Original Review by Chris, 9/29/14

2007 marked the 30th anniversary of Episode IV and thus Hasbro named the product line the Thirtieth Anniversary Collection to honor the 30th birthday of Star Wars.  Naturally the only logical way to launch a line that literally celebrates A New Hope is with a wave of figures from Episode III which includes an incredibly obscure character.  I’ve often posited that if Hasbro limited the availability of anything fans would go wild for it, but the Mustafar Lava Miner challenges my theory.  This figure was only one per case and in only the launch case, and no one cared.  It backed up on the pegs in 2007 while the two-per-case clones in the same assortment were feverishly gobbled up.  Time has not healed the wound either.  With a little patience, the Mustafar Lava Miner can be had for less than retail on the secondary market.

Perhaps this lack of interest in the figure is due to the boring and fleeting nature of the character which is only seen for a fraction of second in the waning moments of Episode III.  The figure itself looks decent, so that can’t explain the lack of interest.  The metal components of the costume seem to have a patina and bear the scars of the Lava Miner’s profession, although either Hasbro or LFL has a lava flow and a foundry confused.  The materials crusted on the boots and apron appear to be metallic and not rock.  The figure does have a problem worth mentioning. The legs are sculpted in a squat simulating ball jointed hips where there are none, and since these are swivel hips it can’t be undone.  If you try to extend the ball jointed knees, the legs stick straight out like a really enthusiastic jumping jack and the feet end up on their edges.  You are forced into posing this figure in the squat that Hasbro has insisted upon you.  6 out of 10. 

Update by Bret, 8/29/19.

I have to perhaps disagree a bit with Chris on the figure.  I’m with him on the timing - it’s silly that the 30th Anniversary Collection led off with a ROTS-themed wave.  I also agree that there is a near-fatal flaw in the sculpt that has the figure essentially pre-posed in a crouching position, which sadly negates the fact that the figure is fully super-articulated.  But the sculpt is otherwise fantastic, as is the paint job.  And as I think we do all agree, the very existence of a figure that represents a character with only a fleeting bit of screen time and has no impact on the main characters or plot in any way, is in fact the beauty of that figure, and why we love to collect.