The Case For A New VC Mara Jade

 In case you missed the winner of the SWTVC March Madness: 

To be honest, even if Mara hadn't won, I would have made this same blog post, but maybe at a different time. It actually occurred to me while stuck in traffic Thursday evening that this  should be my topic for this weekend. As you may know, Mara was my top choice for March Madness, and with the recent Heir To The Empire 3 pack coming soon, she became even more justified to be my top choice. Now, she has had some 3.75 inch figures before, and currently has a Sixer figure available in The Last Command 4 pack. 

Ever since her debut in 1991 in the novel Heir To The Empire by Timothy Zahn, Mara quickly became a fan favorite character. But her absence in the Dark Empire series is almost an unforgivable mistake (she probably wasnt in it to keep the suspense on her fate in the Thrawn Trilogy but could have shown up in DE2 and Empire's End). There were all sorts of web pages dedicated to Mara and Luke, even before they became an official couple, and while Luke was shagging Callista and Akanah Pell. And it's also unfortunate that there weren't a lot of stories with Mara fighting Lumiya, as she would be partially responsible for Mara's death in the novel Sacrifice, which not only upset me but her creator as well. 

So, I'll look back at Mara Jade's previous figures, and show off some of my customs I've made of her over the years. I'll conclude with the options to make a new Mara, and not just updating her "catsuit" look. 

1. POTF2 EXPANDED UNIVERSE MARA JADE 

This figure came out in 1998, and as you can tell I finally got my POTF2 figures out of storage. Mara has 6 POA, although her long hair prevents her head from moving, except for a little to her left and right. She has swivel arms, legs and waist, and is well balanced as she's standing on her own in the photo above. She came with a blaster, which fits best in her right hand, and Anakin/Luke Skywalker's lightsaber, which fits best in her right hand, but she is able to hold it in her left hand decently. I did touch her up with some black paint a while back, but her "hood" is starting to show its age as the paint is worn off. Back in the day, this figure got a lot of use helping Luke fight Thrawn and a few Dark Jedi like Clone Palpy. 

2. COMIC PACK MARA JADE 

PHOTOS FROM OLD SCHOOL TOYS/JEDI TEMPLE ARCHIVES

Mara came in a comic pack with an X-Wing Luke, based off their appearance in the HTTE comic adaptation. Mara had ball joint knees and shoulders, along with swivel wrists, swivel elbows, waist, hips and her head was on a ball joint. My unaltered version of this figure is currently MIA, so I had to search for pictures. Her accessories include a removable hood, lightsaber (not the Skywalker lightsaber) and gigantic oversized blaster. Her hair follows the red-gold that her hair color was described in the Original Thrawn Trilogy, so that was a plus. But the swivel elbows just don't hold up. This figure came out in 2007. Her purple suit is accurate to the HTTE comic adaptation. 

3. 3.75 INCH BLACK SERIES MARA JADE SKYWALKER 

Head sculpt aside, this is a good figure, but by the standards of 2013, which is when this figure came out. This Mara is supposed to be from just after her wedding to Luke Skywalker, but she's in her HTTE Catsuit. But she's a good update of the 1998 POTF2 Mara as she has a holster that can attach on her hip as shown above, and on the small of her back, which was where the POTF2 Mara had her non working holster. Her blaster is closer in scale, and fits in the holster. Her lightsaber is an update of the 2007 hilt, but she has a purple blade this time. Her hilt can fit on her belt. But the head sculpt....it's just bad. Mara has swivel hips, wrists and waist, along with ball jointed head, elbows, knees, shoulders and ankles. In one of my customs I swapped out a new head on this figure. Photo isn't mine, but from an online image search. 

CUSTOM MARA FIGURES

1. JEDI MARA JADE

Around 2000, I acquired another Mara from the Star Wars Fan Club (and scored the POTF2 Kyle Katarn). But I wanted a Mara figure as seen on the Vision Of The Future cover, so I cut off the head and glued it onto a spare POTF2 Leia figure, added green and black paint and I have Jedi Mara. I painted a skirt green but couldn't find it. She can hold the Skywalker lightsaber quite well, but I also had her use a spare Qui-Gon Jinn lightsaber too. 

2. BLACK SERIES HEAD SWAP

I took a Scarlett head from GI Joe: Rise of Cobra movie figure, and since the head couldn't fit on the ball joint, I cut it off and glued it on. Only to learn how to glue on a replacement neck ball joint after I did this. Not a bad figure, and she blended in well with my custom Luke Skywalker (not pictured). But the newer Luke figures had a problem: this Mara was almost as tall, or a little taller. So I fixed the problem on my last custom. But before that, this Mara, along with Talon Karrde will be in my Cantina display. 

