The Good: Great coloring detail, Good accessories, Wonderful articulation, Excellent balance!
The Bad: Poorly sculpted hands for holding the drinking glass accessory.
The Basics: Fun to say, retaining its value and giving Star Wars enthusiasts a lot to get excited about, the Vintage Collection Bom Vimdin action figure is a lot of fun!
In my quest to get the new Mail-Away exclusive Prototype Boba Fett action figure, I have run into an annoying problem: locally, all of the cool figures that have the necessary mail-away form included in them are gone! I scoured the entire inventory of every local store that carries Star Wars Vintage Collection action figures and in the entire Syracuse and Utica area, the only ones I found still available were a single Rebel Trooper and a lone B-Wing Fighter Pilot. Given that they were $10/ea. ($10.80 after tax) and I was not excited about either one, I went searching the Internet to see if I could find a figure I liked that was affordable and included the needed mail-away form. I was so excited when I discovered that some of the Bom Vimdin figures on the market actually had the promotional item! When I was able to snag one for a measly $11.50 including the shipping, I was so happy. I got a figure I actually wanted (I had seen Bom Vimdin in the stores late last year without the promotion and bearing an uncomfortable $12.99 price tag), could mail away for another Prototype Boba Fett figure and I had something new to review.
I also quickly discovered I had something very fun to say. “Bom Vimdin” is a fun name to say. Seriously, say it out loud. “Bom Vimdin!” It’s virtually impossible to say Bom Vimdin without smiling in a geeky fashion. When mine arrived, I ran around the house gleefully saying “Bom Vimdin! Bom Vimdin!” until my wife glared at me. I then discovered it’s virtually impossible to say “Bom Vimdin” in a sad, mournful tone. I swear, even our Siberian Husky Myah tried to join me in saying “Bom Vimdin!” and she looked pretty happy while barking it out, too!
If you are unfamiliar with Bom Vimdin, that is no surprise at all. Bom Vimdin is one of the many, many aliens seen for only a few frames in A New Hope (reviewed here!). With a tiny horn on its head and big, red eyes, Bom Vimdin is an alien that looks very much like a Harryhausen creature.
The 4" Vintage Collection Bom Vimdin is the first ever rendition of this Cantina Patron!
Basics
The Vintage Collection Bom Vimdin figure stands 3 7/8" tall to the top of the horn on his head and by the quality of the sculpt, one might think that Bom Vimdin was an integral character to the Star Wars Saga! Apparently, Hasbro’s new philosophy for the Star Wars line is to try to make each new figure only once. They appear to want to get the sculpts, balance and coloring completely right so they never have to be recast and with Bom Vimdin they have pretty much succeeded!
Bom Vimdin is one of many aliens that was essentially a latex mask creature sitting on a bar stool. Bom Vimdin is cast with a small, round head with big ears, a horn coming out the center of this forehead and two big eyes under a furrowed brow. Bom Vimdin is cast with a perpetual frown that looks exactly like the picture on the figure’s card. He (I am assuming Bom Vimdin is male from a lack of secondary sex characteristics) is cast wearing a leather armor shirt with small studs all over it. He is wearing pants that make him look like virtually any other smuggler or scoundrel in the place with high boots as well. Cast with an undershirt and gloves, the only part of the alien with flesh showing is the creature’s head. Over the hard plastic casting of the lower half is a belt with a holster attached to Bom Vimdin’s right thigh.
As for the coloring detail, the Bom Vimdin is immaculately colored. Every stud on his shirt is perfectly rendered and the detailing on the belt – from buckles to wear – is colored with a photorealistic sense of detail. As for the character’s head, Bom Vimdin is not monotonal the way one might expect a character based on a latex mask to be. Instead, his orange skin is dusted with dark shading that looks like he is a real creature existing in the real world. The coloring detail on Bom Vimdin is most impressive!
Accessories
The Bom Vimdin is a smuggler, bounty hunter or just a general alien ruffian and as such, he comes prepared to do business! Bom Vimdin comes with a blaster, a blaster rifle and a drinking glass. The drinking glass is pretty much the requisite accessory for all Cantina Patron aliens and the 7/16” tall cylinder is white and blue, representing a drinking glass with an unnamed fluid in it. The only thing disappointing about this accessory (and thus the figure) is that the one shot of Bom Vimdin that most fans will have (from the figure’s card) features the little alien with the drinking glass in his hand. Unfortunately, the left hand cannot hold the glass at all and in Bom Vimdin’s right hand, the glass is very problematically balanced.
The blaster Bom Vimdin comes with is a pretty standard one. 11/16” long and 7/16” tall, the little black and gray firearm fits perfectly in the figure’s holster on his right thigh. Despite being only two colors, the gun fits the colorscheme of the character perfectly and does not look at all out of place in his right hand. With its small scope and bigger trigger guard, the blaster is most reminiscent of Han Solo’s blaster.
The blaster rifle appears to be unique to the Bom Vimdin figure and it makes him look like he might be a serious sniper! Bom Vimdin’s blaster rifle features a raised scope, a gray strap and even a woodgrain brown accent on what could be the pump action! Fitting in either hand or a two-handed grip, the 2 7/16” long by 1” tall blaster rifle looks great in Bom Vimdin’s hands. It also looks pretty decent slung over his shoulder!
Playability
The four inch toy line was designed for play and Bom Vimdin is exceptional in that regard, despite the issue with his grip on the drinking glass. The Bom Vimdin figure has great balance, not tipping over even when posed in some fairly outlandish positions. The figure does have holes in the bottom of his feet to allow him to stand tall on any number of playsets in outlandish poses or attach to pegs on vehicles.
This Bom Vimdin also has amazing articulation. He has hinged ball and socket joints at the ankles, knees, elbows and shoulders, as well as a ball and socket joint which allows a great range of motion for the head. The wrists, groin socket and waist each have simple swivel joints. This is easily one of the best Cantina Alien figures ever made!
Collectibility
The Bom Vimdin figure is part of the Vintage Collection line that was released in 2011 and despite the deal I was able to get, he has already been appreciating in value. Bom Vimdin is Vintage Collection figure VC53 and is an exceptionally good investment figure. One of the first ones sold out of the often anemic assortment from A New Hope, Bom Vimdin has all of the characteristics of being a strong investment figure: the first sculpt, the only sculpt, an obscure alien who looks awesome and not at all overproduced. If you can find him cheap, do so! This one should go up and given his quality, I doubt it will take long to appreciate at all!
Overview
Bom Vimdin is easily the best figure in the A New Hope assortment of Vintage Collection Star Wars figures and is a must-have for serious Star Wars toy enthusiasts!
For other Vintage Collection figures, please check out my reviews of:
VCP03 Boba Fett
VC01 Dengar
VC05 AT-AT Commander
VC10 4-LOM
VC11 (Twin Pod) Cloud Car Pilot
VC22 Admiral Ackbar
VC37 Super Battle Droid
VC41 Commander Gree
VC46 AT-RT Driver
VC48 Weequay Skiff Master
VC49 Fi-Ek Sirch
VC65 TIE Fighter Pilot
VC82 Daultay Dofine
VC85 Quinlan Vos
VC86 Darth Maul
9.5/10
For other Star Wars toy reviews, please check out my index page by clicking here!
© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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