Qui-Gon Jinn (Jedi Duel) - EI - Basic

A wise and powerful Jedi, Qui-Gon Jinn discovers young Anakin Skywalker, proving to be a pivotal event to the future of the Jedi and to the entire galaxy for generations to come.

The very first Qui-Gon Jinn action figure was one that was based on his lightsaber duel with Darth Maul (alongside Obi-Wan Kenobi). While we strongly feel that none of these action figures were suitable to be the interpretations of these action-packed heroes and villain, we feel that Qui-Gon Jinn (Jedi Duel) may be the worst of the three. He is way too stiff, way too lanky and has another one of those “deer in headlights” expressions on his face. What makes this so frustrating is that Qui-Gon Jinn (Jedi Duel) has a head sculpt that should have turned out much better than it did. Perhaps it’s the “much too dark” skin tone or the “not so nicely applied” paint operations, Qui-Gon Jinn (Jedi Duel) seemed to have been in need of some desperate refinement before the final version was approved for mass production. Just like Darth Maul (Jedi Duel) and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Jedi Duel), Qui-Gon Jinn (Jedi Duel) comes with some enhanced articulation, but the articulation system of the upper body which includes swivel shoulders, swivel elbows and swivel wrists don’t function together that well to develop some screen accurate poses. In fact, the inability to achieve believable lightsaber-wielding poses is quite aggravating.

Qui-Gon Jinn (Jedi Duel) does have a good sculpt. And more importantly he is tall. Thank goodness Hasbro is focusing on scale in the Episode I line. We believe that full success was not achieved with the portrait because the paint operations just aren’t up to speed. It’s hard to pinpoint what went wrong on this action figure, but perhaps between not applying a crisp paint job to the shape of the eyes not being accurate to actor Liam Neeson, we just feel that Qui-Gon Jinn (Jedi Duel) has missed the boat. Add to that the articulation issues we spoke of earlier and you’re left with an action figure that just doesn’t deliver like it should. From the neck down however, Qui-Gon Jinn (Jedi Duel) has been sculpted very nicely. The details in the Jedi costume including the shirt, pants and boots are done very well and capture the outfit we saw in the film very well. What’s more, the paint operations from the neck down are excellent as well. It seems that more attention was given to this figure below the neck, but sadly collectors need a great head sculpt in order to move forward with liking a figure or not. So, Hasbro has some work to do before all is well with getting a decent Qui-Gon Jinn action figure.

Plus, we feel that Qui-Gon Jinn (Jedi Duel) also suffers from a much too boxy torso, very much like his Padawan learner. We’re not sure why this approach has been taken for the Jedi ‘s costumes. Qui-Gon Jinn (Jedi Duel) has a strange center of gravity. He can stand well when you get the bottoms of his feet flush with any surface, but when you accomplish this it looks like the figure has his nose/head in the air and he looks rather snobby. Even if you articulate his body downward it’s nearly impossible to rid the sculpt of this phenomenon. In other words, when you display Qui-Gon Jinn (Jedi Duel), Obi-Wan Kenobi (Jedi Duel) and Darth Maul (Jedi Duel) in a display, Qui-Gon will not look like he is engaged in the battle, that his thoughts are somewhere else and not in the duel that rages between the Jedi and the Sith. Packaged in with Qui-Gon Jinn (Jedi Duel) is a CommTech chip, but you probably know about these very well now. It will be more beneficial in your collection as a display stand than anything else, so that’s what we would suggest doing with it. Qui-Gon Jinn (Jedi Duel) is far from perfect. And we hope that he is on tap for a much better upgrade soon.