Mace Windu - TAC - Basic (30 06)

Added: December 15th 2010
Category: 30 (77-07)
Reviewer: Paul Harrison
Score:

Name: Mace Windu
Collection: 30 (77-07)
Number: 30 06
Source: Revenge Of The Sith
Availability: March 2007
License: Hasbro

Review_MaceWinduTAC01 Review_MaceWinduTAC02 Review_MaceWinduTAC03 Review_MaceWinduTAC04
Review_MaceWinduTAC05 Review_MaceWinduTAC06 Review_MaceWinduTAC07 Review_MaceWinduTAC08

Character Profile

Species

Human from the harsh, gas-choked planet of Haruun Kal

Status

Jedi Master and member of the Jedi High Council

Weapon of Choice

The elegant and versatile Lightsaber

Characteristics

Wise, diplomatic, and believes in the power of words over action

A powerful Jedi warrior, Mace Windu has mastered skills that only the most trained minds could hope to attempt. He is slain in a desperate act of betrayal by Anakin Skywalker after fighting Chancellor Palpatine to a standstill in a battle that costs the lives of three Jedi.

Sometimes a figure just isn't worth its weight in anticipation and the final result can really let you down. This can be said of the 30 (77-07) interpretation of Mace Windu. We all waited a really long time for Hasbro to give us a quality Mace Windu action figure. He "somewhat" came to us with this release, but he falls short in a few areas which in turn makes him not worthy of definitive status. It’s not that he’s a bad figure. But Hasbro spent a lot of unnecessary dollars in their tooling budget to bring us a figure that essentially is immobile below the waist due to the inhibitions of the design (the stiff skirt). Interestingly, he totally satisfies the definition of super-articulation, but when it comes to practicality and functionality, he’s anything but this. A tremendous update to 2005's ROTS Mace Windu (III 10) figure, all is not lost with this figure. His plastic molded lower skirt basically makes any and all leg movement impossible. And although his arms provide a nice degree of movement, he just comes across as quite a statuesque action figure. It’s a shame because had Hasbro included additional soft-goods in the mid-section (or even a softer lower skirt), this would have been an ideal figure to own. Mace Windu has seen frequent releases throughout the toy line, but all versions up until now severely lacked in articulation or included extremely annoying action features. Now we have the “dream” Mace Windu action figure only to be stopped by his rigidity. But despite his shortcomings, this version of Mace Windu isn’t half bad.

Although he has a few inconsistencies in the coloration of parts of his outfit, Mace Windu has a very nice paint job. He has a large bulky robe (which works well for him we might add) that covers him up pretty well, but doesn’t overshadow his strength as a Jedi Master. Hasbro designed this version of Mace Windu after the “Senate confrontation” he had with Darth Sidious. He comes with the Sith lightning he blocked with his lightsaber. But since Mace can't be posed in a multitude of ways, he basically just stands there with pretty Sith lightning wrapped around his lightsaber. This is a figure that needed the flexibility to be posed in action stances so to say we’re disappointed with his capabilities doing this would certainly be an understatement. He has a passable likeness for his head sculpt, but we wonder why he has this noticeable goofy grin on his face. And many don't like the head sculpt at all. The beginning of Order 66 seemed anything but humorous, but that’s just us, so we're wondering why he has a smirk on his face. He is a great height and is taller than many other Jedi in the toy line, so Hasbro excelled as the accuracy of his scale. But we think they are going to need to take another stab at and Episode III version of Mace Windu. And we hope it’s soon because he is a Jedi Master that is a favorite on so many collectors’ lists. A tighter paint job, a more menacing look on his face and an extremely flexibility or soft-goods skirt will be required to make Mace all he can be.

Mace Windu was also part of the 2007 Ultimate Galactic Hunt promotion. And while we’re not the biggest fans of foiled packaging, it was pretty cool to get some “gold” coins mixed in with the standard silver ones. Mace Windu, along with the Galactic Marine (30 02), R2-D2 (30 04), Airborne Trooper (30 07) and the Concept Stormtrooper (30 09) were the figures from wave 1 that were chosen to be part of the 2007 UGH chase collection. Thankfully, most were quite easy to find at retail as Hasbro’s definition of “limited” absolutely doesn’t mean “rare”. Mace Windu is undoubtedly quite a few steps in the right direction as far as an action figure is concerned, but it’s definitely going to take another revision before we feel it’s up to snuff. Perhaps a less scene-specific version of him should be considered for the future. But we do know that the next action figure will have to be more versatile in movement and have the capability to be placed in a variety of positions. Right now, the best Mace Windu we have (this figure) functions like an articulated statue. Yes, he does have premium articulation, but what good is that if you can’t use it? As much as we’ve pointed out this figure’s faults, we are still excited for it and the 30 (77-07) line in general. It’s an incredible way to celebrate 30 years of Star Wars and for the most part, Hasbro is striking while the iron is hot.

Collector Notes

Mace Windu

Status: Mace Windu is an all-new figure.

Articulation Count: 14

Articulation Details: ball-socket head, 2 ball-jointed shoulders, 2 ball-jointed elbows, 2 swivel wrists, ball-jointed torso, 2 swivel hips (inhibited movement), 2 ball-jointed knees, 2 ball-jointed ankles

Accessory Count: 3

Accessory Details: lightsaber, Palpatine's Force lightning deflection effect, soft-goods Jedi robe

Date Stamp: 2007

Market Value: Click here to check the latest prices based on Click here to check the market value on eBay! listings.

30 (77-07)
30th Anniversary Coin Album With Figure #1 - Darth Vader (30 01)

30 (77-07) Wave 1
Galactic Marine (30 02)
Mustafar Lava Miner (30 03)
R2-D2 (30 04)
Obi-Wan Kenobi (30 05)
Mace Windu (30 06)
Airborne Trooper (30 07)
Super Battle Droid (30 08)
Concept Stormtrooper (Ralph McQuarrie Signature Series) (30 09)



This review comes from Jedi Temple Archives
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