Qui-Gon Jinn - S.H. Figuarts

S.H. Figuarts is a new standard figure series that incorporates the Bandai action figure "Art" under the theme "Pursuing Character Expression through Humanoid Action."

Ever since we entered the Sequel Trilogy era, characters from the Prequel Trilogy are few and far between. This is especially true for characters that are from Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. No matter what you think or how you feel about the film, The Phantom Menace gave us some wonderfully revered characters. Qui-Gon Jinn may have stuck out to most Star Wars fans as the wisest of all Jedi we had seen up to that point, but he has remained an adored character, even as we approach a near two-decade anniversary from the time Episode I arrived in theaters. Licensees aren’t nervous to produce collectibles of Qui-Gon Jinn which is a great thing. S.H. Figuarts has delivered their interpretation of this sagacious Jedi Master, and the final result isn't perfectly executed, but the figure is impressive nonetheless. Qui-Gon Jinn is as important as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Maul. Now we have this linked trio of characters from Episode I to complete our dioramas and displays. Thankfully, they all interact beautifully with each other and provide evidence that S.H. Figuarts knows quite well what they’re doing with the Star Wars property.

Qui-Gon Jinn has been given the right height and is proportionately taller than Obi-Wan Kenobi (from Episode I). The details in the costume are simple but beautiful. And the paint operations and colors are neatly applied and accurate. He comes with a lower skirt, but it is cast in a pliable material that doesn’t affect posing the figure in any way. The articulation system is extremely complex, and Qui-Gon Jinn can attain most any pose you desire. His accessories are a bit light, but you get everything necessary for his duel at the hangar with Darth Maul. Yes, sadly you do not get a Jedi outer robe in soft-goods materials, nor a rebreather, nor a poncho. So, from those perspectives, this figure is lacking. But from the scene-specific perspective of him battling on Naboo, this figure couldn’t be more perfect. Included with Qui-Gon Jinn are a lightsaber, a lightsaber hilt with a plug, three interchangeable left and right hands each and a removable and interchangeable faceplate (which captures a whole other expression of Qui-Gon Jinn). The second portrait has him looking like he’s angry, almost as if he is confronting Darth Maul. It looks fantastic.

The interchangeable hands are easy to remove and replace on this figure. If you recall, in the past this has been a challenge and not something easy to accomplish. S.H. Figuarts has retooled the placement of the holes in the hand attachments which makes things easier on collectors’ with larger hands. What’s great about S.H. Figuarts figures is that they give you accessory-specific hand sculpts. If you want Qui-Gon Jinn to hold a lightsaber, you’re given the hands to do it. If you want him to Force point or wave, you can have him gesture in those ways too. We have the three main characters from Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace now, but we need a heck of a lot more before we have a nice balance of characters from that film. An Episode I version of Padmé Amidala is required. And one or two Neimoidians are necessary as well. Then after that S.H. Figuarts can start looking for some unique other characters and pepper them into the line to help balance things out. We feel that Jar Jar Binks and Boss Nass would make two compelling action figures in the S.H. Figuarts line as well. In the meantime, enjoy Qui-Gon Jinn. They did a great job on him.