Obi-Wan Kenobi - TSC - The Episode III Heroes & Villains Collection (8 of 12)

Obi-Wan Kenobi goes to the volcanic lava planet of Mustafar to confront Anakin Skywalker, who has fallen to the dark side. The two friends are now fierce enemies and face off in a climactic lightsaber duel.

In a movie year, Hasbro is going to ensure that they make plenty of different versions of all the main characters. Obi-Wan Kenobi received a lot of this attention of course. He showed up in the Revenge Of The Sith basic figure line no less than three separate times. He was released as the opening figure, 2005's ROTS Obi-Wan Kenobi (III 1), the super-articulated (and very awesome) Obi-Wan Kenobi (III 55) figure and finally 2005's ROTS Obi-Wan Kenobi (III 27). It is this latter version that was repacked and added to the 2006 The Saga Collection's The Episode III Heroes & Villains Collection. It seems that so many of the Obi-Wan Kenobi releases are riddled by action features and it’s a shame because they are actually pretty decent sculpts. Quite frankly, we don’t understand this version of Obi-Wan Kenobi too much. The description on the packaging sources this iteration of him on Mustafar (and his dirty paint job confirms that), but what is up with his “Jedi Kick” action feature? Obi-Wan Kenobi comes with a “stand” with a tiny platform that sides out. And then you can pull back his body at the swivel hip to release his leg to kick a “post” (what the packaging calls it) to have it fly to the ground. It's all very confusing.

The actual figure of Obi-Wan Kenobi looks decent, but he is far from perfect like so many other figures in the Revenge Of The Sith line. But this particular figure isn’t the worst we've seen. The purpose of The Episode III Heroes & Villains Collection are to get figures out from the Revenge Of The Sith line that kids will enjoy. And Hasbro believes action features are what makes this so. The articulation is a mix of ball-joints as well as swivel points and they offer collectors some options for different poses. The left leg has a swivel boot while the right leg has a hinge-jointed point of articulation. Obi-Wan Kenobi balances on his right leg and has nearly full 360 degree turning capability on his left leg. It’s quite amazing the angle his body turns and actually a bit alarming. The head sculpt looks very similar to the one used for 2005’s ROTS Obi-Wan Kenobi (III 1) figure, but the figure is all-new from head to toe. This particular Obi-Wan Kenobi figure definitely has a smoother contour than what we’re used to seeing for this character, but the figure’s center looks a bit flyaway and almost in an action pose. It would have looked a bit better in a tamer fashion.

It would have been fantastic to get a super-articulated version of Obi-Wan Kenobi with this stunning paint job, but alas it wasn’t meant to be sadly. But the purpose of this "greates hits" line is intended to include all straight repacks. Besides, if we’re honest, the silhouette of Obi-Wan Kenobi is not that aesthetically pleasing. He looks much too boxy and wide and the details on his face could stand to be cleaned up a bit more to make him as authentic as possible. He has a little while to go before this is reached. Besides the accessories needed to work the action feature, Obi-Wan Kenobi also comes with his signature lightsaber. We suppose if you’re looking for pieces to pad a Mustafar diorama, the included display base and post will help add to that. Regardless, there probably isn’t much reason left to pick up this figure a second time. As with all Heroes & Villains figures, Obi-Wan Kenobi is packed with a miniature hologram figure. Our sample included Padmé Amidala. Collectors are going to get way too many of these holograms that they'll probably be a burden when all is said and done.