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Qui-Gon, Orn Free Taa, and Massiff 

Since that night we call Midnight Madness, I've managed to find the Dooku figure.  This weekend I came across the next eight at a local Wal-mart - Qui-Gon, Endor Rebel Soldier, Massiff, Orn Free Taa, Final Battle Jango Fett, Geonosian Rescue Mace Windu, Bespin Duel Darth Vader, Bespin Duel Luke Skywalker.  They were $5.88, a very reasonable price these days.

The Jango figure has a major spoiler, so don't open him up if you aren't ready to know too much.  I decided to review three of them today - the Senator Orn Free Taa, the Massiff (with Geonosian Warrior), and the new Qui-Gon.



Packaging - ***
Same as the first 28 figures, and not bad.  There were no backgrounds packed in with any of these, and I haven't heard of any variations on these three yet.  There are Endor Soldiers with both van dykes and not I believe, and there's a bloody and non-bloody hand version of Luke (with the magnet in the arm in the bloody version, and in the hand on the clean one), and another version of Luke with the normal plastic post instead of the magnet.

Sculpting - Massiff ****, Orn ***, Qui-Gon *
Here's three figures that span the range of sculpting.  Massiff looks terrific, with plenty of detail and style.  I can't vouch for how well he fits the source material yet, but he's a terrific looking little beast-dog.

Qui-Gon is on the opposite end of the spectrum.  His head sculpt is the poorest version so far, making him look fat and odd.  His neck is far too thick, and his jaw too flattened into it along the sides.  His battle pose isn't too bad, and I had no trouble standing him, but the head sculpt is easily the worst of the new 35 figures.

Orn Free Taa is somewhere in between.  He leans toward the good side more than the bad, but the sculpt is a bit soft, with less detail than some others.  The detail work on his costume though is extremely nice, and overall he's very good.

Paint - Massiff and Orn ***1/2, Qui-Gon **1/2
The paint ops on both Massiff and Orn are very good.  The costume of Orn has a lot of detail work, and the highlights and colors used on Massiff's body are sharp and clean.

Once again, Qui-Gon is the odd man out.  His paint ops aren't as awful as the sculpt, but the detail work on his eyes and beard were sloppy on mine, and there were odd spots on the brown of his cloak. 

Articulation - Massiff **, Qui-Gon **, Orn ***1/2
Oddly enough, the figure that looks the least articulated is the best this time.

Massiff isn't articulated at all, except for his jaw.  While that's nice, and gives you a little variance in the face poses, it still would have been nice to get some other joints.  Yes, the Geonosian that comes with him is a little articulated, with neck, waist, shoulders and hips, but the real figure here is the Massiff.  The Geonosian is technically his accessory.

Qui-Gon has the usual articulation at the neck, shoulders, waist and hips, with two cut joints on the elbows thrown in.  It's not bad, but with the battle pose there really is only one position he can take.

Orn actually has quite a few more joints than you'd expect.  He has neck (although it's very limited), hips, shoulders, cut elbows and cut wrists.  Since he's supposed to be standing and speaking to the Senate, the arm articulation let's you give him quite a few arm and hand poses that work great.

Accessories - Massiff ****, Orn ***, Qui-Gon **
It's nice to see every figure coming with accessories again.  Of course, some of those accessories are better than others.

Qui-Gon has a basic lightsaber, and the new (and some find annoying) red 'blast' effect.  It attaches to the blade, and looks decent.  Be careful with the saber though - I almost snapped the small post inserting it into the hilt.

Massiff has the best accessory of course, coming with a second figure entirely.  This Geonosian Warrior is well articulated, with good paint ops and a nice sculpt.  The metal chain that attaches the warrior to the Massiff is nice as well, and this two pack is one of the best values in Star Wars in a long time.

Orn comes with a floating camera doohickey, which is intended for recording and broadcasting his speech.

Value - Massiff ****, Orn ***1/2, Qui-Gon **1/2
Let's assume you're paying around $6 for these.  For a double figure like Massiff, that's a terrific deal.  A figure like Orn Free Taa, with a decent accessory and some serious bulk to him is easily worth the $6 as well (at least in the Star Wars universe).  And Qui-Gon is, well, another Jedi Knight with just a light saber.

Overall - Massiff ***1/2, Orn ***, Qui-Gon **
Massiff kicks butt - it's that simple.  If you can only buy one of these three, snag him pronto.  Orn Free Taa is also nice, although not the best alien so far.  Qui-Gon - well, I'd skip him if I were you.  He's only worthwhile to the completist, since his previous versions (and hopefully future versions) are better.

Where to Buy
The best prices I've seen are at Walmart, although they are showing up a lot at TRU too. On-line:

- Entertainment Earth has a case for $96 (12 figures), but they are out of stock right now. (MROTW Affiliate)

- Toy Maniacs has quite a few, but at $12 plus shipping, they are far more expensive than your local retailers.


Figure from the collection of Michael Crawford.

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