Obi-Wan Kenobi - TBSA - Six Inch Figures

Obi-Wan is forced to battle his friend Anakin Skywalker in a devastating lightsaber duel after Anakin turns to the Dark Side.

Anakin Skywalker was part of the first wave of The Black Series Archive line. Once collectors saw the vast improvement made to the figure because of Photo Real technology, they wondered how long Hasbro would make them wait until Obi-Wan Kenobi got the same upgrade. Unfortunately, they’d make collectors wait over two years. But Obi-Wan Kenobi is officially a part of the fifth wave of The Black Series Archive line. Emblazoned with the awful Lucasfilm 50th logo, it seems that we’ll see this eyesore for some time to come. That said, this release is the best that Obi-Wan Kenobi has ever looked. Although its tooling is outdated by current standards, this may be our only opportunity to grab this Episode III version of the character. It’s doubtful Hasbro would ever go back to the drawing board to redo a Prequel Trilogy character, but we suppose some slight possibility exists. Obi-Wan Kenobi looks good, but it still isn’t perfect, and that’s the takeaway here. The portrait isn’t a definitive likeness of the onscreen character, and it appears that Photo Real brought the likeness further, but not to a place it needs. Your opinion may vary.

Ironically, this figure received more attention than it deserved. The very first release, 2014’s TBS [P1] Obi-Wan Kenobi (#10) figure, might have been Hasbro’s worst peg-warming figure in the black and orange boxes. It was everywhere. Stores couldn’t give it away. And then, in typical Hasbro fashion, they thought it would make the ideal carry-forward figure in 2014 (the same year no less) The Black Series [Phase II] line as Obi-Wan Kenobi (#08) figure. And you probably already figured it out, but there were both orange/black and blue/black packaging of Obi-Wan Kenobi concurrently on multiple store shelves. Store pegs were in complete disarray from this figure alone. So, it makes sense why Hasbro waited nearly a decade before bringing the character out again into the 6-inch line, and The Black Series Archive line is the perfect home. In addition to a new paint job, Hasbro added a thicker lightsaber blade, which, for us, feels like an equally important upgrade for the figure as its deco enhancements. The figure looks better posed with a thicker lightsaber blade, although it’s still too pale and should be a brighter blue. It’s barely visible in photos.

We understand the need for Hasbro to contain costs whichever way they can. The Black Series Archive line exists because of its cost containment. So it makes sense why Hasbro doesn’t add anything new to the figures in this lineup. But would it have been entirely prohibitive to include a soft-goods robe with the “best” version of Obi-Wan Kenobi? The robes should be a quintessential inclusion with these updated collector-focused figures. How much more would Hasbro claim they’d need to charge to include more accessories than what they are currently in this large-scaled line? Why make an action figure if you can’t do it right from the start? But that’s another story. We want the most for this line, but if Hasbro is going cheap and repacking figures with a history of peg-warming without anything enticing to repurchase them, it seems like it’s more risk than a guaranteed sell. Obi-Wan Kenobi is a character that utilizes a ton of accessories in Episode III, so why does the 6-inch figure only come with a lightsaber (that splits into a hilt and a blade)? That said, there is no denying that this is a significant improvement to the existing tooling. Check it out.