Obi-Wan Kenobi (Coruscant Chase) - SW [S - P3] - Hall Of Fame

Ten years after losing his Master at the hands of the Sith, Obi-Wan Kenobi has become Anakin Skywalker's Jedi mentor. Given the mission to protect Senator Amidala after an assassination attempt on her life, Obi-Wan Kenobi finds himself hanging precariously from a fleeing assassin droid as it tries to escape through the maze of Coruscant's cityscape. The resourceful and courageous Jedi holds on, intent to discover who sent the droid on its evil mission.

There were some action packed sequences in Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones, one of which was Obi-Wan Kenobi jumping out of Padme’s bedroom window and clinging onto an ASN-121 assassin droid, you know, the one that delivered the Kouhun assassin centipedes to her abode. The agile, yet powerful droid managed an escape, but Obi-Wan was able to cling onto it and go for the ride of his life through the bustling “streets” of Coruscant before getting rescued by Anakin Skywalker. Following this droid ultimately led them to Zam Wesell, a freelance bounty hunter responsible for multiple attempts on Padme’s life and then the story of Episode II goes on from there. Hasbro determined that their first Episode II version of Obi-Wan Kenobi would be based on this fast-paced scene. For all intents and purposes, the concept here is golden, but the execution fails royally as far as we’re concerned. And it surprises us that they picked this figure for the "greatest hits" Hall Of Fame collection of figures, with just a few updated paint operations. The included ASN-121 assassin droid is still a nice "extra" here and is well-sculpted, but it is cast in a very pliable plastic which works against it keeping its shape. But the real issue here is the sculpt of Obi-Wan Kenobi, which in all honesty is much too short and has aesthetics issues that make us want a new version almost instantly.

Admittedly, the action feature as a whole looks pretty cool. That being said however, there is a “huge” magnet sculpted into Obi-Wan Kenobi’s right hand and an opposite magnet worked into the body of the ASN-121 assassin droid. As you imagine, he looks more like a liquid terminator than a Jedi with this ghastly addition. This may surprise you, but you can actually hold the assassin droid by the handle (which is removable by the way) and have Obi-Wan Kenobi hang from it almost exactly the same way he did in the film with relative ease. From that perspective this is a very cool and successful toy. But as a collectible action figure you will find that it just won’t meet your expectations for many reasons. From the “too short” stature of Obi-Wan Kenobi to the lack of articulation and obtrusive action features, this just isn’t a version of the Jedi you will probably want for your own collection. Hasbro was excited to announce in the Star Wars “Saga” line that for the first time action figures would be “real scanned” to make action figures with the best looking likenesses possible. Sadly, it didn’t translate well at this smaller scale and Hasbro would ultimately abandon this exact method by the time the Star Wars “Saga” basic figure line reached its end. This is the second time for Obi-Wan Kenobi (Coruscant Chase) and he really doesn't look any better two years later.

To make most of the magnetic features of Obi-Wan Kenobi (Coruscant Chase), Hasbro was sure to include a metal lightsaber hilt, with removable blade so that these features could provide some extra play value as needed or warranted. We especially appreciate the removable “handle” for the ASN-121 assassin droid. It provides the needed play element to make the action feature work to its fullest, but you can also make the droid almost completely screen accurate (save for the bulky magnet) by removing it. It’s sad to say but the ASN-121 assassin droid is the star of this set. Its sculpt is truly excellent and there is a ton of detail to appreciate, especially for collectors. Overall, we still feel that this basic figure is weak. We understand the need for Hasbro to approach Obi-Wan Kenobi in this manner. But truth be told, we think it would have been a bigger success is Hasbro included just a normally articulated Obi-Wan Kenobi action figure with the ability to hold onto the ASN-121 assassin droid with his hands and not a magnetic attachment. This is an easy pass if you already have the figure from 2002. We're still quite surprised that Hasbro decided to reissue this version of him. Obi-Wan Kenobi (Coruscant Chase) comes with some neat accessories, but the figure will absolutely keep you wishing for more.