Obi-Wan Kenobi - TBS [P3] - Six Inch Figures (Exclusive)

Obi-Wan Kenobi was once a noble Jedi Knight in the days of the Old Republic before the Jedi Order was extinguished and before the tyrannical Empire ruled the galaxy. After the fall of the Jedi, Obi-Wan retreated to the isolated Jundland Wastes on the desert planet of Tatooine. Many locals dismissed the old hermit as a crazy wizard and never suspected that he was a once-great warrior and former general of the Republic. In actuality, Kenobi was silently observing from afar the young farmboy Luke Skywalker, whose future was unknowingly linked to the survival of the Jedi and the Rebellion. When Obi-Wan saves Luke from a band of Tusken Raiders, he begins to mentor young Skywalker in the ways of the Force, and they set out to rescue the Rebel leader Princess Leia from the Empire's dreaded Death Star.

By the time we reached the third phase of The Black Series 6” line, collectors began to wonder if Hasbro was ever going to get out the classic characters from the first Star Wars film. As we approach the 40th anniversary of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, Hasbro is showing stepwise good faith to the collecting community as they’re getting out these main characters slowly but surely, one by one. One of the most highly anticipated characters of all from Episode IV is Obi-Wan Kenobi. We broke the news that this figure was coming into the basic The Black Series 6” line, but Hasbro surprised us all when they announced that a special version of him was going to be issued as a 2016 San Diego Comic Con exclusive with special accessories that you can only find in this exclusive release. Obviously both bits of information pleased us all. Obi-Wan Kenobi has turned out about as well as we had expected (which is a good thing by the way). In all honesty, Hasbro has had very little trouble throughout the years getting the likeness of Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi right. Now for the first time in 6” scale, much of that holds true. The only concern we have is how the facial paint operations were applied. Thankfully, in the case of Obi-Wan Kenobi, while not perfect, the paint operations are passable. Maybe we shouldn’t accept a “passable” level of quality, but after one horrific paint job after another, we have to concede that we’ll accept any positive effort made at this point. Obi-Wan Kenobi is a positive step forward for the line. Aside from a few sloppily applied paint operations in the eyes, Obi-Wan Kenobi is pretty much a solid to excellent effort and we’re happy to say that we’re confident he’ll meet your expectations and perhaps more than that.

This is probably nitpicking, but we feel it’s relevant to mention. Do you recall how 2004’s VOTC Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi had a head sculpt that looked like it was caught in a vice grip too long? While not nearly as exaggerated, we feel that this Obi-Wan Kenobi figure has an ever-so-slightly too narrow head shape that looks the teeniest bit off. Now, please know that we don’t think it looks terrible, but we can’t help but notice that we do see semblance of that elongation that was prevalent on the VOTC release. Some may disagree with our assessment here, but it’s something we see each time we ogle the figure. That being said, the head sculpt is still rather excellent and looks like Sir Alec Guiness. We’re really not teeter-tottering here. We’re genuinely are impressed with Obi-Wan Kenobi’s portrait. We just feel compelled to point out the things we notice is all. Thankfully, the rest of Obi-Wan Kenobi is a pure joy. Hasbro nailed the details of his costume, worked in a flawless soft-goods cloak that clings closely to the figure’s silhouette yet possesses a beautiful drape and accurately styled hood. Despite the outfit being mostly robes and heavy clothing, Hasbro worked in an incredible amount of articulation that is functional and useful. Obi-Wan Kenobi can swing a lightsaber with the best of them, as well as strike an action pose that is believable and awesome. As with most robed figures, Hasbro added slits all the way on the sides of the legs to allow for a full range of movement. What’s the point of having ball-socket hips, double hinge-jointed knees and rocker ankles if they’re all inhibited by a molded skirt. Thankfully Hasbro has thought this through very carefully and allowed all of these points of articulation to fully work.

In addition to the soft-goods outer robe, Obi-Wan Kenobi comes with his own lightsaber as well as Anakin Skywalker’s lightsaber. These break down into hilt and blade for both. Exclusive to this release is the table that was featured in Obi-Wan Kenobi’s hut. It breaks down into three parts and has electronic sound and lights. Quotes from Princess Leia Organa directly from the film has been recorded on the audio feature, and then a powerful LED flickering light has been added to give the holographic Princess Leia Organa figure a truly authentic hologram feature. The table is nicely designed, but feels light. We’re concerned that this could be easily broken if dropped or mistreated accidentally. It is in perfect scale to Obi-Wan Kenobi and looks fantastic sitting next to him. The lights are bright and the volume is loud. See how the electronics work in this Facebook video by Stephen Hayford. Another sticking point for us is the MSRP. The SDCC exclusive Obi-Wan Kenobi retails for $44.99 which is about $15-$20 too much for this piece. Hasbro has gotten embarrassingly cheap with how many accessories they now include with The Black Series 6” figures. And if they don’t think it’s taking a toll on the psyche of the collector than they better rethink what they’re doing. The Black Series 6” line is a premium collectors’ action figure line. We have to keep the figures in it feeling like premium. One accessory just isn’t going to cut it. We’re not saying every figure needs to have a table with electronics, but Hasbro can certainly be a whole lot more generous with what they include. Aside from our complaints, Obi-Wan Kenobi exceeded our expectations.