Figures That Make Me Happy: Aunt Beru

Posted by Chris on 08/02/24 at 07:05 AM Category: Figures That Make Me Happy

Aunt Beru

The approach of the Episode I figure line was bitter sweet for me. Once it arrived, it formed some of my fondest memories in the hobby, but its launch meant a pretty big negative for me. Namely, Original Trilogy figures were going on hiatus for the foreseeable future. That gutted me. There we so many figures that the line hadn't gotten to at that point. There was no Power Droid. No FX-7. No Bespin Security Guard. No Bespin Leia. No Wooof (aka the O96 Klaatu). No General Madine. No Prune Face, and perhaps most importantly for me, no Amanaman. Those are just the Original 96 figures. There were a whole host of never-before-made figures I was also pining for, some of them still to this day.

I simply wasn't ready for the OT line to rest, especially since we didn't know for how long it would be sidelined. There were three new movies coming. Perhaps OT figures would be on hiatus until after 2005, I thought. Obviously in hindsight, this paranoia was ridiculous. OT figures wouldn't even be off shelves for a full year. At the end of 1999, they returned with their own CommTech sub-line, but again, in early 1999 we had know way of knowing this. All we knew is that OT figures would be paused once the Episode I line launched. When it was announced that we would be getting one final OT wave before the transition, I had high hopes that some of the above figures would get tackled. When Hasbro revealed the figures in the wave, it was the embodiment of the Price is Right fail horn.

That last wave of figures turned out to be the Flashback series. When the makeup of the assortment was announced, I was sure that the descriptions were an early April Fools joke. Ben Kenobi with the hood up? Luke with a floppy hat? YODA WITH REAL HAIR?!? These were literally the type of things that early pranksters would try trick people into thinking were real. Surely it was a joke. Nope. This time, the prank was real. I was heartbroken. It appeared to offer nothing new at first glance. Now, as a diehard member of the #MakeTheMains society, you might think that sentiment is odd, but understand that these redos were only four years old at best. The redos I'm campaigning for today are mostly 20 years old.

Among this sea of incremental tweaks and marginal upgrades (or regression in the case of Vader), were hiding a few bright spots of newness. There was the first (and only) Sebastian Shaw Anakin Skywalker, as well as Ceremonial Leia. For me, the most luminous of these highlights was the Aunt Beru figure. I skipped most of the Flashback line initially, but I remember actually having to hunt down that Beru.

We had a particularly lackluster Uncle Owen courtesy of the Purchase of the Droids Cinema Scene in 1997, so it was a relatively long wait to get that figure's natural counterpart. The day I found the Beru, I was spending the night at my then girlfriend's house. Despite downplaying my nerdishness to that point, I brought the figure with me. I wanted to be able to marvel at the first even Aunt Beru figure into the night. Ever since I was a kid, I would just stare at my favorite figures and get such a sense of joy. I remember sneaking my 4-LOM (Zuckuss) figure to school in my pocket just so I could steal a couple peeks at it during the day. I still get a lift in my spirit when I look at my favorite figures to this day.

This Aunt Beru is not a great offering by today's standards. In addition to the limited articulation and primitive deco, it also suffers from the POTF2 "pastel-ification". Beru's dress and jean jacket are a few shades too bright. It's a little reminiscent of the POTF2 Yak Face in that regard. I would love an update in the Vintage Collection, but unless Kevin Feige personally funds it, that ain't happenin'.