Jedi Master Dooku

At last, we can get started on that custom Scaramanga action figure. Before he became a dark side disciple, Count Dooku was once a Jedi Master who studied under Yoda, eventually training Padawan Qui-Gon Jinn in the ways of the Force. That's a heck of a family tree, isn't it? Yoda to Dooku to Qui-Gon to Obi-Wan to Anakin to Ahsoka. To Sabine, I guess. This figure is, like The Ronin, based on one of the cartoons that airs on Disney+. In ths case, Tales of the Jedi. Remember when Clone Wars used to be on Cartoon Network and you could just, like, watch it? And then everybody would talk about each episode in turn, instead of only finding out about their existence after the fact? Gee, I wonder why Star Wars seemed more popular back then than it does now. Must be the fault of putting a woman in it. Dooku dressed pretty much the same as a Jedi as he did as a Separatist, it's just that the colors are lighter here: he still has tall, fashy boots, slightly baggy pants, and even an ostentatious cape held on by a chain clasp, but they're tan instead of brown, and he's got the usual Jedi tunic worn underneath that. The designers had to hit the sweet spot between the Dooku you already knew and the Jedi of old, and they did it. He looks heroic, but you can see where he's going to be. Despite its name, Tales of the Jedi was really more "Tales of Ahsoka" and "Tales of Dooku": it was only six episodes long, with three dedicated to each of them at different points in their lives. In Dooku's case, that means we saw how he changed from a believer in the Jedi mission to fully turning against it, and the shift was a believable one. How lucky for Hasbro's sculptors that there is lots of reference material for what Christopher Lee looked like at different ages, right? The first episode to feature Dooku was when Qui-Gon was still his padawan, so he was very young. The design kind of looked like Dracula, which will be very appropriate if Monkey Boy ever reviews that NECA Hammer Horror figure. The second time we saw him was years later, and he'd grown the beard that would define him the rest of his life. Swappable heads are not common in The Black Series, but this figure gets both those looks. Fun! His cape is technically removable, but it's not meant to be taken off: the (plastic) chain that holds it and plugs into holes in the figure's chest, so if you pull that out, the holes will be right there to see. The cape is very nicely tailored, with shaped shoulders and a seam across the middle, then printed details at the top to suggest the stitching designed onto the animated version. That is above expectations for Hasbro. And it makes any character who comes with a plastic cape look stupid. Because the cape is softgoods, it doesn't block the joints at all. Jedi Master Dooku moves at the head, neck, pecs, shoulders, elbows, wrists, waist, hips, thighs, knees, and ankles. The PVC skirt of his tunic can mess with the legs a little, but it's more distracting that the figure has swivels both in the thigh and in the knee. Why? Both those turn the same way all the time; if you're already doing swivel/hinge knees, then don't bother with the thigh joint and instead put it at the top of the boot, so we can actually turn the feet. Also, the physical knee joint is lower than the sculpt would suggest it is, which is mildly dissonant every time you bend it. Hasbro's big new plan to try justifying charging $30 for a base-line figure is to include a second lightsaber blade: in addition to the normal straight one, they're now including a "motion blur" version, which is pretty much a big triangle. It's as unimpressive as it sounds. It's a solid color, instead of fading out, which means it was already done better five years ago. And back then, his lightsaber hilt got a paint app for the hand grip instead of just a little bit of grey on the pommel area, too. It's unexpected that Tales of the Jedi Dooku would get an action figure, but not unwelcome. Making him look like younger versions of Christopher Lee was at once perfectly logical and surprisingly clever, and the fact the figure has two heads to portray two different episodes is great. The lightsaber effect is kind of pointless, though, so a $27.99 MSRP is not in any way correct. -- 05/16/26 What's your favorite Christopher Lee role that's not Dracula or Lord of the Rings? Tell us on our message board, the Loafing Lounge.