Editor’s Note:  This review has been updated with a second look…

Original Review:  Chris 1/29/2014 05:26 AM

I figured an 80’s chick would appreciate a poor man’s Weird Al interpretation of a Pat Benatar classic. You know Luke Wilson was totally intimidated by her White Snake jean jacket back in the day. 

Where to begin with this Mara Jade figure?  Lets start off that she’s the winner of the Fans’ Choice voting for inclusion in the line.  Except that this isn’t the version of Mara Jade that fans elected as the winner.  The requested figure was Mara Jade Skywalker which obviously represents the character after her nuptials to one Luke Skywalker.  This version represents Mara Jade in either her Emperor’s Hand phase or during her time in the service of that scruffy looking smuggler, Talon Karde.  I’m not really sure which since my familiarity with the character comes from the novels and not the comic books because comics are for kids, lady.  I’m not really sure how Mara Jade Skywalker is distinguished visually.  All I know is that when the figure was revealed, it was as if a million nerds cried out in terror.

We’re very late to the game for reviewing this figure, so the fatal flaw of the figure has been discussed ad nauseam on forums and in comment sections alike.  The big 80’s hair and witchy Uncle Leo eyebrows undermine an otherwise stellar figure.  In fact, as the headsculpt is another wave 2 misfire, we need to bring in our next celebrity guest critic.  Cookie Monster, what do you think of the headsculpt on this figure?

Yes, what the heck indeed.  Only the Cookie Monster didn’t say “heck”.  He said the word.  The h dash dash dash word.  Truth be told, I’m over the initial shock of the wall of hair and iffy paint application to the point where I’m not really bothered by it anymore.  In fact, I’m more bothered by the holster that pops off the hip with the least provocation. 

Below the neck, the figure is pretty stellar.  The super articulation is easy to engage with decent range of motion.  There is a good amount of detail built into the sculpt with subtle paint applications to break up the solid black jumpsuit.  The holster is removable and can be moved from the hip to the small of the back for today’s fashion conscious assassin.  I said I’m not bothered by the headsculpt anymore, but at the same time, it prevents me from pushing the grade of this figure into the above average category for a super articulated figure (which would be a nine or ten).  So I’m going to keep this figure at my base SA grade of 8 out of 10. 

Updated Review:  Bret - 11/07/2018 07:05 AM

Yep, another disappointing figure, as outlined by Chris above.  It was a fan’s choice figure, but Hasbro didn’t make the fan’s choice version.  It also probably would have been pretty awesome had it been on a TVC card with the appropriate artwork, but instead it was relegated to the depressing Black Series. And, of course, we know now that Mara Jade has been wiped from canon status (for now), as well.

The hair.  Okay, we got that out of the way.

The rest of the figure is pretty good, and is a departure from what was trending at the time.  That is to say, this figure came with a few nice accessories.  Several Black Series Jedi figures lacked a separate unlit hilt, but Mara comes with one, and it fits nicely into the belt hole.  Mara also comes with an interesting feature, which I haven’t seen on many figures, although it was on the Old Republic Trooper at the end of TVC.  Mara has a removable holster, which can go on the hip, or on the back of the belt.  This is cool because it can be moved out of the way should you want more dynamic lightsaber-wielding poses.  It’s also a little more stealthy, which seems appropriate for her character.  It would have been nice if the figure came with a cape.

The outfit is simple, but well sculpted and painted, with plenty of details throughout.  The articulation isn’t groundbreaking, but decent enough.  She’s got a ball-jointed torso, which is better than the typical swivel waist.  But a character with Mara’s dynamism is deserving of JLA (Jedi-level Articulation).  It would be great if she had ball jointed hips and wrists, and the rocker ankles that were crafted for Anakin and Pablo-Jill in this line could also elevated the figure, although I’m not sure if the aesthetics would have been compromised, given the slender nature of Mara’s legs and ankles.  Oh, and as for that hair, it hinders the range of motion of the head, which is rather uselessly ball-jointed.  You can move the head around into certain positions.  The hair almost acts as a “click” position, as it will allow you to turn the head almost 90 degrees in either direction so that it falls to either side fo the shoulder, but almost anything in between is impossible.

This is the third figure Hasbro has made of Mara Jade.  The first one was standard 5POA fare from the late 90’s, as she was released in the awesome-at-the-time Expanded Universe subset of the Power of the Force 2 line.  Later, it was released in a comic 2-pack with Luke Skywalker in the TAC line.  I’m not sure if Mara had a blue outfit, or if that was one of Hasbro’s “clever” attempts at recreating the exact way she was colored/drawn in the funny books.  But other than the color, the outfit seems almost the same as the other two figures.  I don’t always do comparison lineups of figures, but I try to do it if there’s some merit to the older figures, which usually indicates the most current incarnation is not definitive.  The original figure has goggles sculpted around her neck.  It would have been a nice premium touch if the TBS version had removable goggles.  The TAC version came with a shmata.  A shmata!  That’s always a plus.  Perhaps a shmata / goggles combo could have been included with this figure as well.  It is certainly arguable that either one of the previous figures has a better headsculpt than this Mara Jade, but they’re certainly not really up to modern standards anyway.  The hair on both is much less wild, but none of them are particularly good.

Overall, Hasbro would have a real opportunity to significantly improve this figure.  They could either go with this outfit (again) and add JLA (Jedi-level Articulation - how much longer do I need to explain this?), more accessories, and a better head/hair sculpt, or they could go with the fans’ choice outfit and make a completely new and different version of Mara that fans asked for in the first place.  Like Chris, I’m not entirely sure what that outfit looks like, but I for one would be fine if they could perfect this version.  The figure is only a few years old, but was flawed out of the gate, and time has not been kind with better articulation, accessories.  Chris scored the figure his baseline 8, but we have since adjusted that baseline to a 7.  I’m actually going to deliver another hit to the rating because in just a few short years, the figure has diminished as standards have been raised significantly.  It now gets a 6.

Verdict: Re-sculpt (Low Priority) 

Definitely room for a lot of improvement here.  Improved articulation, face/hair sculpt, and added accessories could easily improve this figure.  Currently, this version is going for low to moderate prices on eBay.  If you’re a fan of the character, it’s probably the best version out there, but it’s far from definitive.  Odds are that we are a VERY long way off from getting a new version of Mara Jade, unless she miraculously appears in Episode IX. 

Verdict Guide:
Re-sculpt = The figure is not definitive, and a new version should be developed.
Re-issue = This version is definitive (or close enough), and shows sufficient secondary market demand to warrant a straight repack.
No Action = This release does not require new attention.