Here's the final installment in our ongoing special report, "Who's Left?" where we're taking a look at all of the characters that Hasbro hasn't gotten to yet from the six movies. Earlier this week, we compiled our list of over seventy unmade characters from Return of the Jedi! Now it's time to take a look at some of the characters from that list that we'd like to see plastic first.
I’m joined by Paul Harrison and Chuck Paskovics from
Jedi Temple Archives, Dan Curto from
Rebelscum, Jim Cole from
Droids & Ewoks, Jayson Krebsbach from
Yakface, and Pat Newell from
Imperial Shipyards in this very special report.
Unidentified Imperial Officer
"I've gotta take a moment to comment on this character, since I have a bit of a story to share. Last weekend, shortly after we posted our Return of the Jedi list, I received an email from Mr. Alan Flyng (the actor who played Unidentified Imperial Officer!) pointing out that his character wasn't on it! I guess you never know who's reading these reports! I looked it up and sure enough we somehow missed Unidentified Imperial Officer! The character even has some dialog during the Battle of Endor ("Sir, we've lost our bridge deflector shields!"). Just no name yet, unfortunately. To make up for our error (and because we can just never get enough Imperial Officers), I'm officially adding Unidentified Imperial Officer to my wishlist this year!" (David Delgado, Echo Base News)
Lieutenant Nik Sant
"This would be a nice addition to the line, not only to vary the Endor troopers a little bit, but also to recreate the 12" Pathfinder figure that Sideshow Collectibles produced. There shouldn't be any character that gets a figure in another scale and not in 3-3/4" scale. It doesn't matter what scale is first, but 3-3/4" should always be done." (Dan Curto, Rebelscum)
"Hasbro made huge strides in the sculpt of the Rebel Commando figure in 2010, so this seems to be the perfect time to strike while the iron is hot and give us "Gramps". Sure we received Nik Sant in Scout Trooper disguise in the Legacy Collection battle pack in 2008, but we need him in his proper attire ready to take on the whole Empire himself." (Jayson Krebsbach, Yakface)
Fozec
"I don't know why, but I always like this guy. It's a new sculpt, it adds variety to your already bursting court of denizens, and he has a sweet mustache!" (Pat Newell, Imperial Shipyards)
Sergeant Doallyn
"Here's a character with a fun backstory and history...will the real Sgt. Doallyn please stand up? This image is considered to be the character's helmet, although the outfit is in question, since we "see" him in two completely different suits. I guess that's okay...I mean, do YOU wear the same clothes every day? But it does get confusing, because which suit do you make? I'd vote for the skiff guard suit, because that could be re-used for other characters down the road." (Dan Curto, Rebelscum)
"Hasbro mercilessly teased us when they brought Bane Malar into the basic figure line in 2008. Many of us initially thought this was Sergeant Doallyn in a new outfit. Doallyn is more than a background character. He gets thrown to the floor by Chewbacca and you can hear him moan in pain after that happens. Again, we wonder how a character like Bane Malar, albeit being very cool, makes it into the basic figure line before Sergeant Doallyn. This character is extremely and painfully overdue. I think he should be one of the next five Return of the Jedi figures made for the basic figure line." (Paul Harrison, Jedi Temple Archives)
Shasa Tiel
"The Ishi Tib species is majorly underrepresented in the Star Wars line! They appear all over the place in four of the six movies, and yet in the last twenty-eight years we've gotten only one Ishi Tib figure (the one from the Rebel assembly in Return of the Jedi, and a figure that could use an update itself). Shasa Tiel from Jabba's palace is hugely overdue and hopefully one of the next characters Hasbro's considering for release. And hopefully, Shasa Tiel would be the first of many more Ishi Tib figures!" (David Delgado, Echo Base News)
"Shasa Tiel can be seen in a few shots in Jabba's palace, but what I remember most about him was that he was in at least one of the Kenner coloring books that came out around the time of the movie. So it's clear that Kenner was aware of him, but he was unfortunately skipped over in the vintage line. It's time for Hasbro to finally give him his due." (Jim Cole, Droids & Ewoks)
