General Obi-Wan Kenobi (Jedi Master) - Order Of The Jedi - 1:6 Scale Figures

The big reveal at Toy Fair 2008 was Sideshow Collectibles’ armored line of figures. And the first group of collectors to reap the benefits of this brand new line was fans of Tartakovsky’s original Clone Wars series. General Obi-Wan Kenobi (Jedi Master) completely stunned us because it not only was a brilliantly sculpted figure, but it was the first 12� figure released to the market that utilized hard plastic armor. Other companies with the Star Wars license, like Medicom Toy for example, made decent armored figures, but the armor was crafted from a very pliable plastic. The aesthetics of the harder (and basically unbendable) armor is a significant step up in quality and just looks better all around. Sideshow Collectibles worked with Hot Toys to design an “armored� figure template that has a thinner body frame to fit perfectly underneath the different armor pieces so that when fully assembled, the figure doesn’t too to chunky or out of scale with the rest of the line. It is quite an amazing system and the final product just astounds us. General Obi-Wan Kenobi (Jedi Master) is a figure no 12� collection should be without and it was a phenomenal first choice for the line. General Obi-Wan Kenobi nicely complements the Padme Amidala and Asajj Ventress 12� figures in the line. And we don’t think that we will see too many more candidates from the Tartakovsky Clone Wars line. So we will have to enjoy what we do have.

While the figure is simply amazing, Sideshow Collectibles clearly has a learning curve with anything new they do. We have some concerns over the looseness of the joints on this new armored body. Don’t get us wrong. It is aesthetically a flawless design, but some additional fine tuning is needed. While posing Obi-Wan unassisted, the figure will start to bow his legs and fall over, so a stand will be required in order for him to maintain his erect pose. This is a setback. And when you try to pose him to point his hands upwards or out, they too fall down almost instantly basically rendering that point of articulation useless. Obi-Wan clearly looks perfect once positioned on his stand, but it’s frustrating when you want to take advantage of the super-articulation and it works against you. Sideshow Collectibles did a lot to make the costume as authentic to what a realistic version of Obi-Wan Kenobi in clone trooper armor would be. The Jedi robes are tucked in all the right spots and the two large “buttons� that clasp his robes to his chest are an exact match for what was seen in the cartoon. The body glove under the armor has a little too much resistance to it and this definitely works with the loose joints to make positioning him very frustrating. But this body glove has a very cool dotted-line pattern to it and it is a very dark shade of brown (and not black).

The exclusive accessory was very interesting. Obi-Wan included an extra piece of forearm armor that had a small holographic image of Captain Rex on it. Why this is so interesting is because Captain Rex didn’t really become a permanent fixture in collector consciousness until his appearance in (Filoni’s) The Clone Wars television show. And he wasn’t seen in Tartakovsky’s Clone Wars micro-series either. So adding this exclusive accessory is basically a culmination of where Tartakovsky ends and Filoni begins. Interpret it the way you want to, but this is a cool connecting of the dots so to speak even though the two different clone wars series are not in cannon with each other. Other accessories include a cape, tunic, lightsaber hilt, lit lightsaber and figure stand. General Obi-Wan Kenobi is also the first 12� figure to feature a new method of paint job to the portrait. Sideshow Collectibles has always given their 12� figures dramatic paint jobs and many almost looked liked they were wearing makeup. With the new collaboration with Hot Toys, a much simpler and natural looking paint job has been utilized. No longer is the flesh color of the face painted in that color, it has now been cast in that color. All the “color� in the paint application has been concentrated in the eyes and hair and we think this method is much improved. General Obi-Wan Kenobi (Jedi Master) is a wonderful first start to their impressive line and it is one of the greatest accomplishments thus far. We suggest finding a way to get this figure into your collection. You’ll be sorry without him.