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Introduction
While Hot Toys is the predominate producer of sixth scale Star Wars figures currently, Sideshow is still putting a few out. They are focusing on aliens and creatures, which has always been a strong area for them. Their latest release is a two pack of everyone's favorite ANH barterers, the Jawas.
This two pack includes one short, one tall, and is available as an exclusive through the Sideshow website for $220.
Packaging - ***
It's a bit of a snoozer, but the box does keep the figures and accessories quite safe. It's also quite small, although that shouldn't be a surprise considering the
diminutive nature of the characters. It's all collector friendly of course, although there is a piece of plastic wrap over some of the smaller accessories in the tray
that you'll most likely toss.
Sculpting - ***
This isn't a character with a complex likeness or facial portrait. You never really see what they look like under the hood, other than those eyes. It's a
smart design, allowing young impressionable minds to create their own concept of what a Jawa really looked like. It also means that sculpting the head for one is not
exactly the most complex process. They have to look wrapped, so a proper texture is a must...and that's about it.
They've captured that just fine here, and I've uncovered one of the tiny heads below so you can see the result. It's not something you'll have on display, but you get the drift. The head lacks much of a chin, which allows you to better work with the hood, and the neck is fairly long...yea, not wearing the cloak and hood is not a look that works for these guys, but that's fine.
The sculpts on the hands are fine as well, but you'll notice I'm using the word 'fine' a lot. There's nothing here that will cause you to jump in amazement or be particularly wowed. Which is fine.
These guys are both short of course, with the regular Jawa coming in at 8" tall, and the Jawa NBA prospect coming in at 9" tall.
Paint - ***
What I said about the sculpt is pretty much true for the paint. The head is dark with some detail highlights, and the various weapons have a good paint application that
brings out their finer points. There's nothing exciting about any of it, but there's nothing seriously wrong with any of it either.
They've done some weathering on the belts and clothing that's quite nice, but I'm putting most of that positivity into the Outfit section below.
Articulation - *1/2
And here is where ALL the major problems lie. I had heard rumors through the Facebook grapevine that there were problems with floppy joints, but when I first pulled
these guys out of the box I thought I'd been spared. Sure, the hips and knees could be a little tighter, but I was able to get them to stand just fine.
And then I started working with the figure a bit more intently. Hands fell off at the slightest touch and were almost impossible to get back on and keep on. The right forearm popped off at the elbow, and never stayed properly again. And yes, the knees and hips got weaker the longer I worked with them.
The small bodies have plenty of articulation, and they CAN take natural, flowing poses, when you can get them to hold. But posing them and futzing with them ended up far more frustrating and annoying than it ever should be.
Accessories - ***
Considering you're getting not one but two figures, there's not a ton of extras here. There's enough, just not a ton.
Each figure comes wearing a pair of hands, and there are three more pairs to share between them. These are all designed to hold various accessories, and they work pretty well. There is only one right hand really designed to hold a gun grip, and it doesn't do it great, but overall the assortment was solid.
Of course, I already mentioned what a huge pain the hands are to work with, but that's not a strike against this category.
There is also a droid caller tucked into a pouch on the shorter Jawa's bandolier, a small welder, and two magnetic droid restraints, like the ones you got with C-3PO, assuming you picked up the Sideshow version.
The small wand on the welder turns, but be very careful with it - it's tiny. And of course the restraints really do have magnets, and can attach to any metal surface.
There's a small blaster pistol, as well as a large blaster rifle and pack. The rifle and pack already come on the taller Jawa, and since he also has the holster for the blaster, I'd say leaving it in place is a smart idea.
Both figures also come with a small, round foot peg stand. This is the sort you see with DC Direct figures and other standard action figures in the 6 - 8" scale, and not something that you normally get with a sixth scale release.
Light Feature - ***1/2
One of the better features of these figures is the light up eyes. They come not only with the batteries included, they're already installed. The compartment is very
easy to reach, located on the back of the head along with the switch. Pop them out of the box, flip the switch, lights come on!
They are also very bright, and over the course of the photo shoot I didn't turn them off. They remained bright, a good sign that the included batteries are reasonable decent quality.
Outfit - ***
Like the light feature, the costume is a stand out with this pair. It consists of the inner and outer robes, the hood, and two bandoliers for each character. The tall
dude also sports a vest, because he's just that cool.
