Wow, this thing comes in a pretty big box! One might say an unnecessarily big box, because about half of it is just for presentation. There’s a gigantic window to show off the Skiff, which is mounted against a cinematic backdrop, with a little pop-up Sarlacc on the bottom. Alas, it’s the shitty ret-conned Sarlacc that looks like Audrey 2 from “Little Shop of Horrors” and not the cool foam-core-sand- vagina used in the original movie. The included Luke Sywalker figure is posed standing at the bow of the Skiff with lightsaber drawn. The back of the box has some stills from the movie as well as a big photo of the toy to point out the various play features. The side panels show the scene from the movie recreated with figures, which is very cool.

If you’re a mint-in-box collector you probably love this packaging, if you’re not, then get ready to have some fun getting the toy out of the package. The Skiff is held on with super, double-enforced zip-ties, which are wrapped inside some kind of impervious, clear zip-tie sleeve. I can’t recall ever encountering these things before, but they’re the kind of things the FBI would use to take Hannibal Lecter into custody. They are literally thicker and stronger than a lot of parts on the actual toy. I had to pull out the heavy duty wire cutters to get the toy free without risk to the railings. When you do finally get the Skiff out, you find that the Luke figure is secured to the railing with a cthuluesque web of twist-ties that cannot be cut because they’re so tightly woven around the frail plastic railings. I’m not going to crap all over what is a beautiful presentation on Hasbro’s part, but I would have preferred the toy come in just a regular box so I could pop it back in to store it, not to mention avoid having to deal with all the twist-ties. Still, it was damn tempting to try to save the box, but space concerns being what they are, I had little choice but to pitch it.

Once the Skiff was out of package, freed of all its tethers and in hand, I have to say I really am thrilled with this thing. Make no mistake, it’s a very simple toy, with no electronic lights or sounds or any of that jazz. There are a few play gimmicks, and we’ll get to those in a bit, but none of them mar the toy as a display piece. Sure, the Skiff is not exactly to scale, but it’s certainly close enough that you can load it up with all the key figures from the scene. I can comfortably fit three of my Skiff Guards as well as Luke, Han and Chewie. The sculpt and coloring on the toy are both particularly well done. There’s a lot of black, weathered paint laid over the greenish plastic as well as some silver metal rubbing. You also get a few well-placed laser blasts sculpted into the mold. For a late 90’s toy, refurbished using the mold of a mid 80’s toy, Hasbro did a very nice job on this piece. It not only holds up well, but I’d say it even surpasses some of the Star Wars toys we’ve seen in recent years.

My favorite action feature on the Skiff is the retractable landing gear. Not only does this feature allow you to stand it so it’s “hovering” off the ground, but it’s so well integrated into the toy and allows the vehicle to stand quite well. A clear stand would have been cool, but I appreciate that the legs are molded to look like actual landing gear the vehicle might have and they are actually deployed by one of the levers at the pilot’s station! I can’t think of too many Star Wars toys where the vehicle’s actual controls perform a function on the toy. The other lever deploys the gangplank, which once extended all the way drops the tip down to eject the prisoner. I could have done without the floppy end gimmick, but otherwise I really dig the gangplank.

Other action features include levers on the back that turn the two rudders in unison, two drop down side railings, and a spring-loaded deck plate that actually ejects a figure off of the Skiff. There are also some holes in the center block on the deck, which I presume are for storing the guards’ force pikes. Overall, I think my only gripe here is that I would have liked some more foot pegs on the deck. Thankfully, I have an neigh endless supply of blue tack.

As mentioned, the Skiff comes with an “Exclusive Luke Skywalker” figure, which is appropriately enough, the version of him in his black Jedi garb. The figure seems to be actually kit-bashed from parts, both old and new. I’m pretty sure this was the only version of Jedi Luke with the blaster damage to his right hand, although it’s just a black paint smudge. Besides the normal five points of articulation, Luke also has hinged knees and a swivel cut in his right wrist! The POTF2 line was not always kind to Luke in terms of likenesses, but this one really isn’t too bad. In fact, the only real problem with him is his bizarre, giraffe neck. I thought that design might have been to accommodate a plastic cloak on another release, but I’m not sure. He comes with his green lightsaber, which makes me wish I had saved the clear rubber band, because he doesn’t hang on to it very well.

