Jango Fett - TLC - Basic (BD 51)

The Mandalorian warrior conceals his part in the creation of a clone army until the arrival of Obi-Wan Kenobi on Kamino. Fett reveals nothing to the Jedi then finds the first opportunity to flee the planet before the truth is discovered.

There have been more than just a few incarnations of Jango Fett as an action figure since his debut as 2002's Power Of The Jedi Jango Fett Sneak Preview figure. That was a fine figure for the time, and now technology has taken this character’s design to a whole new and exciting level. As we move forward on the Star Wars collecting timeline, things like details and articulation are significantly improved upon while tooling takes a virile artistic approach. Some figures end up turning out better than other figures, but we have to concede that Jango Fett may have an edge on all the rest. As Hasbro tries to make the best sculpt of Jango Fett with each successive release however, they seem to take a step or two backwards. For example, when they improve articulation, they fail at the head sculpt. And when Hasbro nails the likeness of the head sculpt, then the figure sacrifices in other ways like having a much too bulky and oversized removable helmet for example. Most of these issues seem to have been allayed with release of the Jango Fett in 2008’s TAC The Fett Legacy Evolutions multipack. Since Jango Fett is a core (and very dramatic) character in the Star Wars universe, it is inevitable to see him included in the basic line minimally with an annual frequency. And as collectors we need to embrace and support this tactic by Hasbro because sales from parents of kids also pad the line and main characters need to be omnipresent. This is only done however is Hasbro picks the best possible candidates out of the popular pool. As mentioned, this repacked version of Jango Fett was first available in 2008's TAC The Fett Legacy Evolutions set and this was quickly re-released in 2008's TLC Evolutions assortment. But that wasn’t enough apparently. Now Jango Fett figure has been upgraded as a single carded figure in The Legacy Collection basic figure. Jango Fett is a slight (very slight) repaint of the figure from those Evolutions sets, but don't be alarmed, not too much is different and we can barely classify it as a slight repaint. Depending upon your point of view, you may just classify Jango Fett as a straight repack. It might save you some stress.

While not entirely perfect, Jango Fett is nonetheless really great and offers the collector many positive things to enjoy and then a few not so great things to abhor. For example, one of our favorite things about Jango is the how the backpack fits on him. It looks awesome on the figure and it gives it a perfect final touch. We would have loved to see the Mitronomon Z-6 jetpack also included. Conversely, we are not too impressed with his helmet. The rangefinder is not articulated and looks way too chunky and large on the helmet. And since you cannot bend it down, it is always in an erect position. It just doesn’t work on this figure, especially when you want a different attitude or pose from him. Jango's sculpt is great, but his "wow" factor quickly gets diminished by a few more flaws. The paint operations on his head look quite muddy and sophomorically applied outside of the lines by someone other than a seasoned painter. This is because his face has been painted in a flesh tone and not cast in a beige colored plastic. The “fake” flesh color used gives the impression that his face is porcelain or plastic and mannequin-like (non-authentic to say the least). And as cool as functioning holsters are, they unfortunately hang so far from the body because of poor construction. There is really no reason for this because we know Hasbro can create flawless construction on action figures. They make tiny accessories that fit like a glove, yet they can’t design holsters that lie flush against the figure? We are confused. Designs like this just look plain silly. Jango's holsters actually work against the figure's aesthetic by distracting the collector rather than impressing. Although the holsters are sculpted very nicely, they drape too far away from the body and this is truly unfortunate. Also, Hasbro had a golden opportunity to change the purple color of the jumpsuit part of his uniform to ore of an indigo blue color, but this was again overlooked. This is a true shame and we have yet to understand why bright purple is the first color choice for this character, especially since collectors have been complaining about the color since the figure was released. It’s definitely purple color, but not this purple.

If you are able to overlook these criticisms, then this figure is really quite impressive! But we feel that Jango Fett has many more positive aspects than negatives anyway. He is loaded with articulation and the silver paint used to color his armor looks sharp and clean and glistens when under the light. It is authentic to the costume in the film and Hasbro did a good job choosing the appropriate silver paint to be as authentic as possible. As you already know, Jango's helmet is removable and you can attach a communications antenna in its place to his head to recreate the scene in the film when he was the Slave I pilot. It looks great on him and it is well proportioned to his head. (It actually looks better on him than his Mandalorian helmet.) A no-brainer accessory to include with this figure, we are thankful Hasbro decided to include it with the basic figure as well. Jango Fett’s joints are nice and tight so they can maintain their poses as needed when you display him foe whatever purpose you need. Just like the 2008 TAC The Fett Legacy Evolutions figure, Jango Fett is a motley crew of hits and misses. But if we were to be completely honest with ourselves, we feel he shines more than he disappoints. We can absolutely recommend however that this is the best Jango Fett action figure to date. And he may just remain the definitive version for a while. If you're looking for a solid Jango Fett figure in his Mandalorian uniform (and based on his appearance from Geonosis and not Kamino), this is without a doubt the figure to obtain. But if soft-goods and a phenomenal likeness are your preferences, then we would definitely recommend that you go with the 2007 TAC Jango Fett (30 57) version! The soft-goods were a great touch on that figure and the paint job looked cleaner than this version. Oh, and it has the best Temura Morrison likeness we have ever seen on an action figure. We assume however that most of you are looking for the best Jango Fett in his bounty hunter duds, so then this is the figure for now. (And it is a great figure despite its shortcomings.) Expect to see this very sculpt tweaked, repainted and reworked for future versions because it’s a solid sculpt.