Lord almighty, how I love these modern figures.  I was just speaking to Victoria the other night about how I need to start planning my exit strategy form the hobby.  I feel it would be unseemly to be AARP eligible and also stalking the toy aisle for Star Wars action figures.  That day is rapidly approaching at the close of this year.  But these modern figures are going to extend my life in this hobby indefinitely.  I’m going to have to build a second home just to house my collection at this rate.  Hasbro, if you want to separate my from my money as easily as possible, upgrade as many pre-2015 core characters and army builders to the quality of these 2022 figures, and I might as well open up a direct line of credit.  These figures are incredible.  In yesterday’s review, I mentioned that the Episode IV Luke, Leia, Han and Ben figures need to be brought into the modern age.  Let me add all of the key PT Jedi.  Give me Mace, Ki, Plo, Kit, Shaak and Saesee just like this.  They will sell like gangbusters.  I want these figures, and I want them:

I need to stress that it’s not just the articulation on these figures.  It’s how easily that articulation is engaged, and how it flows from pose to pose. This Obi-Wan Kenobi might be the best functioning example of rocker ankles in 3.75” scale history.  I had legitimate fun posing this figure for photography.  The sculpt and articulation compliment each other perfectly.  That’s not always the case.  Sometimes the hinged wrists articulate in the exact opposite plane than the one that I want them to. Not so here.  If you look at image 5 above, you will see that the cross-handed grip can be achieved, which is exactly how Kenobi blocks one of Vader’s furious chops in Part III.  It takes some effort, particularly because the soft goods robe bunches up in the armpits of the figure, but, with effort, it is achievable.  That’s frankly amazing.

I’ve seen some samples online where the paint applications on the head sculpt have been poorly executed.  It appears to be hit or miss.  I think the paint aps on my sample (thank you, Darth Dre) are spot on.  The expression on the face is perfect for the emotional standpoint of the character at this point in the series.  It’s grief stricken.  Mournful.  Obi-Wan Kenobi was emotionally devastated over what had become of his friend, Anakin Skywalker, and this head sculpt perfectly captures that, but, again, your mileage may vary depending on the paint applications.  As with the Dark Times Vader, the barbell neck construction really emphasizes the sculpt with meaningful range of motion.  The sorrowful expression can be amplified by tucking the figure’s chin into its chest.

This Wandering Jedi Obi-Wan does have a couple of warts that cannot be ignored, however.  Based on the press photos, I said the drape of the robe was perfect.  In hand, it’s less than flawless.  A similar problem with soft goods hoods (try to say that ten times fast) reoccurs here.  It takes some working to get the hood to hang closely to the figure’s head, and even after that, it still billows up too much.  Also, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the upper torso joint.  I need to stress that it’s not as jarring when harsh studio lights aren’t casting unforgiving shadows, but it does exist nonetheless.  The problem is that, despite the compromise to aesthetics, it offers very little range of motion.  There are several times that Obi-Want defensively hunches forward when he’s about to do battle with Vader.  If this upper torso joint afforded that pose, it would be forgivable.  Since it does not, it offers no upside that I can gather, but all the downside of breaking the fantasy of the sculpt.

Those two issues keep me from giving this figure a perfects score.  Instead, it’s a 9 out of 10, but trust me, I love it like it was a 10 out of 10 figure.  At the time of this review, this figure is still available to order form site sponsor Entertainment Earth.  I can’t image you don’t already have several on preorder, but in case you don’t, click the image below (sponsored):