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Saga Carkoon Wave
Leia, Han, Bib Fortuna

 

Tonight's guest review is actually the first of three different reviews on the Saga Wave of Star Wars.  How I managed to mess up and end up with three is beyond me, but I'm all for lots of opinions.  So first up is Dan, giving us his take on this new wave!  It's all yours, Dan...

Howdy there! I’m Dan. Most of you from the rebelscum forums might know me as Zuckuss da Gand. First, I’d like to thank Michael for giving me a little spot on his site! 

Now, with 2006 finally here, the 2006 action figures will start appearing in stores. Hasbro has said that 2006 will be a ‘Year for the collector’. So, in other words, they’ll give us a few great sculpts with a bunch of repacks. So far in the new Saga Collection series (collectors will forever know it as ‘Saga 2’, though because ‘Saga’ is what we called the series during 2002 through 2004), each wave has three 100% new figures, 1 figure that uses parts from several other figures (a.k.a.: re-hash) and 2 figures that have no tooling done to them, except a new paint job. The first wave, which is just showing now, is based on the ‘Battle of Carkoon’ from Return of the Jedi and includes: Leia in Boushh disguise, Han in Carbonite, Bib Fortuna, Boba Fett, Chewie and Barada.







The first three (which I am reviewing today) are brand new. Boba is a rehash, utilizing 2003 Boba’s torso, arms, and head and VOTC Boba’s legs. Chewie and Barada are straight repacks, except Chewie has only a chain. The next wave is the highly anticipated Hoth wave from The Empire Strikes Back. Anyway, it’s time to go on to the review! 

Packaging - ***1/2
The card back is really nice and attractive. It shows off the figure nicely and I really like it. The design is basically the same as late 2004’s Original Trilogy Collection, except the back is very different and the corners are angled, meaning that the bubble goes around the edges, like the Revenge of the Sith cards. The problem that I have is it is very hard to get the figures out. While there are no twisty-ties (Hasbro hardly ever uses them for their basic figures), the plastic encasing them is really hard. You have to push the back and pray that the figure (along with the accessories) doesn’t fly out! 

Sculpting - Bib Fortuna- **1/2, Leia- ***, Han- ****
I’ll start off with Fortuna, Jabba’s major domo. I personally don’t care for the sculpt that much. Yes, he’s thousands of miles above the Power of the Force one from 1997, but he is just a solid block. Seriously, there is nothing under there. I know it would’ve been incredibly hard to make his cloak look as good as it does, but they could’ve tried something. Maybe the brown outer cloak could’ve been a separate piece. His face sculpt also leaves much to be desired. Why did they go with that open-mouth look? Don’t they know that that usually doesn’t work well with action figures? His ‘chin sac’ just doesn’t look right to me.

Leia was sort of a disappointment. The outfit is great, but her head sculpt just is terrible. Her face seems squashed to be Carrie Fisher and her sideburns make her look like Elvis (Elvis Organa- Get it?). I really don’t remember her sideburns going all the way down to her chin! 

Han is my favorite sculpt of the bunch. If the VOTC Han is the essential A New Hope Han, than this is the essential ‘first 25 minutes of Return of the Jedi’ Han. I love his head sculpt. The likeness is dead on. You can see older Harrison Ford in this figure. The outfit is perfect, but then again, how hard is it to sculpt a man in brown pants and a white shirt?

Paint - Fortuna-*** Leia, Han-***1/2
Hasbro is notorious for their sloppy paint jobs and it shows here. They are a lot better than other figures, but still there are some flaws. 

First, Fortuna has something so annoying that I just can’t take my eyes off of it. His head tails (or lekku) are a different color than his head! His head is pink, while his tails are white! What’s up with that? Also, there’s a huge pink blob on my figure’s belt. 

Leia’s major problem is in her face again. Her eyebrows are thicker than Han’s, which seems scary. Also, the sideburns still irritate me. The paint doesn’t end until her neck! 

Han has some weird stuff as well. The dirt marks look more like he dribbled food all over himself, than he fell on the floor. The yellow stripes on his legs are also off. They are crooked, which doesn’t look good, considering that the stripes are actually sculpted. 

Articulation - Fortuna- *1/2, Leia- ***, Han- **
Let’s face it; after we saw what Hasbro can do with articulation from figures like the Pilot Obi-Wan and the Super Articulated Clone Trooper from the ROTS line, we got spoiled. Now, we expect that on every figure, even is they don’t need it. 

Fortuna is a major disappointment. He has a ball-jointed head (hindered by his head tails), swivel elbows, turning wrists and mid-arms (I suppose that’s what you’d call it). The problem is that there’s no waist joint. You can’t recreate the scene where he bends down to ‘pet’ R2-D2. You can’t even lower his arms to his side, which is why I have always despised swivel elbows. If you’re going to the trouble to put one there, you might as well go all the way and make them ball-jointed.

