Well, we hope you’ve enjoyed our special coverage of this set.  If you’ve been following along in real time, you’ll know that we changed things up a bit and reviewed the 3 new figures separately, instead of as a set.  So now we’ll wrap up by giving an overview of the set, with a few new notes about the re-packed Red-Yees figure.  The text for those 3 new figures has been repeated below, so if you’re reading this for the first time, have at it.  Otherwise, you have our permission to skip those.

“Jabba’s Court Denizens”

When this set was announced, most long-time collectors either collapsed onto the floor in sheer joy, or thought it was some kind of cruel prank.  It is comprised of 4 background aliens - Tessek is an overdue update to a classic, Velken Tezeri and Taym Dren-garen are character debuts, and Ree-Yees is Ree-Yees.  It was the first three that got all of the positive attention, and the last that got whatever hate people managed to muster during the moment of adulation.  It seemed to take forever, but in October of 2023, it has finally arrived. 

The 4 figures are individually carded on unpunched cardbacks.  They are well packed, and come inside a cardboard “tray” that slides out cleanly from the package, keeping the TVC cards safe in the process.

The price was one of three main complaints about the set, and was a little bit of a shock for collectors.  $73 ($18.25 per figure) was enough to throw some cold water on the celebration.  Contemporary basic figures go for $17, so this set was priced at a premium.

For many, the high price of the set is justified by the awesomeness of the figures therein, but even then, the inclusion of Ree-Yees is the second main complaint from many.  It is generally undesirable at this point (more on this below), and seemed to unnecessarily inflate the price.  Without any specific knowledge of the decision-making that went into character selection, my personal guess is that it was a way to improve the value of the set.  Ree-Yees may have been the easiest and least costly figure to include in the set because it was readily available and had limited articulation (fewer parts) and less complex deco.  Let’s say Ree-Yees could be included for a cost to collectors of $10, while the new tooling that went into the other figures put them at $21 each.  Just the 3-figure set would run $63 ($21/figure), but the 4-figure set at $73 lowers the price to $18.25/figure.  Maybe the thought was that it would sell better this way. (Again, I made up those numbers just to illustrate my point.)

The third issue is that given the high cost, those collectors that only wanted, say, Tessek, would be put off by the fact that it is firewalled behind the price of this multi-pack.  While Hasbro has found ways to re-issue many TVC figure pack-ins that were initially firewalled, that’s not always the case.  Sometimes, like General Antoc Merrick, Hasbro has specifically stated that he would not be available elsewhere.  It does seem unlikely at this point that characters like Velken Tezeri and Taym Dren-garen would be made available in alternative ways in the future.

Price, Ree-Yees, and firewalled figures are the main negatives with this set.  I say all this to help give a more complete review from various angles.  However, overall, I find this set to be one of the most spectacular that Hasbro has ever produced, and as a long-time collector, I am thrilled to be able to add it to my collection.  Tessek is an original Kenner figure that is now fully modernized and satisfies the Original 96 crowd.  Taym Dren-garen has been the most wanted Barge figure for quite some time, given his iconic moment of actually shooting Luke Skywalker.  Velken Tezeri, to me, is the jewel of the set, and we now can finally complete the crew for the Prisoner skiff.  And also there’s Ree-Yees.  Kewl.

Oh, for the record, the name of this set, “Jabba’s Court Denizens,” is based on Hasbro’s marketing, and is not actually visible anywhere on the generically labeled final packaging. 

The complaints aren’t enough to impact the final score.  This set is a 10/10.  I’d give it a 12/10 if it wouldn’t break our site and send Chris to the loony bin.  We need more of these types of sets to help fill out our 3.75” displays as the action figure gods intended.  Hasbro could probably do 2-3 more of these and satisfy 98% of long time collectors desire to fulfill their Jabba’s Palace/Battle of Carkoon displays.  A similar format would work for Chalmun’s Cantina or Home One, as well as several other sources across the Saga.

This is my favorite product of 2023, particularly Velken Tezeri.

VC137 Ree-Yees

Ree-Yees is an 8 year old figure from (the mostly terrible) 3.75” Black Series era around 2014.  It has already been brought into TVC as VC137 from the Jabba’s Palace Adventure Set in 2019.  (More on that below.)  Collectors generally seemed to feel that the figure had already satisfied the market, so including it was an obstacle, either because it raised the price unnecessarily, or because it was a barrier for those that wanted to buy multiple sets and didn’t want even more Ree-Yees.