3. CURRENT CUSTOM MARA JADE 

I found out the 2007 Comic Pack Mara's lower legs could fit on the 2013 Black Series Mara, so I did a simple leg swap. Her knees can move, but she has no ankle articulation. I took a spare Shae Vizsla head and while it is a loose fit on her neck joint, a thin layer of 2 sided tape and her head can stay on, and move a bit. I painted her boots gloss black, but her knees are still purple, a nod back to the VC 1.0 days. She's not a great figure for today's standard, but it's the best one I have, so she'll do. Plus, she looks good with my custom Luke and live action Thrawn (it was easier to get this Thrawn than my Rebels Thrawn). 

As you can see, this custom Mara matches up well with Luke, and is in my opinion the perfect scale to Luke as he's not much taller than Mara, as described in Legends. Her Scarlett head custom is the same height as this Luke, but shorter than my old custom Luke. 

IT'S TIME FOR A NEW MARA JADE!! 

The 6 inch Black Series Mara is a repaint of the Jaina Solo figure, which would also serve as the Dr Aphra figure. Here is the VC Aphra with my new custom Mara: 

Knowing Hasbro, they would probably do the same thing: they'll repaint Aphra, give her a new head and arms and call it a day. There was a time when I would have been okay with that. But that time isn't now, she needs to be an all new sculpt. Well I know I'll be pissed off if that doesn't happen, and so will many other collectors. For a new Mara Jade, here are my demands: 

1. Barbell hips. Mara is not only an assassin, she's a Jedi in training. She needs the latest in articulation. 

2. Brand new sculpt is required. Especially now!

Simple, right?! The ball is in your court, Hasbro. I'll even drop some hints about versions that could be made. 

FIGURES OF MARA I WOULD LIKE TO SEE: (images from web searches, not mine)

1. EMPEROR'S HAND MARA

This is Mara from the Choices Of One novel, and the novel Allegiance. She's in a full body Catsuit but has some armor. She also has her purple bladed lightsaber as these 2 novels take place in between A New Hope & The Empire Strikes Back. This seems to be the Mara chosen by SWTVC's winner's image. 

2. LIVE ACTION MARA JADE 

Model Shannon McRandle became the face of Mara in the late 90's/early 2000's. She portrayed Mara in a card game, with Timothy Zahn portraying Talon Karrde, and fellow Star Wars author Michael Stackpole portraying Booster Terrick. I wanted a picture of her in the green outfit too but this was the best one available in an online search, and isn't mine. 

3. VISION OF THE FUTURE MARA

This is Mara's green outfit from the cover, but this is the Japanese version, but the outfit is still the same. Like her Emperor's Hand version, this hasn't been made. The image isn't mine.

4. NEW JEDI ORDER MARA

Mara in this art looks like a cross between Hoth Leia and Jyn Erso, outfit wise. Now take into account that Mara is suffering from a disease as she's battling Yuzhan Vong agent Yomin Carr. She really showed her badass side in these stories, but honestly after they killed off Chewbacca and Anakin Solo I checked out of the New Jedi Order. The image isn't mine. 

5. JABBA'S PALACE OUTFITS

Her first image is from the card game. The 2nd image is from the By The Emperors Hand miniseries. Both images are from online searches, and not mine. These figures wouldn't likely be made, I admit. But that top picture? Take it away, Quagmire! 

6. LAST COMMAND MARA

Mara is seen on the original cover wearing a camouflage outfit battling Luuke Skywalker. This has also been a popular choice for a Mara figure. But her top EH outfit is on the more recent cover art for LC. This one probably won't get made either, but deserves to be shown. Image obviously isn't mine. 

7. VIDEO GAME MARA JADE

Mara is battling Kyle Katarn in the Mysteries Of The Sith video game, and this is also the same outfit she wore in Masters of Teras Kasi. While I personally don't want this version, many others do. Image isn't mine. 

8. INTERREGNUM MARA JADE 

If you haven't heard of this version, it's a fan fiction that's actually quite enjoyable and fits in the Legends timeline, replacing Dark Empire. This is actually my favorite look for Mara, and if I could make a Mara figure, this is what I would choose. 

As I said earlier, the ball is in your court now Hasbro. The fan's have spoken: we want Mara Jade! And we want an all new sculpt for her too! So let's make this happen already! Mara Jade's importance to not only Luke Skywalker, but her many fans and SWTVC March Madness voters have made it clear: they want Mara in the VC, and a brand new sculpt is well deserved. 

Thanks for reading! A special thanks to Chris and Nomad at BanthaSkull for allowing me to post this link in the comments section! Images from online searches aren't mine, and where I could give credit, I did. Most images I found didn't have a direct credit, so if the owners see this, I'll happily give credit to them. The only images that are mine are the figure photos of my POTF2 Mara, and the customs.