The Obi-Wan Kenobi ‘Wandering Jedi’ figure is the first figure from the Obi-Wan Kenobi Disney+ series in the Star Wars Black Series Galaxy collection. The Kenobi series figures will use a lighter blue accent colour on the black box and around the side onto the slanted art piece that will connect to other Kenobi figures for a larger montage piece.
I would issue a warning at this point to anyone unpacking the Wandering Jedi figure to ensure you collect all the extremely small parts from the packaging and keep them safe. As well as Obi-Wan you have his lightsaber, L0-LA59 droid and two tiny attachments for LOLA - a clear stand piece, and a black arm extension (I very nearly lost these).
Obi-Wan boasts a new head sculpt with the older more grizzled look that Ewan McGregor sports in the show after his isolation on Tatooine. With each McGregor figure Hasbro do, the likeness improves and this one is a very good overall depiction of Kenobi improved further with the photo-real printing application particularly the eyes and the edges of the beard which are less severe. The head sculpt also seems to lack the glossy finish we have seen on other figures recently and taking that away also helps the overall aesthetics to a level that is on par with some of the better work in the Marvel Legends line that pioneered the face-print tech for Hasbro.
The costume also uses the more recent development of using rubberised sleeves over generic bodies to give more options for future figures. In Obi-Wan’s case the tunic of his robes is executed that way which not only looks good, but also defines the gap between flesh and clothing much better and doesnt rely on painting of those edges which is often slightly out. The lower part of the tunic incorporating the belt is a similar sleeve piece around the waist. Arms and legs are cast in their base colour and the lower legs are then painted to pick out the wrappings around the ankles and the lighter brown boots. Despite his time in the Tatooine desert, Obi-Wan does feel a bit too clean with zero weathering applied to any part of the body.
Like most Jedi before him, Obi-Wan is provided with a soft goods outer robe that fits over his arms and with a hood that should go over his head. Like previous releases the cut of the fabric is OK, but it struggles to behave like it should and therefore doesn’t quite hang right around the body without some work - and the hood is essentially unusable in terms of how high it sits when brought up. The hood even remains an issue when down as it bunches up unnaturally around the shoulders and sticks out further than it should. The robes can be removed and the figure works perfectly well - if not better - without them.
Hasbro have certainly pulled out the stops for accessories for our wandering Jedi, starting with the usual two piece lightsaber made up of quite a detailed hilt in terms of sculpt and the paint apps that range from silver, to gunmetal grey and out to a bronze ring around the emitter. The blue translucent blade is as standard, and clips into the hilt with a click and with a connection that looks and feels robust enough to support doing this a few times - it seems we have moved past the blades that snap on first attempt.
Obi-Wan is also wielding a blaster (how uncivilised) and this is stowed away already in a holster under his robes so is not immediately visible in the packaging. It is a small compact blaster cast in a dark bronze colour and with a painted darker grip. It fits into Kenobi’s right hand which has the trigger finger configuration and also holds well in the holster thanks to a rubberised strap that comes over the hilt and clips into place.
Articulation is fully pinless with the integrated joints that try to blend in with the clothing and body. Obi_wan has 17 points of articulation in total and comes without any restrictions in terms of robes - the one huge benefit of the soft goods application. You can have Obi-Wan posed in a variety of stances from firing a blaster to wielding his lightsaber all with or without the robes.
And then we have our LOLA figure, a 6-inch scaled version of Leia’s droid as featured in the series. The droid piece includes fairly impressive casting at such a small size with the droid's casing, eye piece and lower workings all distinguishable and painted with the red and white top section creating the distinctive look. There are a pair of legs plugged into the base of the body and these are partly articulated, as are the two wing pieces on the head. The other two small parts come into play for LOLA with an arm piece with rotary cutter that slots into a tiny hole in the droid's body just under the main eyepiece. You can then pop off the legs (carefully) and use the second clear piece to plug into the body. It doesn't initially appear to work as neither the legs or the stand hold the droid in place - but the clear stand is designed to clip into Obi-Wan’s sleeve thus allowing the droid to hover above his hand. Hasbro does not make any of this clear in the packaging, which is a shame, and it took me a bit of time to figure it out and only thanks to promo images.
As a figure to launch a new arm of the Galaxy Collection, Obi-Wan ‘Wandering Jedi’ does very little wrong. Yes it could do with some weathering, but it certainly is not lacking in accessories or articulation and the soft goods are workable and no worse than anything we’ve had before. The figure is going on for some reuse pretty early on with the Tibidon Station and Jabiim Obi-Wan’s also sharing parts and another version also planned depicting the climax of the series and the duel with Anakin/Vader.
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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...