Kul Teska - TCW [SOTDS] - Exclusives

Kul Teska is a villainous Skakoan scientist working for the Separatists during the Clone Wars. Because his home planet of Skako has an extremely dense atmosphere, he wears a protective suit to survive in low-pressure environments on other worlds. His specially designed armored suit has integrated rocket launchers and concealed shoulder blasters.

Ah, Kul Teska. It's an action figure that is equally cool as it is burdensome. While we definitely love huge action figures (i.e. 2007's TAC Hermi Odle (30 29) and 2002's SW [S - P1] Ephant Mon (Head Of Jabba's Security) ('02 #45)), sometimes it is possible for an action figure to be too big. Then again, some may feel conversely about that. They can never be big enough. Our opinion isn't meant to be blasphemy of course, but when it comes to finding a card back that fits, this is definitely the truth. Kul Teska may look awesome (and much of him is indeed very cool), but we wonder how necessary it was to make him so huge. If you have played the Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes video game, then you probably know a lot more than we do about him. But in a nutshell, Kul Teska was a scientist in the Techno union who experienced an unfortunate accident with his pressure suit that left him permanently disfigured. (Um, sounds like every other major Star Wars villain doesn't it?) But as with any permanently wounded, evil and cranky Star War villain, Kul Teska chooses to wreak havoc on the Republic clone army and their Jedi generals leading them into battle in the Clone Wars. Clearly a great basis for a video game premise, we wonder if somehow this idea will be incorporated into one of the episodes of the television series. It may work well in that format too. But Kul Teska as a toy sets a precedent for The Clone Wars line (and the realistic main line) as the largest action figure ever. This is certainly quite a feat and record to hold, isn't it? Technically not a basic figure and more strictly an exclusive, Kul Teska brings uniqueness to The Clone Wars line and we bet that he will be popular with both kids and most collectors. But his size may overshadow what substance he actually brings to The Clone Wars line.

Kule Teska comes with a wealth of articulation, but ultimately the figure is clunky and the articulation is does have just isn't too utilitarian in nature. Despite having the potential to be super-movable, his large size really inhibits his full range of mobility and motion. Clearly size can become an issue to a figure's level of articulation. He is a very heavy figure and he is about 50%-75% taller than an average The Clone Wars action figure. You may find him a whole lot more inhibiting than awesome. We must also give credit where credit is due too. Kul Teska has a beautiful paint job. Most of his body is painted in a light bronze metallic finish. It has been carefully and expertly painted and shines and glimmers as necessary to recreate a metal finish. Obviously a member of the same "species" as 2003's SW [S - P3] Wat Tambor (Geonosis War Room) ('03 #23) figure, (he is a Skakoan which Wookieepedia confirms as well), his tragedy with his pressure suit made him a lot bigger for some reason. As far as accessories go, this figure really doesn't have too many, but the front of his arm quad-cannon comes off for reasons unknown. But again, you are reading a review from people who don't necessarily play the video games. But we can tell you that it's not entirely accurate or fair to compare the details from 2003's SW [S - P3] Wat Tambor (Geonosis War Room) ('03 #23) figure. Firstly, one is realistic style and one is animated style. Secondly, one is distorted from an accident. But despite this, there are major differences in the two figures. But it would be nice to get a correctly scaled Wat Tambor made in The Clone Wars [Shadow Of The Dark Side] line. We think that action figure would undoubtedly be more successful than Kul Teska. But we hope Kul Teska proves us wrong. We want neat exclusives like this to keep coming from Hasbro.

Retailing for $14.99, you certainly are paying a premium price for this exclusive. But then again, it may be properly priced because of his enhanced size. We are not entirely crazy about paying that price for one action figure, but at least the size of him alone warrants some inflated price tag (that may be a matter of opinion however). We're just not too sure if $14.99 is the right number though. If we are completely honest talking about this figure, we don't think it has enough bells and whistles to be an interesting enough product. In all honesty, we're more surprised why Hasbro felt the need to address a character from this video game. It just seems so arbitrary and random, and we all probably could have lived without him ever being made. Besides the removable quad-cannon, he has two shoulder guns that flip down. For something that is so large, we think collectors expect to be be wowed a little bit more than what this figure can do. The figure definitely is nicely sculpted and the paint job is relatively superb. (Take some time picking just the right sample for your collection. Many are painted nicely, but we did find a few with messy paint operations). And as a figure that takes first place as the largest 3.75" scale action figure, Kul Teska is keeping The Clone Wars [Shadow Of The Dark Side] line intriguing. But as collectors who favor the movies over The Clone Wars series, we would much rather see large creatures from Jabba's Palace or Chalmun's Cantina done first, even if they aren't as big and impressive as Kul Teska. Well, "impressive" is relative isn't it? Even still, Kul Teska may be your favorite figure of the year. That definitely isn't our sentiment, but be prepared as you'll need to make a little extra shelf space in your collection to make sure he fits in nicely. Because Kul Teska is one action figure that may be the largest for a very long time.