Nabrun Leids & Kabe - TSC - Basic (SAGA 072)

Q: How do you make POTF2 figures acceptable for release in The Saga Collection? A: Repaint the heck out of them and make them look brand new of course! That’s exactly what Hasbro did for the Walmart exclusive Nabrun Leids & Kabe basic figure two-pack released late in the collection in February 2007. It’s quite remarkable how great this set looks despite the sculpts not being up to par with today’s articulation standards. Still, we think Hasbro did such a fantastic job on this set that a revisit to these characters may just not be needed any more. (It would be nice and if they have time great, but these figures now almost seamlessly fit into the modern line hiccup free.) We have claimed time and again that a good sculpt is determined by how nice the paint job is. When these figures were released in 1999 and 1998 respectively, they had decent paint jobs for the time. But they haven’t aged that well. Hasbro has almost made them timeless by brilliantly repainting them. They have ensured every detail is now captured and they are impressive beyond words. From the silver rings around Nabrun Leids’ goggles, to the newly cleaned up gold detail on Kabe’s dress, Hasbro has really raised the bar on these figures’ paint applications.

Nabrun Leids just looks fantastic now. The previously white spacesuit is now done up in a glistening silver. Hasbro retained the white boots (albeit with a faint dirty wash) and have replicated color for color what is seen in the dingy Chalmun’s Cantina scene in A New Hope. Nabrun Leids comes with eight points of articulation (but only because he has two extra arms). This pales in comparison to today’s articulation standards, but it works. He can hold the large rifle and can stand along the bar and that’s all he really needs to do. His species is Morseerian and his role in the galaxy is a smuggler. And like other Star Wars characters, oxygen is poisonous to his species, hence the mask. By 1999, Hasbro significantly bulked down their action figures so Nabrun Leids has good stature and doesn’t really look out of place with the rest of the figures in the collection. Kabe, the female Chadra-Fan, is less of repaint than Nabrun Leids, but Hasbro significantly cleaned up the brown “fur” portions of this figure. The blotchy tan smears are gone and in place a smoother and more natural textured brown is in place to resemble fur much more realistically. And as we’ve mentioned earlier, the gold details on Kabe’s outfir has been significantly improved.

Hasbro included both figures’ names on the included action figure stand. We would have much rather seen a stand for each, but this is what we’re given. And just like some other figures in the last three waves of the repacks and repaints, Nabrun Leids & Kabe have been packaged with an Attack Of The Clones stand (which is unfortunate in our opinion). Hasbro has corrected some of the other errors, but now that the line is officially completed with this Walmart exclusive wave, it’s unlikely that they will expend the time and energy to fix them. Nabrun Leids & Kabe are a great addition to the basic figure line. We don’t claim these figures are ultimate versions. But if the line ended tomorrow, it’s reasonable to consider these action figures as significant upgrades to their original versions. Between Nabrun Leids and Labria now updated in The Saga Collection, this leaves Takeel from the original 1999 POTF Cantina Aliens Cinema Scene as the sole action figure that hasn’t been updated. Interestingly and arguably, many consider Takeel the modern replacement for Snaggletooth. While we wait and see what happens with them, be sure to get these repaints. They are that good.