Friday, February 25, 2011

Dead Jedi Files Vol. 1: Shaak Ti Is A Token Twi'lek Jedi Figure!





The Good: Well detailed, Accessories
The Bad: VERY Limited pose, Lightsaber breaks easily.
The Basics: A good paint job cannot help sell a virtually immobile Jedi action figure in Shaak Ti, one of the few female Jedi and one who managed to survive Attack Of The Clones.


It is hard for me to get excited about toys of Jedi characters. For sure, there may yet be many people bowled over by the power of the jedi who get excited collecting all of the noble warriors and playing with them in action figure form. However, I am something of a pragmatist and as such, I look at the Jedi and I see a group of samurai-like warriors who were slain by one of the most unimpressive armies in the known galaxy. If Darth Vader took some crap from generic Imperial officers about his lack of clairvoyance in finding where the stolen Death Star plans were, one can only imagine after Revenge Of The Sith the jokes going around about the Jedi being unable to see their forces shot down by the Clone armies.

One of the Jedi they defeated was Shaak Ti, a Jedi Master who appeared briefly in Attack Of The Clones (reviewed here!). One of the background Jedi, she is largely memorable for being a woman which helped bulk up the total recognizable women in the Star Wars Saga to at least a dozen (pretty sad after six movies!). Shaak Ti was one of the Jedi Masters who survived the battle in the Geonosis Arena and managed to return to be killed in a pretty awesome deleted scene in Revenge Of The Sith. Shaak Ti had billowing robes, a blue lightsaber and a battle stance that was formidable. But mostly, she was among the legions of background Jedi who did not have a speaking part, but made for a worthwhile addition to Hasbro's growing army of Star Wars action figures.

This 4" Shaak Ti figure is generally decent and it is a good figure in that it fleshes out the full Star Wars universe fairly well. However, posed as she is, this is a figure that is limited to the double grasped, defensive position lightsaber pose she is seen in her promotional photos taking. Ultimately, her articulation is brought down by her robes and the way the figure is exceptionally limited by her casting.

Basics

Shaak Ti in this form is a Jedi Master posed in a dramatic action moment during the Battle Of Geonosis from Attack Of The Clones. Her legs are posed spread under flowing robes which make her look like she is solid and completely able to defend herself. This is a woman who should never have been taken out by anyone other than General Grievous (which is how she is killed). This Shaak Ti figure stands only 3 7/8" tall, to the top of her horned head. Shaak Ti is appropriately coifed in robes and boots with her bright red-skinned face and hands showing. This figure is made of a combination of slightly hard plastic - the main body is solid, but the arms and legs illustrate the start of using more flexible plastic that actually feels more rubbery - and has soft plastic robes and skirts, though the skirt is fairly inflexible. The figure is cast the hard plastic, then colored appropriately.

This toy is a wonderful sculpt and if one can find Shaak Ti in the film for comparison, one will note the body shape and costume detailing are pretty decent. Shaak Ti is amazing in her coloring detail. The detailing on the figure's face is extraordinary with her dark eyes bearing a piercing quality even in this small scale. Equally impressive is that Hasbro was able to provide detailing for her facial tattoos and her Twi'lek head tentacles are appropriately striped! Shaak Ti's robes feature a talbard which has Twi'lek or Jedi script down the front of it and the coloring details are pretty cool.

Accessories

Shaak Ti, being a noble Jedi Master, requires very few accessories. As a result, this figure comes with a lightsaber and a "blast" deflection for the lightsaber. The lightsaber is a two and seven-eighths inch plastic blue lightsaber that is translucent like the one in the movie to its base. This lightsaber is nicely cast in gray plastic and the "blade" of the lightsaber may be pulled off to allow Shaak Ti to appear peaceful. Unfortunately, because the base of the lightsaber blade is a thin pin that fits into the base, this accessory breaks very easily leaving one with a detached blade and a choking hazard. As it is, the lightsaber may into either of Shaak Ti's hands, though she looks most natural when she holds it with both hands together.

The other accessory is a bolt of light energy meant to be a laser blast that is being deflected by the lightsaber. This bolt attaches to the the lightsaber blade and is essentially two spikes of red plastic with an arc of smaller bolts that are about one and a half to two inches each, angled in various vectors as if it is dispersing. It is a cool idea, but just annoying after the blade has broken off the lightsaber hilt.

Shaak It also comes with a ridiculous cardboard background which looks nothing like the Geonosis Arena.

Playability

The four inch toy line was designed for play and Shaak Ti is terrible in that regard. First, she has limited posabilty because of how the robes are cast. Even so, with capes and skirts made of the stiff plastic, this figure is one of the most stable Star Wars figures Hasbro produced. It is virtually impossible to knock her over, save by flicking her over. The arms and hands of Shaak Ti may easily be posed in her two-handed lightsaber grip, but the moment one tries turning her hands or arms, the figure starts to look ridiculous!

Unfortunately, the reason for Shaak Ti's stability is her low amount of articulation. Between the stiff-enough skirt and legs that have no joints, Shaak Ti is pretty much stuck looking like she will kick the tar defend solidly against her enemies. She is gifted with only three points of articulation and that is a huge letdown considering the overall quality of the figure. The lowered flexibility pretty much mandates collectors pose the figure in a very set way. Shaak Ti, as an action figure, has joints at the shoulders and neck. There is no articulation in the knees or ankles, presumably because the stiff "skirt" cape that descends from the waist is stiff plastic and would not allow posing with it. Rather annoyingly, Shaak Ti's head cannot turn much because of the Twi'lek tentacles which descend from her head inhibit it! Whenever her arms are turned at the shoulder, the flowing nature of the cape looks ridiculous.

Collectibility

Shaak Ti is part of the 2002 Star Wars: Attack Of The Clones collection of four-inch action figures. This series of Star Wars action figures was fairly common and the Shaak Ti figure was #10 in that collection and was in no way shortpacked in the cases. As a result, Shaak Ti was pretty well available in the cases of this product and as a result is still widely available on the secondary market today. In other words, this Shaak Ti is a poor investment and is more ideal for collectors and children who actually want an interesting Shaak Ti to play with!

Overview

Shaak Ti is pretty much a disappointing inaction figure and she was later recast. For those looking for a decent Jedi to flesh out their army with, that is the Shaak Ti to go with.

For other Attack Of The Clones figures and toys, please be sure to check out my reviews of:
Hailfire Droid
Deluxe Nexu with jaw-snapping action
Deluxe Yoda with Force powers
Geonosian Starfighter

4/10

For other Star Wars toy reviews, please be sure to check out the index page by clicking here!

© 2011, 2010 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.




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