"Um, hello? How in the world do we not have this Ishi Tib yet? In the ancient days as known as The Power of the Force 2 line, Hasbro brought us an Ishi Tib from the Rebel Alliance rendezvous point assembly. But now that figure is terribly outdated (and perhaps most importantly, not sourced to Jabba's palace). With lots of screen time and wearing a cool peasant outfit, it's beyond unacceptable to wait any longer for this much desired character. Hey, we don't even mind if Hasbro also updates the Rebel Alliance guy too, but give us this one first!" (Paul Harrison, Jedi Temple Archives)
Lumat
"First off, any Ewok is a welcome addition! Despite how hated the Ewoks were when they first appeared in 1983, fans have really warmed up to these little guys now and Hasbro has done an outstanding job recreating them with more articulation than you'd expect. As for Lumat, we actually almost got him back in 2007, but for some reason, Lucasfilm decided to change his name to "Graak." Even the sticker sheet for the display stands had Lumat on it, so we know he was in the plans at some point. If they can't decide on the color, then I say go with "vintage" and make him grey!" (Dan Curto, Rebelscum)
"Ewoks have grown on fans since the days of Return of the Jedi to the point where we can't get enough of the furballs, and this guy is one of the original vintage figures. Let's remake this figure already!" (Chuck Paskovics, Jedi Temple Archives)
"Lumat has been made controversial thanks to a major screw up (bad decision) at Lucasfilm. (And "bad decision" depends upon your own point of view.) Try to follow along because this one is a doozey. The 1984 Kenner Lumat figure is misnamed. He's not really Lumat. That Ewok technically remains unidentified to this day. And he may remain that way until Hasbro makes a modern figure based off of him, where he'll definitely get an all-new name. But where this even gets muddier is that the 2007 TAC Graak figure from the Romba & Graak two-pack is actually the real Lumat. But for reasons unknown, Lucasfilm asked to change this correctly identified "Lumat" figure to "Graak." Graak looks a lot like Lumat, but there are differences. But what does this end up leaving us with? We right now have a misnamed Ewok (Graak) who is really Lumat and the original Kenner figure is still on the list of yet-to-be-made figures. Okay, my head is exploding. Short story: Hasbro, please remake the light tan 1984 Ewok that was incorrectly identified as Lumat back in 1984. Call him whatever you want, just make him!" (Paul Harrison, Jedi Temple Archives)
Jess
"Another of Jabba's dancers? Definitely! I know I sound like a broken record in some of these, but we need more women in the Star Wars plastic universe! When I look through these, I look for a few things. Will they appeal to a broad variety of buyers? I think in this case, yes. It'll help capture the female child, as well as female collectors, not to mention those who love a new figure anyway. On top of that, it's more customizing fodder for those of us who like to pull apart our toys and make new ones!" (Pat Newell, Imperial Shipyards)
Yoxgit
"The only Ugnaught in the Star Wars universe who we've ever seen away from the controls of a carbon freezing chamber, and another awesome background aluen from Jabba's palace! Yoxgit is a must-have. Plus, the body could be easily re-used to update that outdated Snaggletooth figure we've been stuck with for ten years, since Yoxgit's wearing the exact same outfit." (David Delgado, Echo Base News)
"The Ugnaught in a Snaggletooth jumpsuit is what he's been described as. I like to describe him as another cool alien that makes peppered appearances both in Jabba's palace as well as the sail barge. Lucas reused quite a few masks in the Original Trilogy from one film to the next, yet each character had such a uniqueness and individuality that I just adore. Hasbro may have to do a completely new tool rather than reusing the current Ugnaught head because of the differently shaped eyes, but whatever it takes, it would be thrilling to see him in plastic one day." (Paul Harrison, Jedi Temple Archives)
