The Good: Realistic likeness, Great balance, Reasonable articulation for the character
The Bad: No real accessories.
The Basics: Despite being a remarkably cool sculpt, it is hard to get excited about the Rune Haako inaction figure who stands, schemes and does little else.
I do have some respect for some of the unique character action figures Hasbro released from the Star Wars action figure line. After all, the universe became much bigger with the prequel trilogy and some of those characters were vital in ways that viewers might not have expected from only their appearances in Star Wars Episode 1. Rune Haako is one such character.
Rune Haako, who is one of the leaders of the Trade Federation who mounts the blockade of the planet Naboo, in The Phantom Menace (reviewed here!) is essentially a politician. Sure, he's a creepy Asian stereotype as well, but he was a legitimate villain and one of the more unique figures to appear following the success of the first wave of Episode I figures. Rune Haako impressed few collectors, but became sought after when his character returned for episodes 2 and 3. The result, this figure who does very little remains fairly sought-after!
This 4" Rune Haako figure is decent, but appropriately inactive. He fleshes out the full Star Wars universe fairly well, but how many politicians can one play with at any one time? But as far as creepy, conspiratorial amphibian men go, well, Rune Haako is one of the best!
Basics
Rune Haako is sculpted in his maroon and olive robes, hands curled together in a handwringing pose connoting sneaky conspiring. He looks exactly as he did in The Phantom Menace. He stands flatfooted with slightly flexible robes and a right hand molded to support his slightly more open left hand. He has giant gold insectoid eyes and a little mouth that make him look creepy beneath his flexible hat.
The Rune Haako figure stands a full 4 3/8" tall, to the tips of his stylish hat. Rune Haako is appropriately coifed in robes that make one wonder just what he looks like underneath them. Is he an insect? Is he a reptile? Is he a cunningly disguised droid or artichoke? This figure is made of a combination of hard plastic - the main body and limbs are solid - and has soft plastic robes. The figure is cast the hard plastic, then colored appropriately.
This toy is a decent sculpt, capturing the facial features of the Neimoidian quite well. Both the robes and flesh features are realistically colored for the creature and he looks wonderful.
Accessories
Rune Haako, being a slimy businessman and politician, requires no real accessories. As a result, this figure comes with only the standard CommTech chip for this series of figure. For the "Episode I" figure line, Hasbro toyed with action figures that spoke to those who took them out of the package. Thus, each figure came with a chip that featured an image of the character and a voice chip. When placed on the CommTech reader and read, the CommTech player would play dialogue from Rune Haako on it. This chip has such phrases as Haako saying "Have you ever encountered a Jedi Knight before sir?" "They have them on the run Sir," and "They're no match for Destroyer Droids?" The chip utilizes the actual dialogue from the movie, so it sounds perfectly like Rune Haako.
Playability
The four inch toy line was designed for play, but Rune Haako is terribly lame in that regard. This is not a literal thing, the Rune Haako figure is extraordinarily well-balanced when in a flatfooted position. However, moving his feet even slightly out of a flatfooted position completely mortgages his stability. Not to worry, the casting of this figure makes his leg articulation pointless; the stiff robes Rune Haako wears prevent the legs from moving with anything remotely resembling realistic leg movement. This Rune Haako cannot kick, but he can almost be posed in a shuffling position.
Despite having the flexible robes, Rune Haako is a poor figure as far as poseability goes. He is graced with eight points of articulation - mostly pointless ones - and that is a huge letdown considering the overall quality of the figure. The lowered flexibility pretty much mandates collectors pose the figure in very set ways. Rune Haako, as an action figure, has joints at the groin socket, shoulders, elbows, neck and waist. The waist essentially turns around entirely, but the rotation is pointless. There is no articulation in the knees or ankles, which matters less considering that the thigh joint can barely be moved. As well, this businessman may rotate his arms from the shoulder and rotate at the elbows, but not extend his arms. The result is a figure that may rotate slightly and point up and down. This is hardly exciting for play.
There are, unfortunately, no accessories to fit in his left hand, though some might.
Collectibility
Rune Haako is part of the 1999 "Episode I" collection of four-inch action figures. This series of Star Wars action figures was less overproduced than the initial run and as a result, figures like Rune Haako are quite a bit harder to track down than their first wave counterparts. As a result, Rune Haako may be found, but he might require more effort than some of the other figures and he'll likely be more expensive than the original issue price. In other words, this Rune Haako is a fair investment and is ideal for collectors and investors, as well as children who actually want a Rune Haako to play with!
Overview
Rune Haako is a great idea, but he's a tough toy to play with because he cannot even sit and instead, he just stands in the shadows scheming. Then again, he's such an obscure figure Hasbro has never overproduced him so for those who enjoy the political Star Wars, he's a great addition!
For other Star Wars - Episode I: The Phantom Menace action figures reviewed by me, please check out my reviews of:
Captain Tarpals
Tatooine Darth Maul
Senator Palpatine
Deluxe Darth Maul with Sith Speeder
Gasgano with Pit Droid
TC-14
Destroyer Droid
7/10
For other toy reviews, please be sure to visit the index page on the subject by clicking here!
© 2011, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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