Dr. Evazan (Cantina Patron) - TVC - Basic (VC57)

He’s a wanted man who has the death sentence on twelve systems, but you’ll be more than happy to harbor him as a fugitive in your own Star Wars collection because Dr. Evazan (Cantina Patron) is an action figure that will make you grin from ear to ear, if not shed a held back tear or two. You’ll have to take our word on that. There are some core Star Wars characters that need to be released as part of The Vintage Collection. These characters comprise main characters or standout background characters that never received billing in the vintage Kenner line. Grand Moff Tarkin, Uncle Owen, Aunt Beru, and Dr. Evazan make up this wanted list. And Hasbro is abiding by our wishes. A definitive update to Dr. Cornelius Evazan was a long time coming in the Star Wars basic figure line. And actually, this is the very first time Dr. Evazan appears in any Star Wars line as a basic figure. Sure, he’s shown up in Cinema Scenes, Screen Scenes and other exclusive sets between 1997 and 2002, but all of those versions were from The Power Of The Force school of technology or version that were insignificant updates of that figure. Not one of those versions came close to giving us a remotely accurate version of Dr. Evazan, but we wouldn’t have altered the events of time because 2012 is the perfect time for an update. Technology has caught up with art and we’re getting the best action figures of all time now. Dr. Evazan is a perfect example of how wonderful it is to be an action figure in this era and as collectors we couldn’t be happier to be Star Wars collectors.

The wait for Dr. Evazan (Cantina Patron) indeed was grueling and it was magnified by the fact that Hasbro delayed him in the 2011 The Vintage Collection lineup. This wave was supposed to follow wave 7 of The Vintage Collection, but announcements of the Revenge Of The Jedi wave started popping up without any mention of this highly desired wave. Only God knows what happened exactly. We have heard one excuse after another. Excuses ranging from the figure were hold back do to distribution needing extra time to catch up (yeah, whatever) to production delays (yeah whatever), it probably doesn’t matter why they were delayed as torturous as it was. It’s only important that they finally made it out to the public. The wave that Dr. Evazan is part of still utilizes the same card back art of the 2010/2011 The Vintage Collection line look. A nice big picture of a figure’s historical reference appears and if the figure was never released as a basic figure before then a still from the film has been put in the same space. We actually prefer this style of card back art because when The Vintage Collection changed its look a little bit beginning in 2012, all of the card backs are looking too identical to each other and it’s nearly impossible to tell them apart without looking for the figure’s VC number. We digress. It is utterly amazing to see Dr. Evazan (Cantina Patron) on a "vintage-styled card back for the very first time. It’s so beautiful that you may want to have a box of tissues with you when you take in all the glory of it.

We’ve talked about the character in A New Hope, the figure’s history in the modern Star Wars line and its packaging. So what about the darn figure? Well, you probably already know who we feel about that. Dr. Evazan (Cantina Patron) is absolutely everything we could have wished it would be. Gorgeous sculpting, brilliant design and a perfect paint job are wholly responsible for knocking this figure out of the park. We were instantly drawn to Dr. Evazan’s hands. To refer to these puppies as “man hands” couldn’t be more perfect. Dr. Evazan has very large extremities and while you may be inclined to believe they’re a hair too big, you’d be wrong. They are responsible for totally bringing out the cranky personality of this figure and his antagonistic tendencies. Hasbro’s sculptors also did an incredible job on his portrait. And you may be interested to know that he has a variation already. Both versions appear side by side in our photo gallery. One version has red paint for his scar and the other does not. Dr. Evazan comes complete with the blaster he wielded in front of Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi and that’s the only accessory he comes with in the package. The addition is short but very sweet. Dr. Evazan (Cantina Patron) is an absolute must-have action figure. Hasbro waited for the perfect time to release him in the collector favorite The Vintage Collection. We personally couldn’t be thrilled over this core Star Wars character appearing for the first time in vintage packaging. Besides, who will keep your Ponda Baba (Walrus Man) (VC70) figure company? Couldn’t all figure just come this way?