Kenner POTF Amanaman

 Honestly, I have to watch Return of the Jedi and remind myself when Amanaman is present. He's only seen for a few seconds, like Yakface in Jabba's Palace. Yet, he managed to get a Kenner figure. Which was a sign of the "good old days" of toy collecting. A weird alien like this would not be made today, especially one that requires single use tooling. But that was the joy of 1980's collecting!

Before I get into the figure, a little about his species back story which comes from Star Wars Legends. His species are the Amani, and their skin is actually poisonous. They moved slowly (as seen when Jabba revealed himself to Han & Leia) and caused trouble for the Empire as Luke Skywalker's childhood friend Janek "Tank" Sunber would barely survive an encounter with this species on their homeworld of Maridun.

Unlike other figures, Amanaman has only 4 POA (2 arms & 2 legs). His head doesn't turn and honestly if it could it would take away from the figure's uniqueness. In my humble opinion this is one of the best sculpt jobs Kenner did, even the later release of this figure in the modern era used this figure's mold once again. He is also one of the rare Kenner aliens to look almost 100% like he did onscreen. The hues may be a little off (green is a shade too dark, yellow is a shade too bright) but it looks exactly like the giant puppet used in the movie, which is what counts to the hard core collectors. His only accessory is a staff, which he can barely hold. Even the sculpt on that staff is impressive, and makes him look even scarier than he is.

The prices on the secondary market for Amanaman on card are high. The range is highest at $3000 and lowest to $600. Loose he runs from $600 to $15. The lower costs indicate more worn down over the years (example faded paint, loose joints, etc),  but that $15 loose figure is complete so you have that going for you if you want it.

Now is he essential? He is a good background figure for any Kenner Jabba's Palace display, but he doesn't really do anything but look neat in a corner. As a kid he was an easy pass. He had no gun, or lightsaber. But since Hasbro's recent (2001 I believe is his last offer) is a repack of this figure he would fit in with your modern figures too, and would be the only Kenner figure that could fit in with today's super articulated 3.75 inch figures. Images from Galactic Figures.