Now this is what I call a 2-pack!  It’s not OK that these figures are 5POA, but that aside, this is a really nice set.  You get two great background aliens that otherwise probably wouldn’t have been good choices as basic figures.  Maz Kanata’s castle was the closest thing we had in The Force Awakens to the Mos Eisley Cantina or Jabba’s Palace.  There weren’t a whole lot of compelling alien designs in the film, but these two characters fit the old mold pretty well.

These are the guys with whom Finn had struck a deal to get him to the Outer Rim after he decided to leave his new friends at Maz’s castle and hide from The First Order.  I like the designs for both characters, and I’m glad they made it to action figure status, even in the budget line.  Including Maz Kanata and Hassk Thug, that makes a grand total of 4 characters from the castle.  Am I missing anyone?  I think that’s it.

Sidon Ithano is a very nicely sculpted figure. The uniform has some nice depth to it, with outstanding texturing throughout.  There is a plastic cape that falls convincingly on the character, and also happens to be removable, should you desire to display him so.  It’s a nice enough cape that it misses shmata status, which is a good thing.  Sidon has a pretty cool helmet design, which translates nicely onto the figure, along with the shiny, bright red paint.  As with many figures in the line, the ball jointed neck feature is mostly lost due to sculpting issues, and in this case, it would seem to be a self-inflicted wound by Hasbro.  The shoulders, head, and even the cape don’t seem to have any reason to hinder the joint, but it nevertheless only moves side to side as if it were an old school swivel neck.  The figure comes with a unique weapon, which he grips tightly.  There is a second blaster, but it is unfortunately sculpted onto the holster on his left hip.  That would have been a nice touch had it been a separate piece with a real blaster, but you can’t really expect too much from these budget figures. 

First Mate Quiggold is pretty nifty.  He’s shorter than most other figures, but he more than makes up for this because of his heft, as well as is interesting design.  The character could easily blend in with other aliens at the cantina or Jabba’s palace.  He’s got a big face with a lot of personality, which is painted very well. The head is covered with a hood of sorts, and the whole shebang is, unfortunately, not a real joint.  So this figure, like so many others, is technically 4POA.  Quiggold has a peg leg, which is neat, and it amazingly does not make the figure difficult to stand up.  One negative here is that Quiggold does not come with any kind of basic weapon.  Instead, he is able to carry the BFG accessory included in the set.  As ridiculous as it is, I actually like this weapon, as it is reminiscent of a gun from a first-person-shooter video game.  I’m surprised that Quiggold can wield it without falling over - nor does he fall over without it due to any center-of-balance issues, as is the case with the Phasma figure that came with the Finn 2-pack.

This is a really nice set, with two background aliens that have fairly compelling designs which translated well to action figures.  The only real knock here is the 5POA-ness of the figures, and the one obvious budget shortcut being that sculpted-on blaster attached to Sidon Ithano’s left hip.  I give this set an outstanding 5POA score of 6.  Get it now if you don’t have it already!