Obi-Wan Kenobi - SW [DV/ROTS] - Saga Legends (SL13)

Obi-Wan Kenobi leads Clone Trooper forces into battle during the Clone Wars as a Jedi General. Using his skills as a warrior and negotiator, he helps the Republic achieve many victories.

Wave 3 of the Star Wars [Darth Vader/Revenge Of The Sith] Saga Legends line has its moments, but if there is a setback it would have to be with Obi-Wan Kenobi (SL13). After a rather stellar release as 2012’s TVC Obi-Wan Kenobi (VC103) which presented The Clone Wars film version of Obi-Wan Kenobi in realistic style for the very first time, Hasbro decided to revisit this particular take of him for the simplified Saga Legends line. Sadly, it just doesn’t work under this banner, or at least not in the way Hasbro approached him. Obi-Wan Kenobi truly brings a half-baked attempt at another unnecessary release of the realistic interpretation of Obi-Wan Kenobi with a sculpt that borders on “alright” but with horrific paint operations that will make him complete passable. Not only are the paint operations sloppy, they’re almost equally incorrect. And after multiple releases of this character throughout all of the phases in The Clone Wars line and what we thought to be a fantastic “ultimate” realistic figure in The Vintage Collection, we don’t see why Hasbro would waste a slot in the Saga Legends line to attack this version of Obi-Wan Kenobi again. We’re trying to come up with a reason to find merit with this action figure, but we are having difficulty doing so.

Obi-Wan Kenobi from The Clone Wars comes with five simple points of swivel articulation. The standard approach has been taken here: a swivel head is joined by swivel shoulders and swivel hips. As you expect, you really cannot attain a reasonable amount of movement from this action figure due to its articulation. And with the included lightsaber, it’s frustrating that you cannot place this action figure into any dynamic configurations…. at all. When compared to 2012’s TVC Obi-Wan Kenobi (VC103) figure, you’ll start cringing. The amount of detail, especially in the paint job is actually hurtful. Where the 2012 figure is black, the 2014 figure is tan. And the lack of battle-damage really affects the aesthetics of the character very much. Hasbro also neglected to include the Jedi insignia on Obi-Wan’s left shoulder blade. We know that sacrifices are made with Saga Legends figures, but this feels like a detail that shouldn’t be missed. If Hasbro feels there is a need to re-release this character, albeit in a new and simpler way, why take shortcuts that make it inferior visually. (We’re not talking articulation here.) And the sloppy paint operations for Obi-Wan’s hair and the missing tan paint on his outerwear make this one bitter pill to swallow. Again, we’re having great difficulty finding any redeeming qualities here.

When The Clone Wars abruptly came to an end, and Hasbro came clean that they would significantly reduce the amount of action figures based on the show, we feel that now is a very important time for them to waste/expend energy on creating characters they’ve never produced from the series. We know this won’t sit well with many collectors, but let’s be honest? Wouldn’t it have been much more acceptable/palatable for Hasbro to use the slot for this Obi-Wan Kenobi on maybe Pong Krell, or one of the many cool 501st Legion clones troopers seen throughout the series? We don’t claim to know it all, and we know Obi-Wan Kenobi is a core Star Wars character that sell very well, but there are enough versions of him out there already readily available that a release like this Saga Legends figure proves to us it’s completely not needed. And if we haven’t sold you our point yet, perhaps we should alert you to the fact that Obi-Wan Kenobi has been cast in one of the rubberiest plastics we have encountered to date. His left leg is so thin at the ankle that his posture started caving when photographing him in our studio. That’s not quality. And while it may be a budget figure, it should at least stand up unassisted in room temperature. But that’s just our two cents.