The Good: Good concept, Good accessories, Good sculpt, Decent articulation
The Bad: Minor coloring issues, One accessory seems utterly pointless.
The Basics: On a lark, I picked up the Star Wars: Revenge Of The Sith Polis Massan figure and discovered a pretty neat toy!
With all of my recent Star Wars action figure reviews, it is pretty unsurprising that I continue to focus on newer releases, like those from the Vintage Collection line of toys. Even so, I do appreciate many of the earlier Hasbro Star Wars figures and when I needed to beef up an order I was placing recently to get free shipping, I went looking for an inexpensive Star Wars figure that I did not already have. That led me to the Revenge Of The Sith figure of Polis Massan.
Until now, my collection of Episode III figures has been pretty anemic. In fact, from the actual toy line released for the movie, I only have the Mustafar Sentry (reviewed here!) and the Neimoidian Soldier (reviewed here!). At the time these figures were initially released, I was running for Congress and going through a pretty difficult divorce process, so my cash for figures was pretty much nonexistent. So, the fact that I now have Polis Massan made me happy.
For those unfamiliar with the Polis Massan, these were the medical personnel found in Revenge Of The Sith (reviewed here!) who assisted Obi-Wan Kenobi. Found in the asteroid field near the end of the film, the Polis Massan were a slight race of computer-generated characters who tried their best to heal Padme as she went through her difficult birth.
The 4" Polis Massan figure is generally neat and it fleshes out the full Star Wars universe very well. There is only the one casting of the Polis Massan and because it is a generic, alien medic there is no harm in getting more than one for virtually any collector or play enthusiast!
Basics
The Polis Massan is an alien of completely unique physiology (I’m not even going to hazard a guess at what it is intended to be, though the best guess I have is some form of amphibian) that is based on a completely computer generated character. The alien figure stands 3 3/4" tall and looks pretty much like it does in the film. This is a pretty standard biped race and one of the pleasant surprises is how the Polis Massan manages to work in real physics like the virtual character appears in the film (unlike some of the more extravagant CG-based characters, who simply tip over in real live renderings!).
This toy is a decent sculpt, including the proportions and coloring. The Polis Massan's head is round and alien with tiny dimples for the eyes. The character is cast wearing its green flight suit or space suit, as it was seen in Revenge Of The Sith. It is a simple outfit accented by knee pads, shin guards and an odd open armor over the chest. The hands with elongated, obviously segmented fingers and head exposed. The sculpt is well-detailed in that is possesses all of the pouches and accouterments of the character. The communications device molded onto the right wrist is especially impressive in its detailing.
The Polis Massan has a very clean outfit, which makes sense for a medical professional. The character is cast in monotones, instead of possessing any depth or shading. So, the purple of its skin is uniformly purple. The white face on mine, however, has an inconsistent paint job and a slight dimple that breaks up the face. The look of the face coloring is rushed and somewhat sloppy, which is disappointing. That said, the color variations in the armor, racing stripes and other details for the character look pretty amazing.
Accessories
The Polis Massan, race of skilled medics that they are, comes with several accessories. This figure comes with are its action base, shoulder light, headset and its medical tool. The action base is a decent sized, stable base which features a chunk of what appears to be Mustafar ground. It is 3 1/4" wide, 3" deep and 5/8" tall. It appears to be a chunk of Mustafar ground with both lava flows and the command center flooring on it. The stand has a single peg which fits into a hole on either of the figure's feet! The base is mostly stable, it appears to have some slight warping that prevents it from sitting perfectly flat, and the Polis Massan looks good on it and is stable. The base links to other, similar figure bases!
The shoulder light (I am assuming it is a light) is a tiny 1/2" long drill-shaped accessory cast in gunmetal-colored plastic. The device matches the piece on the shoulder of the photograph for the Polis Massan and I assume it is a light to help give the character hands-free lighting for medical procedures. Unfortunately, the accessory is flawed. The hole on the shoulder of the figure is too narrow to accommodate the diameter of the peg on the accessory. No amount of finagling allowed me to connect this accessory where it belonged on the figure.
The headset is unique to the Polis Massan figure. Molded to perfectly fit its round head (and pictured as a light on the packaging), the headset is also gunmetal gray and it looks good on the figure and does not fall off easily.
The medical tool looks like a double-barreled blaster or an injection gun and it fits perfectly in the right hand of Polis Massan. It also fits nicely in the holster on the character’s right thigh. Despite it being monotonally cast in gunmetal colored plastic, it fits the color scheme of the rest of the figure.
Playability
The four inch toy line was designed for play and Polis Massan is pretty great in that regard. The figure is exceptionally articulated and has decent poseability. The Polis Massan has wonderful balance, though it works best when it is standing flatfooted or it is on its stand. This obscure alien comes with an twelve points of articulation, more than most from this generation of figures, and many of the joints are not simple swivel joints! As a result, it has joints at the ankles, groin socket, shoulders, elbows, wrists, head, and waist and it twists at any of those points. The shoulders, ankles and head are on ball and socket joints, with the ankles and shoulders having hinges for greater range of motion. This is a very poseable, very playable figure and despite the one accessory not truly fitting the figure, it is still very worthwhile.
Collectibility
The Polis Massan is part of the Revenge Of The Sith four-inch series, a series of Star Wars action figures that was incredibly common. The Polis Massan figure, despite being a character that only appeared in the one film and is a unique alien figure, was produced apparently well over demand. As such, I was easily able to find one for less than $5 (including shipping!) even now and that suggests that this is a terrible investment figure.
The Polis Massan figure is Episode III Collection figure #39 from Hasbro.
Overview
The Polis Massan figure is an obscure background character that makes for a (mostly) charming Revenge Of The Sith figure that is well worth picking up at today’s depressed market prices!
For other Star Wars figure of characters from Revenge Of the Sith, please check out my takes on:
2010 Vintage Collection VC17 General Grievous
2009 Legacy Collection BD47 Commander Bacara
2008 Legacy Collection GH1 Commander Gree
7/10
For other toy reviews, please visit my index page for an organized list!
© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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