The Good: Good accessories, Good balance, Generally good sculpt and coloring
The Bad: Lack of articulation, Collectible value is pretty bad
The Basics: EV-9D9 is one of the worthwhile Power Of The Force action figures on the market that fleshes out the Return Of The Jedi portion of a Star Wars action figure collection well!
Unlike so many of the Star Wars action figures, EV-9D9 is a action figure that has some immediate merit in being made. EV-9D9, unlike so very many of the figures produced by Kenner and Hasbro over the years, actually had a few lines in Return Of The Jedi! What might be even more significant about EV-9D9 is that the Power Of The Force rendition of the sadistic droid actually holds up remarkably well even in collections of current Star Wars action figures. Perhaps that is why EV-9D9 has not been recast, despite Hasbro’s current obsession with remaking older characters from the Star Wars Saga with improved articulation.
EV-9D9, for those not on a first name basis with every minor player in the Star Wars Saga, was a droid who appeared in Return Of The Jedi (click here for my review!). It was the droid who worked in the bowels of Jabba’s Palace, cataloging the new droids Jabba “acquired.” The EV-9D9 droid was the one who ordered C-3PO outfitted with a restraining bolt and who assigned R2-D2 to the sail barge so R2 could learn some respect. EV-9D9, presumably, is the head droid in Jabba’s workshop and the one who authorized the use of torture against the unfortunate droids that have nerve endings (or sensors) on their feet.
The 4" EV-9D9 figure is pretty cool and stands up decently. The figure is very cool and because this was based on an robot puppet, it has an appropriate amount of articulation, save in the elbows and jaw.
Basics
EV-9D9 is a copper-colored droid that looks somewhat buglike. The figure stands 4 13/16" tall to the top of its head. EV-9D9 is essentially a biped robot. The figure is made entirely of hard plastic.
This toy is a pretty awesome sculpt, looking very much like EV-9D9. It has the black and copper-colored droid rendered with surprising accuracy, though the back of the head bulges out a little bit more than the actual prop did. While EV-9D9 suffers some from a lack of articulation, the only place that lack truly matters is in the elbows. That EV-9D9 is forced to do all of his work straightarmed, as opposed to looking like it does in the picture is unfortunate.
Otherwise, Kenner even got the coloring of EV-9D9 right! This droid has a dirty copper shell and black mechanical parts that look like just enough to hold the robot erect. The Power Of The Force EV-9D9 even has tiny dots painted on the front of its head to indicate the lights that were the droid’s eyes!
Accessories
EV-9D9, robotic torture specialist for Jabba The Hutt comes only with its Datapad. It is a 2 5/8” tall by 1 1/2” wide by 1 3/4" deep plastic computer console molded entirely in black plastic. The device is very simple and is connected to a stand so it comes up to the appropriate height in proportion to the figure. It has decent molded details, like a screen and rivets on the stand, but no coloring details. In that way, it does not match the finer details of EV-9D9 as well as it ought to.
Playability
The four inch toy line was designed for play and the EV-9D9 is good in that regard. The figure is poorly articulated and lacks significant articulation to make it interesting outside its hunched over the Datapad pose. EV-9D9 has limited poseability, but looks cool in the primary pose it is molded for. As well, it has good balance. This figure stands well on its own when standing straight. It also has the standard holes in the feet that allow this figure to be posed in more outlandish poses on the playsets and toys that have the matching foot pegs!
EV-9D9 is very low on articulation, though. The figure has five points of articulation, all of which are simple swivel joints: shoulders, groin socket and neck. The articulation at the groin socket is very limited because of the back of the leg protrusions.
Collectibility
EV-9D9 is part of the Power Of The Force four-inch series, a series of Star Wars action figures that was incredibly common. EV-9D9 was not as overproduced as many of the others in the line and this one has never been recast, giving it slightly better collectible value. Even so, the entire line flooded the market and EV-9D9 has never truly appreciated in value and is unlikely to.
Overview
The EV-9D9 figure from the Power Of The Force collection is very cool and it is easy to see why Hasbro has not been in a rush to recast this droid. Until they do (and barring them screwing up the process), the Power Of The Force EV-9D9 remains the best of this obscure droid on the market!
For other Star Wars Saga Droid figures, please check out my reviews of:
Vintage Collection 4-LOM
Saga Legends IG-88
Legacy Collection HK-50
R4-D6 Build-A-Droid
Revenge Of The Sith 2-1B
8.5/10
For other toy reviews, please check out my index page!
© 2011 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
No comments:
Post a Comment