It’s hard for a toy to live up to more than 25 years of nostalgia and anticipation, but the Skiff here didn’t disappoint me… not one bit. It was pretty easy to find one, once I decided to buy it and all told with shipping this little beauty set me back only $40. Not bad at all for something I’ve wanted for so long. It may be crazy to compare this simple little toy to Hasbro’s more recent Millennium Falcon, AT-AT, or even the new Slave-1, but it goes to show you that certain toys can still get me all hot and bothered over the Star Wars franchise, no matter how many times I try to swear off collecting it. Hmm… I never did own one of those B-Wing fighters… I always wanted one of those…

The first time I owned two of these characters in figure form was as a kid when my parents got me the Jabba’s Dungeon playset. It was a remold of the far more fun Droid Factory playset. As the name suggests, Jabba’s Dungeon was basically a place where kids could torture their cute and innocent droid figures. It even came with a branding iron on the end of the crane! The playset itself was pretty useless, but I loved it because it came with two of the Skiff Guards, Klaatu and Nikto, and one of Jabba’s torture droids, 8D8. The playset was also available with three different figures: Barada (the other Skiff Guard), Amanaman, and EV-9D9. Alas, splitting up the guards like that meant that I never did have Barada as a kid. [Sorry for all the rambling, folks. Star Wars toys hold a shit-ton of nostalgia for me. This is another reason why I haven’t done a lot of Star Wars content! –FF]

Here are the guys in all their packaged glory. Hasbro’s Cinema Scenes were a really great marketing idea. As the name suggests, you get three figures from a scene in the movie, packaged against a backdrop to make a little in-package diorama. You also got a plastic figure stand, with a slot so you could clip out the backdrop and slide it into the stand to display your figures. Like most POTF2 figures, nowadays you can get these sets for next to nothing, and I still have a lot of them still in the package. In fact, this may be the first time I’ve ever opened one! The first thing I learned is to have clippers ready, because the figures are secured with a diabolical network of twist-ties around their feet and torsos. Sadly, by securing the figures to the display backdrop, it means there are some unsightly holes in it. Fortunately, the figures stand right in front of them, so they aren’t all that obvious.

I like Barada the least of the trio. Maybe that’s because I didn’t have him as a kid and I’m not as nostalgic toward him. But, I’d like to think it’s more about his sculpt and paintwork. The paintwork on his face, hands, bandanna, and belt are all god-awful. It looks like Hasbro tried to get clever by using some kind of wash, but if that’s the case, it was a failed experiment. And why the hell is he wearing Han Solo’s pants? He does have a nice jaunty, swashbuckler shirt and some cool gear sculpted onto him. He also comes with a kick-ass blaster. God, I loved the POTF2 weapons. They were so big and elaborate and I’ve since loaned a lot of them out to my army of 5-inch Character Options Sontarans.

Next up is Nikto, which is a pretty solid figure. The head sculpt is nice, complete with head wrap, and features some pretty good paintwork, as all his little horn thingies are painted black. He’s got quilted vest and nice silver arm bracers. I especially like the fact that his arms are sculpted to hold his vibro-axe across his chest, much like Weequay.

Of all three figures, Klaatu is the one that most resembles his original vintage counterpart. The outfit is almost exactly the same. It’s just a ruffled white jumpsuit with a cross-checked skirt and a little armor reinforcement to his right shoulder and neck. The head sculpt is especially detailed and I really like his skull cap. Klaatu can hold his vibro-axe in either hand. Of course, Klaatu was also released carded as a much snazzier figure, complete with a fuzzy loin cloth. I think that one is still my favorite.

Ah, but wait. I’m still going to want a Weequay to add to the display, so let’s dig him out of the tote and tear him open too.

