Hasbro Star Wars Clone Wars Mailaway NAHDAR VEBB

[JeffSaylor]

5 UPCs is a small price to pay for this Jedi warrior...

---

For a great selection of film, comic and TV action figures and collectibles, check out BigBadToyStore.com, BriansToys.com, ToyWiz.com, PastGenerationToys.com, SuperHeroToys.com, MonkeyDepot.com, HobbyLinkJapan.com, and Sekaido.com.

For a great selection of film, TV and pop culture t-shirts and apparel, check out TShirtGurus.com and 80sTees.com.

---

One of the tried and true gimmicks in the toy world is the mailaway figure. Star Wars has been doing mailaways for many, many years, and thankfully this trend continues to this day. Starting with this year's Clone Wars Wave 2 (see our review HERE), collectors could gather together five UPC codes, a redemption form, and $6.99 (in the U.S.) to get the exclusive mailaway Nahdar Vebb. Best known for his starring role in the Clone Wars episode "Lair of Grievous," Vebb was an impetuous Mon Calamari Jedi Knight during the Clone Wars who let nothing get in his way. Unfortunately, neither did the Separatist General who put a quick end to Vebb's meddling.

Nahdar Vebb arrives at your house in a plain white cardboard box adorned simply by his name and the Hasbro logo. Like the Captain Rex mailaway figure at the start of the Clone Wars toy line, the figure comes packaged on a beefed up Clone Wars figure card with an image of the character at the top and his name at the bottom. You know you're in for something special when the front also says "Package Opens Into 3D Display!"

The back of Vebb's card has a brief bio at the top, followed by a description of how to create the backdrop and another image of the character from the show. Follow the step by step instructions to open the back of the package.

Basically, the back panel folds down to reveal a hallway in Grievous' secret headquarters. The sides of the panel fold up to complete the diorama, and there's even a pop up Bodyguard Droid to protect its cyborg master!

Nahdar Vebb is small and tough, a Jedi Knight spoiling for a fight. Standing just under 3 ¾ inches, the Jedi has a skinny little body with long arms and a huge head. He’s dressed in his Jedi robes and boots, with his long alien hands exposed. He's got a pretty good sculpt, with a lot of clothing details. There are creases and seams from his boots to his pants and flowing tunic.

Especially well done are Vebb's convoluted Jedi belt and the ridged undershirt visible under his arms. Best of all, the alien's head and hands have great sculpted details in the webbed fingers, suckers, and huge eyes.

Matching the sculpt is a serviceable, if a bit non-descript, paint job. Vebb's clothing is a mix of earth tones in white, gray, tan, and browns. The aforementioned belt has its different segments painted in brown, black, and silver. Again, the best parts are the hands and head done in a mottled orange and brown pattern. Vebb's huge eyes each have a large black pupil surrounded by a narrow yellow iris.

As with many of the Clone Wars figures, Vebb has good articulation. He has a ball-jointed neck, ball-jointed shoulders, ball-jointed elbows, ball-jointed wrists, waist, hips, and ball-jointed knees. Some of these joints are restricted, but the alien still has a nice range of motion and poseability. The ball joints within his lower sleeves (the "wrists") are especially cool and useful for posing his hands. It’s worth noting that due to being extremely top heavy, Vebb has some balance issues and needs to be posed carefully lest he become a shelf diver. Vebb comes with one accessory, his trusty blue lightsaber that fits in his open fisted right hand.

There haven't been a whole lot of Mon Calamari figures over the years, so any new one is going to be well-received by the fans. Nahdar Vebb has several things going for him, including his relative easy to get mailaway status, interesting look, and good articulation. On the other hand, not everyone likes the unique appearance of the Clone Wars figures, and indeed Vebb doesn't exactly fit in with other Mon Calamaris. I think the little guy has a lot of potential, and he'll stand out in my Clone Wars collection.

For even more images of Nahdar Vebb, CLICK HERE!


Review by Scott Rubin, Photos by Scott Rubin and David Yeh

---