Review of Grand Moff Tarkin
Star Wars Sixth Scale Action Figure

Introduction

Hot Toys has produced a wide range of Star Wars figures, but Star Wars is a wide ranging license. While much of their focus has been on the new films, they do occasionally dip their toe back into the huge lake of possible characters from the original trilogy. Their latest release, Grand Moff Tarkin, is just such a beast.

This release is based on his appearance in A New Hope. I have no doubt that his CGI inclusion in Rogue One helped the case for creating a high end sixth scale figure of the great Peter Cushing, but I'm glad that it was branded ANH.

You could pick this guy up one of two ways - as a single for around $235, or in a two pack with Vader for $470 or so.  I believe the Vader they've used is the Rogue One version with some ANH alterations, sort of a combo of their two previous Vader releases. They also have Tarkin available by himself, which is the route I went. The two pack is nice for folks that didn't get the previous Vader's, but for those of us with more than enough versions of Vader on the shelf right now but no Tarkin to join him, the single pack was the way to go.

Packaging - ***
It's the usual stuff, with the basic Star Wars design on the exterior and a couple tight plastic trays inside to hold the various accessories and figure. It's all collector friendly, but all pretty standard.

Sculpting - ****
Old people have lots of 'character'. Wrinkles, scars, aging...these things creat a visage that's not only easily recognizable, it sets them apart from all the pretty people. Peter Cushing always had a unique look, but as he got older, he became even more identifiable. The slick hair, the thin nose, the sunken cheeks and high cheek bones, the sharp jawline...he was quintessential Cushing.

Hot Toys always does great portraits, but occasionally they go above and beyond, creating a likeness that's so spooky real it's hard to articulate. This is one of those times.

They have used his unique facial features to create a uber realistic sculpt, with just the right amount of skin texture and wrinkling. The finely detailed hair is becoming another trademark, and proves you can sculpt hair and not have it look soft or flat.

They've picked an expression that's textbook Tarkin, with pursed lips and slightly squinted eyes. It's not extreme, but Tarkin wasn't an extreme kind of guy. He looks like a librarian about to shush you - that means you're dead.

And yes, this is Tarkin - and Cushing. It's an extremely accurate likeness, and immediately recognizable. By doing the neck and head as one piece, they were able to create a seamless look to the aged skin. While this ends up hurting the articulation, it does wonders for the likeness.

Of course, he's a little shorter than most other figures, coming in at about 11 3/4" tall.

Paint - ****
To support this exceptional sculpt is an exceptional production paint job.

The variation in color, the age spots or freckles, the slightly translucent depth...all these things give the skin an extremely realistic appearance, even in macro photos. The eyebrows and hair have proper highlights, and the thin lips are just the right color.

There's a little bleed into the eyes, but I suspect some of this might be on purpose, giving him more of a bloodshot look. My only real nit is with the hair line, where the transition is a little less subtle this time, and they carry over the skin color a little too far into the hair.

But any nits are very minor. This is one of the more realistic, high quality paint applications we've seen from the lately, and considering it's Hot Toys, that's saying an awful lot.

Articulation - ***
I mentioned the one piece head and neck earlier. It's a boon to the sculpt, but not so much for the articulation. The only neck joint is the ball deep inside the torso, which is much more limited in terms of tilt and lean movement. This is a character that really needs that tilt and lean too, and I found myself somewhat frustrated with the lack of head mobility.

The underlying thin TrueType has all the articulation you expect. The suit can be a bit restrictive, because it's tightly tailored and fitted. He does sit, although not quite as well as I wanted, and the arms and torso can bend and rotate pretty well inside the tunic.

The best part of the articulation is the ankles, thanks to the thin, leather-like material they've used for the boots. They usually go for a two piece boot design to allow the ankles to rock and tilt, but here they just went with a very soft material. It works well, and maintains the nice lines on the tall footwear.

Accessories - ***
He's a bit short in this category, although they try to make up for it with one big add.

He does have several additional hands, designed to work with various poses. They swap pretty easily, but stay in place while you're posing him.

He also has his four dry erase markers. I think a guy in his position would be writing on a white board a lot. Okay, I have no idea exactly what they are, but two go inside a small pocket on either side of his chest. They look good, and the pockets are deep enough to keep them in place.

The big add here is his chair. The feet attach to a metal rod on the bottom of the chair, and the height can be adjusted based on how far you insert the rod. It's a pretty simple design, but it's a nice way to display the figure long term.

His final extra is his display stand and crotch support. You probably won't use it - he stands great on his own, and the chair is the best display option - but it's nice to have for consistency.

Outfit - ***1/2
The outfit is simple - a tunic and trousers, white shirt, black boots, black belt. While the overall design is simple and clean, reproducing it is not easy.

The tailoring is impeccable, and the fit looks great when he's standing. Some of the stitches are a little wonky, but it's not a consistent issue. The single piece boots look terrific and still allow enough ankle mobility, and the tight tunic doesn't restrict the torso articulation too much.  The suit looks very military - tight, clean and sharp, ready for inspection.

My one nit is with the sleeve length, both on the shirt and the tunic. In most poses, the sleeves are long enough to at least reach the wrists, if not cover them. But when you start bending the elbows a lot, as you'll do to get his iconic pose with one hand near the chin, there's no way I could stretch them out enough. I stretched and pulled and futzed (a common technique is to pull the sleeve as far down as you can with the arm straight, and bend the elbow while holding tightly on the sleeve, but that didn't get close) and I was never able to recreate the look you see on the box. Now, there may be some photoshop wizardry going on there (the box photo looks a bit...odd), and the forearms are somewhat gangly and long for the body. But this is a pose many people will want to use, and the final result is not particularly effective. In the last photo, you can see my best attempt at getting the sleeves in place.

Fun Factor - **1/2
This is a great looking figure...but I'm not exactly sure it's the most 'fun'. Unlike great figures like the recent Star-Lord, this is a guy you'll pose in one or two ways, and that's how he'll stay. He'll look fantastic on the shelf, but isn't going to provide a lot of reposing opportunities.

Value - *1/2
Here's another area where he really takes a hit. Yep, great sculpt, great paint, decent costume. But $235? That's a lot of money for a figure this basic, even with the inclusion of the chair. At $220 - which is the price at one of my sponsors - you can add another half star. Anything around $200, and you can go the average of **1/2.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not a thing.

Overall - ***1/2
Everyone needs one Tarkin in their collection. This is that one. I can't imagine ever needing to buy another - there's simply no way this is going to be improved upon in any dramatic fashion.

I do wonder if this figure could be slighlty better with shorter forearms, and I'm tempted to grab some off another body and do a little Frankenstein work. Even if the sleeves did come all the way to the wrists, you'd get a weird elongated look, like you see on the box cover, so shorter forearms are the way to go.

But this is really the only nit with an otherwise exceptional figure.  It might be tough to justify the cash, but remember - unlike Vader or a Trooper or Iron Man or Thor or Captain America or even Groot, you only have to buy this guy once.

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ***
Sculpting - ****
Paint - ****
Articulation - ***
Accessories - ***
Outfit - ***1/2
Fun Factor - **1/2
Value - *1/2
Overall - ***1/2

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- Sideshow has Tarkin for $235, and the pair for $470.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
If you didn't pick up the Vader with this one, there's a couple others out there to check out, including the Hot Toys ANH Vader and the Sideshow ANH version. Sideshow also did a deluxe version, perhaps my favorite, and Hot Toys recently released a Rogue One variation as well.

You should also hit the Search Reviews page, in case any other applicable reviews were done after this one was published.

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