Halloween Edition Mon Calamari

You already know what happens when you teach a man to fish; this is what happens when you teach a fish to man. Celebrate the season with specially designed Star Wars figures from The Black Series! All three of this year's Black Series Halloween Edition figures are based on the Universal Monsters. Previous years may have had Dracula and Frankenstein, but those are public domain characters with dozens of different interpretations; and yes, HG Wells' The Invisible Man was a novel in 1897, but it's only famous as a 1933 film, and when you pair that with the Bride of Frankenstein, there's no mistaking what the theme of 2026 is supposed to be. So it's fitting that the third and final release for this year is based on a Universal original, the Creature from the Black Lagoon. If you're going to make a Gill-man from any Star Wars character, Admiral Ackbar is the best choice. This is based on the 2020 Return of the Jedi figure, which had the following bio: During the Battle of Endor, veteran commander Admiral Ackbar oversaw the Rebel attack, coordinating with starfighter operations led by Lando Calrissian and Wedge Antilles. This is technically identified as just a "Mon Calamari," not a specific individual, but it still used to be Ackbar. It even still has some of the same pieces as the Last Jedi version introduced - the head and lower arms, specifically. Once those were sculpted and tooled, there was no point in doing them over again. 1983 Ackbar wore different clothes than 2017 Ackbar, but he still left his crabby forearms exposed. On this sculpt, his pants hang over his boots instead of being tucked in, and he covers his torso with a smooth smock held in place by a large, chunky belt. On a normal Ackbar, that smock is simply cream colored, setting it apart from his white uniform, but those colors wouldn't suit the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Instead, the uniform is dark olive, with even darker stripes running down each side. The smock is slightly lighter, with bright yellow for the belt, and the front of it is painted with a pattern meant to look like the Gill-man's scales: some dark, blurry lines on the chest, and yellow bars outlined in brown on the stomach. Unfortunately, on mine it appears to be painted crooked, turning off to his right side instead of being directly in the center. The exposed skin is the palest green, though there's some darker airbrushing around the large yellow eyes. Having a reused head means he still has that unusual articulation where the top of the head tips back while the lower jaw stays in place, allowing his mouth to open and close in the goofiest way imaginable. The rest of the articulation is the usual stuff: ankles, knees, thighs, hips, waist, pecs, shoulders, elbows, and wrists. His accessory isn't any of the guns previous Ackbars have had, or even the simple baton that was new to the Retro release. Instead, he comes with Jar Jar's spear, presumably meant to reference a fishing spear? It's not something directly taken from the Creature, but it makes a kind of sense. In order to make the cost of these Halloween Edition figures more palatable, they all include a small pack-in buddy, some random miniature figure to pair with the big guy and take up space in the tray. Until now it's mainly been a porg or a small droid or a porg or even, in some rare cases, a porg. This time it's Glup Shitto Skoova Stev, from Jedi: Survivor. Skoova Stev is a master fisherman who loves to spin tales to anyone who will listen. In his youth, Stev joined a fishing crew on board the Grapnel and eventually served as its first mate. After being betrayed by the captain and rescued by a purrgil, Stev made his way to Koboh to fish its teeming waters. There he meets fugitive Jedi Cal Kestis, and the two quickly strike up a friendship. Skoova Stev (and oh my god, I can't believe they just straight up named a character "Scuba Steve," like Big Daddy) is a Sakavian, the only Sakavian we've ever seen so far. Sakavians look like a mustachioed snail-man wearing a little diving suit instead of a shell. The helmet, sculpted with small barnacles and a starfish perched on top, is removable, though there's no articulation for the head; his only joints are balljoints in the shoulders. His colors match the Mon Cal's (dark suit, light skin), and he even gets an accessory; whenever Skoova collects a fish for you to add to your friend's bar's fish tank (wouldn't be a modern AAA game without some pointless busywork, would it), this is the thing he uses to do it: a pointed stick with a big flat paddle on one end. It can be held in his hand, or stored by plugging into the back of his suit. I've seen both the other 2026 Halloween Edition figures in stores, the Tusken Raider and the Togruta, but not the Mon Calamari; fortunately, the same eBay seller that had Shaak Ti also had this one, so I was able to get it that way for less than retail. These are less impressive than some previous years' offerings, and would be downright disappointing at $28.99; but for closer to $20, they're a lot more fun. -- 10/31/26 What sculpt are they going to turn into the Metaluna Mutant? Tell us on our message board, the Loafing Lounge.