did a superb job to make this figure look great, especially since he is essentially a fancy retool and not much more. His teeth are visible and he has the right amount of 'grit' on his face, as if he is ready to dismantle a battle droid (or super battle droid). The soft-goods skirt is a nice touch and very welcome. Unfortunately, Hasbro has been using cheap material as of late to make many of their soft-goods which results in them shining to much in light. (For those of you who are interested to know this, the shinier the soft-goods, the cheaper the material used.) His skirt is definitely shiny, but we feel it is better to have soft-goods than a plastic molded skirt that would undoubtedly inhibit articulation and movement.

Although Attack Of The Clones appears to be (for the most part) the least favorite film among fans (just from what we hear, not from any polls or other empirical proof), Hasbro is really drawing fans to a new appreciation of the film because their action figure choices are beyond excellent and really something to cause a rumpus. We are clamoring about this figure's execution for good cause and we are confident you will too. Tarados Gon looks exceptional next to your other Episode II Jedi Knights and he will no doubt add more completion to your Geonosis dioramas. And with the announcement of the Geonosis Arena Showdown TARGET exclusives, we will be building that Jedi army very quickly! (Editor’s Note: The Geonosis Arena Showdown sets have been released to thunderous applause and you must check these reviews out too!) If you are growing weary of Hasbro's use of retooling older figures to make new ones, don't worry about Tarados Gon, he looks like a completely new figure and he's been painted in a totally different color scheme than what you have seen before. He is a necessary action figure and one that will round out your diverse coven of Jedi Knights. Excellently sculpted and beautifully painted, Tarados Gon is an action figure that will remain a strong action figure in your collection and leave an indelible mark on the line as some of the best work Hasbro has done for collectors. This figure gets two thumbs up from us. We are sure he will make a worthy addition to your collection, because he already has in ours.