Original Review:  Chris - 07/10/2013 06:56 pm

Characters such as Jocasta Nu probably do not belong in the main line.  There isn’t enough support to justify a mass brick and mortar release.  I am 100% in favor of releasing limited appeal figures as exclusives with the associated premium price.  If the choice is not getting these characters in the line at all or having to pay a little bit more every once in a while, I couldn’t throw my wallet at Hasbro fast enough.  If I could get a modern articulated Fozec for $24.99, I would be absolutely thrilled.  I wouldn’t want to pay a 1.5x premium on dozens of figures a year, but one or two “you won’t get them otherwise” figures would be pretty sweet.  They key is that it has to be on par with “Vintage Collection” quality.  This Jocasta Nu figure is a far cray from that. 

The first substandard point of articulation is the neck which features a swivel joint and makes me wonder if the head was sculpted a while ago to be included in the “Saga” line.  Part of the reason I love the character Jocasta Nu is the certain haughtiness with which she conducts herself.  This characteristic can be expressed with a disapproving downward glance or a head tilted proudly backward.  Sadly the figure cannot achieve this without a ball jointed neck.  The next issue is the lack of ankle joints. This renders the figure with essentially useless knee articulation.  The plastic tabard prevents the figure from sitting and without ankles to flatten the figure’s feet on the surface when the knees are flexed, no fighting poses can be achieved.  Back to the plastic tabard: the lower tabard should have been soft goods as we’ve seen on other figures to ensure range of motion.

The figure’s right hand is posed in a limiting Jedi mind trick gesture which is not only unnecessary for this character, it also renders the hand pretty much useless for all but Jedi mind tricking.  It’s really frustrating because one of my criteria for excellence in modern Jedi figures is that it must be able to be posed in a two handed saber grip.  The figure can barely get the hands in position to achieve this and once done, the right hand doesn’t really grip the saber.  Aside from the character itself, there’s not a lot for me to like here.  This is likely the only Jocasta Nu figure Hasbro will attempt, so if you’re like me and have to have the figure in your collection, you’re obviously stuck and have to purchase one. If you don’t care about this character, the figure itself doesn’t justify a purchase.  6 out of 10.

Updated Review:  Bret- 07/01/2020 07:05 AM

Chris covered the figure well enough that his review holds up today.  In short, the figure lacks TVC-level articulation, which wouldn’t be terrible for some figures - even this one, except that this flaw was compounded by other issues, such as the strange right hand sculpt, and the lack of a basic ball jointed neck.  Also, the frustration is compounded by the fact that a few minor tweaks would have made this an outstanding figure, including soft goods for the lower tunic, which would allow for a free range of motion of the legs.  Upgrade the neck, fix the hand, add ankles.  You’d have a tremendous figure.

That said, there’s still a lot going for this strange figure.  The accessories are top notch.  There’s a bronze-like bust of Count Dooku, which is a nice environmental piece to supplement your Jedi Temple displays.  The bust can be taken off the pedestal, revealing a Jedi holocron.  This is the only realistically styled 3.75” figure that has a holocron accessory.  (There is a holocron that comes with a Cad Bane animated-styled battle pack, and perhaps others that I can’t recall off the top of my head.). Also, Jocasta comes with a purse.  Weird, but true.  Not sure if it’s big enough by Dexter Jettster’s standards, but it’s possibly the only Star Wars pocketbook accessory in the line.  These things are worth the price of admission, which admittedly was pretty steep with an MSRP of $25 plus shipping. 

The Brian’s Toys exclusive has much of the premium-ness loaded into the packaging.  It’s impressive.  The window box includes a velcro closure as well as a spare unpunched cardback for your displays.  Many collectors have said, Chris and I included, that we’d be more than willing to pay a premium for a figure that would otherwise have no shot at being made in the basic line and available at regular retail.  This would be an example of that.  I think our willingness to pay such a premium has increased as we know the current state of the 3.75” iine.  7 years ago when this figure came out, while there were signs that the line was in trouble, most collectors had no idea that it was going to be close to death in a very short while.  I would reiterate that many collectors would jump at the opportunity to pay $25 for an exclusive limited run Tonnika Sister, Velken Tezeri, Yerka Mig, Bob Hudsol, Shmool Flemington, or any number of others.