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If you missed the announcement (or the banner at the top of every page right now), we're celebrating our 20th year. As a sign of how old and stale we've gotten, today is the second time in a week that, without even meaning to, we're reviewing something that homages an old figure we posted a review of when it was new.
The Clone Wars are brought to life in a unique animation style that captures the drama of this epic period. Jedi warriors
lead Clone Troopers into battle against the evil Separatist forces.
Well, Mace is already doing better than Anakin and Obi-Wan did: his text may not say anything about him, but at least it's about the show he comes from and not the anniversary of Lucasfilm as a whole. However, unlike them, the old figure he's homaging didn't have any character-specific text, either. Bummer! This is a Walmart exclusive, supposedly released back in early spring this year, but not only did I never see it, I didn't even know it (or the ARC Trooper and General Grievous exclusives with it) existed until like a week ago. Do better, Walmart! Anyway, this is a slightly-too-early update of the 2004 animated Clone Wars figure, right down to the packaging art. What, you couldn't hold out for two years before making these for the anniversary?
Mace Windu's big part in Clone Wars came in episodes 12 and 13, where he led an outnumbered detatchment of Clone Troopers against the Droid Army on Dantooine. He lost his lightsaber and was forced to rely entirely on his Force powers, a situation in which he was even more badass than usual! He may be the only Jedi in history who's ever been held back by using a lightsaber.
Unsurprisingly, the majority of this figure reuses the molds from the 2019 Black Series Mace - no need to pay for new
sculpts when the ones you have are already so good. Fitting with the "Clone Wars" theme, he's wearing bits of Clone Trooper armor over his usual Jedi robes: bracers, a belt, and a yoke over his shoulders. Those are non-removable, which means you won't be taking his brown softgoods cloak off him, either. On the plus side, that means if you want a Mace Windu with a brown robe on, this one will always fit the bill, so you'll be free to pass the other Mace's robe along to someone else who desperately needs it (Qui-Gon, we're looking your way, man). The bracers required new forearms, since there was no way to fit tight armor over his giant sleeves.
The paint is disappointing. That has consistently been the corner Hasbro has chosen to cut from the Star Wars budget lately, so Mace's colors are very flat and cartoony. Which would normally be fine,
but he's 1) a realistic sculpt, not animated, and 2) in the middle of a battle where all kinds of dirt and debris are flying about. His robs should be scorched and dusty, and hs armor should not be pristine white. Also, there are little buttons sculpted on his bracers, and they don't get picked out at all. There's a lot a good customizer could do with this one! I, unfortunately, am not a good customizer.
Mace retains his above-average articulation, which is good; it's just a question of pec hinges inside his robes, but it lets him get
a bit wilder. When he lost his lightsaber, he had to start taking Battle Droids down by hand. That's not a euphamism: he was literally punching them to pieces. And these were Super Battle Droids, not the little ones! He has a special Force ability known as "shatterpoint," which allows him to perceive weak points - in structures, people, and even situations - and strike them just right to make them fall apart. So, boxing Battle Droids to death? Totally doable. The shoulder pauldrons are molded as part of the chest armor, but the PVC is soft enough that they won't get in the way.
As you'd expect, Mace includes his lightsaber.
Yes, he may have lost it during the fight, but he obviously got it back at some point. It's the same mold as the last figure's, but you remember how we said Mace was wearing a new belt? That's a good thing, because the old figure didn't have a hole anywhere on his belt to allow you to hang the hilt, but this new belt does! Smart move, Hasbro! The purple blade is removable, because otherwise it would look weird hanging there.
Technically the old Clone Wars cartoon was supposed to be rendered non-canon by the new continuity, but you already know some parts of it still exist. Well, both the CG The Clone Wars cartoon and Marvel's Obi-Wan comic have referenced Mace's actions on Dantooine, making this not just an untooned remnant of the past, but an actual in-canon piece of the character's history. I just wish Walmart had actually, you know, made it available.
-- 08/27/22
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