Taym Dren-garen
"Taym Dren-garen has always been an interesting and worthy figure due to the fact that this is a guy that had the opportunity to prevent the fall of the Empire by taking out Luke Skywalker with a head shot rather than a superficial flesh wound to a cybernetic prosthesis. If he does see release someday, I hope "EPIC FAIL" is written on his card back. :" (Jayson Krebsbach, Yakface)
"Taym Dren-garen is one of Jabba's minions and the only one who was actually successful at harming Luke Skywalker when he blasted him in the cybernetic hand. Taym is a human male with a pretty cool looking costume. I'm optimistic that Hasbro could make a really nice figure based on him." (Jim Cole, Droids & Ewoks)
Geezum
"Another personal favorite...Snaggletooth in a skiff guard suit! I think he was just hanging out on the Sail Barge, but that suit could probably be reused for another goon." (Dan Curto, Rebelscum)
"I just like to call him Snaggletooth. The character of Geezum utilizes the head of what we now know to be as Takeel, which is technically the 1979 vintage Snaggletooth figure head. It's imperative that he gets added to the short list of the basic figure line because this is a species that we barely see in the toy line. And since this IS a character that appears in a Star Wars film, well, it's just common sense that Hasbro makes him for us. I love repeated species in Star Wars and reinvented cantina aliens in Return of the Jedi is just too awesome for words." (Paul Harrison, Jedi Temple Archives)
Ars Dangor
"Since I'm sure our contributors will be giving plenty of much-needed attention to Sim Aloo, I'd like to quickly mention Ars Dangor, the Imperial Dignitary who in my opinion has the coolest hat of them all. Unfortunately, it might make it difficult to fit him into a bubble, so maybe he'll just need to be featured in an awesome and sure to be extremely popular Imperial Dignitaries battle pack. Could happen, right?" (David Delgado, Echo Base News)
Sim Aloo
"This is a no-brainer, because this character is the vintage Kenner Imperial Dignitary, and there's a lot of collectors who want to see each and every vintage figure get the modern-day upgrade. Probably not a best-seller for sure, but since he wears a lot of robes, that could be done with soft goods, so the body underneath could be from an existing figure. Since there are several other Imperial Dignitaries that have never been made yet, perhaps these could "share parts" much like what was done with the pair of figures from 2003." (Dan Curto, Rebelscum)
"When I did the 2010: The Year We Make The Rest Special Report, I cheered, "Sim Aloo - We need you." And after more than a year since that was published, we still don't have him. I suppose Hasbro didn't get the memo. We noted him again in our 2011 update, so hopefully he has another chance at being heard. The original Kenner vintage figures should all get precedence in the basic figure line. Hasbro claims Imperial Dignitaries are boring. They're right about that. But who cares? Sim Aloo in this day and age is needed and we want him to keep good company with the two previous ones we got in 2003 in the Saga line." (Paul Harrison, Jedi Temple Archives)
"Obviously, Sim Aloo has a bit of a nostalgia factor going for it as it was one of the final vintage figures in the Power of the Force line. Since then, we've received a couple other Imperial Dignitaries (Janus Greejatus and Kren Blista-Vanee in the 2003 Saga line), but those seem to have always felt like place holders until a proper "Imperial Dignitary" could be released, and now is as good a time as any." (Jayson Krebsbach, Yakface)
"One of our original beloved vintage figures! Need I say more? Make him already!" (Chuck Paskovics, Jedi Temple Archives)
We'd like to thank our contributors for taking the time to provide their wonderful insight over the course of this exciting six week project! We've been very fortunate to be able to work with so many great fan sites in this collaborative effort, and what we've accomplished together is pretty awesome!
Now that we've covered all six movies, Echo Base News' 3rd Annual Hasbro Wishlist Poll can begin! Details will be announced shortly. Stay tuned!
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