This pack popped up in conversation somewhere along the way last week.  It just so happened that we had some images of a packaged sample, which I believe is from Mr. Randy “5POA is Not OK” McRandyson’s collection.  So it seemed like a good time to add this one to our galleries.

I read very few of the old EU comics and books, so I was only vaguely aware of the existence of these 2 dudes in the lore.  I don’t recall, but my awareness may actually be due to this actual comic figure pack.  I’m not entirely sure, and I didn’t feel like doing the research, but I think these guys were Jedi, who then fell to the Dark Side, and worked together to do some Sithy stuff.  At some point, Ulic Qel-Droma had decided he had enough of Force Choking people, so he redeemed himself.  I think they battled as well, but I’m basing that on an image from a comic panel I saw on the internet.  For his part, Exar Kun was apparently a full-on Dark Lord of the Sith, and not just an emo fallen Jedi.  For whatever reason, both characters, and bits of their EU lore were carried into the current canon.  I did read something interesting, which is that Drydon Vos had a desk in his collection made from some stone that was plundered from a Sith Temple, and it is inscribed with something about Exar Kun.  Apparently part of the desk, and part of the inscription, can be seen in Solo - while the full desk and inscription is shown in a behind the scenes photo from Solo: The Official Guide (which I just so happened to have handy):

As for the set, it has become one of the more “valuable” items in the modern figure line.  It looks like carded sets go for well north of $500, while loose figures can go for over $300 (Exar Kun) and over $100 (Ulic Eel-Droma).  I got mine for $14 when I found it in a store at the time.  It’s one of those times that being a completist “pays off”.  In my case, of course, it hasn’t “paid off” at all, as I haven’t sold the pair, nor do I plan to.  To me, my collection has no real monetary value.  I doubt I’ll ever sell it. If I downsize later on, I’ll probably give it away to anyone that will take it.  And if I die, my wife certainly will have no interest in taking the time to try to sell any of it either. 

Both figures were probably pretty incredible back in 2009.  They were fully super articulated, given the technology at the time.  Both have ball jointed heads, shoulders, elbows, knees, and ankles, along with swivel wrists, hips, and waists.  That represented the apex of articulation for the time. 

Ulic Qel-Droma is a rather simple figure.  He comes with a single ignited lightsaber as his only accessory.  He can grip it (a bit loosely) in his right hand, and (a bit more tightly) in his left hand.  He can perform a basic two-handed weapon grip, by holding the lightsaber kind of like a baseball bat in front of him, but that’s about it.  The outfit consists of a simple looking shirt and pants, with some more complex gloves and boots.  He has a tattered tunic which is sculpted onto his chest, while the lower “skirt” is a separately sculpted non-removable piece.  He’s got what looks like leathery mesh shoulder armor.  The sculpting of the details is quite nice, with a lot of effort put into the fabrics.  The paint applications are also done well, especially the metallic wrappings around the forearms and the shins.  The face is definitely a face.

The problem with an otherwise well-articulated, sculpted, and painted figure is that the design is such that most of the articulation is either rendered completely moot, or at least partially obstructed.  The hips are almost useless due to the rigidity of the lower tunic.  There is a distinct lack of range of motion for the elbows and knees, as well as the neck.  You really can’t do a whole lot with it, but it definitely looks nice.

Exar Kun seems to be the star of the set.  His figure is more complex.  The outfit is more polished/finished vs. the rags worn by Mr. Qel-Droma.  He’s appears to have a jedi tunic as the base of his ensemble, but everything is accentuated with armor and especially a necklace of sorts.  He’s got armored vambraces and knee pads, and wears a kind of chain-mail looking skirt, which is even painted a metallic gunmetal.  Like Ulic, he’s got some nice details sculpted into the outfit, particularly the carvings that can be seen on his bronze belt, as well as his necklace.  Exar’s headsculpt is much more distinctive and interesting that Ulic’s.  He’s got gray hair and a long ponytail.  But most importantly, he’s got a 3-line scar on his right cheek, as well as a tattoo on his forehead.  Neat!

His articulation is only slightly better than Ulic’s, as he also suffers the hip limitations from the rigid skirt.  His hands are more traditional “c-grip” style, but it is easier for him to grip his lightsabers.  He comes with a double bladed saber, which detaches into two parts, so he can wield them together or separately, or one at a time.  He can perform a two-handed weapon grip on the double-bladed saber, but I found it hard to find a perfect pose where it didn’t look like he was snapping the blade in half.  I was nervous that the pin at the end of the longer blade would break off like the Saga lightsaber blades, but it remains intact.

Exar also has a soft goods cape, complete with a shiny golden clasp.  He also has removable shoulder armor with pins into a hole in the figure’s back (and through a hole in the cape).  When put together, it looks pretty great.  Even without the cape, it’s a nice looking figure. 

Both of these figures look great on your shelf, just don’t expect to get much posing out of them.  It’s strange, sometimes, when I realize how little value we got out of early super-articulation.  Without ball jointed wrists and hips, rocker ankles, and elbows and knees that barely reached 90 degrees (if lucky), there wasn’t a whole lot you could do with these figures from that time in the line.  But they definitely are a nice addition, and it was cool that Hasbro pumped out a bunch of EU figures that would have almost no shot of seeing the light of day today.

7/10.

These figures are probably interesting only insofar as they may be considered “rare” or “difficult to acquire,” or if you have a real interest in the characters themselves.  It seems highly unlikely they’ll ever get redone, so this is probably it for the both of them.