For many fans, the Obi-Wan Kenobi series was a bit of a letdown.  Whether it be some cartoonishly silly scenes (the mercenary crew struggling to catch child Leia, Obi-Wan hiding the rescued Leia under his cloak), odd cameos (Flea, Kumail Nanjiani), gotcha moments (Vader crushing the shuttle, only to see the real shuttle take off behind it - and why couldn’t he crush that one also?), more lightsabers to the gut resulting in no harm done (Grand Inquisitor, Reva), and the (head)canon-bending dual duels between Obi-Wan and Vader, the series didn’t resonate as much as we anticipated. 

That’s not to say there weren’t some enjoyable moments.  It was simply great to see Ewan MacGregor again.  Young Leia was a delight, and I usually dislike kid actors.  And there were a few sweet fan-service moments like Qui-Gon’s ghost and Obi-Wan’s “Hello, there!” when he met Luke for the first time.  And despite not feeling quite right about Obi-Wan and Vader meeting (twice!) in between the events on Mustafar and their final duel on the Death Star 19 years later, I very much enjoyed that fight scene on the as-yet-unnamed moon.  After a rough start, Obi-Wan shook off the rust and bombarded Vader with a slew of Force-thrown rocks, then he smashed the hell out of Vader’s chest control box, gave him a saber chop to the back, and finally charged at him and sliced open his helmet.  The next moments were pretty goosebumpy, with Hayden’s scarred face peering through the broken mask, and Obi-Wan becoming emotional as Anakin’s voice cut through the mechanical one. 

This set is meant to capture that scene, and it does it extremely well.

The Obi-Wan figure is a partial tool, using existing pieces (legs and upper arms) from VC245 Obi-Wan Kenobi (Wandering Jedi) and VC257 Ben Kenobi (Tibidon Station).  The forearms appear new - or at least re-used from another figure that I can’t identify.  The upper body is all new, and could serve as the basis for some updates to Prequel-Era Jedi figures.  The headsculpt is also all new.  While the two aforementioned Obi-Wan’s shared a headsculpt that was less than awesome, this one is pretty spectacular.  The articulation is, of course, top notch, with all the latest points that would be expected in a Jedi main character.  My only complaint here is that the cuffs on the sleeve are sculpted as such that the ball jointed wrists are a bit limited in their range of motion.  Obi-Wan comes with a blaster that fits neatly in the sculpted holster, and he can also wield it well.  There’s an unlit hilt which can plug into the hole on the belt, and of course there is a fully ignited lightsaber.  This is one of the best looking, best articulated, and most posable Obi-Wan figures ever made.  Even though it’s a kit-bash, it doesn’t use old and inaccurate parts like Hasbro has been doing with other main characters recently (Luke, Leia, Han). 

Darth Vader is awesome as well.  We’ve basically seen this figure twice before in VC241 Darth Vader (Dark Times) and VC280 Darth Vader (Death Star II).  It re-uses most parts from VC241, while borrowing the head and lower mask/neck from VC280.  This time Hasbro sculpted a new torso.  Two main differences are the battle-damage sculpted into the chest control box as well as the shoulder armor being different, allowing for even greater range of motion of the arms.  And of course, there is a new upper helmet, complete with the damage that reveals the Anakin face underneath (also repainted from the DSII figure.  Vader comes with a hilt that plugs into his belt, as well as a fully lit saber.  The figure, as covered in the previous reviews, is a delight to pose, and the base figure is the best Vader we’ve ever had. 

Out of the package, Anakin’s eyes are poorly aligned with the remaining lens on the helmet, resulting in an odd look.  However, about 5 seconds of patience is needed to correct this.  Simply take the helmet off, point Anakin’s head upward as much as it will go, and then place the helmet back on by first tilting it over the face, and then lowering it slowly over the back of the head.  Done.

Overall, these two figures are awesome.  They are the best versions of both characters available to date.  Vader is very specific to a few moments in the scene, but you can switch this one out with VC241 to recreate whatever you like.  There’s almost nothing to complain about, other than price (and perhaps availability if you live somewhere with limited access).  But as we rarely account for these factors in rating the figures themselves, there isn’t much here to knock the set down from a 10 out of 10.

*Note:  Vader was marketed as Darth Vader (Showdown), but was originally released in this set as Darth Vader (Duel’s End).  Since then (Showdown) variants have been reported.