Ric Olié - EI - Basic

Ric Olié is the pilot of the ill-fated Naboo spacecraft carrying Queen Amidala on Coruscant, the capital of the Galactic Republic. Their quest is to recruit help for the besieged planet of Naboo.

If there is one figure that will age well in the Episode I line, it would be Ric Olié. Sadly, most fans chose not to pay much attention to this as evidenced by his disastrous peg-warming status alone. He was one of the worst peg-warmers of all time. The figure's poor sales status is unfortunate as he was a remarkably made action figure with a fantastic likeness to the onscreen actor and a well designed sculpt which captured the details of his costume rather flawlessly. Admittedly, Ric Olié was destined to become a failure as far as a successfully selling through action figure is concerned. Let’s face it. Although he uttered a few lines in the film, he was background fodder and hardly participated in any relevant part of the film's plot. But that has never been a big factor in a collector’s opinion on whether or not to like and purchase an action figure. It seems the more obscure, the more interesting the character. But sadly it backfired with Ric Olié. As a character who piloted two main vessels in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, you’d think he would have resonated a little more strongly with collectors.

Based on how many Ric Olié action figures you could find at retail, we'd all be left to think that he was made in higher-than-normal numbers. And then that would make you think that maybe he may have had a larger role in the original version of the film. Is it possible perhaps that his main scenes are somewhere on the cutting room floor? Either way, you slice it, Hasbro did the right thing by making this action figure. It’s rather excellent. As you know, the portrait looks just like the actor and the costume is faithful to the Naboo Pilot characters. It would have been wonderful if Hasbro could throw some generic Naboo Pilot action figures into the Episode I lineup for diversity, but based on the performance of Ric Olié at retail, it’s reasonable to believe that is such a plan was actually in place at one point, it probably was canceled once Hasbro saw this. (Editor’s Note: Ric Olié was attempted once again as 2012's Star Wars [The Phantom Menace 3D] Ric Olié (9 of 12) Discover The Force figure. But they relegated the figure to a Walmart exclusive. It seems that Hasbro wasn’t going to take a second chance on Ric Olié at mainstream retail. Sadly, he didn’t even perform that well as an exclusive either.)

Ric Olié comes with six point of articulation. He can sit in the Naboo Starfighter, but his lower jacket certainly encumbers full range of motion in the lower body. The paint operations are gorgeous, but they only enhance a divine sculpt. It is important to credit the sculptors who captured every inflection and detail of this character so beautifully. Ric Olié comes with a removable helmet (with the goggles down over his eyes). It fits like a glove, and frankly, Ric Olié looks awesome while wearing it. He also comes with a Naboo blaster rifle. The gun is also nicely sculpted and finished with some silver details for authenticity purposes. The gun can be held in his hands, easily and with a full ensemble, Ric Olié looks even better than he does without them. We think Ric Olié is a fine addition to the Episode I line. It’s sad that he didn’t make more of a splash with kids and collectors because he should have. The Naboo Starfighter sold very well. We wonder who is “driving” it if so many people didn’t pick up Ric Olié. On paper, Ric Olié is a triumph. It’s sad his sales did not confirm that. But that often happens to other really excellent action figures too.