Kit Fisto - ROTS - Basic (III 22)

Kit Fisto is a Jedi Master of great skill and vision. He can breathe underwater, making him well suited for missions above and below sea level. He is asked by Mace Windu to help arrest Supreme Chancellor Palpatine for treason.

Poor Kit Fisto! On paper this Revenge Of The Sith action figure should have turned out to be one of Hasbro’s finest creations. But in practicality, it’s sadly just not going to be a figure that will stand the test of time. A figure that excels in superb sculpting and proportions should turn out fantastic as a production figure, shouldn’t it? But this fantastic sculpt with even better articulation fails mostly because of its paint job. What terrible shame that the sculpting art is rendered borderline unnoticeable thanks to an unacceptable decorum. Kit Fisto appears much too bleached out and the direction the paint job took actually adversely affects the sculpt. If you look beyond the paint job on this figure (which is difficult because it’s so glaring), it is possible to notice an intricate and quite accurate representation of this character. What’s tragic is that this is actually a rather impressive figure, but between the fire engine red details in the eyes and head and the inconsistent ends of the head tresses, Kit Fisto needs to head straight back to the drawing board for Hasbro artists to discover a way to decorate this mold with justice. The art department has failed this figure terribly. What is so disconcerting about this figure is that it’s relatively excellent in so many other ways. It is nearly super-articulated and comes simply accessorized.

Kit Fisto comes with a lightsaber hilt with a detachable lightsaber blade. We’ve said it 100 times in this column that this type of lightsaber is bittersweet. It kills two birds with one stone, but the tip that secures the blade to the hilt is so fragile that breakage is very common. We have even encountered samples of these lightsabers where the insertion point of the actual hilt has breakage issues from time to time. The hole in the hilt to accept the blade sometimes has a wall that is much too thin and just crumbles under the pressure. But keep in mind that having a separate hilt is something most collectors like to see. It’s awesome when you can attach the hilt to any Jedi’s belt for realism and authenticity. But since the current methods aren’t working out ideally as Hasbro would have hoped, the only viable solution going forward is to include a lit lightsaber and a lightsaber hilt as two separate accessories. Kit Fisto also comes with an environmental display stand. (We love these things!) But sadly, the accessory he is missing the most could be interpreted as the most important. Kit Fisto comes with no soft-goods outer robe. When he confronted Chancellor Palpatine, he was in full garb. Kit Fisto feels more like how he appeared in Attack Of The Clones in the Genosis Arena because of this. (We should probably mention that Kit Fisto had a completely different facial appearance in that film.)

That being said, we have to give credit where credit due. The sculpt and articulation of Kit Fisto is excellent. He comes with 13 amazing points of articulation. A swivel head, ball-jointed shoulders, ball-jointed elbows, swivel wrists, swivel wait, swivel hips, ball-jointed knees and one swivel boot all comprise the movement of this version of Kit Fisto. But once again we’re drawn to the question of how it was possible for his final coloring get approved by Hasbro…. or even by Lucasfilm, Ltd. for that matter to look like this. It’s simply mind-boggling. The joints original came tight on this figure, but with constant manipulation become a little loose over time. We find this frustrating. Tight joints are a basic necessity in this day and age of collecting. Obviously Kit Fisto will need a revisit down the road. There are just too many things not perfect here for us to forgive or ignore. (Editor’s Note: The Vintage Collection brought us an absolutely definitive version of Kit Fisto. It’s one of Hasbro’s crowning achievements.) Kit Fisto is one of our most favorite Star Wars characters of all time, so it’s hard to see this figure suffer the way it does. But we suppose if you can find an extra Jedi robe lying around somewhere and put it on him that it might cover up some of the things that are so wrong with Kit Fisto. Until we wait for a perfect version, this one will stick in our craw as needing an update as soon as possible.