Shaak Ti - LC - Basic (BD61)

Shaak Ti is a Jedi Master and member of the Jedi Council. She survives Order 66 and eventually arrives on Felucia, where she prepares the Force-sensitive Felucians for an unavoidable encounter with Darth Vader.

The new Shaak Ti action figure from the Legacy Collection based on her appearance from The Force Unleashed is an absolute gem. After an uncertain waiting period wondering if we were going to see the rest of the figures from The Force Unleashed Hasbro claimed were coming, it's nice to know that almost all of them got knocked out in one way or another. What made things even more grueling was that this final wave in the Legacy Collection lineup was in flux for a few months and the anticipation was killing most of us. Thankfully, Toys R Us and online stores stepped up to the plate to bring this long-awaited collection of figures to collectors. The Legacy Collection was wrought with some of the worst distribution problems the basic figure line had ever seen. Hasbro blamed a significant decrease in the collector base, but most fans didn't buy that argument at all. Most of us stalked the toy aisles frequently and we would have bought the figure had Hasbro gotten them to store shelves. We could whine about this all day about who is really to blame here, but why waste the time when the reality of good news is that the last wave of the Legacy Collection (albeit exclusive) is here and we couldn't be happier. It is a very robust collection of Expanded Universe figures ranging from the offspring of Han Solo and Leia Organa to a great Jedi from the Clone Wars. As a bonus, we get a long-awaited droid from Jabba's Palace as the Build A Droid figure which probably excites most long term collectors more than the actual basic figures needed to build it. But Shaak Ti should get fans eager for this wave very much. Having a major role in Tartakovsky's Clone Wars, Shaak Ti didn't get the screen time she deserved in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith which seems to be replaced a little bit with her important inclusion in The Force Unleashed video game. In short, Lucasfilm Ltd. has finally done right by her.

Shaak Ti is absolutely gorgeous. There really isn't any other way to say this. Despite this initial reaction, we still hold strongly to the opinion that the Togruta species are quite conservative and do not wear the skimpy clothing like the Twi'leks do. So it is a bit awkward to see Shaak Ti (and even Ahsoka Tano) in revealing outfits. Perhaps it could be viewed as "out of character" for her? Shaak Ti's threads in The Force Unleashed video game are extremely sexy. Super-articulated from head to toe, Shaak Ti comes with all of the necessary movement you'd expect from a premium action figure. She has been painted beautifully as well. She has war paint across parts of her arms and thighs and the decoration looks beautiful on her red skin. Her sculpting is even better. Her portrait is nearly flawless and if Hasbro were to tweak it to be movie accurate, it would make for an excellent head sculpt for an updated Episode II (or Episode III) basic figure. Her revealing top is completely open from her neck to her belt line and it holds her endowment in place quite well. She has a very flexible skirt which doesn't inhibit movement that much and it is cast in a very shiny grayish brown. It is nicely sculpted and falls in all the right places. Then there are ties/straps which drape equally beautifully down the back of her which gives the outfit some ornamentation. Shaak Ti is nearly barefoot, but she has these dark gray leg wrappings that cover her legs intermittently up to her thighs. Interestingly, the wrappings in the video game look quite a bit lighter. Regardless, it is a very unique look on an action figure, but it seems to work here quite well. Shaak Ti is an action figure that deserves mass release and it is a shame that she is being relegated to only one retail location and then online. She certainly would sell in any market and fans of The Force Unleashed are definitely going to want her to round out their collections.

With the recent announcement of The Force Unleashed II, it is a pretty good bet that we will be seeing a lot more action figures based on it in the near future. Well, at least we hope this is the case. Everything is in flux when it comes to the Expanded Universe anymore. Regardless, we welcome it completely because The Force Unleashed is absolutely a multimedia event that has grabbed our attention (and the attention of non-gamers) as well as those who really only favor the films. It tells a story in between Episode III and Episode IV and this is a very fertile area of atorytelling, even if it is only through the eyes of a video game. This interpretation of Shaak Ti may raise some eyebrows. Hasbro is just recreating a character based on reference materials, but we would like to see Lucasfilm Ltd. push back a little more to keep the established continuity of our favorite figures intact. Some may disagree with this sentiment, but we feel differently about this. You will not find Shaak Ti in any of the films or Tartakovsky's Clone Wars without a large thick robe covering her completely. But then again, who knows, maybe Felucia is hotter than we realize. We aren't hung up on her scantily clad outfit, but it just doesn't seem to fit in with her species. This doesn't mean that the action figure is anything but awesome. And we also know that Shaak Ti is immediately one of our favorite figures in the Legacy Collection and she will undoubtedly be a hot figure for fans and collectors like you too. She is athletic, lean and proportionately muscular. The paint job is flawless and neat and there are no signs of bleeding or sloppy applications. She is a figure that should meet the most stringent standards by even the pickiest fans. We cannot wait for future announcements of figures based on The Force Unleashed. Until this comes to pass, you will thoroughly enjoy Shaak Ti. She is absolutely an incredible action figure.