The bandoliers offer some unique features for each Jawa. The shorter guy has a small pouch for the droid caller attached to one, along with a metal hanger that looks like it would be perfect for a light saber hilt. The pouches on both are nicely weathered, and the realism and quality are excellent.
The taller Jawa also has his blaster rifle and pack, and the rifle barrel can slide part way into a holster on one bandolier. The fit isn't particularly great, but the weathering and dirt effects are solid across the board.
The inner and outer robes are very brown - they may show some reddish tinges in some photos, but that's just a lighting effect. There's some nice dirt and weathering around the lower hem, particularly in back, and it's nice to see Sideshow give that extra effort with these costumes.
The hoods are a completely separate piece, and remind me of something my teenage daughter might buy at Hot Topic, if she was really into brown. You can put the hood on in two different ways - with the curved side or the flat side forward - and get lots of different looks depending on your taste. I was never able to get the point in back to sit as high as I wanted no matter which way I put the hood on, but that's a minor nit.
This gives the futzers something to work with, and it's not complex or frustrating. I liked the hoods the best when they were sort of loose, and you can see my favorite look in the very first photo with the R5. Obviously, you're personal tastes will vary, but it's nice to know that you can do pretty much anything with the hood.
Based on all that, I would have gone another half star here easily...expect for those damn furry wrists. Around their wrists is an elastic band with some fur glued on. This black hair hangs down a bit over the hands, but not a lot, and in fact you don't see it most of the time. Because the hands kept falling off, I had to keep reattaching them and trying to work with these hair cuffs. The fur started coming loose, and it was not improving my mood. I eventually took all four off and tossed them in the box before I lost it, and you'll want to take extra care to avoid damaging them.
Fun Factor - **
These little guys should be a ton of fun - they certainly have the potential. But thanks to the frustrating, annoying body and articulation, they end up driving up your
stress levels.
Value - **
These figures are $220 for the pair, making them $110 each. That's actually not bad, compared to the droids for example. I believe the R5, which you see in the first
photo, was around $135. While there's lots of re-use here, there's also a light feature, which can drive up the cost. If the manufacturing quality of the underlying
body had been at the appropriate level, I would have gone another half star here to an average score.
Things to Watch Out For -
There's a couple things to take particular care with. I mentioned the thin, tiny wand on the welder, which you can forget about and easily break. You also want to
handle the furry wrist bands with extra care, since they can start to shed pretty easily.
Overall - **1/2
These sort of sixth scale figures are an anomaly - the head sculpts and paint work are as close to meaningless as you can get. Those categories have very little weight,
making the other categories far more critical.
Sideshow did an excellent job with the light feature and outfits (except for those furry wrists). Hopefully the light feature is consistent of course, and we've seen cases where that's not true. But the pair I received worked great, and if the only factors to consider were Outfit, Accessories, and Light Feature, this guy would have done much, much better.
But that damn body. Sideshow has had trouble with floppy joints before, and it's really no excuse this many years later. Even worse, the hands popping off - and other joints coming apart, like the right elbow - is inexcusable. You can repair and improve this stuff with some plumbers tape, but you shouldn't have to. Remember, you paid more than $200 for this set, and at that price point, they should come out of the box right.
Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ***
Sculpting - ***
Paint - ***
Articulation - *1/2
Accessories - ***
Light Feature - ***1/2
Outfit - ***
Fun Factor - *1/2
Value - **
Overall - **1/2
Where to Buy
Online options include these site sponsors:
- this is a Sideshow exclusive, and will run you $220 through their site.
- or you can search ebay for a deal.
Related Links -
The most recent sixth scale Star Wars release (that I covered) is the FO Flametrooper from Hot Toys. the FO Snowtroopers and the First Order Stormtrooper. Other Hot Toys Star
Wars figures include the recent Kylo Ren, Darth Vader, C-3PO, Tatooine Luke Skywalker, Luke in his Stormtrooper Disguise, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Han and Chewbacca from ANH. If you'd like a bit more of a regular Stormtrooper,
they've done him as well, along with a Blackhole version. Sidseshow has helped out last year
with the Original Trilogy, with their Hoth Han, Hoth Luke, Tauntaun, Speederbike, and Scout
Trooper.
You should also hit the Search Reviews page to find a ton more of the Sideshow sixth scale figure reviews, and in case any other applicable reviews were done after this one was published.
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This product was provided for the review by the manufacturer. Photos and text by Michael Crawford.