The figure itself is definitely dated.  At the time it was initially released in 2014, it was a very good figure, and we gave it a 9/10.  In late 2018 we took a second look at the figure, and it was showing it’s age.  The real killer was a lack of ankle articulation of any kind, and otherwise limited range of motion for the other points.  We reluctantly left the score as a 9/10, noting that secondary market prices were still fairly high, considering that Ree-Yees was at the palace as well as on the Barge.  Shortly thereafter, it was packed on a TVC card and included in the Jabba’s Palace Adventure set as VC137.  Perhaps it was an oversight, but on the TVC name pill, Hasbro left out the hyphen in the name.  We gave that set a 10/10 (it was the first of its kind in the new environment themed sets.), but the lack of articulation was becoming even more annoying. 

So when Hasbro included it here, it was met with some disappointment, if not derision and a bit of anger.  In 2023, most figures have rocker ankles, and Ree-Yees has no ankle articulation at all.  Whatever the reason for its inclusion in the set, if it helped bring the other 3 figures to market, I’ll pay the tax.

VC286 Tessek

[Copied from a separate review that was published on 10/9/23]

We’re going on a bit of a departure from our normal gallery and review format here.  Hasbro just shipped the “Jabba’s Court Denizens” Special 4-Pack, which would typically mean we would review the pack as a whole.  However, immediately upon opening the delivery carton, my good friend Chris texted me this:

Is this the greatest day in the history of the Vintage Collection?  That’s not for me to say. But what I can say is that this is the greatest day in the history of the Vintage Collection.

So to give this moment its proper respect, I will be reviewing each of the 3 new figures from the pack separately, and then complete the tribute with an overview of the entire set, including the repacked Ree-Yees.  First up is VC286 Tessek.

I remember loving the Kenner Squid Head because it was a weird alien and it seemed to be a premium figure because of the luxurious soft goods robe and skirt.  Even as an idiot 10 year old, I saw that this one was a step above most of the rest, and seemed to signal some leap forward in action figure quality and technology.  I celebrated this epiphany by promptly losing all interest in Star Wars toys, and moving on to other things.  I never looked back, and today, I am a successful multi-trillionaire, revolutionizing our society by engineering a complete reversal of human-fueled climate change, establishing a global merit-based economy, eliminating poverty and food insecurity, eradicating racism, and doubling the average human life expectancy.  It’s been a fun ride.

In 2000, 17 years after the Kenner version, Hasbro released an update, giving the figure his canon name of Tessek.  The POTJ line was a wonderful time, with Hasbro releasing collector-oriented figures with details, articulation, and sculpting that hadn’t really been seen before in the line.  The Tessek figure was fairly well done, but still, that 1983 figure held up pretty well against it.  When you compare the two, as I mention in our review, the Kenner one has some merits that might exceed the upgrade.  Mostly, this would be about the soft goods cape and skirt, which were ditched in favor of sculpted plastic for 2000.  It’s actually debatable which figure is preferable between the two, the same characterization that which I would extend to EV-9D9, as the Kenner original had an articulated jaw that was lost in the POTF2 version.

While the POTJ version has been clinging to life as it stands in the deep background of our modern displays, it’s been showing its age of late.  I gave the figure a somewhat respectable 5/10 a few years ago.  95% of the time, I would take a debut character instead of an upgrade to one we already have, but once I saw what Hasbro was capable of when it upgraded Yak Face, I was on Team TVC Tessek.

And here we are, 23 years after the POTJ release, with VC286.  It’s almost as big of an upgrade as was the aforementioned Yak Face.  This begs the question, why wasn’t this one known more commonly as Squid Face, or the other as Yak Head?  The inconsistencies boggle the mind!  Anyway, this is a remarkable figure, and anyone who doubted the need for an upgrade (perhaps I fit into that category) should consider themselves slapped across the face with a fish.  This one blows away the POTJ figure, while paying proper homage to Kenner and looking like a sexy boss doing it. 

Tessek does re-use Cal Kestis’s legs, which just seems like a funny choice to me considering Hasbro could have used any existing legs, as they are hidden by the skirt.  Ol’ Squid Head pulls off the skinny jeans look pretty well.  The upper body is new, with the exception of Bib Fortuna’s arms (thanks to Tannish for pointing that out), including the head (despite having some pretty good options from previous figures).  The articulation is top notch, with a full suite of modern points, such as ball jointed wrists, dumbbell neck, and elbows - that might even flex to 45 degrees! - along with the best leg articulation, thanks to Mr. Kestis. 

The paint is well applied, with the head showing some nice details (although the coloring isn’t quite as I see on screen), and the waist band having a nice metallic sheen.  The soft goods skirt is well done, leaving enough room to allow for some nice action posing.  The cape is a great nod to the Kenner figure, and looks great.  Tessek comes with a pistol that he grips firmly.

While the skin coloring might be off a bit, it’s hard to ding this figure.  It’s well executed, has nearly flawless soft goods, and has Jedi-Level Articulation.  For the O96 crowd out there, you can check this one off the list.  It’s a huge upgrade, and a rare case (aside from the Mains) of me being glad Hasbro made the effort to replace an existing character in the line. 

