Obi-Wan Kenobi (A New Hope) - Mini Busts

As the Jedi's ranks were wiped out by the machinations of the emergent Empire, Obi-Wan went into hiding on Tatooine. He would stay there for decades, adopting the name of Ben. During the height of the Galactic Civil War, Leia Organa secured plans to the Empire's most diabolical weapon -- the Death Star. Her mission was to contact Obi-Wan Kenobi, and bring both Kenobi and the plans to her adoptive father on Alderaan.

There probably isn’t a more respected Jedi amongst Star Wars fans than Obi-Wan Kenobi, especially “old Ben” as he appeared in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. Surprisingly, Obi-Wan Kenobi wasn’t immediately on Gentle Giant Ltd.’s radar for quite some time after their first pieces were made in 2002. It took half of a decade, but they finally came through for collectors and delivered a good representation of the aged Jedi Master, although we have to express the likeness isn’t flawless. Most licenses (including Hasbro’s very small 3.75” action figures) are able to replicate the Episode IV version of Obi-Wan Kenobi with relative ease, so it’s surprising that the Obi-Wan Kenobi (A New Hope) Mini Bust isn’t jaw-dropping or impressive beyond measure. Again, it’s good but just doesn’t have the “wow factor” that so many of their previously made Mini Busts do.

You may be surprised to know that we’re at a loss to pinpoint where exactly the Mini Bust interpretation lacks. It may be as simple as the likeness isn’t the best as it could be. Obi-Wan Kenobi (A New Hope) doesn’t look wise. His expression borders on “doofy” and while it’s very possible our assessment is off, there definitely something missing from his normally expressive eyes. There’s just something missing. The pose of Obi-Wan Kenobi is done quite well however. His arms are crossed and his left hand is nearly rested on his chin (or moments from reaching there). His head is cocked to the left and the drape of his outer robes (mostly) and inner robes have been designed very realistically. You’ll also see his lightsaber hanging from his belt. The colorings throughout the Mini Bust are also very accurate. His robes are the standard brown color that we see on so many other Jedi and the details on his head/face have indeed been done nicely, even if it’s not the best likeness of him.

Obi-Wan Kenobi (An New Hope) has an edition size of 6000 pieces. This means that everyone who wants one will be able to get one. Edition sizes outside of 5000, no matter how popular the character is, are just too many for the Mini Bust format. Besides, collectors of this line love to see low (and even lower that that) edition sizes. It’s hard to for us to score this piece as excellent. It has some really great points to it and there certainly is a strong resemblance to Sir Alec Guinness. But there are some aesthetics that are off about it. Obi-Wan Kenobi (A New Hope) is necessary for those who collect them all, but the casual collector may want to wait and see what Gentle Giant Ltd. will do about a revised piece (many with hood up or without outer robes altogether). That we feel is a bit unlikely, but this particular Mini Bust doesn’t hit it out of the park. Hopefully if another opportunity arises they’ll produce a better version of him.