Sidon Ithano/First Mate Quiggold - TFA - Two-Packs (Forest)

Sidon Ithano: The era of frontier lawlessness that followed the Galactic Civil War led to the rise of the colorful pirate Sidon Ithano, the subject of many an exaggerated cantina tale.

First Mate Quiggold: The First Mate to the dashing Sidon Ithano, Quiggold handles the pirate's business. Often in need of fresh hands aboard his pirate vessel, Quiggold recruits those looking for work in spaceport cantinas and taverns.

If there’s any saving grace in the 5POA The Force Awakens line for lovers of super-articulation, it might solely be found in the Sidon Ithano/First Mate Quiggold Two-Packs line. It’s not as if this figures come with enhanced articulation, but both figures have been artfully tooled and decorated and if we didn’t know better, we would have assumed that they were part of a high quality super-articulated Star Wars line. That’s how great they look. Now, you should know right off the bat that both Sidon Ithano and First Mate Quiggold come with only five points of articulation, (and some may even argue six points for Quiggold), but these figures look so darn great that you’re probably not even going to care that they have been dumbed down in the articulation department. But we certainly won’t claim to know the state of YOUR mind. We’re pleasantly surprised, in fact elated, over how terrific these two figures look, and we’re confident to suggest that in order for Hasbro to save some money on tooling costs, that background characters should indeed be approached in this manner while saving the more complex articulation systems for main characters and those that need optimal posing capabilities.

For us, Sidon Ithano is the star of the set. There is something strongly affiliated to Episode I with him in our opinion. There were many unused character concepts in that film and it seems to us that he would fit in flawlessly with that era. Yet he holds his own in The Force Awakens as well. Perhaps a bit out of place in the Takodana bar/club judging solely on his duds, Sidon Ithano is a standout character in Maz Kanata’s collection of aliens and droids. (It’s nice to know that the universe had become a little more progressive in its droid discrimination. We digress.) The figure itself is as exquisite as any simply articulated action figure could possibly be. The intensely designed outfit, helmet and cape show that the sculptors at Hasbro are serious about impressing collectors in The Force Awakens line, and they certainly have impressed us here. Are we severely disappointed that Sidon Ithano hasn’t arrived super-articulated? Of course. But we’d be misinforming you if we claimed that we didn’t love what was done here. It doesn’t make it right, but you have to give credit where credit is due. If somehow they transform this sculpt into a super-articulated figure, it would absolutely be one of Hasbro’s finest moments. Hopefully that gives you a gauge of how excellent this sculpt is.

First Mate Quiggold is a true space pirate (peg-leg and all). The bio on the packaging doesn’t tell us much at all, but this humanoid mole is one of the more interesting alien species in The Force Awakens. Short in stature, but rotund in thickness, First Mate Quiggold is another excellently designed action figure that comes with simple articulation. We might be out of bounds here, but we’re willing to claim that he comes with six points of articulation, although, his head is essentially unable to be articulated in any meaningful way. The head is a separately sculpted piece, but you can’t turn it left or right. Instead, Hasbro added a waist joint shockingly to First Mate Quiggold to make up for the lack of head movement. He officially doesn’t come with any weapons, but the kid-approved large blaster rifle with projectile we suppose is suppose to be his weapon of choice. The Two-Packs line has been a little inconsistent. Heck, it’s been all over the place in our opinion, but if Hasbro continues making great sets like this, we believe that we’ll all be in for consistent treats. Of course, it’s our desire and goal to see super-articulation return with a vengeance, but that’s likely been reserved for collector-focused lines. Hopefully the excellent performance of the Walmart exclusive line shows Hasbro that this format needs a wider audience.