Mace Windu

Samuel L. Jackson is a card-carrying, board-certified badass. In 1969, he was briefly suspended from Morehouse College after taking the board of trustees, including Martin Luther King, hostage in a protest. He completed drug rehab two weeks before beginning work on Jungle Fever, a performance so good that the Cannes Film Festival judges created a Supporting Actor award specifically to honor him. Perhaps baddest of all, he got his role as Mace Windu in Star Wars simply because he asked for it. Forced by the sweeping tide of events to put aside the art of diplomacy that he favors over art of war, Mace Windu reluctantly wields his lightsaber to repel the dark forces that are undermining peace. A man of great wisdom and experience, Mace is nonetheless a skilled and formidable opponent as he is one of the best lightsaber fighters in the Jedi Order. As a General, Mace leads Clone Troopers in ground battles across the galaxy. Also an accomplished pilot, Mace takes part in space battles during the Clone Wars, piloting a Jedi Starfighter in skirmishes against the Separatist forces. In Episode I, Mace didn't have the opportunity to do much besides sit around looking intense. Attack of the Clones offered a chance to show off a bit more, as he and the rest of the Jedi joined in the Battle of Geonosis. Mace laid the smack down on Count Dooku and his allies before facing off against bounty hunter Jango Fett. There are two Clone Wars figures of Windu available - one in the regular, realistic style that will blend in with all your other Star Wars figures, the other in Genndy Tartakovsky's animated style as he is seen on the show. Seeing the two versions next to one another is really something. The "normal" version is detailed well, showing off what the costume would look like if it made it into film. Hasbro has been delivering surprisingly good sculpts for a while now, and Mace is up to the level you'd expect. The Jedi are still wearing their trademark robes, but they're now accented with military field gear. Mace has the tri-color outfit (white, tan and brown) that we expect, but has added a utility belt and technological arm bands. The face is probably the best Sam Jackson likeness yet. He actually looks quite cheerful, but I'd still love to see his wide-eyed, crazed look; the badass we all know and love. Mace moves at the head, shoulders, elbows, wrists, waist and hips, which give him enough mobility to wield his purple lightsaber. Why's it purple? Because he asked for it. See? Badass. The 'saber is a single piece of plastic, so the blade cannot be removed. Since Hasbro has lost the Batman license to Mattel, their sculptors haven't had much of a call to put their animated sculpting skills to use. Now that Cartoon Network is giving us these five-minute installments of Star Wars, however, the company who for so long handled the Batman: The Animated Series toys can again stretch its cartoony muscles. Obviously, the animated version is not as detailed as his "Expanded Universe" brother - he's got the sleek lines of the cartoon, not the varied textures of real life. The colors of his robes are, oddly, muted in comparison to the "real" version, and he's got a new set of shoulder pads. Animated Mace does not feature any removable costume elements like the other version, but he does have his lightsaber. The translucent purple blade has a nice molded "flare" effect at the base, and the hilt is ribbed. Again, the lightsaber is a single molded piece, so no removable parts. The figure's face, of course, looks just as it does in cartoon form, which, oddly enough, doesn't really bear a lot of resemblance to Mr. Bad Emeffer himself - someone should have kept working on this model sheet a while longer. Articulation, as with all animated figures, is minimal: he moves at the neck, shoulders and right wrist; not enough to qualify him as an "action" figure, but you can get a nice selection of poses. He's got a waist joint, but is molded so as to make it all but useless. The figure includes a Star Wars: Clone Wars logo base. It's wonderful that the Star Wars saga is being told, even if it's in such infuriatingly truncated daily segments. We got to see Mace being his bad self, taking on a battalion of Super Battle Droids without the aid of his lightsaber, and kicking all kinds of metal booty. The Jedi get to throw down in the way the political manuevering of the prequels doesn't allow, and they've got some fine enemies to fight. Whether you prefer the animated style or more realistic figures, you can have a figure of General Mace Windu to call your own..

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