Monday, April 1, 2013

Until The Vintage Collection Develops A Better One, The Power Of The Force Ree-Yees Figure Is Worth Picking Up!


The Good: Decent casting, Great value as collectible, Cool accessories, Generally good detailing.
The Bad: Exceptionally obscure, Low articulation, Mediocre balance.
The Basics: The exclusive Ree-Yees figure from the Star Wars Power Of The Force line is good and enough to hold fans over until the current line can make one.


Last year, when I picked up the Discover The Force action figure of Mawhonic (reviewed here!), I realized that I actually missed the Ree-Yees action figure I had as a kid. I don’t know that I realized it before now, but Ree-Yees might well be my favorite Star Wars action figure. What made it all the more strange was that there was an exclusive Ree-Yees action figure I had never managed to snag . . . until now! In the late 1990s, the Star Wars Insider released an exclusive Ree-Yees action figure for the Power Of The Force toy line.

Have you no memory of Ree-Yees? Appearing only in the background of Return Of The Jedi (my review is here!), Ree-Yees is the three-eyed cow-like creature in Jabba’s Palace.

The 4" Ree-Yees figure is good, but somewhat average. Even so, this alien fleshes out the full Star Wars universe well and this is one of the few figures from the Power Of The Force line to never be recast!

Basics

The Ree-Yees is a bovine creature who works for Jabba The Hutt. The figure stands 4" tall to the top of its rounded, pink head. Ree-Yees is a creature with maroon padded tunic. The bounty hunter is cool in that padded tunic has a slightly metallic sheen to it and the head is detailed with fine veining on the ears and tiny antennae. The figure is made of hard plastic, save the figure’s “skirt,” which is made of a softer plastic.

This toy is a decent sculpt, looking precisely like the alien Ree-Yees and is fair in its coloring detail, only because the head and hands have no shading or realistic color depth to them. Instead, the scaly skin of the alien guard is monotonal. Still, there is a little additional coloring on the back of his neck. This is a very clean-looking version of the character.

Accessories

The Ree-Yees, lackey for Jabba The Hutt, requires few accessories. In fact, all he comes with are two blaster pistola. In the movie, it was only seen on screen for a few frames, so the accuracy of its accessories is in question. Ree-Yees's blaster pistols are unique to this figure and they are menacing in their appearance. Measuring 1 3/8” long and 1 1/16” long and are black monotonal firearms that fit in either of Ree-Yees’s hands. Neither are especially distinctive, though they have decent molded detailing.

As part of the Power Of The Force toy line, Ree-Yees comes with a Freeze Frame slide as well. The Freeze Frame slide features an image with Ree-Yees on it, along with several other creatures from Jabba’s Palace.

Playability

The four inch toy line was designed for play and Ree-Yees is average in that regard. The figure is poorly articulated and lacks significant articulation to make it interesting with its weapon. In addition to low articulation, Ree-Yees has limited poseability. First, his balance is not great. The figure tips if the feet are moved even slightly out of a flatfooted position. In a flatfooted position, Ree-Yees is fairly stable, but even slightly out of it, it tips right over!

Ree-Yees is also low on articulation. While the figure has six points of articulation - shoulders, groin socket, neck and waist, only the waist and legs have significant range of motion and these are the more pointless joints as the figure falls over or its big action pose is turned half around! Given the limited flexibility of the figure, one has to wonder why Ree-Yees has not yet been recast by Hasbro!

Collectibility

Ree-Yees is part of the Power Of The Force four-inch series, a series of Star Wars action figures that was incredibly common. While most figures were incredibly overproduced, Ree-Yees was ridiculously limited as it was an exclusive figure from the Star Wars Insider Magazine. As well, Ree-Yees has not been recast or re-released on any other cards, making it one of the few and its value has stayed constant at over twice its original issue price! This was a good investment figure back in the day and I suspect with the market leveling out, its peak price is being reached now.

Overview

The Ree-Yees is a worthy successor to the 1980s version of Ree-Yees and enough to make one hope there will be another, more precise and better articulated version of the toy!

For other Return Of The Jedi Power Of The Force figures, please check out my reviews of:
Pote Snitkin
Lando Calrissian As Skiff Guard
AT-ST Driver
Lando Calrissian in General’s Gear
Admiral Ackbar
Saelt-Marae
Chewbacca As Boushh's Bounty
Princess Leia In Ewok Celebration Gown
Gamorrean Guard
EV-9D9
Weequay Skiff Guard
Jedi Luke Skywalker
Bib Fortuna
Emperor's Royal Guard
Nien NunbImperial Speeder Bike
Darth Vader With Removable Helmet
Mail Away B'Omarr Monk

7.5/10

For other toy reviews, please be sure to visit my Toy Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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