Gungan Warrior - TVC - Basic (VC74)

The Gungan Warrior isn’t a Gungan Warrior at all. The figure released first in the Discover The Force line at Walmart and now as a beautiful The Vintage Collection release is anything but a Gungan Warrior. He is a Gungan scout and we really wish Hasbro had caught this in time before producing card back artwork that would forever immortalize him as a Gungan Warrior. This action figure is based on a very specific character in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace he is atop a relic of a statue scanning the Naboo fields for approaching Separatists. It is this Gungan that communicates this information to young Anakin Skywalker who in turn runs to tell Boss Nass and his Jedi teachers of the imminent danger. The Gungan Warrior, as Hasbro calls it is an well-designed action figure. It really isn’t perfect, but it’s still done mighty well and it now finally gets released in the collection it was originally attended for: The Vintage Collection. This super-articulated action figure is based on an actual Gungan Warrior, 2009’s LC Gungan Warrior (BD07). But technically speaking, this release is a straight repack of 2012’s SW [TPM 3D] Gungan Warrior (5 of 12) Discover The Force figure. Nothing new at all has been changed on the figure for this release except for the packaging, but we can’t help but comment how much better the packaging makes the figure look.

Just like all recently released Gungan action figures, save for Jar Jar Binks, Hasbro feels it necessary to overlook and omit the unique skin pattern that adorns these creatures’ skin. It’s such a necessary inclusion of detail, yet it gets cut almost every single time and we find it a bit distressing. Whether it’s just an honest oversight or even just laziness towards correcting the issue, we hope that they will find a way to get this detail as part of the figure’s final paint operations. We do feel strongly however that it seems more like it will never return sadly. Don’t you find it particularly odd that older figures from a decade ago have been able to secure this detail, but now state-of-the-art action figures do not? Still, it’s hard not to have a lot of affection for this action figure. Besides its lack of detail in its paint job, the Gungan Warrior impresses pretty much on every other level. It’s super-articulated and it has a wide stance in its legs which give it a nice array of motion. And its accessories include a farseein and a cesta (that comes in two pieces). The farseein does interact with the figure pretty well, but Hasbro could probably have done a little more to assure a tighter (and not so loose) fit. The Gungan Warrior is as solid of an action figure as ever but maybe it’s better this time around since it surrounded by the glorious silver and black line look this time around.

The final wave of The Vintage Collection has definitely closed up the line with a big bang. Sure, the figures based on The Phantom Menace were planned way before the other eight figures, but they all work together marvelously and cap off the line with a mix of films, yet a focus on the ones represented. The Vintage Collection hasn’t been without its share of controversy during its original 2010-2012 run. Many Original Trilogy purists were appalled at the inclusion of Expanded Universe and Prequel Trilogy based figures sharing space with the classic Original Trilogy. But we think that time has softened the hearts of many naysayers and The Vintage Collection as a whole has become the greatest line Hasbro has produced for collectors to date which is something collectors of all types have no problem acknowledging. Episode I may not be your favorite film by a long shot and you may be a victim of what Jar Jar Binks did to your opinion of the Gungan species. But there is something very likeable about the Gungan people and we are so happy that Hasbro hasn’t become afraid to develop awesome all-new sculpts of them for the basic figure line. The Gungan Warrior needs a few tweaks, but Hasbro has certainly mastered the sculpt and we’re eagerly looking forward to them finding a way to make this sculpt…. well…. perfect. What an amazing two and a half years The Vintage Collection has been to collectors. We eagerly anticipate its return, Hasbro!