The Good: Not a bad likeness
The Bad: Neither figure stands up well, Simple, Pointless articulations, Low value for cost, Arms fall off!
The Basics: Disappointing and poorly made, Gasgano is a lousy figure, but the pit droid is all right in this two-pack.
Every now and then, I encounter some toys that I find myself scratching my head and asking "What, honestly, is the point?" I felt that way recently when I reviewed the Star Wars "Episode 1" two-pack of Ody Mandrell and Pit Droid and as I sit down to review a similar two-pack, I find myself feeling the exact same way. Like the other two-pack, this features two diminuative creatures from Star Wars Episode 1 that could never effectively be marketed on their own. Unlike the other figures, these stand up (poorly), but they fall apart easily because the main figure is so thin in crucial points! Moreover, the pit droid that comes with this figure of Gasgano, because they did things like interact with Jar Jar Binks and get sucked into podracers, was probably on screen longer than Gasgano! Either way, the two-pack of Gasgano and the pit droid is a tough sell!
Gasgano, one of several podrace pilots who raced against young Anakin Skywalker in The Phantom Menace (reviewed here!), was made into a thin, jockey-like action figure with four arms. Unique to The Phantom Menace, this podracer is small enough that Hasbro felt they needed to add a second small figure as well and tossed in a little pit droid. Because he was relegated to only the first film, many collectors forget about him or pass his red-carded figure by.
Those who take the time to look over this 4" Gasgano figure tend to pass him by anyway; he is light on details and cannot stand up without assistance. Still, he fleshes out the full Star Wars universe fairly well, but given the lack of unique podracer toys, making more podracer pilots was an odd choice on Hasbro's part. Moreover, in the film, Gasgano was shown briefly as an alien podracer whose strength appeared to be in his arms and the flexibility of them. This figure's arms just fall off!
Basics
Gasgano is sculpted with his four arms in his flight suit. His hands are open entirely, so he is not able to hold any accessories, if there were accessories he was sold with to hold! He looks more or less like he did in The Phantom Menace. Basically, he looks like a little stick-headed jockey. Flatfooted, Gasgano (and his pit droid) fall over with even minimal vibrations in the area. Only the peg hole on the bottom of his foot will allow him to stand erect.
The Gasgano figure stands a slight 2 7/8" tall to the tip of his racing helmet. Gasgano is appropriately coifed in a simple flight suit which is molded to the figure. The figure is cast entirely in soft plastic and his head rotates on an elongated neck. The figure is cast in white plastic that lacks any surface shading, so he almost looks like an animated character. The only real details are on the racing stripes and the harness on his abdomen.
This toy is an accurate sculpt, but not a very exciting one. The character the figure is based upon is a CG character and Lucas and his ILM team were still getting such characters realistic-looking when the figure was made. As a result, the figure is only as good as the source material.
Accessories
Gasgano, being a pilot is molded with his goggles over his eyes and his only real accessory is a standard white Pit Droid. The pit droid accessory is a 3 1/4" biped-pit droid that does little but tip over. Hasbro made it articulated at the neck, groin socket and shoulders, but the only way the droid does anything but tip over is if it is leaning against something or its articulation is used to put it into a sitting position. As well, there is some irony in the fact that the pit droid is more articulated than Gasgano!
In addition, 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 Gasgano on it. This chip has phrases in alien gibberish, so it is not worth even recording here. The chip utilizes the actual dialogue from the movie, so it sounds perfectly like Gasgano.
Playability
The four inch toy line was designed for play, but Gasgano is terribly lame in that regard. This is a fairly literal thing; the Gasgano figure is very poorly-balanced even when in a flatfooted position. He does not stand up on his own, which makes two figures in this pack that fall right over at the first sign of gravity. Sure, Ody's legs can be spread so he does splits, his "skirt" resists even that!
Because of the balance issues, Gasgano is a poor figure as far as posability goes. He is given only five points of articulation. The lowered flexibility pretty much mandates collectors pose the figure in sitting or using one of the standing pegs on a playset. Gasgano, as an action figure, has joints at each of his four shoulders and neck. There is no articulation in the legs, nor can he sit down, which is fairly ridiculous for a podrace pilot! The neck turns all the way around, though.
Gasgano cannot hold any accessories, neither can the pit droid. All they do is fall over.
Collectibility
Gasgano is part of the last of the 1998 "Episode I" collection of four-inch action figures. This series of Star Wars action figures was generally overproduced, but Gasgano seems to be less overproduced than the initial run and as a result, figures like Gasgano are quite a bit harder to track down than their first wave counterparts. As a result, Gasgano may be found, but he is usually priced above the discount rack prices some of the other figures ended up with. Still, most collectors avoid Gasgano because of the playability and balance issues.
Overview
Unimpressive in every way, Gasgano and his pit droid are two figures for the price of one that remind collectors that sometimesyou get just what you pay for.
For other Star Wars - Episode I: The Phantom Menace action figures reviewed by me, please check out my reviews of:
TC-14
Destroyer Droid
Saesee Tiin
2/10
For other toy reviews, please visit my index page on the subject by clicking here!
© 2011, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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