I feel sorry for collectors trying to keep track of packaged POTF2 figures because there are just so many different states out there. You’ve got your orange cards, your green cards, your Freeze Frames… and when all is said and done you can still go to your average flea market and pick them out of a bin for a couple bucks each. Well, this Weequay came on a green card and has a snazzy and shimmery photo of him beside the bubble. The package identifies him as “Skiff Guard” but I could have sworn he was once “Skiff Master.” Oh, I forgot, Weequay is a race and not a dude. Yeah, as a kid, I thought Weequay was the guy’s name. The package also points out that he comes with a Force Pike and a Blaster. Oh, shit, I’ve been calling those things vibro-axes. My bad. Too much Knights of the Old Republic, I guess.

Weequay is the man! He was a favorite figure of mine back in the ROTJ heyday. Why? I have no idea, but my Star Wars addled adolescent mind raised him to the unsubstantiated coolness factor of Boba Fettic proportions. In my mind he survived the battle on Tatooine stole himself a fricken Tie Fighter and pursued Han and Luke across the galaxy looking for revenge. Yeah, try to top that nonsense! Unless you write for Marvel Comics, you can’t!

The POTF2 version of Weequay has actually changed very little from his vintage figure days. He’s a tad more pre-posed here, and there’s a little more detail in his ponytail, but his outfit hasn’t changed much at all and his arms are still molded to hold his vibro-axe force pike across his chest so he can use it to bump fools onto the gangplank. He also has some paint-spray dirt around the bottoms of his trousers. In addition to his force pike, Weequay comes with a blaster. He can hold it, but because his arms are designed specifically to hold his other weapon, he can’t really wield it very well. Still, an extra blaster! Who’s going to complain about that? Not me! I basically adore this figure, probably more than anyone should adore any POTF2 figure. It captures all the right points of the original vintage release.

Oh yeah, all of the figures today have the same six points of articulation. The heads turn, the arms rotate at the shoulders, the legs rotate at the hips, and they swivel at the waist. That’s a whole point more than the vintage figures had!

I’m perfectly happy with this entourage of figures for my Skiff display, but I’d be lying if I’m not tempted to pick up a vintage set and maybe even the current molds from Hasbro’s Vintage Collection. See? It’s spreading. The darkness is spreading. No… I will not again embrace the Star Wars collecting addiction. I’m going to go get me some methadone and I’ll be back tomorrow to check out the Skiff.

Anywho… one of the things I found, in particular, was my Jabba’s Skiff Guards Cinema Scene 3-pack and it got me thinking about one of my long time toy grails. Every collector has their grails. They’re the figure or toy that they always wanted, but never got. Most people’s grails are insanely hard to find and expensive. That’s why they don’t own them and that’s what makes them grails. I’ve got a few things like that on my list, but one of my grails isn’t expensive or hard to get, it’s just something I never owned and always wanted to. It’s the Tattooine Skiff from Return of the Jedi.

Why the Skiff? Well, for starters it’s my favorite scene in that movie and one of my favorites in all the Star Wars films. It was such a great Flash Gordon-y concept to make a bunch of space adventurers walk the plank of a ship hovering in the middle of a desert. It was a great action scene too, with people being tossed over the sides left and right and falling to their doom, and we even get to see the legendary captain of cool himself, Boba Fett, in action for a few short moments before he screams like a girl and falls to his death. (or what might have been his death if you have the good taste to discount the events of a certain very shitty Marvel comic). I also just love the look of the Skiffs. They’re vaguely nautical looking, vaguely steam punk, and they look like they’d be fun to skim across the desert in. Not to forget the fact that they were manned by aliens that looked like pirates and toted around vibro-axes. Fantastic!

For a lot of Star Wars collectors, I’m sure the Tattooine Skiff is a grail piece, specifically the original release, issued as part of the first Power of the Force line in 1985. That was the year that failed to keep the Star Wars license afloat and as such the original release of the Skiff has become both rare and pricey. Fortunately, all I wanted was the toy, and the Skiff has been re-released to offer more affordable options. It was first re-issued as part of the Power of the Force 2 collection (the one we’re looking at this weekend) and again sometime around 2008 as part of an Ultimate Battle Pack, complete with a plastic Sarlacc.

So, needless to say, I finally hunted one down and bought it, and we’ll look at it tomorrow in all its glory. But first, I’ll be back later today to open up and take a look at my Skiff Guards so I have some figures to display on it.