Jar Jar Binks - TBS [P4] - Six Inch Figures (TPM01)

A clumsy, well-meaning Gungan outcast on Naboo, Jar Jar Binks struggled to prove his worth throughout his life.

We believe there are more Jar Jar Binks fans than the Star Wars community cares to admit. No matter if you like the content of this character or not, most Star Wars fans agree that the Gungan species’ design is something that they can get behind. Sure, Jar Jar Binks acted like a buffoon. But if you look at the physical traits, most will concede that they are interesting-looking aliens. Something has kept Jar Jar Binks afloat with Hasbro. Yes, indeed, they don’t approach The Phantom Menace that often for product ideas, but they produce some rather impressive toys for us when they do. It took Hasbro a long time to branch out beyond Darth Maul in The Black Series 6” line. But within five years of that figure’s release, we did receive Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Padawan). But Jar Jar Binks marks the first time Hasbro added something from Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace in quite some time. To date, Hasbro appears only to be comfortable releasing main characters from The Phantom Menace, and even then, they are few and far between in the line. Jar Jar Binks also marks a departure in their handling of Episode I characters. It’s the first alien from the film. If we’re all honest, The Black Series 6” line is much too light of many popular aliens from George Lucas’ Star Wars universe. The Jar Jar Binks The Black Series 6” figure is an admirable effort of the Gungan outcast. Still, we take a few significant exceptions with this action figure.

This complaint might be a bone of contention for collectors of the 6” line, but there is no way possible we will justify the $29.99 MSRP for Jar Jar Binks. Jar Jar Binks is no more special than Qui-Gon Jinn or Darth Maul (which came with a boatload of accessories). To charge more for this figure for reasons unknown is egregious. Even if Hasbro added additional articulation to Jar Jar Binks (which they didn’t), that wouldn’t be enough reason to charge $29.99 for Jar Jar Binks. This figure, along with the included accessories, offers a $19.99 value to collectors. There is nothing more here, nor nothing less. And Hasbro needs to stop selling these “Deluxe” figures under false pretenses. If they wanted to charge $29.99 for Jar Jar Binks, they should have included a wealth of additional accessories here, and we’re talking about some large ones. How about a cannon? How about a kaadu. The latter is a joke, but hopefully, you catch our drift here. But the lack of value isn’t the only problem afflicting the Jar Jar Binks 6” figure. Why does Jar Jar Binks look so serious? The character is a bumbling idiot in The Phantom Menace. So why does this action figure look so glum and gloomy? The other issue is that the paint operations on Jar Jar Binks aren’t perfect. There are multiple areas on the figure that are too dark, especially in the face. The ears look too dark as well. We’re not sure what went awry with this figure’s deco. We have to admit that we’re a little disappointed.

Jar Jar Binks comes with four accessories. The first is an electropole, which breaks down into two parts. We feel this accessory is rather useless without a beast of burden like a kaadu included. The thickness of it seems too thin, but we’re not sure if we are assessing this detail correctly or not. Jar Jar Binks comes with hands that don’t grasp the electropole tightly, so you may experience some frustration when trying to pose the figure with it. Also included is an activated personal energy shield. Hasbro did an outstanding job tooling this accessory, and the Jar Jar Binks holds onto it tightly with a variety of poses. It’s a stunningly beautiful accessory, and the purple glow Hasbro worked into the shield provides a fantastic effect on the figure when poses behind it. It’s nearly as tall as Jar Jar Binks, and it’s wide enough to protect the figure from the Separatist Droid Army attacks. The final accessory is an atlatl with a boomer ball permanently attached to it. We’re slightly disappointed that Hasbro didn’t include additional boomer balls, and we’re more disappointed that the atlatl isn’t a separate accessory as well. The atlatl interacts with Jar Jar Binks beautifully too, and we believe it’s our most-favorite look for the figure to utilize. As you can see, Jar Jar Binks comes with an adequate amount of accessories, but there’s nothing “premium” or “deluxe” here to justify a $10 addition to the MSRP. Jar Jar Binks is a good-looking, albeit imperfect, action figure. But you’ll probably overlook the negative we pointed out.