Which fan favorite OT character wasn’t unceremoniously killed during Rian Johnson’s murder spree in The Last Jedi?  Here’s a hint:  His name does not rhyme with Shmackbar.

Yesterday, we took a moment to discuss the controversial death of Grand Admiral Ackbar.  While the act technically took place on screen, his death was only mentioned at a briefing for the remaining Resistance fighters announcing the temporary transfer of power to Admiral Holdo.  Of course, as events unfolded, most of the remaining members of the Resistance were killed.  Only a small band of approximately 20 survived long enough to evacuate Crait on board the Millennium Falcon.  Guess who one of them was?  Ackbar’s fellow veteran of the Battle of Endor, and former co-pilot of the Falcon itself, Nien Nunb.

That’s right!  You probably noticed this, but in case you missed it, Nien Nunb survived the events of The Last Jedi and is currently on board the Millennium Falcon, probably helping keep up morale by telling stories of his exploits during his heroic flight into the guts of the Death Star II.  He’s also likely telling his fellow survivors to value what they have, because at any point you could lose everything.  See, many of the remaining Resistance fighters were too young, but Nein Nunb remembers that he used to be super-articulated, before the rise of the First Order destroyed many of his articulation points.  He now has only 5, and is but a shell of his younger self.  He’s also frustrated that the once magnificent ship he flew that day is currently loaded with Nerf missiles.  Dark times indeed.

Nein Nunb isn’t a bad sculpt.  His flight suit and vest look decent, with a satisfactory amount of wrinkles and textures.  The paint is acceptable throughout, although there’s a bit of overspray here and there.  This could have been fixed with a separately sculpted vest, but these first few waves of TFA figures skimped on just about everything.  He also doesn’t have a holster, which would be a nice place to store his pistol.  Nein does grip the pistol well in his hand, however, which is good, since he has no place to put it. The best part of the figure is the head sculpt and paint job.  It really brings out the character.  Too bad it’s all brought down by the ho-hum body, with 5POA.

The accessory build-a-weapon part is, of course, nonsense.  Always the class clown, Nunb is demonstrating in the gallery that the best use of this accessory is as a butt scratcher.  While it’s a brilliant use of the device, it does seem to be overkill, as the thing is huge.  It’s not quite as elegant as Peter Griffin’s version. 

I wish I could give this figure a better grade than the basic 4.  The face sculpt is very good, and he’s got some sentimental value.  But the lack of a holster (even if it isn’t screen accurate) and the simple uniform sculpt bring the average back down.

After the sad death of Grand Admiral Ackbar, I’m happy to know that Nien Nunb is still fighting the good fight!  Since he made it to the last episode, henceforth, he shall be known as IX Nunb!