Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Kitik Keed'Kak May Be A Background Puppet, But The Rarity Of The Star Wars Figure Makes Her Valuable!!




The Good: Great investment value, Great detailing
The Bad: Low playability.
The Basics: Kitik Keed'Kak is essentially a Star Wars inaction figure, but she looks cool and has collectible value, making it possible to recommend her.

There are very few Star Wars figures of late that I have both wanted and had to go back to the source material to find, but Kitik Keed'Kak was one that met both of those criteria. As part of our fabulous winter holiday, my wife picked me up the Kitik Keed'Kak action figure from the 2006 Star Wars Saga Collection of Star Wars figures and as I sat to review the toy, I realized I did not recognize the digital image on the packaging. As it turns out, there is a good reason for that; the digital version of Kitik Keed'Kak does not appear in any version of A New Hope that I can find. In fact, for the Star Wars CCG, Kitik Keed'Kak is represented by two legs which pass in front of the camera. Those appear to be edited out in the latest DVD release of the first Star Wars, leaving just the puppet of Kitik Keed'Kak.

For those unfamiliar with Kitik Keed'Kak, she - according to the lore on the card and action figure card - was in the background of the Mos Eisley Cantina scene in A New Hope (reviewed here!). If one looks closely in long shots in the Cantina where Chewbacca is visible in the background, behind him against the wall is the giant praying mantis-like creature, which is Kitik Keed'Kak. For her, roughly, twelve seconds on screen, she turns her head after Obi-Wan slices off a Cantina denizen's arm and otherwise just sits in the background.

The 4" Kitik Keed'Kak figure is pretty cool, in terms of detailing and sculpt, and it fleshes out the full Star Wars universe well. Fans who like having more aliens in their collections for play and display will be thrilled to add Kitik Keed'Kak to their shelves, but for play, Kitik Keed'Kak gets very low marks.

Basics

The Kitik Keed'Kak figure stands 4 1/2" tall to the top of her head. She looks like a praying mantis wearing a grass skirt. She is brown and gray with buggy gray eyes and two pincer-like arms descending dangerously over her prey!

This toy is a great sculpt, looking as much like the insect prop in A New Hope as one could judge given how dark the Cantina corner Kitik Keed'Kak is stuck in is. Underneath the grass skirt (which presumably hid the puppeteer in the prop), Hasbro made two legs and a whole segmented abdomen section that actually looks pretty cool. For a portion of the figure that few people will actually ever see, Hasbro did a great job of adding coloring detail to the legs and abdomen.

The head of Kitik Keed'Kak also features great coloring detailing with a lighter patch between her two big eyes. Strangely, because they seem to have produced the digital Kitik Keed'Kak for the packaging, the figure does not have a lighter-colored mouth area. Even so, the dress-wearing praying mantis looks great and makes for a decent support figure for fans and collectors.

Accessories

Kitik Keed'Kak is a giant praying mantis and does not come with weapons or other tools for the figure. Oddly, she does come with a stand - odd because she does not need one at all - which was emblematic of the 2006 Saga Collection series. The stand is a 2 1/2" wide by 1 1/2" deep by 1/8" tall stand that is gunmetal colored with the name Kitik Keed'Kak on the front. Oddly, this Saga Collection figure is stamped with the Attack Of The Clones logo, despite the packaging declaring it a A New Hope figure.

Like all of the 2006 Saga Collection figures, Kitik Keed'Kak features a hologram figure. Kitik Keed'Kak comes with a 1 1/2" tall red Rebel Soldier hologram inaction figure. The game piece-like figure is solid red and features a Rebel Soldier molded in a position with his gun drawn ready to shoot at Stormtroopers.

Playability

The four inch toy line was designed for play and Kitik Keed'Kak is poor in that regard. The figure is outfitted with two swinging arms that look segmented, but only move at the shoulder socket. As a result, she swings her arms up and down, but unless her victims are right below and in front of her, her attacks are more menacing in appearance than actual function. Kitik Keed'Kak also has swivel joints at the waist and groin socket. But the flexibility of the legs is ultimately pointless as the solid skirt inhibits all leg motion. On the plus side, she stands solid and is virtually untippable in all arm and waist-moved poses. Oddly, there is no articulation at the neck, so Kitik Keed'Kak does not turn her head like she does in the movie.

Still, Kitik Keed'Kak looks awesome while standing and she does have holes in her feet which allow her to be placed on any number of playsets.

Collectibility

Kitik Keed'Kak is part of the Saga line that was released in 2006. Kitik Keed'Kak is 2006 Saga Collection figure #071. Kitik Keed'Kak was exceptionally shortpacked and demand for it was not met by the fans determined to flesh out their full collections. As a result, Kitik Keed'Kak remains an amazing investment piece whose value has doubled. Interestingly, Kitik Keed'Kak's value has remained high despite the fact that the identical figure was included in exclusive Cantina multipack with a portion of the Cantina Bar and Dr. Evizan. Kitik Keed'Kak is one of the more obscure aliens on the market and it will likely remain a great investment piece!

In fact, more than a toy, this is a better collectible investment should one be able to find one cheap!

Overview

Kitik Keed'Kak might have turned her head in A New Hope, but because the figure is so rare, she does not need to do even that to please collectors of Star Wars toys. For fans looking to play, though, this toy is more flash than substance and is not essential by any stretch of the imagination.

For other figures from the 2006 Saga Collection, please check out my reviews of:
001 Princess Leia as Boushh
003 Bib Fortuna
005 X-Wing Pilot Luke Skywalker
031 Momaw Nadon

5/10

For other Star Wars toy reviews, please check out my index page by clicking here!

© 2011 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.



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