Momaw Nadon (Hammerhead) - Mini Busts

Momaw Nadon (Hammerhead) was a frequent patron of the Mos Eisley creature cantina. This gentle Ithorian was a surprisingly peaceful being sitting in a darkened booth that fateful day that Luke Skywalker wandered in.

Often, Gentle Giant Ltd.. takes liberties with the interpretations of Star Wars characters they bring forth in their Mini Busts line. Some are a little more blatant while many more are very subtle. Such is true for the Momaw Nadon (Hammerhead) Mini Bust which may just be one of their finest accomplishments in years. When Sideshow Collectibles released their Momaw Nadon (Hammerhead) 12 Inch Figure, quite a few collectors criticized them for including an Imperial blaster with the figure, especially since Ithorians are a peaceful species. Well, we have always defended Sideshow's decision and our reasons are twofold. First, it pays homage to the vintage Kenner action figure and second, just because you’re peaceful doesn’t mean you won’t need to protect yourself at some point, especially if you are prone to hanging out with a wretched hive of scum and villainy in the darkened bowels of the local cantina. So steering back to the Momaw Nadon Mini Bust, we think Gentle Giant Ltd.. is also justified sculpting Momaw Nadon with a blaster. They did however take it a step further (as he’s waving the blaster this time). Hey, maybe Momaw Nadon had a little too much to drink and forgot that the blaster should stay at his side! It is nonetheless a wonderful piece of art and it's hard to state this to a certainty because they've made so many excellent busts throughout the years, but it may be one of their greatest pieces to date.

As we have already mentioned, Momaw Nadon (Hammerhead) is a stunning sculpture. It seems that in general all licensees don’t have too much trouble with nailing his likeness (and for that matter developing the rest of his “Expanded Universe” body what we don’t see below the cantina table in the film with great ease). Even the earliest Hasbro action figures still hold up fairly well today (especially in comparison to other characters). It just seems that Momaw Nadon is a character that is "easy" to replicate. For one reason or another, Monaw Nadon's likeness is "photogenic" when it comes to collectibles. The Mini Bust interpretation of him is incredible. He may be one or two shades of brown too light, but the features including his eyes and two mouths and the shape of his unique head are just marvelously captured forever in the Mini Bust. His head is cocked in a slightly threatening manner and the Imperial blaster he has up at the ready should drive that warning home. Whatever artist sculpted this piece obviously wanted to show that Momaw Nadon had an aggressive side, yet brilliantly managed to not alienate the peaceful nature of the species for the collector. Think of that flag that says “Don’t Tread On Me”. The same warning is glaring from Momaw Nadon's posturing, yet you know there won't be any drama unless you start with him first.

Believe it or not, we think that Gentle Giant Ltd.. has more accurately captured the skin texture than what Sideshow Collectibles brought to their one-sixth scale figure. Where Sideshow opted for a smoother texture, Gentle Giant Ltd.. paid attention to every bumpy and wrinkled characteristic of his skin. This is totally evident when you look at reference materials of the actual prop of Momaw Nadon. You’ll see that Gentle Giant Ltd.. is the licensee that really mastered the actual skin texture of this Star Wars character. The rest of Momaw Nadon (Hammerhead) is done very well also. His arms are thin and long and the fingers are so detailed it’s actually quite mind-blowing. Gentle Giant was clearly very focused when developing this Mini Bust. Even the simple costume he is wearing looks fantastic. Oh, and how about the sheer size of this Mini Bust? Momaw Nadon is huge and towers over many other Mini Busts in the collection. The Momaw Nadon (Hammerhead) Mini Bust will easily be one of the best efforts of 2011 if not “the” best. And for Chalmun’s Cantina lovers, this is one Mini Bust not to be missed.