This is a 10/10, and it’s only the third most exciting figure in the 4-pack!  Check back tomorrow…

VC287 Taym Dren-garen

[Copied from a separate review that was published on 10/10/23]

Continuing our special coverage of the TVC “Jabba’s Court Denizens” 4-pack by reviewing the individual figures within, we will now take a look at Taym Dren-garen.

Dren-garen was one of the most prominently featured backgrounders during the first act of ROTJ.  I didn’t realize how many times he pops up on screen, if even for just a moment each time, while at Jabba’s palace.  He’s visible at least 4 times.  The first time he’s in the deep background following the screen wipe after 8D8 USES HIS ARTICULATED ELBOWS TO ICONICALLY brand the feet of the GNK droid.  Then, when Jabba dumps Oola down the rancor pit, the denizens gather around for a view, and there’s Taym, on the right side of the screen leaning over the grating to get a good look.  A bit later, after Boushh (or is it??) negotiated for the 50K reward, Chewbacca is escorted down to the dungeon past Tamtel Skreej (or is it??), there’s Taym again watching with interest in the background.  And finally, when Luke arrives and is dealing with Jabba, Taym can be seen behind the BBQ spit next to Fozec, quietly watching.  He’s quite the voyeur.

We then don’t see Taym again until after the Skirmish at Carkoon was well underway.  While that mass murderer Luke was racking up the body count on the deck of the sail barge, Taym recognized his moment had arrived.  Emerging from the bowels of the barge, Taym rose to the occasion, and aimed his blaster (he was a lefty!!) at the insane Jedi Knight.  As Skywalker lifted his saber hand prior to insuring that the nearest poor schmuck was bereft of life, Taym focused his laser gun.  He pulled the trigger and scored a direct hit - on Luke’s mechanical hand.  The enraged Jedi turned, and unleashed his fury on poor Taym, who then ceased to be.  But Taym’s efforts may have actually saved the galaxy.  Luke placed a black glove over the damaged hand with the exposed machinery.  Later, when he had Darth Vader on the ropes, a quick glance at that black gloved hand was all Luke needed to understand his destiny. A few moments later he was piloting away from the exploding Death Star, with Emperor Palpatine destroyed forever, never to be seen aga….Wait, what?  He came back?  Nah, you’re just tickling my funny bone.  That’s nonsense!

A quick Banthaskull note:  In our Missing in Action Figure entry for Taym Dren-garen, it is noted in the comments section by the actor’s son that the character is portrayed by stuntman Larry Holt.  I hope Jack Holt is reading this and can let us know what it’s like to have his dad as an action figure! 

While I would assume that must be thrilling, I can declare with no doubt that this is thrilling for me as a collector.  The addition of Taym Dren-garen in the line at this point in time is nothing short of amazing.  In an era of 3.75” collecting when new tooling is at a premium, and the line is rife with repaints and minor retools of troopers and Mandalorians, it’s an incredible moment when we get a deep backgrounder like Mr. Dren-garen. 

While it reuses a few existing parts, notably the legs and upper arms, it just feels like an all new figure.  The sculpting is top notch, and has all the modern articulation worthy of a Jedi.  Was this necessary?  Maybe not, but we don’t want Hasbro deciding which figures should get which articulation; we collectors can’t even seem to find consensus on that.  The takeaway here is that Taym clearly bends his elbow when aiming his blaster at Luke, so he at least needs that point of articulation.  The paint applications are nice, with some subtle depth, especially to the padded torso.  The helmet is distinctive, has the built in face scarf, and fits nicely over the head.  And the removable helmet reveals the face of Larry Holt, and if you compare it to some of his photographs, it looks really well done!  Again, perhaps his son might chime in on what he thinks about the likeness, but it seems pretty solid.  My only complaint about the figure isn’t really Hasbro’s fault.  There is no holster to store the blaster, but if you look at any reference photos, it would appear the character never had one.  Doing a frame-by-frame viewing of the scene where Taym pops onto the deck to take the shot at Luke, you can see some accessory attached to his belt on the left side.  It could be a pouch, or it could be a holster.  I guess he’ll just have to keep his blaster in his pocket.

10/10.  Great figure, This is one of those times where I will just marvel at it in childlike wonder, while also comprehending that it’s something that is a near-impossibility in today’s TVC climate.  This is an awesome addition to our collections.  I’d call it a unicorn, but to paraphrase Yoda, there is another.  Check back tomorrow…

VC288 Velken Tezeri

[Copied from a separate review that was published on 10/11/23]

Sound up…

This.  This is why 3.75” is, and always will be, the king of Star Wars collecting.

