Anakin Skywalker And Sebulba - Mini Busts

With both he and his mother's freedom at stake, a determined nine-year-old Anakin Skywalker goes up against the brutal and competitive Sebulba in one of the most famous Podraces ever held on Tatooine: The Boonta Eve Classic! This spectacular race is notable as it marked the first time a human had ever won a Podrace.

Gentle Giant Ltd. went as long as possible without bringing any characters from The Phantom Menace into their popular Mini Bust format. Of course the obligatory universally appreciated Darth Maul and/or Qui-Gon Jinn Mini Busts were offered early on, but fan favorite characters were taboo and they didn’t touch them with a ten-foot pole. But with the release of The Phantom Menace 3D in theaters, all of the reservations were cleared from the working table and Gentle Giant Ltd. began developing character from Episode I with an almost near vengeance to catch up on time lost, as well as try to beat out products with a supporting multimedia event like the 3D rerelease of the film. After the planned Jar Jar Binks With W. Wald PGM exclusive Mini Busts were announced, Gentle Giant announced another two-pack of Mini Busts, but for general release. Two podracing pilots, Anakin Skywalker and Sebulba were next on the agenda and the set has many positives, but also a few negatives. Can you figure out where we’re going with this already?

Anakin Skywalker is the dud of the two-pack. Gentle Giant Ltd totally goofed up his likeness. Other than getting the silhouette right, the details of Anakin’s likeness are way off to the point of being egregious. Many feel that Gentle Giant struggles with human portraits. We agree to certain extent, but they have nailed some of them to impressive degrees. Anakin Skywalker is proof that they’ve failed once again. What’s sad about this is that they expertly recreated his outfit and his podracing helmet that he is holding in his hand is beyond impressive. It’s such a shame that the likeness is so inaccurate. On the other hand, Sebulba is brilliantly done. Not only are we thoroughly impressed with his likeness, we’re enthralled with the sculpt and he looks like he has been ripped out of a scene right from Episode I. You see the disdain and outright anger in Sebulba’s eyes, and this is reinforced with the clenched fist he’s holding outward from his body and his agitated pointed finger. Color us thoroughly impressed. Sebulba is definitely the reason to consider this set for purchase.

Together, the Mini Busts interact very well together. Posed in ways that befit each other, you can situate Sebulba in a threatening posture towards Anakin Skywalker, or you can alternately display them independent of each other. Either way works for your shelf. This diversity these Mini Bust offer allow you the freedom to pose them as needed in your collection in case you’re looking to have them displayed next to different characters in your Mini Bust collection instead. Anakin Skywalker, but especially Sebulba have splendid paint jobs. We couldn’t help ourselves looking at the details added to the sculpts. There is so much here to take in and enjoy that you can’t cursorily scan them and make a quick final decision about whether you like them or not. There is another negative and it’s the price. This set has an MSRP of $134.99. At $67.50 each, it seems way overpriced for two characters that utilize about 50% of the resources of a standard sized Mini Bust. It may be better for Gentle Giant Ltd. to release smaller character singly and charge a smaller MSRP, like $45-$55 instead. That seems much more fair in our eyes.