The Good: Collectible value, Good sculpts, Cool accessories, Decent base
The Bad: Cheap cardboard backdrop, Poor figure balance
The Basics: A pretty cool three-pack, the Mynock Hunt offers a new and different Han Solo, Chewbacca and Princess Leia figure with a neat display base.
When going through my collection of Star Wars figures, it frequently surprises me what I have and have not reviewed. While organizing and packing up for sales and moving, it surprises me how very much stuff I have that I do need to review yet. One of the principle surprises for me was that I had not reviewed a good number of the Star Wars figure three packs that I have. I tended to like the concept of the three-packs, which gave consumers three figures on a plastic base with a cardboard background for about the price of two of the figures! What truly surprises me is that I had not reviewed the Mynock Hunt three-pack when that was one I wanted for quite some time when I was actively collecting. Now that I have it out for reviewing, I'm pleased to say it generally holds up even with subsequent sculpts of most of the figures involved.
The Mynock Hunt is a representation of the scene from The Empire Strikes Back (click here for the review of the film!) when the Millennium Falcon took refuge in a cave in a massive asteroid. There, Leia noticed flying creatures outside and Han Solo, Chewbacca and Princess Leia left the ship to hunt the creatures feeding off the power cables on the ship. Those creatures were Mynocks and the Mynock Hunt three-pack includes a miniature Mynock. The set is centered around figures of Han Solo, Chewbacca and Leia each with breathing masks. These three principle characters come together with the Mynock in the Mynock Hunt Three-Pack, accompanied by a plastic base with a cardboard backdrop that plugs into the base.
The 4" figures are rather cool and they are a good concept. Moreover, the three pack lends the idea of increased value in the pack. Because this has all main characters, the Mynock Hunt is a crapshoot for collectors and play enthusiasts; many fans will already have all the Han Solos they need or want, but for those needing a Han, Leia and Chewie, this may be the ideal way to go.
Basics
This is a set of three action figures and a "playset" (or more accurately a play environment). The Mynock Hunt fits the 4" figure line and the three figures each come with at least one accessory. The Han Solo figure is the smuggler in his trademark flight vest and striped pants. The figure stands 3 3/4" tall to the top of his head. This version of Han Solo is a pretty typical Han Solo in Bespin fatigues figure, save that his coat is distinctly black, not navy blue. The head is one that had been used on other figures and featured Han Solo's face and the sculpt is good enough to recognize as Harrison Ford's iconic character. Han comes with his breathing mask around his face and while he looks a little more bulked up than usual, it is still a fairly decent sculpt.
The Chewbacca figure is a decent recast of the Wookie character. This one comes posed ready to aim his crossbow weapon and shoot at Mynock wherever they might be draining the power from! This Chewbacca figure stands 4 1/4" tall and is not just monotonally brown. Instead, this Chewbacca features texture to make him look furry as well as gray and brown highlights which make him look like he has depth and layers to him. This is a good idea, as early Chewbacca figures made the character look pretty much like a poop monster instead of a hero of the Rebellion. This Chewbacca comes with his standard bandoleer and the same face mask as the other two figures.
The Princess Leia figure is essentially a Hoth Leia figure, which is appropriate. She stands 3 1/2" tall and the white outfit includes her rank insignia on the chest of the vinyl jacket the figure is wearing. Leia comes with her face mask on and her eyes are disturbingly under-detailed. Mine has very large white pupils instead of black pupils. As a result, the thin brown irises make this Princess Leia look like a zombie version of Leia! Even so, the costume looks good and there is a slight amount of coloring to her leggings so it looks like Leia has gotten a little dirty.
As for the background play environment, the base is a 9 3/4" inch long by two inch wide section of imitation rock that represents the bottom of the "cave" and it has a slot in the back. The slot is just wide enough for the cardboard back that has the mural of the interior of the cave, with the Millennium Falcon, on it. The cardboard backer is problematic because it is easily bent, but by this time Hasbro designed it so that it came completely ready for play. It does not need to be cut out at the bottom to fit into the slot. The base has three plastic pegs which fit the holes in the figures' feet and allow them to easily stand on the base.
Accessories
One of the nice things about the Mynock Hunt Three-Pack is that two of the characters come with their own accessories and then there is the Mynock itself, so one may actually hunt the Mynock! Both Han Solo and Chewbacca come with firearms.
Han Solo has his standard blaster and this is the same one that virtually every Han Solo figure from Kenner came with. It is about an inch long and that makes it slightly larger than it ought to be, as far as the proper proportions of the figure. It has all of the surface details of Han Solo's Blaster molded right in, but it is monotonally colored black.
Also monotonally colored is Chewbacca's bowcaster. His weapon is custom made for Chewbacca and the 2 3/8" long hybrid between a laser rifle and a crossbow looks great in Chewbacca's hands. Chewbacca has two grips he may use to hold the bowcaster and even though it is a metallic brown color, the bowcaster looks pretty good in his hands.
Finally, there is the Mynock itself. The Mynock is a brown, batlike creature which is made of a softer plastic to have a little bit of flexibility to it. As a result, the wings may be moved a little bit, even it it cannot be posed. The Mynock features its large, disc-like mouth and the extended claws which are pretty neat. The Mynock is 3" wide and only 2" long, but the little creature looks ready to menace the heroes appropriately!
Playability
The four inch toy line was designed for play and the heroes fit that well and the play environment is a good idea. Still, the figures are poorly articulated and later sculpts - there are later sculpts of all three characters, including their facemask gear - improved upon them a little bit. All three figures have limited articulation and minor balance issues when they are off their action base. Fortunately, all three figures have foot pegs so they can stand on the play base easily enough. Still, the figures come with only six points of articulation each all of which are simple swivel joints. They have joints at the groin socket, shoulders, neck and waist. The elbows do not extend, so all arm posing is straight-armed. Furthermore, Chewbacca's head articulation is somewhat pointless as his mane prevents his head from turning realistically.
The fundamental problem with these figures, though, is that outside their foot pegs, none of them stand up easily. All of them fall down without aid, so one almost gets the feeling that these were the reject sculpts and Kenner found a real clever way to unload them!
Collectibility
The Mynock Hunt play environment is part of the Power Of The Force four-inch series, a series of Star Wars action figures that was incredibly common. Still, this three pack was much less produced and remained valuable in that regard. In fact, at one point, this was the most valuable three-pack produced. Since its value peaked in the hundred dollar range, it seems a treasure trove of these three-packs was unearthed and the value plummeted. Even so, despite the resculpts, this has remained a popular three-pack and is a fun one to have. This is a pretty wonderful display piece for fans of Star Wars.
Overview
Balance issues aside, the Mynock Hunt three-pack is a worthwhile pack of Star Wars figures and one that has generally retained its value because the figures inside have not been overdone in the various collections since. This continues to be a decent value for play enthusiasts and collectors alike!
For other deluxe Star Wars action figures, please check out my reviews of:
Attack Of The Clones Yoda with Force powers
Attack Of The Clones Nexu
Darth Maul With Sith Speeder
7/10
For other toy reviews, please visit my index page!
© 2010 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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