Review of Ultimate Jango Fett - Star Wars sixth scale figure

Introduction

When I first saw this at Kmart, I was wowed.  That's the best way to put it.  It really is pretty amazing to see how far Hasbro has come - and disappointing to see how far they still have to go.

This figure is clearly an attempt by Hasbro to get into the higher end market on the 12" figures, with better quality, sculpting and accessories.  I picked mine up at Kmart for $33, but that was a sale price - most retailers will have them for $35-$40.

2015 Update: considering the general quality of the Hasbro 12" action figures back in the early 00's, I think I might have been a little too hard on this guy overall.  You'll see what I mean as you read through it, but to be fair, companies like Sideshow and 21st Century were killing it (comparatively speaking) on outfits and accessories in this scale, making it tough for Hasbro to compete.

This was possibly the best 12" figure they did produce, although an argument can be made for a couple others as well. There's no real market for any of the old Hasbro stuff these days, but at least this guy maintained his price point, still selling for $35 - $50 MIB.

Packaging - ***
This packaging is very similar to the 100th Edition Luke, with a small gatefold at the bottom half of the box.  There are excellent graphics, and even some instructions on assembly.

The box is certainly not collector friendly, since you'll have to tear the interior insert off the back cardboard tray.  Also, I counted no less than 24 twisty ties - yes, 24!  That's a new world record.

Sculpting - ****
Wow!  Is this a Hasbro figure?  This really does look like Jango Fett, with great detail on the texturing.  I have  to say I'm pleasantly surprised.

The head is a soft, hollow plastic, but they've done an excellent job ensuring the detail is there.  The scars and pock marks could have been a little more obvious, but overall it's one of Hasbro's best jobs.

The head looks a little big on the nekkid body, but that's not an issue.  Once you get all the armor on, the head looks much more appropriately sized.

Paint - ***1/2
The paint ops are nice, both on the various pieces of armor, and on the Jango head.  The eyes look great, the shading on the face is nicely done, and the weathering of the armor actually works.

Articulation - **
This body is better than the 'clicky' ratchet joint bodies used on previous 12" Star Wars figures, but still not up to the market expectation.  He has a nice ball jointed neck, and all the joints were very tight, ensuring that he stood well in the few poses he can take.

However, once they switch to the SA Joe body, which they are supposed to start using with Count Dooku, they will finally be at the level necessary to compete.

Accessories - ***1/2
After the head sculpt, the next best thing about this figure is the great variety and quality of the accessories.

I'm taking out the various pieces of armor as the uniform, and I'll discuss those separately.  But Jango comes with plenty of other items - two jet packs, two matching chromed blasters, belt with holsters (and cod piece), a removable poisonous saber dart, fibercord whip (string), extra set of open hands, and removable 'claws' on each right arm.

All the accessories are excellent, with great detail and quality.  I had only one major gripe with them - the tie downs on the holsters are very poorly designed.  It's very difficult to keep them attached, and they come loose very easily.  

In particular, the backpack with the firing rocket looks great.  It doesn't fire worth a damn - the spring is barely strong enough to push the rocket out of the backpack - but it sure looks good.

One other point to note: the extra set of hands has 'bendy' figures, and will hold some basic poses.  You aren't going to get them into a tight enough fist to hold a gun, but you aren't stuck with that splayed out look that you see in the box.

Outfit - **1/2
When I saw this figure in the box, I was really wowed.  I mean, could this possibly be Hasbro?  It looked like the best 12" Star Wars figure they had ever produced.

And then I started to put the uniform together.  Once again, Hasbro didn't let me down.  And I don't mean that in a good way.

Okay, there are good parts of the uniform.  Both sets of hands/gauntlets are great, and the hands pop on and off easily, but tightly.  They added material to the arms of the jumpsuit to allow you to slip the ends of the wires running from the gauntlets up inside, and they really do look terrific.

The helmet is also very well done.  It fits nicely, and the range finder works as you'd expect.  The jumpsuit itself is fine, with good stitching and decent quality material.

The nicest piece of the outfit is the chest piece.  It fits extremely well, and looks amazing.  Unfortunately, the connectors used to hold it under both arms are likely to rip eventually, so I wouldn't suggest taking it on and off too often.  But it looks like something you'd expect on a Marmit figure.

Okay, now for the bad parts.  It's only one minor problem, but it looks awful.  The leg armor - it doesn't fit properly at all.

All three leg pieces - knee covers, thigh armor and calf armor - are held on with velcro.  That works alright with the knee pads, because they wrap around the back of the leg, holding them tighter than just the velcro does.

But the shins and thigh armor hangs very loosely on the jumpsuit.  Add to that the fact that the shin pads are very small, too small to fit over the tops of the boots, and you have a figure that looks great from the waist up.

I suppose I can boil the shin guards and get them to sort of fit, but out of the box they look absolutely terrible.

Value - **1/2
As always, it depends on what you spend.  I paid $33 with a rain check from Kmart.  At that price, it's a decent value, with a great head sculpt, good accessories, and at least half the uniform looking good.  At $35 to $40, it's starting to stretch it.

Overall - ***
If we had the better body and decent leg armor, this score would go way up.  At first, I thought I had in my hands a four star Hasbro figure.  I was really excited to get him opened up and put together.

But Hasbro still hasn't quite gotten there, and at $35 - $40, they are trying to compete with Dragon and bbi.  They still have a ways to go.

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ***
Sculpting - ****
Paint - ***1/2
Articulation - **
Accessories - ***1/2
Outfit - **1/2
Value - **1/2
Overall - ***

Where to Buy 
I found mine at Kmart, although Toys R Us stores are getting them in.  That's your best bet, since you'll get the best price.  On-line:

- Entertainment Earth should have them soon as well, but they are even more expensive at $50 plus shipping.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
You should also hit the Search Reviews page, in case any other applicable reviews were done after this one was published.

Discussion:
Want to chat about this review?  Try out one of these terrific forums where I'll be discussing it!

Enjoyed this review? Be sure to head back to the main page to find thousands more just like it!