Kit Fisto/Geonosian Warrior - LC - Geonosis Arena Showdown (2 of 6)

The Jedi Knights rush to Geonosis to rescue Obi-Wan, Anakin and Padmé from execution. The Jedi brandish their lightsabers against the Geonosian warriors and the massive army of battle droids, super battle droids and droidekas. All hope seems lost that any Jedi will survive this battle, then Yoda arrives with an army of clone troopers. Although many Jedi are lost that day, others survive this climactic battle that ushers in the Clone Wars.

We will do our best to be wholly objective in this review, but when it comes to Kit Fisto, we doubt we can guarantee any impartiality. We have loved every action figure version of him since he first appeared in 2002's Star Wars "Saga" line. And this revisit of him for the TARGET exclusive Geonosis Arena Showdown is another step in the right direction to perfect him. Kit Fisto is a significant retool of 2005's ROTS Kit Fisto (III 22) figure but this time around he comes with a new Episode II inspired portrait, new hands (including the Force-push right hand that knocked the C-3PO headed battle droid to the ground) and new lower legs that for the first time include ball-jointed articulation in the ankles. As you may have already guessed, this makes him super-articulated. And Kit Fisto is very long overdue to receive super-articulation like this. Most impressive however is his new head. Aside from his skin color being a little bit too pale green, the head has an incredible likeness to the face we saw in Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones. We are all well aware that his looks changed drastically in Epsiode III but Hasbro faithfully replicated the original way we saw Kit Fisto in the Battle Of Geonosis. Even more magnificently sculpted than his face are his head tresses. They are beautifully designed and drape stunningly down from the top of his head. His Jedi uniform has been re-colored to match the threads from Episode II even though the chest and arms are a straight reuse of parts from the 2005 ROTS Kit Fisto (III 22) figure. Kit Fisto has a perfect center of gravity and will not fall over unless pushed. Hasbro did a superb job to ensure this figure has excellent balance and an excellent appearance. He passes every discriminating test we can think of and absolutely does not disappoint. He is simply a brilliantly retooled action figure. We can't praise him enough.

Geonosian Warrior is another retooled figure, but to a much lesser degree than Kit Fisto. Based on 2006's TSC Sun Fac (SAGA 016), he now has added articulation to the knees. This allows for a great deal of more movement than previously available and we are thrilled Hasbro went the extra mile to upgrade the tooling. In all honesty, it really didn't need the treatment, but it IS nice to have. The most impressive part of the Geonosian Warrior is the paint job. While we seem to be living in a colleting age of cut backs and cost saving measures, Hasbro went out of the way to decorate it exquisitely and have knocked it out of the park. They have utilized multiple colors to bring out detail, texture and different tones inherent in this species. The Geonosian Warrior's jaw-dropping paint ops are so surprising, we never expected Hasbro to apply such effort to a background character. So many other characters are in need of this type of detail. But we suppose it is better to get it on this action figure than not at all. And it is pretty cool to get a Geonosian so well created. This is indeed the definitive Geonosian Warrior. Simply put, he is excellent. It would have made a bit more sense if he was packaged with a less popular Jedi, but nonetheless, the set works very well as is. The Geonosian Warrior also comes with his signature sonic cannon and is fits in his hands very, very well. Although he is super-articulated, his legs have been slightly misshaped in the packaging. It will take some extra time for you to get him in a pose that is satisfactory and without looking hunched over. This again is not a deal breaker and we are confident that time will slowly heal on the figure what the packaging did to temporarily damage it. You'll have to let gravity take it course to correct what has been put out of alignment.

This second set's packaging also works in tandem with the others in the series to create an arc of the arena. While we applaud Hasbro's efforts to include packaging as an interactive backdrop to the action figures, we are not so sure how necessary it is. If the omission of it can knock a dollar or two off of the retail price, we are sure most of us would side with that preference. The value of each set clearly varies to the eye of the beholder but we have to say that this Kit Fisto/Geonosian set it one of the better two packs. But each of us has character favorites and you may or may not be a big fan of Kit Fisto. We would tend to think you were crazy if you didn't just adore him, but there is another figure in the set that may strike your fancy. If you're not too excited about another Geonosian, let us try to persuade you again that Kit Fisto himself if nearly worth the $12.99 price tag. It is so exciting (for us at least) to receive a modern Kit Fisto upgrade of this fantastic quality and it fits right in with the recent Attack Of The Clones wave of figures we got in the early summer of 2009. We have been concerned for awhile that the Episode III version of Kit Fisto would hog all the limelight, so its nice to see a nod to his first appearance in the films. No matter what your preference, you can't deny just how great this two-pack is! All six sets offer great value for your dollar. Each figure averages $6.50 before tax which is $1.00 or more less than the average retail cost of a basic figure. While the set is sans a droid part, it's not needed, especially if it's going to add $5 to the price. We suggest checking out the Geonosis Arena Showdown multipacks from TARGET. Not only are they excellently created sets, but they are knocking out a plethora of new and revisited old Jedi and all of us seem to have a soft spot for them. And Hasbro is doing a fine job doing so!