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…