Figure Reviews

Star Wars The Black Series Clone Wars Obi-Wan Kenobi review

The Clone Wars has become one of my favorite periods of the Star Wars saga. As I started building up my Star Wars The Black Series collection up over the last year, it was a little annoying I didn’t have a proper Clone Wars Obi-Wan figure to hang with Commander Cody and crew.

The previous Clone Commander Obi-Wan figure release is stupidly overpriced at this point so I was glad Hasbro revisited this look with another one from the series. And the timing of this figure works since it ties in to the original Mandalore and Deathwatch subplot.

I loved the whole concept of merging Jedi robes and clone armor is a fascinating design choice to me so I was really looking forward to getting this one.

Packaging: I love the style of the packaging. It’s shaped like an original Clone trooper helmet. It frames the figure well and is a terrific showcase for MOC collectors.

The reference art is interesting as it has the animated style instead of going with a more Ewan McGregor Photoshop in this attire. There’s nothing real interesting going on in the back with not even art showing the other figures in this 50th anniversary Lucasfilm Ltd wave.

Likeness:  Hasbro has had challenges getting Hayden Christensen’s likeness down, but that hasn’t been the case with Ewan McGregor.

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The photo realistic sculpting is put to great effect here and this is easily my favorite McGregor likeness yet in this scale. Mixed with an outfit we never actually got to see him in during the prequels and this has sneakily shot up to one of my all-time favorite Obi-Wan figures.

I still kept my SH Figuarts Revenge of the Sith Obi-Wan, but if Hasbro re-releases an ROTS with this head sculpt it will definitely be an upgrade.

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In checking out the show again — like I needed an excuse —the outfit look fairly accurate with the clone armor pieces over the Jedi robe. There’s two areas that seems off is the shoulder and elbow pads, which looked more angular in the show.

Paint:  Hasbro did solid work on the hair, which features a nice wash allowing for more of the sculpt detail to show up. This was a smart move because it would look too basic with one tone hair color.

The contrast with the black lining of the Clone armor helps make the Jedi tunic stand out.

Obi-Wan’s armor lacks the scuffs and grime usually displayed on the show.

MORE:

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Scale:  Obi-Wan was about average height so he looked up at both Anakin Skywalker and Mace Windu. Hopefully the Clone Wars Anakin matches up properly with him. Now, I kinda want a Clone Wars Mace figure now…

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Articulation:  One of the big factors for me going all-in with the Black Series over the last year is the improvements to the articulation. I don’t need these guys cranking out Marvel Legends style articulation, but I also don’t want to be limited in terms of how I can pose the figures particularly the Jedi.

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That is not the case at all with Obi-Wan, who has a ton of useful articulation. Hasbro is working around the single joint elbow by having a deep range so it accomplishes the same thing essentially.

He’s got a great range of motion in the torso, which tilts allowing for some dynamic poses. Ditto for the neck, which helps convey some skeptical poses as Obi-Wan hears Anakin’s latest crazy plan.

The legs work on a ball socket so my left one would pop out every so often when I would do some more complex poses, but it connects and stays on securely without any trouble.

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Clone Wars Obi-Wan Kenobi has:

  • neck
  • ball-jointed shoulders
  • elbow (with swivel)
  • wrist
  • wrist hinge
  • torso
  • hips
  • thighs
  • knees (swivel)
  • ankles

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Accessories:  Obi-Wan didn’t have a ton of accessory options so it’s not surprising Hasbro didn’t add in anything here beyond his lightsaber.

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For minimal Clone Wars era characters like this, Hasbro should create some Separatists battle droids destroyed parts as those would be useful for dioramas and is something any character with light accessories could use.

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Worth it?  In a word, no. This is still the basic $20 without much by way of cool accessories. Looking at it from the perspective that all of Hasbro’s figures are seeing a price hike maybe it’s best to look at it like Obi-Wan is just getting a jump on the increase?

Either way it’s not a great value. I’m curious how this price increase affects Hasbro and impulse purchases from collectors.

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Rating:  9.5 out of 10

I wish there were a few more accessories to bolster the value, but otherwise this is a really fun figure I’m very glad to add to my collection.

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Where to get it?  This series is exclusive to Target, but it seems like each figure is getting a solid case pack. I only saw Obi-Wan, but he was plentiful on the pegs.

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