The Good: Wonderful detailing, Great balance, Good articulation, Nice accessory
The Bad: Coloring issue with face
The Basics: An above average figure, the Saga Bib Fortuna looks good, but has a few limitations which rob him of perfection.
In the last few weeks, it seems like my wife and I have been going out and finding some pretty great deals on things I thought I was done collecting. Yet, when one can get Star Wars figures for free, it is hard to not pick them up. This has allowed me to get in some of the Saga figures that I could not find when they were initially released. No long ago, I reviewed the Saga Momaw Nadon figure (click here for that) and while Return Of The Jedi is not at all my preferred Star Wars film, I found some other figures from that film that I wanted to use to enhance my collection. One of them was the Bib Fortuna figure.
For those who might be unfamiliar with Bib Fortuna, he was the Twi'lek aid to Jabba The Hutt in Return Of The Jedi (click here for the review!). There, Bib Fortuna eagerly introduced the droids, happily indentured them and went missing moments before Jabba was killed.
The 4" Bib Fortuna figure is pretty impressive and because it is so well-detailed, it easily supersedes the earlier Bib Fortuna figure Kenner had made. In fact, with the articulation on this figure, one wishes Hasbro had gotten the face coloring right so they would never again have to hunt for a Bib Fortuna figure.
Basics
The Bib Fortuna action figure is a great sculpting of the alien aide de camp from Return Of The Jedi. The figure stands 4" tall and he is dressed in the teal and gray robes he wore while in Jabba's Palace. That Bib Fortuna looks very clean is a little unrealistic as Tatooine is a dusty, dirty planet, but this is easily excusable as Bib Fortuna looked pretty clean in the film. The figure is made almost entirely of soft plastic, save the head and legs.
This toy is an impressive sculpt, looking very much like the Twi'lek with the head tentacles before and behind his head. For some reason, the hard plastic head of Bib Fortuna has a very different coloring than the rest of the figure and he is pink headed instead of the cream color that his tentacles are. This is arguably the only flaw in this figure. Bib Fortuna's mouth is open in an expression that makes it look like he is cackling. The amazing thing about the figure is how the hands are molded to include individually colored, sharp fingernails.
The figure is perfectly recognizable as Bib Fortuna and includes such details as flowing robes and the little tendrils hanging from his gullet. Bib Fortuna's coloring is so well done outside the face that he includes tiny pink irises! Rather coolly, the cummerbund on Bib Fortuna's waist may be used to hold his dagger!
Accessories
Bib Fortuna is realistically prepared to assist and assassinate for Jabba the Hutt as he includes a dagger. Like most figures in the 2006 series of Star Wars figures, this Bib Fortuna includes a stand, so this figure may be appropriately used for display as well as play.
I actually like the dagger. The 1/2" long soft plastic dagger is a very different from most Star Wars figures and it fits in either of Bib Fortuna's hands quite well. It also slides into his cummerbund perfectly. The knife looks decorative with the cool, circular orb at the base and the properly colored gunmetal colored blade. This seems to fit Bib Fortuna's slimy, political character.
There is also a non-posable hologram figurine of Darth Vader, but that's thrown in as a bonus and did not impress me at all.
The Saga Collection figures come with stands, including the Bib Fortuna. The stand is a two inch long by one and a half inch wide by one-eighth inch tall gunmetal colored plastic stand. It features the name of the film and the name of the figure on it, which is a nice touch for those displaying the figure. There is also a peg which fits the hole in either of the Bib Fortuna's feet. On the stand, the figure is completely stable and posable. The stands make these figures into display pieces and this Bib Fortuna is a worthy one!
Playability
The four inch toy line was designed for play and Bib Fortuna is good in that regard. The figure is very articulated and has excellent balance when off his stand, largely because the feet barely move. This Bib Fortuna figure comes with seven points of articulation and Hasbro makes excellent use of them! He has joints at the groin socket, elbows, wrists, and neck. Unlike most Star Wars figures, these are not all just simple swivel joints; the head is on a ball and socket joint, which means little because the head tentacles prevent the head from turning much. As a result of the joint, the head of Bib Fortuna turns from side to side and can nod as well, in its limited way. Bib Fortuna barely moves at the feet, so he cannot be posed in odd positions, save with his arms.
This is a good figure for posing or for play. As well, it does have exceptional balance on or off his stand.
Collectibility
Bib Fortuna is part of the 2006 Saga Collection four-inch series, a series of Star Wars action figures that was not very common at all, but largely recast figures that had been previously released by Kenner. Hasbro sought to improve the old figures by having a greater attention to detail, coloring and accessory detail and proportion. As such, this Bib Fortuna is a distinct improvement as far as balance, detailing and accessories from the earlier Bib Fortuna. Released as Saga Collection (2006) figure #003, this figure is a good idea for those creating an ultimate collection of each major character. It is hard to imagine how this figure might be improved upon, save if the face lost its pink tint.
Overview
The Saga Bib Fortuna is an amazing sculpt of a figure that has been done only fairly before and it is close to being the ultimate version of the character in this scale.
For other Star Wars figures and toys, please check out my reviews of:
Legacy Collection Slave Leia
J'Quille
Dash Rendar's Outrider
9/10
For other toy reviews, please check out my index page!
© 2010 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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