Obi-Wan Kenobi - TSC - Basic (SAGA 047)

If you’re Hasbro, how would you go about making the best The Phantom Menace version of Obi-Wan Kenobi to date when you only had existing parts from sculpts dating from the Episode I and Power Of The Jedi lines? Well, you would of course take pieces from them all and make an all new “super” version of Episode I Obi-Wan Kenobi! That’s exactly what Hasbro did for The Saga Collection version of Obi-Wan Kenobi from the Battle At Theed theme. Don’t get an immediate attitude over this figure because believe it or not, it doesn’t look half bad. We’re of course going to need a definitive update one day, but for now this figure is the best version we have now. (Editor’s Note: The best version to date now is 2009’s LC Obi-Wan Kenobi (BD06) figure.) Adding the best parts from three older figures plus the inclusion of a soft-goods robe has really made this interpretation of Obi-Wan Kenobi a pretty good version. But it isn’t perfect.

Hasbro cleverly assembled Obi-Wan Kenobi (SAGA 047) by using the head from 2000’s EI Obi-Wan Kenobi (Jedi Knight) figure (complete with a soft-goods Padawan braid), the legs of 1999’s EI Obi-Wan Kenobi (Naboo) figure and the body of 2000’s POTJ Obi-Wan Kenobi (Jedi) figure. Unbelievably Hasbro has managed to use the cream of the crop as far as parts are concerned and have cobbled together an acceptable version of how Obi-Wan Kenobi appeared in The Phantom Menace. This new version of Obi-Wan Kenobi has also been outfitted with a lightsaber, a commlink and an all-new soft-goods Jedi robe. The perfect combination of parts (literally) makes this the best deal for collectors at the moment. And what more could you ask for here? How about a personalized action figure stand with The Phantom Menace logo on it? There is a lot to appreciate here for sure!

The Saga Collection is a collector-focused line and as a result the line is full many, many background characters. In order to throw in some main characters into the mix, Hasbro planned figure like this Obi-Wan Kenobi to help create more diversity in the line. And what a great way to bring us one of our favorite Jedi! If Obi-Wan Kenobi wasn’t in the plans to revisit from the ground up, than an updated version like this is the second best way to handle things. Obviously the figure is far from perfect and perhaps many collectors will overlook it until a more definitive version of Obi-Wan Kenobi becomes available but it should count for something as Hasbro did a significant amount of work to make this figure feel “newish” for us. There weren’t too many figures based on The Phantom Menace in The Saga Collection. It even shares a wave with the rest of the Return Of The Jedi wave that didn’t fit into the wave 6 mix. Obi-Wan Kenobi is not essential, but we bet you’ll find something to like in him.