The Tusken Raiders first appeared in 1977 in A New Hope and have gone on to appear in the prequels, and most recently in the live-action Disney+ series, The Mandalorian. It was The Mandalorian that heavily influenced the 4th wave of Black Series Archive figures with repacked troopers such as the Tusken Raider, Shoretrooper, and Deathtrooper - all of which appeared in the first two seasons.
Like all Archive releases, the Tusken Raider is presented on a card back rather than boxed and it features the original greyscale artwork as an insert into the figures blister. The 3rd and 4th waves of Archive figures, released in 2021, were also branded with the gold of the 50th Anniversary of Lucasfilm. And one of the trade-offs to include the Lucasfilm timeline on the back is the removal of the panel we see on other Archive figures where it provides details on the first release of the figure and a look at the packaging.
"Fearsome desert savages, Tusken Raiders are the foremost reason Tatooine colonists do not wander far from their isolated communities"
While the figure could have been badged as a Disney+ release for The Mandalorian, the timeline does place this as an Original Trilogy Tusken Raider.
"Commemorate the first 50 years of Lucasfilm with figures inspired by the original Star Wars trilogy"
The Tusken Raider, as is the way of the Archive releases, is the same figure as originally released in 2017 first as part of the 40th Anniversary Vintage Carded series for A New Hope and then later in Phase 3 red-box packaging - one of the harder figures to find these days in the box.
The body is composed of a sculpted body complete with inner robes, the belt, and bandoleers, and over this is a soft-goods outer robe. These outer robes make the figure as they are made of a material that behaves pretty well at this scale and can be tucked and folded around the figure working with all the articulation.
The head is also excellent with the bandages swathed around the head into which we have the eyepieces and breathing mechanism. While the body is left quite basic in terms of base colour only, the head has a wash to bring out the details of the wraps while silver, brown, and black are used on the various components.
The Tusken Raider comes with two weapons, and the clever thing is that the Gaffi stick then has the option for three end pieces to vary your Sand People in a display if you are army-building. Each Gaffi stick end slots in and out by way of a slim post & socket - similar to a lightsaber blade - and we have two darker metallic ends and a third silver club section.
We also get a Cycler Rifle, the ranged weapon of choice for the Tusken people. This fits into the hands at a relaxed pose, but there is not quite enough movement in the joints for a firing position with the Tusken looking down the barrel.
The Tusken has the usual 16 points of articulation. This includes double joint knees, although the legs are held in check by the lower plastic skirt so your Tusken will only be able to stand when posed - they will won't be riding any Bantha's without some adjustment if we ever get the beasts into the Black Series line.
The arms allow for plenty of melee poses with the Gaffi stick, and as mentioned a more relaxed pose with the Cycler rifle. The figure would need more elbow articulation for it to be shouldered and fired.
The Star Wars Black Series always does a great job on the various Star Wars aliens, and the Tusken Raider is another example of great execution with a cool sculpt, well-executed soft goods, and great accessories with plenty of options to adjust the weapons and the look of the figure overall for Army Building.
The Tusken Raider Archive releases is a cost-effective way of adding the Tusken Raiders to your collection, whether it be as part of an Original Trilogy display, the Prequels, or The Mandalorian.
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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...
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