Episode II Obi-Wan Kenobi

Sideshow’s actual words were “on hold”. Stuff that gets “temporarily shelved” don’t get taken down from the shelf 99.5% of the time. The line proved problematic from the start. R&D was more involved for a single LOTR figure than it was for the average SW figure. Much of the costuming for the SW figures is fairly repetitive with some tweeks according to character. Each LOTR figure has to start from scratch every time out. More R&D, more money into the project, and, in the end, more money out of your pocket. And then there’s the QC bug that bites SS more times than is conceivable, with Faramir being the most notorious example. I can’t say if that was the knife in the heart of this line, or simply the beginning of the end. Either way, it wasn’t a good thing. The long waits between announcements also did nothing but harm. Problems with the new smaller body for the Hobbits added another strike against the line.

What did it for me was the jump in price from the Hobbits on. That was mostly R&D talking again, but I still had a hard time justifying $140 for two characters I weren’t super excited about getting, no matter how good they came out. I had this nagging feeling that SS wouldn’t complete the Fellowship, so why should I shell out money for a set that would never be complete? Just pick what I want and go on. Then Gandalf came along and threw me off the LOTR bandwagon for good. $90 was not what the figure was worth to me, so I refused to pay it. Apparently, a lot of people refused to pay, because you can still get him from SS in either exclusive or regular versions.

I have absolutely no hope that SS will pick up this line again. It’s just as well; I’ve moved on to other interests in the 1/6 world.

I guess some folk are not satisfied with just having clone armor Obi-Wan represent him in AOTC. Several folk have put the head on another body and made a more than decent version of him. (It helps that the headsculpt is probably one of the best SS had done, at least from a paint standpoint.) Anyway, rumors are flying that the next SS SW figure will be AOTC Obi, and probably will be announced on or near Black Friday. Where does this come from? From a plucky visitor to UK dealer Forbidden Planet sighting a premature pre-order page on their website, as well as murmurings circulating around the Freaks board.

What do I think? Meh. If it’s true, it’s no biggie. I would like a AOTC Obi, but not as much as I would like a TPM Obi to go with my Qui-Gon. Probably something I’d snag from an etailer at a slightly lower price. If he’s on the Buck, then all bets are off.

Until I decide how to handle things, “Off the Shelf” will be posted here. And maybe I’ll have a snazier logo.

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Silly Sith.

A couple more pics of Agent Prime:

Okay, maybe not so gratuitous. Agent Prime is a WIP figure that’s going to be part of a series called the Silencers. She looks pretty pitiful without her peeps, so I paired her up with the Chief for an episode of my new pic comic, “Off the Shelf”. #1 is here. Soon I’ll have them posted on the website. I’m going to be pulling a lot of stuff out of the closet and just embarrass the heck out of everybody.

The review is up. Fantastic figure! Go get him and go play!

Master Chief mini-review

Update (11/5): My review got a mention on HBO’s front page today!