Jawa & LIN Droid - TAC - Basic (30 19)

Bands of Jawas scavenge Tatooine for discarded droids and machinery to repair and resell. One of the droids that the Jawas show to Owen Lars during the sale of C-3PO and R2-D2 is a LIN mining and demolition droid created to lay mines and perform demolition operations.

Sometimes Hasbro really impresses collectors. Such is true for the 2007 take on the popular Jawa character. It has been a standard in the modern era of Star Wars toys to never include a Jawa by himself. Hasbro is always sure to include either a second Jawa or (more recently) a droid) into the basic figure package. This of course makes for an incredibly worthwhile purchase for us. For the 30 (77-07) collection, Hasbro revisited the Jawa from the ground up and made and all-new version and it’s a style we have not yet seen in the basic figure line. And the changes are absolutely for the better. The Jawa still has his bandolier, but he always comes outfitted with a vest. What’s more, we get for the first time the droid caller that fits nicely on the side of his body. We have wanted that accessory forever and now we finally have it. This is a great two-pack to buy, but it’s also good to know that the set is not without some faults. But for display purposes, this is everything you could want to complete that awesome “purchase of the droids” scene that has stuck in our minds like glue since we were kids.

The Jawa is indeed a beautiful sculpt and has some great articulation. But he’s essentially a statue from the waist down. This won’t affect dioramas, but if you like some flexibility in your action figures, you’ll only get it in the Jawa’s upper body. We also aren’t necessarily crazy about the downward pose of his head, but this doesn’t mean it isn’t a spectacular design. Hasbro opted to leave out the gimmicky light eye port effect (thank the Maker) and have painted the eyes in a bright color to attain this effect naturally. The Jawa has some interesting color choices (we think the vest is a little out of place specifically) but overall he has that perfectly “worn Tatooine” look and thanks to a great paint job, meets our criteria as a beautifully decorated action figure. And while it’s super terrific to get an all-new Jawa sculpted for this two-pack, the really exciting thing is the LIN Droid. You may want to immediately criticize the reduced scale and you may have a point, but it just wouldn’t be the right thing to do here. Hasbro crafted a truly remarkable droid to accompany the Jawa and we couldn’t be more excited for it.

The LIN Droid (also known as LIN-V8K) is true craftsmanship at its finest. As we have mentioned, it may be a little bit too small, but it looks comparable to the Jawa and this is the most important thing to consider here. Hasbro has treated us by giving this droid a translucent and removable dome which houses underneath a most impressive motherboard with tons of color and details which should make customizers extremely happy. There is a lot to take in with this action figure and it’s quite amazing how much detail Hasbro decided to include on this droid. On top of this, two sensors, a light attachment and an articulated claw are also part of this droid’s design and it is just incredible. When completely assembled, the LIN Droid is one remarkable piece of machinery and will likely bring the Jawas a premium to their sandy sales floor in front of the Lars Homestead. But the will of the Force had other plans, didn’t it? This set is a no-brainer for us and an absolute must-have for any owners of 2004’s OTC Sandcrawler as you’ll definitely need the LIN Droid to complete this scene in your collection. So we recommend concentrating on the positive stuff this set brings. It should make you quite happy.