Grand Moff Tarkin - TBSA - Six Inch Figures

An ambitious, ruthless proponent of military power, Wilhuff Tarkin became a favorite of Emperor Palpatine and rose rapidly through the Imperial ranks.

Did 2018’s TBS [P3] Grand Moff Tarkin (63) figure not meet demand or something? We were surprised to see a relatively unchanged Grand Moff Tarkin get added to The Black Series Archive line. There must have been requests from the collecting community to see this character on store pegs again. Hasbro did very little to the new version. Aside from a slightly darker shade of skin and hair and an equally subtle change in costume color, Grand Moff Tarkin remains relatively unchanged. As one of the core characters from Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, it makes sense why Hasbro wants to keep the Galactic Empire’s leader in the 6-inch lineup. We’re only surprised that it’s part of their “greatest hits” assortment less than five years from its original release. The Black Series [Phase III] Grand Moff Tarkin (63) figure was excellent when first released. We have always struggled to criticize the figure, but we think the one issue that the figure has is something that Hasbro hasn’t ever been able to capture in any scale: the likeness looks much younger than the character’s age. The re-released version in The Black Series Archive line has the same “issue,” but if you can overlook this, you will enjoy the figure all over again.

Grand Moff Tarkin has a phenomenal head sculpt, as expected. Hasbro noted great attention to detail regarding the actor’s geometric face shape. Hasbro also perfectly executed the character’s distinct jawline. And the “angry” brow reflects the iron-fisted rule this character enacts on opponents, most notably the freedom fighters of the Rebel Alliance. The Photo Real applications look good on the figure. But we’re inclined to point out that something is slightly off about them. Still, the most prominent “issue” here is that Grand Moff Tarkin looks a tad too young. Again, we’re able to look the other way with this issue. It happened in the 3.75-inch line, so it was destined to occur in the 6-inch line. If Hasbro decided to go a little heavier on the paint operations to provide more age, it would have been a risk of making the figure look too old or with too much makeup. We believe they’ve reached a decent balance with this final production figure. The side view profile of Grand Moff Tarkin is exquisite. The silhouette it creates is eerily lifelike. The costume is also a perfect balance of gray and green but looks a tad greener this time now. This detail is something that The Vintage Collection release failed miserably to attempt to achieve.

Accessories are light with Grand Moff Tarkin, but regardless, we technically get a “second” figure here. Hasbro included an IT-O interrogator droid. This droid would have paired much more nicely with their 6-inch Darth Vader figure, but they saved it for Grand Moff Tarkin. What’s interesting is that past 3.75-inch versions of this character came with blaster pistols, MSE droids, or both. They always were an excellent addition included with the figures. As we enter a new scale, Hasbro opted for a screen-accurate character with an odd pairing. The IT-O interrogator droid is a nicely detailed figure. It comes with all of the necessary torture devices, including the infamous hypodermic needle used on Princess Leia Organa. It comes with a removable “invisible” display stand with a ball-socket joint, and it fits into a ball-socket cavity on the underside of the droid. This setup allows the IT-O interrogator droid to pivot with a beautiful range of movement. Hasbro executed the paint operations on the droid nicely here. Most importantly, Hasbro perfectly matched the interrogator droid’s shape, size, and scale for the 6-inch figure scale. All in all, the re-released Grand Moff Tarkin looks excellent. But do you need this version as well?