Oh Lord how I compulsively bought this figure with missionary zeal.  I was powerless.  Whenever a toy run was otherwise a bust, I would salvage it by picking up an extra Grand Moff Tarkin figure I definitely did not need, and it soothed my toy collecting soul.  Every time I would see the “Never Before Offered in any Kenner Collection” sticker on the bubble, I would feel a flutter of excitement long, long after the novelty should have worn off.  More so than the Dagobah or Snowspeeder Luke Skywalker figures from 1995, this Grand Moff Tarkin figure was the first true indication that the figure possibilities in the modern Star Wars action figure line were boundless.

If you think you’ve heard this story about me compulsively and needlessly hoarding a Power of the Force “2” (POTF2) figure before, you’re not wrong.  There were three such figures that held this power over me including this Grand Moff Tarkin. The other two were the POTF2 Princess Leia (as Jabba’s Prisoner) and the Freeze Frame Darth Vader (with Removable Helmet).  It’s clear to me why.  These figures all represent missed opportunities from the vintage Kenner line.  Every time I would purchase one of these it gave me an endorphin release.  They say there are no second chances in life, but figures like this Grand Moff Tarkin prove that false.  This is a time machine and allows us to restore the fractured timeline where Kenner inexplicably omitted the Death Star’s administrator from its original 96 line up. Perhaps this is why I don’t get the Retro Collection’s appeal.  I don’t need Hasbro to make oxymoronic modern vintage “what if” figures.  The POTF2 line did that for me, and in much less contrived fashion.

I should note that the POTF2 Garindan figure would also fall into the category of making up for Kenner sins, but that figure was such a disappointment, even for the time, that it didn’t have on me the effect of the Siren’s call.  The same can be said of the POTF2 Rebel Fleet Trooper due to its ridiculous proportions.  If those two figures had been better executed they might have pushed me into bankruptcy due to excessive unnecessary purchases.  The 1997 POTF2 line might have been the first problematic year in the modern line, and only two years in.  Stores ended up with a glut of ASP-7’s, Malakili’s, and 4-LOM’s (among others).  But it was also an amazingly exciting year with so many Kenner do-overs.

As for the figure itself, it’s a relic, just like we stated in all our other reviews of 20+ year old figures.  It’s beset by all the POTF2 problems from limited articulation, to monstrous c-grip hands, to crude sculpting.  Nostalgia is the only reason to own thiso today, but it’s a good reason.  There’s a somewhat rare Collection 2 version of this figure that I would very much like to own some day.

Finally, aren’t you proud of me for not making the “Grandma Tarkin” joke?  I had to really concentrate to not to.