Qui-Gon Jinn - SW [TPM 3D] - Movie Heroes (MH10)

The skilled Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn goes to Naboo to settle a trade dispute, a simple mission that leads to a dramatic journey of peril and revelation. Qui-Gon finds himself dealing with huge sea creatures, a mysterious Sith attacker and the discovery of a boy strong in the Force.

Time has the amazing ability to put things into crystal clear perspective. When the 2008 TAC The Jedi Legacy Evolutions set came out, collectors pretty much believed that we all received the definitive Qui-Gon Jinn figure. That figure has become a mainstay ever since, so we actually thought correctly that this would be Hasbro’s “go to” figure when a release of Qui-Gon Jinn was needed. And Hasbro has gotten some great use out of the figure. For all intents and purposes it’s a more than fair action figure. After its 2008 TAC Evolutions release, it was repainted and used for the 2009 LC Qui-Gon Jinn And Eopie mail-away exclusive and then shortly after that release Hasbro again brought it into the 2010 LC Tatooine Desert Ambush Battle Packs set. It was used a couple of times afterwards too. Now in 2012, Hasbro has decided this very same figure should be released three times in the first month of the year: in The Vintage Collection line, in the Movie Heroes line and Walmart’s exclusive Discover The Force line. Why? Why? Why? Are they purposefully trying to kill the 3.75” line? Sheesh. In all fairness, Qui-Gon Jinn is mostly a good action figure, but there are certainly some things that could make it “significantly” better. More importantly, we just want an answer why this figure was needed in the Movie Heroes line.

It’s time for an upgraded head sculpt/portrait, Hasbro. The current head sculpt is a tad too small for his body. While a new tooling would be ideal, we still think a more precise paint job would do wonders for the existing sculpt too (or at the very least, help). Qui-Gon Jinn is so pale he almost looks jaundiced. Every version after the 2008 TAC Evolutions release has been the same with an upgraded deco, but Hasbro needs to take it a few steps further to make it more screen accurate and natural looking. He has mismatched costume parts. Some areas are cream colored while others are quite a few shades lighter, almost off-white. All Jedi should come with ball-jointed hips at this stage of the game and this is an upgrade we desperately want to see applied to a definitive Qui-Gon Jinn action figure. Thankfully, his legs are at a healthy angle for optimal posing. Qui-Gon Jinn’s lightsaber also needs to enter the 21st century. Hasbro is still using the same one from the 1999 Episode I line and it’s high time to break the mold and create something new. Instead of a soft-goods cloak, this release gives us an off-screen accessory for kids: a grappling hook launcher. It’s a silly pack-in item, but we imagine the kids are going to have some fun with it. Who really knows anymore.

What is so frustrating about this redundant release is that Hasbro tooled a new head sculpt for the wave 2 version of Qui-Gon Jinn “light up” figure. So why couldn’t they just cancel this figure and then just release the one with new tooling (and a cool light up feature)? This is especially painful because Qui-Gon Jinn (this SAME EXACT figure) has been released twice in other formats/collections. It just makes no sense at all. We imagine that Hasbro wanted a basic figure of him on store shelves in time for the 3D release of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. So they got what they wanted. He will absolutely be one of the worst peg-warmers the line has ever seen. We have this figure multiple times and we don’t want him anymore. Hopefully The Vintage Collection version of this figure will sell because of the packaging, but we’re not sure anything will entice the sales of this figure. After all, this figure isn’t appealing to collectors now. You know what to expect here. If you’re not a carded collector, you have this figure multiple times already. But if you’re a carded collector, well, you probably STILL don’t need this figure again. You do get a nice and colorful Galactic Battle Game card, action figure display stand and a die. This is standard for Movie Heroes figures, so you’ll get these with every purchase. Hopefully Hasbro will make this line a little more interesting.