Ronto And Jawa - POTF2 [R/G] - Creatures

HEIGHT: 4.25 Meters (Average)
HOMEWORLD: Tatooine
USES: Pack Animal
CHARACTERISTICS: Excellent Sense of Smell, Poor Vision... Often Startled by Sudden Movement

George Lucas expressed that the streets of Mos Eisley just weren’t bustling enough for his tastes (and budget) when the original version of Star Wars was released. In 1997 he got to tinker with the classic film and add the things he felt were left out, including a sensory overloaded sequence of the street of Mos Eisley. In just a few short moment she added enough newness that it made A New Hope feel like a whole new film in spots. And in these newly added he scenes he introduced Star Wars fans to new characters, creatures and vehicles that were as exciting as they were bittersweet. One of the more unforgettable scenes included a spooked Ronto who throws a pair of Jawa riders off of it and they go flying when the beast rears up on its hind legs. The culprit? The Ronto got startled by a swoop bike. Believable, yes? Kenner decided to add the Ronto And Jawa Creature set in their new Creature Assortment and they really did a great job translating the beast from digital to three-dimensional toy.

The Ronto really looks fantastic aesthetically. But we have to confess that we’re truly disappointed with the action feature added to it. When you move the Ronto’s back legs, the neck moves which allows the Jawa to be pulled off of the saddle just like the scene from Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope Special Edition. The gesture is appreciated we suppose, but it wasn’t necessary. Action features rarely work to the benefit of a figure’s aesthetics. For the Ronto, all is certainly not lost, but this animal would have turned out incredibly better if Kenner just abandoned it altogether. The sculpt is pretty amazing. The Ronto is scaly and elephant like. It also borrows a similar shape to some of the most popular dinosaurs we learned about in grade school. The Ronto is obviously oddly familiar and does fit into the Star Wars universe nicely. But the whole scene in which it appeared was gimmicky at best, so we’re not sure how many fans took it seriously. To top things off, the paint operations are beautiful. The Ronto doesn’t have a full palette of color, but Kenner decorated it stunningly.

The bonus pack-in here is the Jawa. It definitely resembles the figures from 1996’s POTF2 [R/G] Jawas two-pack. In the basic figure release, some hailed the small Jawa too small, and the larger Jawa too big. This new pack-in Jawa is right in the middle of the two of them, so perhaps this one can be considered “just right”. The coloring of the figure is more similar to the smaller Jawa in the basic figure release, but it also has a unique paint scheme which makes it unique as well. Also, unlike the basic figure releases, this Jawa’s head is easily movable. It also has a nice head sculpt, better than what we have seen to date. That stupid yet effective “light port” light-up eye feature is also once again present here, but we just wish instead Kenner would just paint the eyes in bright yellow paint instead. That would be more effective to us. The Jawa also comes with an ionization blaster for extra play value. The Ronto And Jawa set is nice. It isn’t perfect. But as a display piece, we honestly doubt that you’ll take much issue with this set. It’s really nicely done.