In our most recent Bantha Skull Q&A, reader Alientek asked if Hasbro were only going to make one more beast, what would we want it to be.  My answer, unhesitatingly, was the Bantha.  My reasoning goes to something I’ve repeatedly said here on Bantha Skull:  the things that excite me most in the Vintage Collection are things that should be been in the Kenner line, but weren’t.  I would argue that the Bantha was a conspicuous omission from the Kenner collection, and I have to admit that seeing reviews of the Stan Solo Bantha had me dreaming of seeing this creature in the iconic double racetrack Episode IV packaging.  My motivation was simply to finally plug that hole for the vintage Kenner style packaging.  Of course, it wasn’t an omission in 3.75” Star Wars, just from the Kenner inspired packaging be it the actual vintage line or the two phases of the Vintage Collection.

I’m almost never the “good enough” guy, but I did think the POTF2 Bantha was good enough.  I didn’t know how much that could be improved upon since the design is essentially a giant fur ball.  Boy was I wrong.  When I grabbed my POTF2 Bantha for the comparison shots, I literally let out a blurt of laughter.  The 1998 version looks like a stuffed animal. This Vintage Collection offering looks like a miniature elephant wearing a wooly mammoth costume.  I am absolutely thrilled with the results.  The 2025 Vintage Collection year keeps on delivering and we still have at least the Jedi Spirits 3-pack, and Darth Vader’s TIE Fighter to go.  As I said last year when the Cantina HasLab, and the associated pipeline figures were announced, I really should retire from collecting after this year.  It would be my equivalent of going out on top like John Elway.  As the year progressed, that sentiment became even more true, but don’t worry.  I’m sticking around to see what that A New Hope 50th anniversary has in store. And by that point, I’m sure I’ll be thinking that the 50th of Empire is only three years away.

The reason why I foolishly thought the POTF2 version was passable is because how well a Bantha toy is executed really comes down to how well the fur is executed, and it was passably done on that version.  When this new Bantha was revealed at Celebration Japan, I had massive misgivings about how the creature’s hair was portrayed.  It looked more like a Tribble with a Justin Bieber haircut:

I envisioned that I would have to be making alterations to the Bantha similar to what I had to do on the fuzzy britches of the Gamorrean Guard.  To my delight, my Bantha came out of the package looking pretty, pretty good.  If you look at the 2nd and 3rd images in the Bantha sub gallery, the 2nd is how it looked straight out of the packaging, and the 3rd is how it looked after a few seconds of styling to reveal a little more of the face.  I also had to fluff up the fur a little bit where it got matted in the package. It reminded me of the process of fanning out an artificial Christmas tree after a year in storage.

The detailing of the face, in particular the mouth, is where the Vintage Collection Bantha really blows away its POTF2 predecessor.  As I mentioned early, the lips of the POTF2 version look like a cheap stuffed animal.  The new one looks incredibly lifelike.  While I don’t know that an articulated mouth was on my wishlist for a new Bantha, I’m glad it was added.  Toy Banthas are largely set pieces, but with the articulated mouth, it allows this release to be a little more expressive than “just standing there”, and it’s another aspect that further distances this Vintage Collection offering from its 20th century counterpart.

All four legs seem to have swivel hips.  I say “seem” because I couldn’t see the actual joint, but I can’t sense anything other than the classic “flat plane” movement.  The ankles are articulated, and to my surprise, they are rockers, but with the aforementioned flat plane hip articulation, I’m not sure they offer much additional utility over standard ankles.  No that it matters.  I can’t imagine needing to place my Bantha in dynamic poses.  The last bit of articulation is the tail which operates on a swivel.  Like the mouth, if affords the Bantha a tad more expression.  The only bit of movement that is lacking is a swivel head, but I have to imagine that could have been disruptive to the illusion if it resulted in any sort of seam in the fur.  [Update: As has been pointed out several times in the comments, the head does in fact swivel.  My point of articulation might be suck on my sample.]. I’m giving the Bantha, which is the most important part of the set, a perfect 10/10.  I am really happy to add this piece to my collection.

The pack-in Tusken Raider is essentially some new soft goods and a repaint of the Raiders from the Book of Boba Fett Tusken Raider 4-pack.  Those figures were retools of the VC199 - Tusken Raider that add the lower body of VC245 - Obi-Wan Kenobi (Wandering Jedi).  So the lower body works like a dream, but the arms, specifically the wrists and hands are frustrating.  You can accomplish some decent poses, to include the iconic overhead gaffi stick pose, but it’s simply not as dynamic as a 2025 figure should be.  Bret gave the 4-pack an 8 out of 10, but I’m lowering the score to a 7.  The reasoning is unprecedented.  It’s Bantha Skull’s first punitive point deduction.  I’m taking an additional point because Hasbro Corporate are impossible cheapskates.  You can’t scrounge up a few more nickels to give an iconic 12-back character the articulation it needs?  Hasbro: if you need motivation, put me down for two cases if you ever get to a definitive Tusken Raider.

I gave the overall set a 9.  The two scores average out to an 8.5, but the Bantha is by far the more important component, and Hasbro nailed it.  It’s easy to justify rounding up in this case (plus the rules of mathematics demand it anyway).