Obi-Wan Kenobi - TVC - Basic (VC103)

The Clone Wars is taking an interesting but very exciting turn. Hasbro has decided that the animated The Clone Wars line is no longer being made with collectors in mind. Take that as you’d like, but Hasbro, going forward, will be saving super-articulation for realistically styled characters from Filoni’s The Clone Wars television show (which will subsequently be released in collector-focused lines). This has upset many collectors, but we’re actually happily jumping on board with this new directive Hasbro is following. Collectors will reap more benefits with this approach. Firstly, you can expect all figures to come with 14 points of articulation. Secondly, collectors can expect state-of-the-art sculpting and awesome character choices of their favorites – many of which will be coming super-articulated for the first time. Obi-Wan Kenobi is another excellent example of why heading The Clone Wars toy license into realistic style (for collectors) is the way to go. This action figure brings an amazing amount of quality into the basic figure line. And quite honestly we wished that Hasbro put this much effort into the head sculpt of the Tartakovsky Obi-Wan Kenobi (BD 9) from The Legacy Collection. Wow, what an incredible likeness to Obi-Wan Kenobi this is indeed!

This version of Obi-Wan Kenobi is a realistic interpretation of the very first The Clone Wars Obi-Wan Kenobi (No. 2) figure released back in the 2008 phase of The Clone Wars line. Hasbro had updated this figure when they released it as 2010’s TCW BARC Speeder With Obi-Wan Kenobi Deluxe figure and again with 2010’s TCW Freeco Speeder With Obi-Wan Kenobi Deluxe figure set. They added more articulation so the figure could pilot the bike, but it wasn’t perfect and collectors wanted a bit more. (The same figure was repainted and released in 2011’s TCW Assault On Geonosis Battle Packs set.) The figure still lacked. It has awkward posture and seemed too short no matter how many times it got released. As Obi-Wan Kenobi changed his appearance as the seasons progressed, he lost most of the clone trooper armor and started donning the clothing from his Episode III appearance. Hasbro never went back to update the very first Obi-Wan Kenobi action figure since. You may or may not care about that. But one thing is for sure and that is the Obi-Wan Kenobi (VC103) figure should trump all previous versions – animated or realistic. Obi-Wan Kenobi is a figure we’re proud to own and Hasbro should be equally proud for creating such an awesome action figure.

Obi-Wan Kenobi comes super-articulated. He comes with a ball-socket head, 2 fully functioning ball-jointed shoulders, ball-jointed elbows, swivel wrists, swivel waist, swivel hips, 2 ball-jointed knees and 2 ball-jointed ankles. His portrait is absolutely extraordinary. It is our hope that Hasbro reuses it for future Episode III type Obi-Wan Kenobi actions figures (or new versions of The Clone Wars iterations). The expression on his face is flawless and the paint job on the hairline is just right. Hasbro added a discreet soft-goods skirt (which is very formfitting to his midsection) that allows for a decent amount of hip movement while not interrupting the smooth aesthetics of the rest of the sculpted parts. The armor pieces to his outfit are incredibly detailed and perfect proportional. Obi-Wan’s armor suits him well and nothing looks too large or out of place. Hasbro added some dirt and scuffs to the armor. They’ve gone back to the same way they added carbon-scoring damage to the clone troopers in The Saga Collection. It’s clearly computer-generated patterns but they look marvelous. Obi-Wan’s accessories include a lightsaber and lightsaber hilt. If there is one area that Obi-Wan Kenobi lacks it’s the number of accessories. A removable clone trooper helmet (or interchangeable helmeted head) would have been appreciated. And some form of blaster would have hit this out of the park. The figure is still a brilliant work of art nonetheless.