Leia has the most articulation, with a ball-jointed head, shoulders, and legs. She also has swivel elbows, wrists, waist and hips. That’s some nice articulation, but I would have loved to have seen ball-jointed ankles and elbows. I tried to pose her as if she’s talking to Han on the floor, to no avail.

Han is another disappointment. He has the ball-jointed head, swivel elbows, wrists, waist and hips. With just that, you can’t do much. It would look awkward if you try to make it look as if he’s hitting Boba Fett in the back or by having him lean on Leia. There’s so many things that you can’t do with this limit. It’s even hard to get hi to hold his force pike! 

Accessories - Fortuna- *, Leia- ****, Han- ***1/2
Each figure comes with a base. These bases are brand-new. Each has the ROTJ logo engraved and the figure’s name stamped on front, in case you forgot. Also, a new thing is these nifty little holograms. There are twelve different ones and they’re random. If you get a ‘good guy’, it will come with a ‘good guy’ holo. If you get a ‘bad guy’, you get a ‘bad guy’ holo. This is the new gimmick, since none of these figures will have pesky action features. (Thank you, action figure gods!) 

Since Fortuna didn’t use anything in the movie, his first incarnation in 1997 was given a little pistol. This one comes with a knife. Woo-hoo! He’s going to do some serious damage with that. The accessories stop there. At least senators get some cool blasters (you have to love Ask Aak’s huge rifle). Fortuna gets this little knife. My Fortuna came with the Darth Vader holo. The holo is pretty cool, with his lightsaber out. The sculpt is pretty basic for a 2” tall clear figure, though. 

Leia has three things: her staff, the removable helmet, and the removable Thermal Detonator! The staff is made of really soft plastic, but it is fine for me. The helmet is nicely detailed, and fits perfectly around her head. The Detonator has to take the cake for the smallest ever Star Wars accessory. It plugs into her hand and fits nicely into another peg on her belt. My Leia came with an Obi-Wan holo. It is either the ROTS Obi-Wan, or the ANH Obi-Wan. I can’t tell. 

Han comes with his all-important Carbonite chamber and another staff. His staff is sturdier than Leia’s. The chamber is amazing. Han fits in easily, but with no clip can just as easily fall out. The block is very wide and translucent. It would’ve been nice if he came with a skiff guard pistol, which they could have just thrown in. They already made a nice one with the Skiff Guard Lando and Jedi Luke from early 2004. My Han came with a really stupid Rebel Trooper. It has to be the worst choice for a hologram ever. 

Fun Factor - ***1/2
Star Wars figures are always fun, even if they are just some dumb alien. Fortuna is not the best toy to give a kid (especially with that tiny knife), but Han is a great figure that kids would be overjoyed with. (Everybody loves Han!) Leia might also be a problem, since she has the tiny Detonator. Still, these figures would be enjoyed by any little Star Wars fan, ages 4 to 100.

Value - ***
The price went up, again. At Wal-Mart it is $5.88 and at Target and Toys ‘R’ Us, it is probably about $6.99. These figures are worth $5, not the $6 or $7 you will pay for these. The holograms are not worth the extra buck. 

Things to watch out for -
Just look at the paint before you buy. Pick the best job you like. I think that’s the only thing to look out for. 

Overall - Fortuna- **1/2, Leia- ***1/2, Han- ***1/2
Each figure has a major flaw, but overall, this is a nice set of new figures. I think Hasbro did the best they could for Fortuna, but I would like to some adjustments, but not for a few years. Han and Leia need no more revisiting, although Leia could use a better head sculpt and Han could use a blaster. I just hope that these figures are examples of what is to come from the Saga Collection. 

SCORE RECAP:
Packaging - ***1/2
Sculpt - Bib Fortuna- **1/2, Leia- ***, Han- ****
Paint - Fortuna-*** Leia, Han-***1/2
Articulation - Fortuna- *1/2, Leia- ***, Han- **
Accessories - Fortuna- *, Leia- ****, Han- ***1/2
Fun Factor - ***1/2
Value - ***
Overall - Fortuna- **1/2, Leia- ***1/2, Han- ***1/2

Where to buy
These are showing up now, as we speak. Be patient. You can find them online at Andrew's Toyz, along with just about every other Star Wars collectible.

There are several reviews of other Star Wars figures on this site from guests. 
If you’d like some more info on the SAGA 2 series, go to Rebelscum, Galactic Hunter, and Jedi Defender. There are millions of more sites out there, but those are the ones that I go on daily. 


Figure from the collection of Dan.

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