“Kenobi. Skywalker. Coruscant is under siege”
In 2021, Lucasfilm celebrated its 50th Anniversary and to mark the occasion Hasbro developed and released a number of commemorative products within the Star Wars Black Series tied into the various Star Wars properties that Lucasfilm have released over the years. This ranged from the movies themselves to books & comics, and to the animated series. The line rolled over into 2022 and in the Spring of that year presented us with our first Star Wars Black Series figures from Genndy Tartakovsky’s 2003 Clone Wars animated series.
Each of the 50th Anniversary figures was packed in special packaging, and for any figures that had an associated release at the time in the 3.75 inch Star Wars collections, Hasbro endeavoured to replicate this packaging giving us not only giving us more Kenner-inspired card backs, but also card backed figures from The Clone Wars and in this case the specific Tartakovsky versions. The cards are scaled up for the 6-inch series and are shaped with a Clone Trooper helmet design to one side. They are predominantly white in colour with black trim and a black Star Wars header logo. The character artwork, taken directly from the series, and the character name are an insert within the blister itself. The only variation to the original card is the addition of the Lucasfilm 50th Anniversary gold logo to the top right. Round the back we have the standard Lucasfilm 50th Anniversary timeline and background text as used on all of these 50th Anniversary badged products. Above this, we do also get more character art and background text with an accent colour applied to the top section of the card and appropriate in colour to the character with Mace Windu using a purple colour, reflective of his lightsaber blade.
This Clone Wars release of Mace Windu uses the existing Windu figure as a base but with a number of tweaks and upgrades to reflect his look from the Tartakovsky series, albeit this Black Series version translated from the animated styling to a real-world setting. Mace is wearing his Jedi robes, the torso and legs a direct re-use from the original figure. The softer plastic skirt section has been replaced and is now more flared and dynamic. Each of these elements of the robe are cast in its base tan colour with no further paint apps save a white section added in the v-neck of the torso robes. Over the shoulders, we have a new Jedi Armour piece with shoulder armour. This is not, as expected, taken from the Obi-Wan Kenobi Clone Armoured figure but is new. It is a wider piece than Kenobi, giving Mace a broader look. It is cast in white plastic with black painted trim.
The belt is taken from the Clone Trooper figure and applied around Mace’s waist. This is also a white cast with black details. The outfit is finalised with new forearm pieces, and these are also wider and bulkier than those used on General Kenobi. The whole outfit is then cloaked with a soft goods robe that is not removable and sits under the shoulder armour while also being attached in some way to the upper arms and pleated on the reverse. This allows it to sit more naturally around the figure, even when posed.
The head is the same as used on all the Mace Windu releases. A good resemblance to Samuel L. Jackson with this Clone Wars version carrying some variances in the face print tech application. This new version is glossier than the original but in terms of which looks the best, that is very much open to interpretation by the collector.
Mace features 18 points of articulation with an older configuration that includes pinned dual-jointed knees. The upper torso articulation is behind the soft goods robes, but does include butterfly shoulders with a number of lightsaber and force action poses available and the shoulder armour is hinged on a soft plastic tab to move with the arm and not to restrict it. All the joints are secure, but there is a slight concern over the ankle rocker cut which is not quite sufficient to pivot the feet forward leaving Mace prone to leaning and then falling backwards.
The lightsaber included is the one from the original Mace Windu release and features a silver hilt with black and gold detailing. There is a small peg on the saber hilt which will line up to a socket on the left-hand side of Windu's belt for holstering - although the fit is not overly secure.
The translucent purple blade is removable with a robust connection and no obvious sign of weakness or risk of snapping with limited pressure. The articulation supports a number of poses with single and two-handed options available.
This is a nice update to Mace Windu which not only ticks the boxes for fans of the Clone Wars, but thanks to the real-world conversion Hasbro has done the figure also works really well in any Prequel era display, particularly with the larger selection of Clone Troopers we now have available. It is worth noting that an updated figure of Mace is incoming in 2024 as part of the Clones of the Republic sublime. This 2024 version will be part way between the original Jedi Windu and this General Windu coming with the armoured forearms but lacking the shoulder armour and outer robes.
Keep Track of all the Star Wars Black Series figures from Hasbro at our comprehensive
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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...