Star Wars 'Saga' Phase 2
General Jan Dodonna
Jan Dodonna rose to the rank of General in the Rebel Alliance due to his irrepressible personal drive. That drive can be attributed to his childhood inferiority complex that he developed from constantly being overshadowed by his older brother Marsha. Apologies for that quite literal Banthapedia moment, but I couldn’t resist. Who names a General “Jan”? I mean honestly?
General Dodonna is of course the answer to one of the more common Star Wars trivia questions as he is the first character to say “May the Force be with you” in the Saga (chronologically of course). He uttered that phrase during the Battle of Yavin. During that scene Dodonna was wearing his battle duster with the Purina symbol on the left breast. This figure is not sourced from that scene. It is sourced from the Yavin Ceremony scene where Donodda wore a more casual plain light beige duster. The figure comes with the three medals that were given out during that scene. One for Han Solo, one for Luke Skywalker and one for Chewba….oooooooo, too soon?
General Dodonna was the runner up in the 2004 Fans’ Choice polling to Captain Antilles if memory serves correctly. Hasbro must have been dying in 2004 because they were in quite the giving mood. Not only were we treated to a bevy of obscure characters, but Hasbro gave us the Fans’ Choice winner and runner up in the same wave. The figure is unremarkable in today’s landscape. It has the basic articulation for the time frame with no lower body articulation except for the swivel hips. The arms feature swivel joints at the shoulders, elbows and wrists. This does allow the figure to interact satisfactorily with the included BlasTech DH-17 blaster rifle especially since the figure has a floating trigger finger. By virtue of this articulation and the sculpting of the left hand, the figure can also hand off the medal to Princess Leia.
The salt and pepper hair looks decent at first blush, but lack subtlety upon closer inspection. Still it’s better than a single solid gray paint application which feels like what we would get today. The expression on the face is a bit of a miss. The figure sports a wide eyed vacant expression. I try not to be too critical about such things at this scale as long as the likeness is decent and the facial features are actually painted in the correct anatomical location, something that has become a major issue with the modern line. I can’t bring myself to elevate this figure beyond the other “Saga” background characters, so it will live with it’s peers at 5 out of 10. More importantly, this figure demands that a Bob Hudsol figure sees production. He is the most obvious figure omission from the final scene of A New Hope.