During the recent “I Am Your Father’s Day” livestream event, Hasbro announced via pipeline reveal that Lobot will be coming to The Vintage Collection.  Fans rejoiced.  I’ll be honest, I’ve never had an update to Lobot as a high personal priority.  Aside from his cybernetic implant, he’s a pretty nondescript character.  He’s a middle aged bald guy wearing a blouse under a vest, some slacks and a cummerbund.  When you were a kid, if one of your friends told you that his uncle played Lobot in the movie, you’d be inclined to believe him.  The flip side of the coin is that he’s one of the Original 96 Kenner figures, and one of the few recognizable secondary characters from The Empire Strikes Back.  So while Lobot wasn’t high on my personal priority list, I get the demand.  You guys had better support the TVC release when it comes out.  You may have noticed that I have preemptively marked this figure as obsolete in anticipation of the TVC version.

Just because an update to this Original Trilogy Collection (OTC) Lobot was not high on my priority list does not mean I think the figure is perfect, or even good.  Far from it.  For starters, where did the baby blue color come from? Everything I can see indicates Lobot wore a gray vest with slightly darker gray slacks.  And this isn’t the case of Kershner getting all artsy with hues and color timing, which has lead to the most divisive subject in the hobby:  blue coat or brown coat.  The original Kenner card appears to be from a set photo and not a “film out”, and it clearly shows a gray on gray ensemble.  You judge for yourself:

(click for the full sized image)

Next, the legs are sculpted in an odd pose. It looks like he’s in some sort of ballet stance.  Hasbro has clearly had a dance theme with the Lobot figures, as the earlier POTF2 release was referred to as “disco” Lobot.  I’m placing bets that the TVC version will be “Dougie” Lobot. The stance also has an unfortunate byproduct of a significant lean to the right.  I had to tilt the camera for several of the photos to compensate, but you can get an impression of the rightward list in image 8 above.  Rounding out the negatives, this Lobot has the dreaded swivel elbows. 

On the plus side, this is the only Star Wars figure ever to come with a laptop. The packaging calls it a data pad, but it’s an honest to goodness laptop.  It has a sculpted space bar and everything.  Unfortunately the figure isn’t capable of holding it very well.  Lobot also comes with a comlink accessory that you’re guaranteed to lose.  I don’t know which end is up on this comlink, so I posed it both ways to play it safe.

We’ve discussed the good.  We’ve discussed the bad.  So that only leaves the ugly weird.  Lobot’s cybernetic implant can be removed resulting in such a grotesque looking figure that it evokes the “kill it with fire” response within most humans.  What possible play value does this add?  Once removed, you’re 50% of the way to a Decraniated figure, and that abomination has no place in the Star Wars universe.

All in all, this is a middle of the road figure and thus gets a 5 out of 10.