What’s a figure? Part II

In Part I, we deliberated the definition of what qualifies as a "figure." I admittedly went on a bit of a tangent to discuss how we collect and it became a bit maclunkey, so I split it into 2 parts. In good faith it was all geared towards helping solve this problem. Nevertheless, I was given a stern talking to by Chris about my rambling, and he had HR send me this warning:



Fortunately, this verbal warning is moot. According to my lawyers, HR screwed up because they called me "Mr. Madison," which is not my real name. So in the end, my Banthaskull personnel file is still spotless. Probably.

As I mentioned in Part I, the point of all this is to help me (and possibly the community - but me first and foremost) categorize the items in my collection for the sake of my spreadsheet tracker. As I put it together, my intent was to be able to sort and filter a whole slew of criteria, one of which was the "type" category which included "Figure", "Accessory", "Creature", and "Environmental Piece". After careful consideration, I had decided that if it didn't fit into one of these, then it would simply be "Dreck". If I've successfully catalogued an item in my spreadsheet, then I can say it has been "FACED." I decided further that even if it can be categorized, if it doesn't fit into the aesthetic of the line (as I collect it), then it becomes a hyphenate, such as "figure-dreck" (i.e, animated figures). But I would allow - just as a one-time only exception - for that last piece to be left up to the individual collector. We are here to define F, A, C, and E, so that we never have to discuss this again until it's time to discuss it again.

So let's get back on track and try to tackle these definitions.

The discussion from Part I was summed up thusly:

What’s a figure? After today’s discussion, we have dozens of very detailed, mostly different answers. Such is the nature of philosophical questions. What is a figure? Why do we fall in love? How did life begin? What should a Haslab Death Star look like? It can’t be answered. - Sven RedBeard

IT MUST BE ANSWERED! This isn't philosophy, it's SCIENCE! How am I supposed to finish my spreadsheet until I have all the answers?



Take our good friend Salacious Crumb - who seems to be a prime example of the issue at hand. If you consider him a figure, then that's all well and good - but what if he's not articulated like his earliest releases? Does he still count? At one time in the past, I considered a figure as requiring at least 1 POA, otherwise it was a statue - or in this case, an accessory. But it has to count for something when he has an individual name and a personality, especially if the name appears on the package. What about the Mouse Droid? It's a droid and it had a personality on screen. But the first versions didn't have wheels, so it was just a plastic block. Also, are wheels considered articulation? And if so, does the current R2-D2 in TVC have 5POA, or does it have 8POA including the 3 wheels? Are wheels considered "articulated joints" or are they just "moving parts"?

And back to Salacious Crumb, if being non-articulated makes him unqualified to be a figure, what happens when later versions do get articulation? If we wanted a list of all Salacious Crumb figures, would we then retroactively award non-articulated Crumbs the designation of being a figure, or would we just accept that the first time we ever truly got him in the line was in 2007, and all previous iterations shouldn't be acknowledged as figures? The Mouse droid eventually got wheels and was even on its very own numbered card! Does that count? DOES IT?

And what about variants? Is it a different figure if the variant is essentially an unintentional mistake that was corrected, like, for example the tan vest/black vest version of POTF2 Jedi Luke? Are those 2 distinct figures? What if it's an accessory packed in the bubble that is changed, like ROTS Palpatine's blue lightsaber changing to the correct red. Are they different Palpatine figures, or is the accessory not part of the equation? What happens when the packaging is wrong, like with Captain "Ballast"? Are Captain Howzer and Captain Ballast considered to be the same figure or different? Is a TVC figure with FACE! technology (not to be confused with FACED) distinct from the original with pre-FACE! technology?

And what if a figure is on a basic card, but the star of the show is actually the accessory? Take, for example, the Saga 02-34 Massiff. The included Geonosian Warrior suffers the indignity of not even getting mentioned as a parenthetical. So is the Geonosian wrangler an accessory to the massiff? What if the roles were reversed? Would the Massiff be an accessory? Is he still an accessory as is, but Hasbro just made a naming choice blunder? And if the Massiff is a figure, then certainly Salacious B. Crumb is also a figure, right? HE EVEN HAS A MIDDLE INITIAL, CHRIS!



This is all "figure" stuff, and it can touch on "accessory" because some items may fall within a gray area between the two. What about the classification of "Creature" (aka "beast")? Let's take the aforementioned Massiff again. It's kind of a dog-like thing, so is it a creature? This guy is a massiff pain in the arse. It's packed on a regular card like a figure, while typical creatures or beasts are in a different packaging expression. Even that's subject to change, as the Blue Saga "Ultra" line offered a Wampa and then Jabba the Hutt in a larger package that seemed more geared towards a traditional deluxe action figure packed with some large accessory/accessories. But one could say the same for the Yoda with Kybuck pack. Kybuck would probably be a creature, but he's on a regular card. While the package is printed as "Yoda with Kybuck", the Yoda gets top billing - but in a smaller font. So which is the star of the show? Is this a two pack? A figure with a creature? A figure with a beast? WHAT'S GOING ON??



And what about Jabba? After being classified into the "Creature/Beast" assortments of POTF2, he then appeared on a deluxe "Ultra" card as if he's a large figure. Hutts are not only sentient, but they are a power in the galaxy. So is Jabba a creature? Most people refer to the toys as such, but is that just us collectors being brainwashed by Kenner/Hasbro like we were with the color of Luke's leg wraps?

And just to touch on the environmental pieces - is the table that comes with Obi-Wan an accessory or an environmental piece? I mean, you can't really call the bacta tank an accessory. So is anything that's a piece of furniture or larger considered an environmental piece? What about Han's torture rack? The vaporator? The little console that comes with the TLC Ugnaught? OR WHAT ABOUT SALACIOUS CRUMB?

I'm not even going to ask about the Cruisemissile Trooper. But let me ask about the Cruisemissile trooper. What the hell is the Cruisemissile Trooper? A figure? A figure in a vehicle? A vehicle with an accessory? A big accessory?

OK. That's all I have to say about that. Part III of this unforgettable series will be a test. Be sure to study and take practice exams. Arrive early, bring your No. 2 pencils, and stay hydrated. It's almost time to play "FACED!"

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