I was going to just leave that video above as the entire review, as I hoped it would capture all the things.  But Chris sternly reminded me of my contractual obligation to meet the minimum wordcount or else I don’t get paid, even though I don’t get paid.  So I reminded Chris of his contractual obligation to wear his Eli Manning Underoos whenever he speaks to me about my contractual obligation.  It would seem we’re at a bit of an impasse.  Nevertheless…

I saved this for the last review of the 3 new figures in the Jabba’s Court Denizens 4-pack [An overview of the set, including the repacked Ree-Yees, will be up tomorrow.] because I feel this one is the most important as to what it means for TVC.  VC286 Tessek is great because it updates a character that we’ve had for 40 years since Kenner in 1983.  Many of us remember it from childhood, and even if you’re too young for that, you at least are aware of its status as one of the root figures of world-building.  Squid Head was a nameless, weird, background alien with no speaking lines, and yet Kenner made him, keeping strong the tradition started by the cantina alien figures 6 years earlier.  The version not only updates even the more recent POTJ figure, but also brings it home for the O96 folks.  Meanwhile, VC287 Taym Dren-garen is an incredible release because not only does he speak no lines, he doesn’t even have the desirability of being a weird alien.  He’s just a guy that has never been made before.  But he is all over the palace, and he does have an iconic moment on the Khetanna as the guy who shoots Luke, and for that alone, he is a key addition to the line. 

All of that tertiary-ness pales in comparison to quaternary-ness of Velken Tezeri.  He is the epitome of world-building; of what 3.75” collecting is all about.  Tezeri has no speaking lines, he’s not an exotic alien, he doesn’t drive the skiff, and he doesn’t shoot anyone.  In fact, he doesn’t actually do anything but stand there and then die because Luke’s green blade whiffed in his vicinity.  In fact, in perhaps the ultimate indignity, his death scene was essentially ruined by bad editing when a different character altogether can be seen diving head first into the Sarlacc’s maw.  Velken’s only notable achievement (aside from the bad edit) is that he’s the first one to be eaten by the sarlacc, since somehow Kithaba, Luke’s first whiff-victim, manages to cling to the sand pit long enough to outlive him.  He’s not an O96er, and has never been made at any point in time.  He’s the least interesting and least important individual present on the prisoner skiff.  And that’s why it’s so amazing we have him.  In many respects, he has no business being an action figure.  But now that we have him - more than 40 years after the premiere of Return of the Jedi - we can COMPLETE THE CREW!  We have Velken Tezeri in The Vintage Collection…Velken Tezeri! So help me God, Velken Tezeri! 

The figure is tremendous (as are both Tessek and Dren-garen).  He’s a kitbash, with a few new parts, notably the chest, head, and arms (I believe).  While the upper legs are from the Cassian Ferrix trench-coat figure (like Dren-garen), I can’t quite place the lower legs/feet which are from a different figure (unlike Dren-garen).  However, just like the other two partial tools in the set, this just feels brand new.  Hasbro really didn’t cut corners, even accounting for the reused parts.  Velken is fully articulated with all the modern points.  You can pose Velken in almost any way you like.  And while he mostly just stands there, he does pop into an action stance (complete with a pair of bended elbows) for a blink of an eye before falling overboard, and you can faithfully recreate this moment due to his modern articulation.  He has an outstanding paint job, with some nice depth created for the leathery padded jack he wears.  The helmet/scarf combo reveals Velken’s eyes, and is removable.  The head underneath is exceptionally well done.  Unlike Taym, played by stuntman/actor Larry Holt who has many images on the internet, it seems Velken was uncredited, and I can find no good photos of the unmasked actor.  Either Hasbro had access to some archived imagery from the Lucasfilm vaults, or they just made up the face (or sculpted it to resemble some employee).  Velken has a standard skiff guard blaster which fits nicely in his holster, and can be firmly gripped in hand.  The details are great, and this is one of the better figures Hasbro has made.

With Velken, it would take next to nothing for Hasbro to make Nizuc Bek the guy who got his blaster Force-pulled by Luke (if you know what I mean) before falling into the Rancor pit.  And just as easy would be the third rancor keeper, Weeba Weeba, so let’s complete that crew!

You guessed it: Velken Tezeri gets a 10/10.  Hasbro listened, as we have been banging the drum for a while.  The pleas have come from many corners of the community, and Banthaskull was no exception, having done a few articles asking for this figure.  But it is with little doubt that our friend John Miko-something-something-lotsofletters and the team at The Star Wars Vintage Collection Facebook Group (Did I do that right?  I don’t know how to Tik-Tok) pushed this over the finish line with the Velken Tezeri Petition. 

[Note: Thanks to YouTube creator LearnToEditStuff for the template to do the above pub celebration video, based on the meme “Happiness comes from the simple things.”]