Figures That Make Me Happy: Obi-Wan Kenobi ROTS

 
This weekend's blog post will be a bit different.  It's a look back at a now very old figure, but its not the figure itself, but the story behind it and what it represents to me. The story can often times be more interesting than the figure itself, but all stories make it fun when that story is shared, and while this figure may not hold to today's demanding collector's standards, it's a story I've never told in detail before. So let's hop back to late 2005, early 2006. Back then, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita had already hit, so many people in those affected areas were in the process of putting their homes, and lives back on track. The Saints were in a tailspin, which made sense as they were basically playing a 16 game road schedule, even playing some home games at Death Valley, AKA LSU's Tiger Stadium. LSU won the SEC West, but playing 11 straight weeks took its toll as Georgia curb stomped them in the SEC Championship Game that year. Later that December, the Tigers beat the Miami Hurricanes so badly in the Peach Bowl (and again in 2018, Joe Burrow's 1st ever start) that Miami just hasn't been the same since. Well, until this season anyway. 

Since 2002, Star Wars figures had incorporated "action features" in the line. And for me, it was frustrating as a collector. I found my interest in the line waning. So I moved to the new Masters of the Universe line, which then got canceled. I moved into Marvel stuff, and still have my 2002 Tobey Maguire Spider-Man, Willem Dafoe Green Goblin, and I'd add Doc Ock from Spider-Man 2. When 2005's Revenge of the Sith toy line made its midnight debut weeks before the movie premiered I did grab a few figures: Obi-Wan, Anakin, Vader in the suit, etc. But, they had those annoying action features. Except for Count Dooku, he had none. He actually had a removable head and forearms, but no "action feature" and so he became my favorite figure of the line. Later on, Luminara Unduli and Aayla Secura came out, without action features. But, my interest was gone. Star Wars figures became a thing of the past, and I was ready to move on. That was until I saw a poster of figures that were coming out. There was a "super articulated" Clonetrooper I never found, but I was drawn to the Obi-Wan Kenobi figure. So that's what I'm talking about today. It's the figure that roped me back into collecting Star Wars figures, and kicked off an era of awesomeness that would last until 2012. 

Obi-Wan was figure number 55 of the Revenge of the Sith line, and with an impressive 14 POA was the first truly super articulated Jedi figure Hasbro made. No swivel elbows for this figure! All ball joints, except for the swivel hips and wrists. But he was magnificent! I was so excited, I bought 4 of them when they came out. I even customized one to make a NJO Luke, and sadly that figure is in storage otherwise I would have taken a photo of that figure along side this one. 

Standing him without a stand is difficult as he isn't very well balanced, so displaying him loose, he will need a stand. I keep him in a container so he's alright there. It didn't take me long to pose him for these pictures, but he didn't fall over so it's a plus. I had to lean him back against the wall for those 2 pictures above. Obi-Wan came with a removable headset and plastic robe, both of those are lost long ago. The picture below shows what he looked like with them, and is taken from Galactic Figures:

I hoped to have found a better picture, but that was the only one I found in some image searches. Obi-Wan also came with a lightsaber and unlit hilt. And yes, I lost that hilt a long time ago. I'll post a few action shots below, showing off some of his articulation ranges and holding his weapon. This Obi-Wan figure has been repacked quite a bit since his 2005/2006 release. He was repacked in VC 1.0 16 Obi-Wan Kenobi, but had a cloth robe that didn't drape the same way the plastic one did. The card showed Obi-Wan on Mustafar, which really didn't fit this particular figure, in my honest opinion. 

Soon after this figure's release, Hasbro did an about face on the Star Wars line. Action features went away, and Hasbro dedicated themselves to making super articulated 3.75 inch figures, which some of the 2006 Saga figures were, but in 2007 when the 30th Anniversary Collection came out, the age of super articulated figures truly began, and would eventually give birth to the Vintage Collection, before taking a hiatus in 2013 through 2017 as the line became the 3.75 inch Black Series line. And of course The Vintage Collection 2.0 debuted in 2018, and lasts to this very day. So yes, while this Obi-Wan is "old" and has "outdated articulation" by today's collector standards, it's a figure that will remain special to me, as it roped me back into Star Wars collecting. I'll let you be the judge if this figure still has it or not by the photos below: 

LAGINAPPE: MCM COMIC CON REVEALS

There were some Black Series reveals (Shaak Ti & Luminara Unduli), but I want to focus on the Vintage Collection reveals. Aurra Sing gets repacked, this time on a new card image, and sadly it looks like the chest that contained her lightsabers is not included this time. It appears after zooming in on her head that she has been given the photo real treatment. For new collectors, this is a great opportunity to get a hard to find VC 1.0 figure, as that figure was hard to find on a Kenner card. Other collectors, myself included, found her on the Walmart exclusive 3D cards, but she appears from the neck down to be the exact same figure, and comes with her 2 pistols and long blaster rifle. 

If you got the E-Wing Fighter, you're going to need a pilot. Enter Lt Callahan. She appears to use parts of X-Wing Luke, with new forearms, and lower legs plus new chest decorations. She comes with a blaster pistol, and removable helmet. This is a mea culpa on the part of Hasbro for not putting Anton Merrick as a general release, he was packed in with his X-Wing while his droid did get a general release. Hasbro made a logical course correction here. I've only seen the Ahsoka series once, so I can't tell if she looks accurate to her onscreen appearance, but I have a feeling most who get her already have the E-Wing and will have her in the cockpit if they store them both loose. 

Thanks for reading! All photos are mine, except for the accessories Obi-Wan photo, which is from Galactic Figures, and the MCM VC reveals which came from X user @figurebrian care of IG user Twin Suns. A special thanks to Chris and Nomad at BanthaSkull for allowing me to post this link in the comments section! Please share this link on your social media accounts so I can get more readers!