Obi-Wan Kenobi (General Of The Republic Army) - CW - Basic (’03 #45)

Begun the Clone Wars has!" – Jedi Master Yoda
On the remote planet of Geonosis, the growing conflict between the Republic and its foes explodes into all-out war. The Republic's Jedi Knights lead a massive Clone Army into battle on hundreds of planets. The Separatists, led by the powerful Dark Lords of the Sith, fight back with their own formidable droid armies. As this terrible conflict rips across the galaxy, Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala and Obi-Wan Kenobi are swept into the turmoil of war and the rising shadow of the dark side.

As a general in the Republic Army, Obi-Wan Kenobi leads Clone Army warriors and ARC Troopers in ground battles throughout the galaxy. Coming up against the formidable Droid Army, Obi-Wan achieves hard-won victories against enemy forces. On the planet Muunilinst, home of the Intergalactic Banking Clan, he struggles to destroy the Hailfire Droid factories that are supplying the Separatist forces with their military forces. Armed with his lightsaber, survival gear, an array of new weapons and his innate resourcefulness, Obi-Wan attempts to strike a decisive blow against the enemy army. He also encounters a new enemy during the Clone Wars with the appearance of Durge, a bounty hunter on a personal mission to destroy the clones because of their Mandalorian heritage.

The realistic Clone Wars line, of which many are directly inspired from the Genndy Tartakovsky Clone Wars micro-series, and bringing for the most part a new level of quality to the 3.75” basic figure line. Not all of the figure can be defined as absolute perfection, but Hasbro has stepped up the game for many of the figures in the line. The Star Wars “Saga” line hasn’t been too kind to the Episode II likenesses of Obi-Wan Kenobi. It took Hasbro until the Clone Wars line to being to collectors a pretty decent action figure of the character that has updated articulation and a portrait that looks like it wasn’t caught in a vice grip. While far from perfect, Obi-Wan Kenobi (General Of The Republic Army) is a vast improvement from the versions we already have and now it’s specific to the Clone Wars multimedia event. He comes with extra accessories that aren’t specific to Episode II, but they’re removable so you an essentially have an updated version of the character from Attack Of The Clones.

A little too rigid and lacking some important articulation, this figure still remains a marked update for the character. Obi-Wan Kenobi (General Of The Republic Army) has been sculpted in an action pose, which actually suits his articulation very well. His legs are outstretched in a leap forward to attack the very near Separatist droids looking to make his day. Aside from a better, but not perfect head sculpt, the rest of Obi-Wan Kenobi (General Of The Republic Army) is sculpted quite well and has a deco that allows its best parts to brightly shine through and stand out. The figure comes with three accessories: a lightsaber, a bandolier and a backpack. The bandolier and backpack accessories are actually interactive. The backpack plugs into the bandolier and the pieces have been designed very well so that the backpack stays in place without any issues. It’s also remarkably easy to remove the bandolier from the figure. This is good if you’re looking to make him look a little more Episode II specific.

Obi-Wan Kenobi (General Of The Republic Army) comes with eight points of swivel articulation. Obviously this isn’t an ideal situation for any action figure, but the points have been cut in a way that make them useful for the sculpt. Please don’t get the idea that this is a great version of a quasi Episode II Obi-Wan Kenobi action figure. It needs a whole lot of help, but we just want to express that Hasbro made strides to make Obi-Wan Kenobi better. The Clone Wars line is bringing collectors a slew of realistically styled action figures based on various aspects of the Clone Wars multimedia event. And for the most part, in fact with very few exceptions, the action figures have turned out quite well. But Hasbro definitely has some work to do before any of us can consider them definitive versions of the characters. Obi-Wan Kenobi (General Of The Republic Army) is definitely one action figure that needs work, but you’ll find that he fits in with the rest of the figure in this line nicely.