Obi-Wan Kenobi - SW [DV/ROTS] - 12-Inch Figures

Obi-Wan Kenobi is a wise Jedi Master who fights to save the Republic alongside his friend Anakin Skywalker, a Jedi Knight who was once Kenobi's apprentice.

Hasbro shows no signs of slowing down producing the “shampoo bottles” for the Star Wars kids line. Arguably one of the most controversial moves in Hasbro’s long and illustrious career, the new format of 12-Inch Figures has adult collectors completely perplexed. But Hasbro defends their position on this line by explaining that these figures are designed for younger audiences and not for adults, well, not the gift-giving adults we should qualify. What makes this difficult to swallow is that it has been the adult population who has supported this line for years, including 12” figures. Remember the Action Collection and Collector Series lines? While many were far from perfection, some of those collectible remain the favorites by collectors even today. They possessed charm, collectability and were designed with the hardcore Star Wars fan in mind. But the 2013 Star Wars [Darth Vader/Revenge Of The Sith] 12-Inch Figures? Well, let’s just say they leave a LOT to be desired.

We wish that we could say that Obi-Wan Kenobi sets the new 12-Inch Figures line back on the straight and narrow. But he doesn’t. The sculpt seems like it might be alright, but between the stiff posture, the limited articulation, and the horrid paint operations, we wonder who would want to buy this for either themselves or to give it away as a gift for a young Star Wars fans. Obi-Wan Kenobi comes with seven points of articulation. But many of the points, save for the shoulders and hips, don’t have an ideal range of motion. Granted, we’re talking about swivel articulation here, but Obi-Wan Kenobi’s head and wrists don’t FULLY articulate. We have to wonder why they even bothered sculpting separate parts for the wrists if they’re not going to give them the full range of movement they need, especially when one of them has a permanently sculpted lightsaber in it. Speaking of that lightsaber, Hasbro was gracious enough to include a removable blue lightsaber blade. Believe it or not, we find this to be a benefit for this figure, because, well, Obi-Wan Kenobi comes with relatively no other features.

We really to focus a few moments on the head sculpt. It appears to have potential. The sculpt favors the onscreen actor and character. But the much-too-dark hair color and awfully painted details (especially the eyes) make you wish that they had done a better job decorating this figure. The paint operations do not breath life into this 12-Inch action figure. With only swivel articulation, kids and collectors alike will likely get frustrated trying to pose this thing because you’re so limited with how you can position him. Sadly, we have to ponder why Hasbro even bothered adding swivel hips to this figure, unless the point of that was to allow the figure to sit. No matter how we assess this figure, we consistently discover that we are let down by it. If there is a market for these figures, then that is great. But we just see the constant dumbing-down of our favorite brand. And we don’t see high quality returning throughout any of it. If this is the demise of an era, we just wish it would have gone out with a bang instead.