Jawas (Tatooine Scavengers) - SW [S - P3] - 12 Inch Figures

Jawas are a scavenger species that comb the Tatooine deserts in search of discarded scrap and wayward mechanicals. Using cobbled-together weaponry, they incapacitate droids and bring them to their treaded fortress-homes, immense sand-scarred vehicles known as sandcrawlers. Jawas form an important link in the circle of trade that connects the distant Tatooine communities. They sell their hastily refurbished junk to moisture farmers who are hard-pressed to find a better selection elsewhere. For their shoddy work and vagabond ways, they have a well-earned reputation as shady tradespeople who cheat the outlander colonists of Tatooine. The Jawas captured R2-D2 and C-3PO as the two droids searched for Obi-Wan Kenobi, then sold them to Owen Lars.

It was The Power Of The Force “2” era that gave Star Wars collectors the very first modern 12” scaled Jawa. With what should have been a cool feature, light-up eyes, the figure was more of a disappointment than success. Many collectors regarded this Jawa as a disaster. It was great to see Hasbro attack some of the smaller Star Wars characters in this scale. Most had to be all-new sculpts, and for the most part, they looked pretty good. But as far as that Jawa? Well, let’s say that Hasbro needed to approach it in a different manner. That time came in 2003 during the Star Wars “Saga” line. Packing two separate smaller figures in one 12 Inch Figure release allowed Hasbro to keep the packaging and the price the same while giving collectors a little bit more for their money. Overall, the 2003 interpretation of the Jawa character is significantly better, but the solid plastic sculpts, and the subsequent abandonment of soft-goods makes them feel just shy of complete.

Both Jawas are very similar. Billed as Jawas (Desert Scavengers), each Jawa comes with a permanently attached satchel as well as a unique ionization blaster. One comes with a strap while the other does not. Since Jawas are notorious for cobbling together droids with various tools; their weaponry should look different from each other. Interestingly, the sculpts of both Jawas are very similar. It’s obvious that the Jawas in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope all looked relatively the same to each other, but there were differences in height and even width of the creatures seen in the film. But the Jawas (Desert Scavengers) figures have very little difference to notate between each other. Not only do they look nearly identical, but they also have the same articulation: six basic swivel points of articulation. And frankly, it’s all the articulation they need. Since their robes are cast in plastic, and there are no remnants of soft-goods here, they truly have all of the articulation they need.

If you can accept that there are no soft-goods, we believe that these 2002 Jawas (Desert Scavengers) figures are the best Jawas have made to date. If they ever decided to shrink them down to 3.75” scale, they might be the best Jawas in that scale too. The details in their robes and other parts of their costumes are done extremely well. You’ll see marbling in the robes, and you’ll even find speckled white dirt accumulation around the hem of the robes as well as on their respective feet. The eyes on the Jawas look good, but they’re a little too perfectly circular. It’s no secret that they were rounded and bright in Episode IV, but they certainly weren’t two equidistant bright yellow discs. Still, they pass our own discriminatory eyes as acceptable, and their inaccuracies are distracted by the more positives things about these figures. Jawas (Desert Scavengers) are awesome 12 Inch Figures additions, but we also think they are a tad small next to the more normalized 12 Inch Figures in the line, like Garindan and Luke Skywalker. They may be better standalone figures when all is said and done. But they’re great.