Hasbro
Released December, 2003
Reviewed by Adam Pawlus
Photography by Michael Sullenger
Reviewed on December 10, 2003
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The second swimming alien since 2000 is Clone Wars Kit Fisto which is a very nice if oddly colored new version of the Nautiloid Jedi.

This figure is packaged with a lightsaber.

Sculpt/Articulation/Gimmicks/Paint

The second version of Jedi Master Kit Fisto combines the sculpting know-how Hasbro put in to the first version with the same sort of "what-the-Hell?" sensibilities that brought us the deluxe topless Darth Maul. Like the Zabrak Jedi, Kit Fisto also comes from the Expanded Universe, namely the Clone Wars animated series.

Apparently he's been working out, perhaps on the... Soloflex? HAH! I kill me. Bet you haven't heard that one a million times. The basic sculpt is pretty slick and the overall look is a little more toylike due to the design of the character, but we'll go into that later. First, let's look at his fairly expressive rubber mug.



His sculpt is great, but the paint isn't quite as good. On the cartoon and in the films, and in the comics too, he's mostly green. Heck, his figure is pretty much entirely green... but the brown face makes him look sick. If you've ever seen an ill iguana, you know that brown isn't a healthy color for most usually green reptillian creatures, and as such this is a bit of an oddity. The sculpt is good, though, and the coloring by no means ruins the figure. Still, it'd have been nice to see the Jedi Master not look like he might be in the midst of some sort of Nautiloid illness.

He can stand... and he can swim! Much like the somewhat scarce Swimming Jar Jar from 2000, he can assume an aqua-friendly pose by way of his ball-jointed neck and ball-jointed ankles. Aside from that, though, the articulation is merely typical, without ball-jointed shoulders or wrist articulation. Still, it's a nice solid figure and looks pretty slick in either pose. There's a few comprimises made to the sculpt because you can't not have visible joints on a fleshy shoulder, but the skirt piece does a good job-- mostly-- of masking the hip joints. The sandals are expertly sculpted as well, with some metal rivets sculpted onto the toy that at first look like a metal pin going through the foot, but are in fact merely decorative painted elements. It's quite excellent to see details of this nature.

The overall paint job is on the mark with a lot of wipes and detail bringing out the muscles and, of course, the folds in his pants. This is no rush job, and should please most fans of the Clone Wars range which, it seems, is ending far too quickly. As far as surprises go, the biggest one is that he does have holes in his feet for a stand or another purpose when his co-sell, the Clone Trooper, did not.

Accessories

This set includes a lightsaber.

It's nicely painted and the blade is not removable. Beyond that, there's not much to say-- it's a lightsaber. It's the right color and it feels sturdy, plus the paint job is good. A metal hilt would have been nice, but you can't have everything.

Packaging

New for 2003, the Clone Wars package theme.

Availability

This series of figures has yet to hit retail establishments, and as such it's a little tough to find outside the Web. It's assumed more will show up near the end of the year.

Fin

Want more Jedi? Can't get enough of that Fisto action? Well, this is the toy for you. He looks great and the only real gripe that can be said about him is that he's the only figure specific to the Battle of Mon Calamari in the Clone Wars. It'd be awesome to see some Scuba Troopers, or perhaps some Mon Cal lancers. Heck, it's a great premise if you dig undersea battle as a basis for a play pattern, as it's fairly unique and short of the 1980's toy line Tigersharks remains largely unexplored.

In short, snag it if you see it, it's $5 well spent.

Our regular sample was obtained from Entertainment Earth in December 2003.