TOY REVIEW ARCHIVE    LIVING WITH LATE FEES    FEATURES    LINKS    BIO    MISSION    EMAIL    MAIN PAGE >


Watto's Box

One of the most sought after Cinema Scenes produced is Watto's Box, also the last Cinema Scene produced.  For months these were few and far between, and most collectors turned to ebay to help them fill in their collections.  But like all fine Hasbro toys, these are now showing up at less than retail, at $7.99.  Kaybee Toys is cracking open cases with these inside, so start hanging out at the local mall if you haven't found yours yet.

Packaging - **1/2
The cinema scenes are some of the better packaged sets from Hasbro.  These three are held in good positions, with a nice backdrop and base.  They were smart enough to not attach the bubble that holds the commtech chip to the back scene so there is no damage if you open it up and put the backdrop together.  But who the hell is in charge of twisty ties?  They've gone insane here!  The body of Kelvyyn is even designed to hold a twisty tie in the bottom!  You better have wire snips handy. 

Articulation - **
It seems like they tried here.  Knowing Hasbro, you would have expected that the sitting figures would have been sculpted and permanently in that position, but no.  Both Graxol Kelvyyn and Shakka have joints to allow them to stand or sit.  Graxol is pretty much a solid piece of plastic, but has joints at the waist and knees area to allow the sitting position.  He has four more joints, shoulder and bicep cut joints.  Watto is the same as before, with shoulders, hips and neck, and Shakka has shoulders, hips and knees.

Sculpting - ***
We've seen the Watto before, only with wings up instead of down.  The sculpt actually appears to be less detailed, but that may be due to a poor paint scheme.

Shakka is decent, although she doesn't rank up there with the other females of her species.  The feet are sculpted at an odd angle, but she still stands on her own.

Graxol is excellent.  Perhaps it's simply because he's so large, and stands out amongst the other figures that I like him so much.  But this figure is worth picking up the set all by itself.

Accessories - **1/2
The only accessory is the base, but it's a superior base to even the previous Cinema Sceens.  The attach seats are great, and fit each character well.

Value - ***1/2
These figures were worth the twenty bucks they cost originally, if only by the smallest squeek.  But for $7.99 they are a excellent deal.

Overall - ***
As Cinema Scenes go, this is one of the best.  Getting two unique figures, especially a figure like Graxol, makes this set a must buy for the Star Wars fan.  It's too bad that Hasbro ended the Cinema Scenes - this kind of quality and character selection could have made them even more popular.  Too bad they seem to always wait until it's too late to release the good stuff.


Figure from the collection of Michael Crawford

This page copyright 2003, Michael Crawford. All rights reserved. Hosted by 1 Hour Hosting.com