Hasbro Star Wars Power of the Jedi Ketwol Review

A long time ago (30 years ago, actually) in a city not too far away (my home town, to be exact), I was given my first Star Wars collectibles - a Landspeeder and the action figures depicting C-3PO and R2-D2 - as birthday presents.

Though I hadn't planned on becoming a collector at age 15, Kenner's action figure collection was one of the few means available back in 1978 for Star Wars fans to take home some of the fun and wonder of George Lucas' galactic saga of good and evil.  Videocassette recorders were still pricey then, and though books and soundtracks can often satisfy some fans' need to "own" a part of that "galaxy far, far away,"  the little replicas of Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi, Han Solo, Chewbacca, and - of course - the villainous Darth Vader were kids' favorite gateway to the Star Wars universe.

One of Star Wars' (or, more correctly, Star Wars - Episode IV: A New Hope) most famous sequences is the "bar scene" at the Mos Eisley cantina on Tatooine, which was the movie's tantalizing glimpse at the diversity of lifeforms in that imaginary galaxy.

The only alien whose name and function we clearly understood at the time was Greedo, the nasty bounty hunter who cornered Han Solo (Harrison Ford) as the latter was leaving the cantina.  His run-in with Solo introduced us to the Huttese language and has been rendered in two versions: Han-Shot-First and Greedo-Shot-First. 

The other aliens in that scene either had minor roles - there's an Aqualish who accosts Luke at the bar and loses an arm to Ben's lightsaber for it - or were simply there as background extras.  Most of them were not even given action figure countrerparts, and those that did were given descriptive nicknames (Snaggletooth, Walrus Man and Hammerhead), but that was about it.

By the time Hasbro absorbed its once-dreaded rival Kenner in the 1990s and the decision was made to revive Star Wars toys and games in anticipation of the saga's 20th anniversary, a lot had changed.

West End Games had rolled out a Star Wars roleplaying game in the late 1980s, and many of the once-anonymous cantina aliens were given names and backstories in that game's many source books.  (Walrus Man, in case anyone wonders, is now known as Ponda Baba; his race is known as the Aqualish.)

At around the same time, Lucasfilm Limited was licensing various publishers - Bantam Books, Dark Horse Comics and others - to create the Star Wars Expanded Universe which delved into the "further adventutes" of the Classic Trilogy heroes after the events of Return of the Jedi. Some of the resulting novels and comic books identified many of the strange races of aliens seen in the cantina

Star Wars - Power of the Jedi: Ketwol

An asteroid prospector and part-time scout, the enigmatic Ketwol is often found in seedy spaceports trying to sell precious ores and metals. Ketwol is from a distant sytem in the Outer Rim Territories. An enemy of the Empire, Ketwol has secretly provided the Rebel Alliance with materials and information. - from the package blurb

Oddly enough, the elephantine-looking Pacithhip known as Ketwol was never seen in the 1977 version of Star Wars; he was digitally created and added to replace the "Wolfman" known as Lak Sivrak in the 1997 Special Edition.  (Lucas was never thrilled with how generic and cheap some of the original aliens looked in the original version, so he CGI'd out a few of the least-realistic characters and added some more exotic looking ones to the 1997 version.)

The figure is pretty cool, considering it depicts a character who's only onscreen for an eyeblink or two of running time.  Ketwol looks sort of like a cross between an elephant and a humanoid who can stand on two legs (actually, prosthetic limbs), wears a pullover-like undertunic, a long brown tunic and a pair of matching trousers.

The detailing is pretty cool, actually. Ketwol's skin is greenish but looks as though it belonged on an elephant, and his trunk and tusks are "way cool" because they lend the character a certain familiar-but-weird look.

The undertunic is long-sleeved and orange-ish in color, but it's painted and sculpted onto the figure itself, as are the - optional - brown pants/legs that one can add on to cover up the prosthetic legs.  (These legs were not seen in the movie; it seems to be a feature created by Hasbro to add mystique to Ketwol.)

On the other hand, the removable vest-and-cloak Ketwol wears is made of the same stiff-but-flexible plastic Hasbro likes to use to simulate heavy fabrics and leather.  I am not sure, but its the latter material that's being imitated, and though it looks a tad darker than the material the "real" Ketwol wears in the movie, it does have a leather-like look and texture.

As for mobility and posing possibilities, the figure has only a few points of articulation (head/neck, upper arms/shoulders, and hips/upper legs.  Also, the cloak and pants can be added on or removed.

Oddly, Ketwol is unarmed.  Perhaps this reflects a certain wish to not make every character armed-and-dangerous (maybe so Ketwol won't attract unwelcome Imperial attention), or maybe Hasbro decided that since in the film he doesn't hold a weapon, Ketwol's figure shouldn't have a blaster either.

My Viewpoint: Though this 2001 action figure probably isn't too exciting and may even irk Star Wars purists who still grumble about how Lucas messed around with the "classics" for change's sake, Ketwol is still a nice little collectible.  The detailing is nice, and the conceptual conceit of an alien with prosthetics is unusual, to say the least.

As with all the Star Wars action figures, vehicles, and playsets, Hasbro recommends this toy for children 4 and up since the small parts pose a clear and present choking hazard, especially for children under 3 years.