Packaging - ***
There's really no surprise here unless you've been living under a rock for the last 5 years.  The boxes are just big enough to contain the busts safely, but there's no wasted space.  The graphics are a tad dull, but they do give you a window to check out the bust before buying, and better yet, they come with the nifty baseball style Certificates of Authenticity.

Sculpting - ***1/2
I still don't think anyone has perfectly captured the beauty of the actress who plays Aayla Secura, but both this and the Sideshow figure are close.  This version is a little more elongated and 'horsey' looking, even more so than the Sideshow version.  The proportions are better overall though on this version, with one exception - the left arm seems a bit stretched out and long in an attempt to make the pose work.

Shaak Ti has some amazing detail work, even on the lower layers of her clothing. The outer robes still lack any sort of texturing, a problem that's existed for all the Jedi mini-busts, but the underlying layers look terrific.  They've also done a nice job with the edging on her robes.

The sculpted patterns on Aayla's outfit are what take her to the next level, giving the clothing a much more realistic appearance.

Paint - ***1/2
The paint ops are quite clean on both busts, specially on the complex face of Shaak Ti and the patterned outfit of Aayla.  The eyes are clean and neat, they manage to pull off the "looking out of the corner of my eye" appearance on Aayla, and even the teeth on Shaak Ti look terrific.

There's a few blips here and there, with some unevenness in the lips of Shaak Ti, and some inconsistency in the blue skin of Aayla.  And no, I'm not talking about her tentacles, where the mottling is correct.

Design - ***1/2
Both busts have a nice dynamic flow to their poses, much better than some of their male counterparts.  Both are done in fighting stances that look as dangerous as they are beautiful.  I do wish Shaak's eyes weren't quite so lidded, since it makes her look a bit bored with the proceedings, but that's a minor complaint.

Value - ***
With the prices rising exponentially on most collectibles, it's a very pleasant surprise that the Gentle Giant Star Wars busts are sticking at about the same price.  Let's hope this trend remains for awhile.

Things To Watch Out For - 
Be VERY careful putting the sabers in the hilts.  The metal poles are fairly long, and they fit very tightly in the softer resin hilts.  You could easily break the hilt, and I used a very slow twisting movement to insert them.

Overall - ***1/2
Let's face it - Gentle Giant tends to have much more trouble with the female mini-bust sculpts than the males.  But these two turned out quite nice, partly because they have enough alien in them to allow for some creative license.

With the high edition sizes, these shouldn't be too much trouble to come by, but I hope that doesn't backfire, leaving to many in dealers hands.

Score Recap:
Packaging - ***
Sculpting - ***1/2
Paint - ***1/2
Design - ***1/2
Value - ***
Overall - ***1/2

Where to Buy -
Quite a few of my excellent sponsors carry the Gentle Giant Star Wars line:

- CornerStoreComics them at just $42 each.

- Urban Collector has both of them at just $43 each.

- Things From Another World has them at $45 each.

- Andrew's Toyz has them in stock at $49 each.

- Dark Shadow has them at $55 each.

-  You can also use the sponsor MyAuctionLinks to search ebay.

Related Links -
I've covered a few of the GG Star Wars busts:

- the most recent was the Tusken Raider.

- prior to that, I looked at the pair of Jawas, Dengar and Zuckuss.

- Other Star Wars mini-busts I've covered include Chewbacca and Darth Maul, Jedi Luke, Qui-Gon Jinn, Palpatine and Skiff Lando

Discussion:
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