Hem Dazon - TSC - Basic (SAGA 033)

Who could forget the moment the world was introduced to the first Chalmun’s cantina alien from Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope? It was the Arcona Hem Dazon and he left an imprint on fans’ minds so strongly that many of us associate him as symbol of the hive of scum and villainy that fills the seedy four walls. Hem Dazon also showed moviegoers that the Star Wars universe was filled with various shapes and sizes, styled and appearances and what we should expect to encounter if we ever entered their world. Ultimately, Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi did have to encounter Hem Dazon and many others in order to find a star pilot that would take them to Alderaan. Luke’s droid was holding secrets to the greatest threat in the galaxy and it was up to him to get R2-D2 there safely. We honestly feel that Hem Dazon is severely overdue in the basic figure line. But in Hasbro’s defense, they had very little to work with to develop a full “head to toe” action figure. After all, this alien was nothing more than a head on a stick and it would be up to Hasbro and any Expanded Universe sources possible that would help define the standard outfit of an Arcona. Technically, this makes the release of Hem Dazon more of an Expanded Universe character than one sourced to A New Hope. But that may be splitting hairs way too much for collectors.

Hem Dazon however has been well worth the wait. Just a year shy of 30 years have passed since the release of A New Hope in theaters and the release of a Hem Dazon basic action figure. The further we get away from these films, collectors begin to panic that we may never see many of the cantina aliens we want, but a release like Hem Dazon proves that Hasbro is committed to this vast alien subgroup and that they will continue to produce them by including them year after year in the basic figure lines. As a character that we can truly only judge from the neck up, we have to say that Hem Dazon looks pretty good to the character onscreen. We have noticed that the action figure does not contain any glittering eyes like the movie prop does, but Hasbro utilized a very nice pearly paint operation which really gives Hem Dazon that much needed pearly effect in his eyes. It looks like Hasbro went for a bounty hunter look for Hem Dazon, and he borrows an overall similar approach as Bossk (complete with bare feet). His three-pronged hands and feet are of a unique design and he certainly has been inspired from various exotic bird and reptile species as evidenced by the shape and texture of his digits. The Expanded Universe tells us he is a lover of salt. Not that we can tell by the action figure, but his skin does look a little dehydrated. It’s been done very, very well.

Hem Dazon comes with plenty of articulation, but only comes with ball-jointed shoulders. The rest of the figure is simple swivel articulation. We personally find this disappointing as we really hope Hasbro moves as far away as possible from swivel articulation in general. The Saga Collection is a line that is thriving quite well on repacks and retools, but Hem Dazon is an all-new sculpt. This makes him especially exciting to buy. Plus, this excellently sculpted and painted action figures comes with a ton of awesome accessories to add to the play value. He comes with a red-handled blaster pistol and it can be stowed away in his functioning holster when not in use. The best accessories for us however are the bar glass and bar table. And for variation hunters, just like Momaw Nadon (SAGA 031), Hem Dazon can also be found with three unique bar glasses. There is no doubt that the tables aren’t screen accurate, but they do a world of good providing the figure with a neat little environmental backdrop as well as a spot to rest his glass when he’s not drinking from it. If we could change this figure we would remove the swivel elbows and resculpt one of his hands to better accommodate the red-handled blaster pistol. Right now Hem Dazon has great difficulty holding. It’s so frustrating in fact that you’ll likely tire of it falling out of his hands and just place it in his holster. Design wise Hem Dazon is a pure bundle of joy. Most of us will just be posing him in our cantina dioramas anyway. There is probably not much more we really need from this action figure anyhow.