This is an interesting “figure.”  The Massiff was a type of ferocious lizard/dog native to Geonosis.  At least, that was the original intent when Hasbro acquired this information from Lucasfilm prior to the theatrical release of Attack of the Clones.  In the early stages of development, the design was attributed to the orrays, the small dinosaur-ish beasts that featured fairly prominently at several points during the arena sequence, including pulling the prisoner cart with Anakin and Padmé into the arena, then as herders that the Geonosians ride as they coax the three executioner beasts towards the hero prisoners in the arena, and then finally again pulling a cart used by Padmé and Anakin for cover during the Jedi Strike Team engagement.  The early design, however, was deemed too vicious for the intended purpose of the orrays, and was recycled into a separate creature that became the massiff.  That creature attacked Obi-Wan on Geonosis in a scene that was later cut.  Once again, the design was rescued and placed on Tatooine, in the Tusken camp where anakin kills the sandpeople.  And he doesn’t just kill the men, but the women and children, too.  (It’s this equal opportunity mindset that is often overlooked when examining Anakin’s character.)

The “figure”, as I keep putting it in quotes, is the massiff animal itself, while the Geonosian handler is technically an accessory, as it gets no billing on the card art.  However, most people would probably look at this as the opposite, or at least a two-pack with equal billing.  The massiff is barely articulated, but is saved from being a total statue by virtue of the lower jaw.  It can be posed either closed or open, as it is not a snapping action feature.  The body is one piece, with the legs in a perpetual walking motion.  The massiff has a harness, which may be removable, but I’m not making the attempt.  There is a nicely excecuted chain, which attaches to both sides of the harness, and then merges into a singular leash.  The paint applications are very nice, with a lot of depth.  The creature looks almost like a skeleton version of itself.  It’s definitely a creepy thing, and I wouldn’t want to encounter one of these in a dark alley.  In real life, I mean.  I’m not afraid of an action figure, of course. 

The Geonosian is, believe it or not, a new sculpt for this release.  Hasbro didn’t go with the recently released 02-15 Geonosian Warrior figure for some reason.  This one is missing the wings, but instead has pants.  That’s a real tradeoff right there.  This guy can’t take flight, which is probably a real bummer for him, but at the same time, he doesn’t have to walk around like a schmuck with his parts showing.  The aforementioned leash has a ring a the end which connects to a plastic wrist/gauntlet thingie, which, in turn attaches to the Geonosian’s wrist.  It’s all fairly well done, even if articulation in both the handler and the animal are lacking.

This ended up being an EU figure, as it was cut/altered from the final film.  I end up using it in place of a proper orray, which is one of the few glaring omissions from the entire Geonosis sequence.  Later, the massiff was re-released/repainted a few times with various Tusken Raider figures/multi-packs which could be used for more accurate, screen-inspired displays from Tatooine.  I give this a 5/10.  I’d be happier if the animal’s legs and head were articulated, and if the included Geonosian figure had wings.