Obi-Wan Kenobi (Jedi Padawan) - Order Of The Jedi - 1:6 Scale Figures

Even as a young Jedi Padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi is the embodiment of Jedi ideals, both wise and strong. His patience and keen powers of observation have served him well as one of the Jedi Order's most masterful negotiators. These qualities are matched in measure by his swiftness and skill with a lightsaber, making him Master Yoda's first choice for many unconventional missions. Dependability and trustworthiness are traits the Jedi Council has come to associate with Obi-Wan for his loyalty to the Order and to the Republic.

Accompanied by his mentor, Jedi Knight Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan travels to the planet Naboo, assigned to negotiate with Trade Federation Viceroy Nute Gunray. Unfortunately, the Jedi must abandon their mission and flee Naboo when the Sith Lord Darth Sidious issues an order to have them killed.

After rescuing the leader of Naboo, Queen Amidala, their ship is badly damaged, forcing them to touch down on the desert planet of Tatooine. In the settlement of Mos Espa, Qui-Gon and Padme first encounter the slave child, Anakin Skywalker. Immediately, the Jedi knight senses a strong presence of the Force in young Anakin and believes that he might be the prophesied 'Chosen One' who will bring balance to the Force. In spite of Qui-Gon's confidence in Anakin's potential, the Jedi council refuses his request to train him as a Jedi.

Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon face off in a dramatic duel with the dreaded Sith, Darth Maul. Despite his experience and expertise, Qui-Gon is mortally wounded, and it is the Jedi apprentice Obi-Wan who ultimately defeats Darth Maul. As his dying wish, Qui-Gon leaves young Obi-Wan, soon to become a Jedi Knight, to ensure and oversee the training of their most promising student.

The bar has been raised once again. You might tire of us saying the latest 1:6 Scale Figure from Sideshow Collectibles is better than the next, but it’s true from so many vantage points. Let’s dig right into this. Obi-Wan Kenobi (Jedi Padawan) is the consummate Jedi figure. If you’ve been collecting Sideshow Collectibles since the beginning, this latest release is going to be bittersweet at best for you. It’s so good that it literally puts to shame so many of the earliest Order Of The Jedi figures they’ve released in the past. In fact, you’ll be wishing that Sideshow would go back and revisit each and every Jedi already released and get them up to this speed. They have finally mastered the Prometheus body type. The joints are tighter and are able to hold their positions. And they allow a full wide array of movement that is eerily similar to the actual human body. The Order Of The Jedi figures from the beginning used the Art S. Buck body type and that’s a frame that even Sideshow Collectibles has admitted falling out of love with, so it goes without saying that collectors feel even more vehemently about that. Thankfully Sideshow Collectibles is right on track with what they should be bringing to the one-sixth scale market. This level of quality rivals Hot Toys and that is saying a lot. And disagree if you like, but Obi-Wan Kenobi (Jedi Padawan) proves why $149.99 is worth every penny and why the figures that utilized the Art S. Buck body type hung around the $50 price range. Obi-Wan Kenobi (Jedi Padawan) is also that impressive that it may move you to switch formats. You’re not going to get this kind of articulation, likeness and detail from any 3.75” figure…. ever.

Just when you thought Sideshow couldn’t make a head sculpt any better, they rise to the challenge and blow Obi-Wan’s portrait out of the water. Obi-Wan Kenobi comes with a brilliant head sculpt (two brilliant head sculpts if you are a Sideshow Exclusive collector). The likenesses will fill you with awe. The portraits are cast in flesh colored plastic and then given an extraordinary paint job to bring them to life. Obi-Wan’s mouth and eyes are shiny, just like yours and ours are. There are creases and crevices in the skin from the expression in the faces. The hair is painted in multiple colors to give texture and tone. Not a detail was sacrificed here. Oh, and the best part? His Padawan braid is cast from a thin and delicate piece of plastic will incredibly durable flexibility. It has a natural drape and moves when you turn his head back and forth and even has enough give to rest on his shoulders in a natural fashion. So many collectible versions of Obi-Wan Kenobi, including some of the Hasbro figures, have an added soft-goods braid which doesn’t match the rest of the figure. That isn’t the case at all here. Obi-Wan Kenobi (Jedi Padawan) also has his signature shortened ponytail too. Oddly, it looks to be a different color than the rest of his head. Did Sideshow accidentally forget about painting this portion of the head? It isn’t drastic, but it’s noticeable. Overall, we don’t think we have seen a better interpretation of an Episode I version of Obi-Wan Kenobi in any format. As you can see, there is already a ton of stuff to rave about in just the head sculpts alone. But the figure gets better and better. Let’s move on to the body.

Sideshow has also taken the costuming to an elevated level as well. We don’t recall pants and shirts fitting so closely to the body. Obi-Wan Kenobi (Jedi Padawan) has a fitted look that just hasn’t been successfully achieved on so many 1:6 Scale Figures in the past. Hopefully Sideshow Collectibles is trekking into new territory with regards to clothing now. The colors of the outfit look dead to rights and the many uses of fabric texture give it characteristics which make it inordinately exact to the film. We’re thoroughly impressed with Obi-Wan’s outer dark brown robe. It is cut from a luxurious soft-goods material and is hemmed along the complete perimeter of it. It has a phenomenal drape. It’s cut from a heavier material, so the weightiness pulls it to the ground surface more than the lighter cotton fabrics used on earlier releases. They have only added a wire to the hood. Some collectors love this feature, but we’re not crazy about it. However, it is very useful when posing him with the hood over his head and we feel it works quite well here. For the first time ever, Obi-Wan Kenobi comes with a light-up lightsaber feature. This is going to make you a very happy collector. Sideshow has included an alternate forearm attachment and a “hand holding lightsaber” hand attachment. The forearm houses three batteries and the hand has an electronic plug to power the blade. When you pull the bottom of the lightsaber hilt out, the blade brightly ignites. There isn’t any bulkiness to this feature and it looks completely in scale and amazing. You’ll also receive a non-electronic fully lit lightsaber and then a lightsaber hilt that attaches to his belt. Extra accessories also include extra hand and feet attachments and a display stand. This is the greatest Jedi one-sixth scale figure from Sideshow to date. We can’t wait to see what’s next!