Rune Haako - EI - Basic

A viceroy of the Trade Federation, Rune Haako plots with fellow Neimoidian, Nute Gunray, as they impose the iron-handed rule of Darth Sidious.

Rune Haako is another brilliant action figure in the Episode I line. Like his counterpart, Nute Gunray, these two action figures show why the “saltshaker” approach works incredibly well for some characters. Thankfully, Rune Haako comes with a little more added articulation, in the elbows this time, so you can make him gesture angrily at Queen Amidala and her constituents. What makes Rune Haako a stunning action figure aside from his divine sculpt is his paint operations. We have read opinions from prominent collectors how terrible the faces of the Neimoidians look with the paint jobs they’ve been given, but we couldn’t disagree more vehemently with those critics. It is figures like Rune Haako that should show collectors that as far as articulation is concerned, less is more, and that pennies should be reserved for the beautiful paint operations give to these figures to breathe them to life. Rune Haako takes both into account and the final result is an action figure that should remain one of your favorites in the entire lineup.

In all honesty, we feel Rune Haako is a little more striking than Nute Gunray. Sure, Nute Gunray is more colorful, but the color palette on Rune Haako just blends more seamlessly together. His hat is extremely ornate (and sadly not removable), but it has a wonderful drape and is made from a strong plastic so it shouldn’t lose its shape too easily. The sleeves on his outer robes look like they’ve been ripped from Hellraiser, yet they look majestic and official like someone high in office would wear. The mostly brown costume is loaded with textures and the finest of details. Not a single thing was overlooked and you could sense the passion of the sculptor who made this action figure a possibility. Complete with eight points of articulation, Rune Haako comes with a swivel head, a swivel waist, swivel shoulders, swivel elbows and swivel hips. Again, much like Nute Gunray, we’re thoroughly impressed that Hasbro actually took the time to procure the figure with lower body movement. But it is very much appreciated. This figure looks beautiful regardless of its articulation.

We should have noted that paint operations can vary from one action figure to the next. But when it came to Rune Haako, most ended up looking very nice to us at least. The figure comes without any accessories, but maybe that’s just fine anyway. We didn’t see them wielding any guns and they were always surrounded by their protectors anyway: B1 battle droids. Their species appeared very cowardly to us in the film. That doesn’t however come across on the action figures of them . They actually seem a bit intimidating. Despite not many collectors liking the role of the Neimoidians in The Phantom Menace, most overlooked their banal dialogue because their appearances and traits were so interesting and reminded longtime Star Wars fans of what one might find in the cantina in Mos Eisley. And any new aliens are cool to one degree or another, aren’t they? Although Rune Haako comes without any accessories, he does come with a CommTech chip so you can hear dialogue from the movie from him. By the time this figure was release, the spark and magic of the CommTech program was waning. It doesn’t matter, it’s all about the action figures anyway, isn’t it?