Obi-Wan Kenobi [Version 1] - SW [SOTDS] - Saga Legends (SL12)

Obi-Wan holds onto hope that he and Padmé can turn Anakin back from the dark side. But on Mustafar, he realizes that all is lost and Anakin has been consumed by evil. Obi-Wan is viciously attacked by Anakin and battles for his life in a climactic duel surrounded by molten lava rivers.

The Saga Legends line during the “Shadow Of The Dark Side” era piqued the most amount of interest in us since it was introduced in the 30 (77-07) line back in 2007. Hasbro became a little bit riskier in their character selections and released cool alien bounty hunters in addition to the bread and butter main characters they always typically release. There were a few action figures in the 2010 assortment however that started off as mistakes. Jango Fett (SL05), Darth Vader (SL06) and Obi-Wan Kenobi (SL12) were all released first with the wrong action figure inside. Some were fixed more quickly than others, but Obi-Wan Kenobi took the longest to remedy and many collectors didn’t think that it would happen. But it did. And there are a few important things you should know about this release so you had a good gauge on whether it’s a necessary acquisition for your own collection or not. There are one or two other important details here other than the obvious action figure swap that makes this Saga Legends release a little bit more interesting than the others.

So we all know that the Obi-Wan Kenobi figure from 2009’s LC Kamino Conflict Battle Packs set was included in the packaging at first. (It’s important to note that the version of Obi-Wan Kenobi from this Battle Packs set is a repaint of the 2003 SW Obi-Wan Kenobi (Outlander Nightclub Encounter) (‘03 #39) figure.) But what you may or may not be aware of is that although the back of the packaging featured the sculpt of 2008’s TAC Obi-Wan Kenobi (08 01) figure and the bio description is based on a scene in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith, the photo on the Galactic Battle Game card included is based on a scene from Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones. So, the Galactic Battle Game card matches the sculpt of the action figure even though the packaging does not. Interesting, right? Then once Hasbro finally caught wind that the incorrect (and inferior) sculpt was getting shipped, they issued the correct figure (the Obi-Wan Kenobi (08 01) sculpt) but that figure still came with the Episode II Galactic Battle Game card. This is even stranger, right?

It wasn’t until the final wave of Saga Legends figures that got released in 2011 that Hasbro actually updated the Galactic Battle Game card to include a scene from Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith. So all this time Obi-Wan Kenobi was meant to be the 2008 sculpt based on Revenge Of The Sith and it didn’t get corrected until the Saga Legends line was about to call it quits. There is more to this story. When that final wave of Saga Legends line was announced, Obi-Wan Kenobi precariously appeared on products lists as SL24. Collectors had no idea if an all-new version of Obi-Wan Kenobi was also going to be released in the Saga Legends line as well. But coincidentally, the SL24 figure ended up never showing up or getting released. And just the completely corrected Obi-Wan Kenobi (SL12) figure showed up in the final case assortments after all was said and done. Obviously this is the best version of Obi-Wan Kenobi (based on Episode III) that money can buy. He comes with excellent articulation (including ball-jointed hips) and has an excellent head sculpt. If you can attain the absolute correct release of this, get it!