Updating EP1: Collection 1

I wasn't planning on doing this, but the Nielson streaming charts showed that this feature was a big ratings hit, so we're striking while the iron is hot. Well, actually, one person may have commented that they considered the Episode I line to be an extension of POTF2. So since we covered those figures and toys that manage to persevere in our modern displays, I figured I'd do something similar for Episode I, which should cover everything from the last century. I wasn't going to do this beyond POTF2 because as time passes, each more recent line has a larger number of "surviving" figures and toys, and such a feature would become unmanageable very quickly. I liked the idea of looking at POTF2 because it was the original line-look and covered the first 5 years of the modern line. In fact, some collectors don't even consider POTF2 to be included in their definition of "modern." So it seemed to make sense to take a look at what was left after 25 years have passed, and I was surprised at how many movie-based figures and toys from the 20th century are still stuck in my dioramas.

The Episode I line used a system annotated with a stripe on each figure's card to show whether it was part of "Collection" 1, 2, or 3. Essentially, this was to indicate figures of primary, secondary, and tertiary characters. I'm not sure if Hasbro's logic for each character slot was sound. For example, the first "clean" Destroyer Droid was in Collection 2, but the resculpted follow-up that had battle damage and a break-apart feature was labeled as Collection 1.

Anyway, I'm using the collection designation to categorize this feature, so today we'll look at Collection 1 figures that have survived the past 25 years, and I'll continue with more in future articles:



1. Jar Jar Binks (Naboo Swamp) with Fish - This is a top 5 sub-name for a figure: ..."with Fish" is simply awesome. And it's more awesome because that's the reason this figure is on this list. We've gotten a much better (although far from perfect) Jar Jar Binks in TVC. This one wasn't even the first Jar Jar; it's just a bit of a different sculpt so you could simulate him swimming, which is kind of a silly feature for an action figure unless you bring yours into the bathtub, like CJ. So the Fish accessory is the reason I keep this guy around. You can never have enough Star Wars fish.



2. Padmé Naberrie : This figure is boring as hell, but it was necessary, and I'm glad Hasbro made it. It seems highly unlikely that this will be revisited, unless Hasbro does something nuts for TPM30. It's a weird sculpt because of the way it's posed, with the left foot flexed into a walking position rather than the typical flat-footed sculpt. It is a bit more realistic, but can be tricky to stand. As with all pre-posed, low POA figures, it doesn't do much. Other than the terrible face sculpt, the figure is painted nicely, and it looks decent in an appropriate setting. I don't see this one getting retired any time soon.

3. Anakin Skywalker: Kid figures don't generally sell well, but this is Darth Vader after all. We got a TVC version of kid Anakin in his Padawan robes from the very end of TPM, but never in his Tatooine outfit. Anakin stands a much better chance of an update than Miss Naberrie. In the meantime, he's got a neat backpack and a little grease gun so he can pew-pew grease at things.

4. Anakin Skywalker (Naboo Pilot): This is a slight retool of the above figure (a marginally different left arm) with a removable Naboo pilot helmet. (There was a similar figure, but with a non-removable helmet, that came with a handheld electronic game). It's an early (not the first) example of a removable helmet, and it fits great, unlike some figures from almost 25 years later that rhyme with Shmabine Wren. Also included is a set of flight controls (called "flight simulator" for some reason, as if Anakin is playing a PC game at home) that fit perfectly inside the cockpit of the EP1 Naboo Starfighter. For what it intends, this is actually an excellent figure, aside from the crappy POA. In any case, the helmet and controls make it different enough from the basic release that I keep both figures.

5. Queen Amidala (Naboo): This may be one of the earliest figures in the most dire need of an upgrade. It'a main character in an important action outfit. This "Collection 1" figure was given an update, which has some pros and cons when compared to this one, but for some reason was released under "Collection 2", so I'll get into that another day. The important thing is that this figure was again updated (poorly) during the heinous and catastrophic TPM3D debacle. She is one of the first figures that I refused to buy, as I decided that my completism did not extend to purposely under-articulated figures. At a time when 14 POA and ball joints had been the norm for years, this was when Hasbro started pulling back. The main point here, is that while some traitorous collectors may own that abomination in their collections and think of it as the best available (probably the same troglodytes that love their bootleg sandcrawlers), I drew the line at that particular figure. All that is to say, we really need a TVC update to this one badly, and I would put the likelihood fairly high as far as TPM-sourced characters go.

6. Queen Amidala (Coruscant): This is basically a salt shaker figure, although it does have waist and hip articulation that is rendered useless by the robes. Nevertheless, it's really well done and serves its purpose. I'm not clamoring for an update to this one, although I felt the same way about Greedo until I saw the Haslab sculpt. Until Hasbro wows us with a modern update, I'm content with this one as it is.

7. Destroyer Droid: The first release of the Destroyer Droid was part of "Collection 2", so I'll get to that later. This was a follow up in "Collection 1" that was retooled a bit. It is as awesome as it is frustrating. It is a really unique droid design that Hasbro translated extraordinarily well into a figure, especially being 1999/2000. This guy has 8 points of articulation, but is one of the few good figures to have an action feature. It's got a button on the back that causes the droid to explode into 2 parts. It's billed as "Battle Damaged," and in addition to the action feature, it also has a bunch of dings and gouges in the metal surfaces, which is a nice elevation to the typical paint smears that replicate wear and tear. There are two things that still manage to disappoint: It can't roll up into a ball like it did on screen, and it doesn't have any shields. Both of these things were key to the droid's actions in TPM, and Hasbro was unable to deliver here. They gave us an already rolled-up droid as a pack-in, and about 8 years later they gave us a valiant, but unsatisfying, attempt at a shield. Sadly, the same company that makes Transformers has yet to engineer a Droideka figure that can both stand and roll. Oh - and while Hasbro did make newer Droidekas that you might think could replace these in your collection, those were modeled after the AOTC and ROTS (and TCW) models. The main difference is the 3 photoreceptors on the face. The EP1 version has a short-stalked center eye, while the later models had a longer-stalked center eye that was angled downward. So after 2000, I don't believe Hasbro ever released a TPM version of this figure.

8. Battle Droid: As I've mentioned before, I wasn't collecting before TPM, so I didn't experience all the craziness surrounding POTF2 short sabers in long trays, Freeze Frame variants, and .01 / .02 UPC designations. Tracking down the 4 running changes to this droid was my first experience with this sort of thing. It honestly wasn't that tricky, though, as I believe I found all 4 fairly easily, and on multiple occasions. I own at least 3 of each, and don't remember it being too tough. So the reason it's on this list, despite Hasbro making various upgrades (including in TVC), is partly because of the paint variants (which haven't been fully revisited), but mostly because these tend to stand very well without falling over. This is true unless your sample has warped over time (which has happened to a few of my battle droid figures). But unlike many of the newer droids, these didn't fail straight out of the package. I'm generally happy with the TVC versions of the Battle Droids, aside from the lack of the necessary engineering to perform a two-handed weapon grip, but I still keep these OG's for fodder in my Naboo dioramas, mostly because I have so many of them. I can probably retire these based on my collecting rules, but I choose to keep them around anyway. I do wish Hasbro would take a good look at a new Battle Droid, and give us a proper "ultimate" version that can do all the things. That might begin to make up for 2024's Elbowgate.

I'll follow up with a look at Collection 2 soon.

---

comments powered by Disqus