You wait all this time for a 6-inch Indiana Jones collector's figure, and then two come along at once? Almost directly after the release of the launch wave for Hasbro’s Indiana Jones Adventure Series has hit store shelves, the first exclusive figure is also upon us. This one is the first to be taken from The Temple of Doom and features Indy in his Tuxedo from the Club Obi-Wan sequence at the start of the movie.
The packaging remains identical to the main releases, with the only indication of this being an exclusive stand-alone release seen on the left-hand spine where there is no reference to the ‘build-an-articact’ as seen on the standard releases. Club Obi-Wan Indy is a Target exclusive in the US while having a wider release via the Fan Channel retailers here in the UK.
Like all the figures to date, Club Obi-Wan Indy is a plastic-free closed box, and inside we have a cardboard tray that holds Indy and his accessories in place - each being bagged in a waxy paper bag printed with the Indiana Jones map design. Be VERY careful opening the small bag as this Indy comes with two tiny accessories that will be easily lost if you don't control them.
This version of Indy uses a different head sculpt to the Raiders Indy from the main wave and features a Harrison Ford likeness that is clean-shaven and with well-groomed hair. The head will likely go on for re-use most notably it looks like in the upcoming Professor Indiana Jones figure from The Last Crusade. The face print tech here enhances what is a good sculpt to a much stronger-looking figure and it thankfully lacks some of the waxy finish we have seen on other figures so far.
I cannot see any obvious re-use in the suited body - not even from other lines that have suited bodies available. The shirt is part of the actual torso and over this, the black waistcoat is added as a rubber sleeve, with a second sleeve then included for the white dinner jacket. Paint apps on these are minimum, relying on the base colour of the plastic. We do get a spot of black on the one visible button of the shirt, a red on the carnation on Indy’s lapel, and some white to the pocket handkerchief and sleeves of the shirt as they peek out from under the jacket. The entire lower body is cast in black to reflect the trousers and Indy’s shoes. The finish here is very glossy and a more matt finish approach may have looked more realistic.
The neck is an individual piece and the shirt collar and bow tie are part of this sculpted piece. It seems the neckpiece is cast in a flesh tone with the shirt painted white and the tie black - this does mean the finish is messier than other parts of the outfit and the white is not as bright as the shirt underneath. The neck also has two further issues, the first being it is too small so Indy looks a bit odd this issue is further impacted by using two rubber sleeve pieces over the torso which raise up the shoulders too far - you can stretch this out a little using the play in the joint - but the look still is not perfect. The other issue is the lower joint of the neck is visible in places under the tie leaving a clear gap between the shirt collar and the shirt from certain angles.
Club Obi-Wan Indy has 19 points of articulation and benefits from the addition of butterfly joints at the shoulders. All the joints are pinless and are sculpted to work with the body and to try and be more inconspicuous when you are posing your figure. Everything works OK, but the figure feels a bit clunky when you are trying to replicate some more action-orientated poses. Even with the butterfly shoulders, the arms struggle to get into position to wield some of the makeshift weapons included in the accessory bundle and with only a limited waist joint to play with Indy just looks and feels a bit ‘stiff’ when being posed outside of anything neutral.
Hasbro have again not scrimped on the included accessories - and while you don't get a whip or a revolver, Indy is able to fight off Lao Che’s henchmen either using the double sword or the skewer - complete with flaming pieces of poultry. Like other accessories to date, the sword is very much a plastic finish and lacks any real definition or metallic sheen. The skewer is much better and the flame effects are OK, but with no alternative hands on this Indy it is a bit too slim to fit securely into a throwing position.
The other accessories are much smaller starting with the remains of Emperor Nurhachi in the funeral urn which is pretty impressively detailed considering the scale and even includes the translucent jade base. You also get a tiny vial of antidote as well as the Peacock’s eye diamond. Each of these will fit into the hands included with the figure to some degree, but the vial, in particular, doesn’t sit too securely so you will need to be careful in terms of having these items on display. Hasbro might have wanted to consider sculpting the jewel and/or vial into a hand that can be swapped in and out - that certainly worked well for Diamond and their Gollum figure with the Ring of Power.
While it seems odd having this version of Indiana Jones lead off the Temple of Doom line at the same time the rest of the releases focus on Raiders of the Lost Ark, this is a very different look for Harrison Ford’s Indiana Jones and is executed reasonably well with the exception of that neck and the lack of additional hands more specifically engineered for the included parts. As the Adventure Series commences the world-building elements, the success of figures like this Indiana Jones will rely in part on the other characters from the scene to flesh out a display and while Short Round is on the way - a nightclub Willie Scott is a must to display with this Indy. The exclusivity of this one may be an issue, more so in the US considering what I hear about both Target and Walmart and their exclusives, so my advice would be to grab it if you see it - it will likely hold its value or potentially increase as the line develops.
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About Me : As a child of the 70's and 80's I grew up in a golden age for action figures and in my youth bought and sold myself through collections of Star Wars, G.I. Joe (Action Force) and M.A.S.K. while also dabbling in He-Man, Transformers and Ghostbusters. Roll forward and I am now reliving that Youth with the action figures of today and am a collector and fan of the larger 6-8 inch figures from my favourite movie and TV licences - including the ones mentioned above, but also the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Doctor Who and the Aliens. I launched The Mephitsu Archives in 2015 with a view of creating a UK focused site or these figures where fans can pick up the latest action figure news, read reviews and get information on where to buy their figures and what is currently on store shelves. I hope I am delivering that to you guys...