ANNOUNCEMENT:  “SCENE IT” - Bantha Skull’s Action Figure Scene Database

Like many fan sites, Bantha Skull congealed as just a group of fans with common interests. I can't get into all the details of proto-Bantha Skull right now. It would take a wall of text destined for "TL;DR" web irrelevance. One prevalent common interest among us was setting up scene dioramas. It's that vintage Kenner spirit of "world building" and "world completing." That latter aspect is why we started the Unproduced Character Guide (M.I.A.F.) to track which figures were needed to complete our favorite scenes. Our Photo Galleries often include those same diorama shots for the respective figures. It's often the most popular part of our reviews.

The problem is that these things are interrelated, but exist in their own silos. That's where Bantha Skull's Steve Jobs comes in.

Now, are you ready for a completely different wall of text? Don't worry, there's pictures at the bottom.

Mr. Nomadscout has been campaigning for a "database" to tie all these things together for years, but he has the descriptive powers of a later-career John Madden. He communicated this idea in mostly pronouns and sound effects. I had no idea what he was trying to say. Our exchanges on the matter devolved into the "I don't get it" scene in Big. Frustrated, I finally decided to spike his soda (which he pronounces "sodie") with some ADHD medicine. He was finally able to articulate his vision clearly. It finally clicked. As we've said recently, this is what Bantha Skull has been building toward. One aspect that was holding us back was our lack of photo gallery inventory, but our recent run of daily reviews has done wonders to bolster our stock of figure reviews. We decided we were getting "close enough." It's also what prompted our announcement that we would be "bouncing around" the various lines. If the mood strikes us, you might start seeing us review figures from the same scene instead of the same line. You'll also be able to "play along" and figure out which scene we're building toward during this process.

The scenes will be organized by movie in the menu. We were planning to launch this feature with the Prisoner Skiff scene from Return of the Jedi. As you're well aware, all the awesome Jabba's related announcements at Toy Fair means that entry would have been instantly obsolete. We'll get to that scene eventually, but we'll wait for the awesome new Skiff and Vedain to be released. Instead, we're going to launch tomorrow morning with the bounty hunter "Executor Bridge" scene from Empire Strikes Back. It's a simpler scene, but one that we could quickly pivot to once our Prisoner Skiff plans were scuttled. It should give you a taste of what's to come, as well opportunity to provide us feedback. The future SCENE IT's will be much bigger in scope. For now, we'll explain the feature using a glimpse at the on-hold Prisoner Skiff Scene It. Note this entry is still a work in progress and not a final product:

Each entry starts with the premise of the scene:



Next will follow some reference photos:



Then diorama shots representing the scene with action figures, vehicles and environment pieces (if applicable). Note that this is still a "test" entry. Final Scene It entries will have more diorama shots:



Here's where we feel the value really comes in. From those diorama photos, we will provide a list of the actual items used with links to their full galleries. If a figure or environment piece comes from a multi-pack, we will link you directly to the gallery from just that item. From there you can navigate up to the "parent set." In all cases, these will be what we consider the best figures to use for the scene. Think of this as a recipe for the diorama:



If a scene is missing some key (or not so key) characters, those characters will be listed under the "Missing" banner with links to their full Unproduced Character Guide (M.I.A.F.) entry:



Of course, this is intended to be a discussion. Scene It will incorporate the Disqus comment feature so you can yell at us for our mistakes:



Finally, if you're viewing one of our Photo Gallery and Reviews, those figures will automatically link to any "Scene It" entries for which that figure is a member:



Editor's Note: This feature represents the ultimate goal of our collecting philosophy here at Bantha Skull. After decades of collecting 3.75" figures, we have been able to recreate (at least partially) the vast majority of the iconic scenes from the first 6 films using figures, vehicles, and playsets. (The Disney era, sadly, is a whole different story.) Bantha Skull is largely a passion project dedicated to celebrating our collections, and we are constantly seeking inspiring ways to display and share this passion with others. Our community here voices its full support for Hasbro's continuation of new and diverse character choices far into the future, so that we can carry on the legacy of the one true scale.

We hope you enjoy this feature, and that everyone engages in it. We welcome suggestions for which scenes we should tackle (though the first few are set in stone). We're very excited about this feature and hope you'll dig it.

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