Tessek - POTJ - Basic

Added: March 14th 2014
Category: Power Of The Jedi
Reviewer: Paul Harrison
Score:

Name: Tessek
Collection: Power Of The Jedi
Number: N/A
Source: Return Of The Jedi
Availability: April 2001
License: Hasbro

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When the Empire invades Mon Calamari, Tessek escapes and becomes an accountant for Jabba the Hutt. Tessek despises Jabba and hopes to kill him and acquire his fortune. Unfortunately, Tessek doesn't realize his plans are known to Jabba's trusted servants... and to Jabba himself!

While the Power Of The Jedi line in general brought a new standard of excellence to Star Wars action figure making, there were some very specific things that made many of the action figures in it look better than ever. The strengths of so many action figures in this line were firmly rooted in the dynamic sculpts. Hasbro’s tooling reached new levels and for the first time accuracy took precedence over anything else. It’s probably quite accurate to say that Hasbro still had some room to grow for the characters with the human facial likenesses, but the humanoid aliens on the other hand were impressive beyond measure. The figures that made up the Power Of The Jedi basic figure line just blew everything Hasbro made previously out of the water. Newly and accurately scaled action figures were approached with dynamic sculpting, exquisite deco, accurate proportions and enough detail to make most grown men cry. Articulation was lacking of course, but when action figures look this good that concern sort of moves to the back burner. Tessek, a very long-awaited denizen from Jabba’s Palace was a breath of fresh air for many reasons, and most collectors can recall their knees buckling in the toy aisles when it first reached brick and mortar retail. The visage before our eyes was anything unlike we had seen up to that point and it was crippling. No, we’re not exaggerating. Tessek was that good.

Tessek had a glorious sculpt. Limited to only seven points of articulation, we would be lying if we say we didn’t wish that he came with more movement than he does, but Tessek still deserves to be lauded and praised for looking so good that he doesn’t even fit in with the previously released characters from Jabba’s palace that were released in The Power Of The Force “2” line. Tessek isn’t definitive, but he is pretty darn close. In fact, even if a future version comes with more articulation, we imagine Hasbro will have tremendous difficulty bettering this sculpt and likeness of this caliber somewhere down the road. In fact, it’s unlikely that they will be able to better it. Tessek, known as Squid Head to real Star Wars fans, comes with seven points of articulation. These include a swivel head (with inhibited movement), two swivel shoulders, a swivel left elbow, a swivel waist and two swivel hips. On his left thigh is a functioning holster which can stow the included blaster. But if you want Tessek to appear a little bit more threatening, you can affix the blaster into his cupped left hand and swivel the arm left and right as if he is wielding it at some palace-intruding Rebel. The cape is a separately, molded piece, but it isn’t removable without potentially damaging the figure. Most collectors were bummed to not see a soft-goods cape on this figure anyway, but we have to admit that the sculpted cape looks fantastic on Tessek too.

As we have already mentioned, Tessek’s strength is its sculpt, especially its portrait. If you carefully inspect the head sculpt, you’ll be amazed at the amount of detail that has been tooled to give the character a very realistic skin texture. An infinite amount of “dots” have been etches in the skin to give it an oddly bumpy yet smooth appearance. What’s more, Hasbro accentuated these details with a darker wash which emphasizes the texture unbelievably well. Tessek’s piercing blue eyes have also been copied well and the tusks coming out of his nostrils and his protruding pink tongue all work together to give this character his familiar appearance. The tentacles hanging from the sides of his face are much more accurate (as compared to the 1983 Kenner figure) this time around, as are some of the curves and shapes which make up his triangular head. The important parts of Tessek’s costuming are flawless. Even the details in his hands are just simply impressive. There is not much to dislike here. He’s wearing a bright gold metal cummerbund which looks like an ornate ring around his torso. He also has a most off-white colored gown that makes up most of his outfit. Tessek’s legs have been cast in gray plastic and are mostly unpainted. It seems as if they could have stood some extra detail in spots to make it look better, but since the outer robes and inner robes cover most of the legs up, it’s not something we will criticize too strongly. In short, Tessek is amazing. It’s good enough for now, and that is quite an understatement.

Collector Notes

Tessek

Status: Tessek is an all-new figure.

Articulation Count: 7 points (7 areas of articulation)

Articulation Details: swivel head (1), swivel left shoulder (1), swivel right shoulder (1), swivel left elbow (1), swivel waist (1), swivel left hip (1), swivel right hip (1)

Accessory Count: 2

Accessory Details: blaster, removable cape

Date Stamp: 2000

Collection: 2

Assortment Number: 84455/84639

UPC: 076930846391

Retail: $5.99 USD

Market Value: Click here to check the latest prices based on Click here to check the market value on eBay! listings.





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Tessek



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