Obi-Wan Kenobi - R - Saga Legends (SL11)

Obi-Wan Kenobi leads Clone Trooper forces into battle during the Clone Wars as a Jedi General. Using his skills as a warrior and negotiator, he helps the Republic achieve many victories.

We expect that there are collectors out there who want the opportunity to acquire every Star Wars action figure that international collector got the chance to secure for their collections. SO we won’t begrudge Hasbro for re-releasing the realistically styled Obi-Wan Kenobi from The Clone Wars television show in the Saga Legends line. We truly feel that this figure is more of a setback that an attribute for collectors. But when it comes to action figures and the articulation has been sacrificed, the paint operations need to be the priority. And in this instance they are priority zero. Probably one of the worst-looking action figures Hasbro has ever produced (simply because of the shoddy paint job), Obi-Wan Kenobi is an action figure that we’re not even sure needed to be produced in the first place. Hasbro released the animated version more times than we can count. And although it came in animated style, it had more articulation and incredible deco and was available almost the entire The Clone Wars run. And let’s not forget about the stunning 2012 The Vintage Collection Obi-Wan Kenobi (VC103) figure which should have eliminated the need ever again for Hasbro to reproduce or revise this character in any 3.75” format. But they did. And he has already have more availability than the TVC figure. We bet however that you’ll have to think of some really good reasons on why this figure will become an asset to your collection, because right now we’re struggling with that pondering.

After the stellar release as 2012’s TVC Obi-Wan Kenobi (VC103) which presented The Clone Wars film version of Obi-Wan Kenobi in realistic style for the very first time, Hasbro for reasons unknown decided to revisit this particular take of him for the simplified Saga Legends line. Sadly, it just doesn’t work under this banner, or at least not in the way Hasbro has approached him. Obi-Wan Kenobi truly brings a half-baked attempt at another unnecessary release of the realistic interpretation of Obi-Wan Kenobi with a sculpt that borders on “alright” but with horrific paint operations (take two) that will make him completely passable. Not only are the paint operations sloppy, they’re almost equally incorrect. And after multiple releases of this character throughout all of the phases in The Clone Wars line and what we thought to be a fantastic “ultimate” realistic figure in The Vintage Collection, we don’t see why Hasbro would waste a slot again in the Saga Legends line to attack this version of Obi-Wan Kenobi again. Wasn't the international release of Obi-Wan Kenobi (SL13) enough? We’re trying to come up with a reason to find merit with this action figure, but we are having difficulty doing so no matter how much we revisit this question. Obi-Wan Kenobi from The Clone Wars comes with five simple points of swivel articulation. The standard approach has been taken here: a swivel head is joined by swivel shoulders and swivel hips. As you expect, you really cannot attain a reasonable amount of movement from this action figure due to its articulation.

And with the included lightsaber, it’s frustrating that you cannot place this action figure into any dynamic configurations…. at all. When compared to 2012’s TVC Obi-Wan Kenobi (VC103) figure, you’ll likely start cringing. The amount of detail, especially in the paint job is actually hurtful. Where the 2012 figure is black, the 2014 figure is tan. And the lack of battle-damage really affects the aesthetics of the character very much. Hasbro also neglected to include the Jedi insignia on Obi-Wan’s left shoulder blade. We know that sacrifices are made with Saga Legends figures, but this feels like a detail that shouldn’t be missed. If Hasbro feels there is a need to re-release this character, albeit in a new and simpler way, why take shortcuts that make it inferior visually. (We’re not talking articulation here.) And the sloppy paint operations for Obi-Wan’s hair and the missing tan paint on his outerwear make this one bitter pill to swallow. Again, we’re having great difficulty finding any redeeming qualities here. When The Clone Wars abruptly came to an end, and Hasbro came clean that they would significantly reduce the amount of action figures based on the show, we feel that now is a very important time for them to waste/expend energy on creating characters they’ve never produced from the series. So why are they not doing this? We don’t claim to know it all, and we know Obi-Wan Kenobi is a core Star Wars character that sell very well, but there are enough versions of him out there already readily available that a release like this Saga Legends figure proves to us it’s completely not needed. But that’s just our two cents. After all, what do buying (those who have money) Star Wars collectors know?