Hondo Ohnaka is one of my favorite Star Wars characters.  Yes, I said it.  I love this guy.  I enjoyed his antics from the minute he was introduced in The Clone Wars, and further enjoyed his continuing story in Rebels.  It seems Hondo survived the Galactic Civil War and the events of the Sequel Trilogy as well (or at least most of them, officially).  An older Hondo made his way to the Outpost on Batuu, where he participates in the Galaxy’s Edge storyline.  Apparently he manages to team up with Chewbacca, and they go on missions together in the Millennium Falcon.  While I would have loved a Hondo figure from earlier in the timeline, either from TCW or Rebels, I’ll take him from the Sequel Era.  Because everyone knows, any Hondo is better than no Hondo.

This is the same figure that came with the recently released Target exclusive VC Millennium Falcon (Smuggler’s Run).  I didn’t bother doing much of a review of Hondo at the time, knowing this single-carded TVC release was imminent, so here we are.

Hondo Ohnaka is excellent figure.  The sculpt is beautiful, with details crafted throughout.  There are some alien sculpts that Hasbro has absolutely nailed, and those of the Weequay species fall within that category.  Even though Hondo’s “beard” makes him different from most other Weequays we are familiar with, it didn’t stop Hasbro from another likeness triumph.  By my count, this is the 7th Weequay character in the main line.  I can’t quite tell if the card art is Photoshopped, or if it’s an actual photograph of the animatronic character at the Disney Galaxy’s Edge theme park.  Either way, the figure is a near perfect match.

The figure is very well articulated, and sports all the modern articulation that is becoming standard for today.  Hondo has the barbell neck, along with ball joints at the shoulders, elbows, wrists, torso, knees, and hips (along with swivel thighs). And, yes, he’s got ROCKER ANKLES!  Just like Chirrut Îmwe and that other secret figure in the wave whose name rhymes with Shmives, Hasbro is really starting to give the 3.75” figures the rocker ankles they deserve.  Hondo can be posed in a number of dynamic poses.  The paint is excellent, with some great personality in the face.  The colors throughout are bright and fun, and are definitely pirate-like. 

As for the negatives, the plastic used is a little soft, which seems to be common in figures these days.  This sometimes is a good thing, especially in the hands, which is necessary to get figures to properly grip accessories.  But a more rigid plastic for the rest of the figure would be welcome.  It’s a small thing, but it can give the overall effect of making it feel cheap.  The cape is a bit limiting on the dynamism, but the plastic used is thin and pliable, so you can still get some solid posing out of him.  The softness of the cape does make it possible, if a bit awkward, for Hondo to be placed into a seated position into the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon.  Sometimes Hasbro manages a nice balance here.  As long as the plastic used is very thin and flexible, soft goods isn’t necessarily needed.

Hondo comes with a blaster, which he can grip well, and which fits into the holster fairly snuggly.  For its part, the holster doesn’t really hinder the lower body articulation.

Another winner of a figure from Hasbro.  Despite the frustrating lack of volume, it’s hard to deny that we’ve gotten some eye-popping figures lately.  This is one of them.  If you’re a fan of the character, you must own it.  If you’re not a fan of the character, he still works as an awesome backgrounder scoundrel.  You’re doing yourself a disservice if you pass this one up.  9/10.