When I was a kid, Star Wars belonged to Lucasfilm and Star Wars action figures were made by Kenner. Today, Star Wars is owned by Disney and Star Wars action figures are made by Hasbro (who purchased Kenner). Now we have a new line of big and bigger figures being produced by Jakks. Things change over time, but one thing that never changes is that Star Wars fans (including myself) will continue to buy the same figures over and over again.
Jakks Pacific is currently releasing figures in two sizes: large 18″ figures, and even larger 31″ figures. Over the weekend I found a four pack of 18″ figures at Toys ‘R’ Us and decided to pick them up. Because, you know… Star Wars.
In the store these figures looked small in comparison to the 31″ figures they were next to. Get them away from those giants however and you’ll see just how large these figures really are. Sometimes I like to keep things like this in the box (especially things that have an “open face” that allow you to clearly see and touch the figures), but once I got the thing home I realized I have nowhere left to display a box this size. The box is just a couple inches shy of being two-foot tall and three-foot wide.
The back of the box has pictures of all four characters along with brief descriptions. All the text on the back of the box is presented both in English and French. While the front of the box only mentions Star Wars and Disney, the back of the box includes the Jakks.com URL. You can also see here that all the figures are tied in with those child-proof ties. There were seven on the back and eight on the bottom, all covered in packing tape. You’ll either need to use the force (or something sharp) to remove them.
The packaging declares each figure has “seven points of articulation” — that’s arms, legs, head, and wrists. The Toys ‘R’ Us website mentions this fact four time, so the fact that their wrists move must be a pretty important selling point. As you can see in this picture, both Vader’s chest plate and belt contain quite a bit of detail, as does the Tusken Raider’s mask. Both of these figures come with cloth (Vader’s cape and the Tusken Raider’s waist-wrap).
The other two figures, Luke and a Stormtrooper, look pretty good too. The bottom half of Luke’s shirt (from his belt down) is also cloth. Those highly advertised seven points of articulation mean the Stormtrooper can hold his rifle straight up or down or rotated 90 degrees, but it’ll always be attached to a fully extended arm. Of the four included figures, Luke is probably my least favorite as he looks too tall and skinny and borderline emaciated.
While all of the figures look pretty good from the front, the backs of all of them are riddled with screw holes. Here’s what the backside of Luke looks like:
Both Luke and the Stormtrooper have 17 holes in their backs, while Darth Vader and the Tusken Raider have slightly less. The capes on some of the figures hide some of the holes on the legs of some of the figures, but all of them look like they met a gangster in a dark alley. And for those of you with sophomore senses of humor (like myself), the reason they all have odd numbers of screw holes is because they all have a screw right in the middle of their butt cracks.
I was disappointed with Luke and Vader’s lightsabers, which are simply lightsaber hilts — no blades. Adding a removable blade to these hilts couldn’t have cost more than a buck per figure, and who cares about seven points of articulation when all you can do is pose these guys with non-working lightsabers? That being said, the Tusken Raider’s Gaffi Stick is rubbery-plastic and pretty cool, and the Stormtrooper’s blaster is great (if not a bit large).
This Star Wars Four Pack of 18″ New Hope figures originally retailed for $79.99 (the MSRP for the other 18″ figures is $19.99), but has recently dropped to $69.99. These four particular figures are a Toys ‘R’ Us exclusive, which you can still find on store shelves and on the website.
According to the Jakks website, other 18″ figures include Greedo, Return of the Jedi Luke, Han Solo, Biker Scout Trooper, and Chewbacca. Under the Star Wars Rebels they also list Kanan, Ezra and the Inquisitor (all from the Star Wars Rebels television show) along with the all black Tie Pilot. In addition to Toys ‘R’ Us, these figures can also be purchased at Target, Walmart, or through Amazon.
I don’t know that I’ll pick up the rest of the 18″ figure line (or 31″, for that matter) for the simple fact that they take so much room to display. For now I’m pretty happy collecting the 6″ Star Wars Black figures. These are a fun novelty and might be a fun gift for a Star Wars fan’s birthday, but all I can think about at the moment is where I’m going to put them.
Links: Jakks.com Star Wars | Star Wars Rebels
Darth Vader: 31″ and 18″ Jakks figures, 12″ vintage, 6″ Black, 3 3/4″ vintage.