The Offworld Jawa was a relatively surprise inclusion in Wave 22 of the Star Wars Black Series, a wave that was released on Triple Force Friday to celebrate upcoming Star Wars properties - The Rise of Skywalker, The Mandalorian and Jedi : Fallen Order. The Jawa turned out to be the 2nd of the Mandalorian figures included as they would feature in the second episode "The Child".
Packaging 4/5
The Offworld Jawa is number 96 in the 3rd phase of Black Series releases, and arrives in the usual black box with red side spine and figure backdrop. There is no reference to The Mandalorian on the package. The Gregory Titus artwork depicts a Jawa with their glowing eyes from beneath the hood.
The back of the box carries a larger image of this illustration and a short piece of text which actually gives us some more details on how the Jawa's from The Mandalorian left Tatooine and made their way to Arvala-7.
"Ships travelling to and from Tatooine have resulted in some Jawas leaving their desert home-world. Those that do arrive on new planets continue their old habits in their new surroundings, but their obsessive need for technology still drives them."
Paint & Sculpt 3/5
The Offworld Jawa utilises the existing Jawa sculpt with soft goods robes now applied over the body. To do this the Hasbro team have retained the existing hood and sleeve sculpt and added the robe over the body - losing the skirt section from the original figure. The ammo straps remain in place as does the Shock Blaster and hose section.
The addition of the soft goods in grey does make the Jawa look bulkier and also will help articulation of the lower legs. The paint applied is neat from the eyes - now red and not yellow - to the weathered leather brown of the ammo pouches.
Like a lot of soft goods, they do lack a realism at 1/12 scale and can sit quite flat rather than fold and flow like real robes. Considering the team could have got away with repainting the existing Jawa in grey the soft goods are an interesting choice to differentiate the figure and I wonder if a soft goods original Tatooine Jawa is also in the works?
Accessories 2/5
The Offworld Jawa is armed the same as the original Tatooine Jawa with the shock blaster attached to the figure and a second Ion blaster weapon also included.
The shock blaster is cast in black with brown painted stock and weapon body. A flexible tube snakes from the gun to a pack on the Jawa's belt, meaning the weapon is permanently fixed to the figure. Holding the weapon is tough with the Jawa's small hands and the shape of the barrel but it can be done, just not in a firing position. This was an issue on the original Jawa and one Hasbro have not fixed for this new release. When not in use the Shock Blaster can be slotted into a holster on the belt.
The Ion blaster is cast in dark plastic with a rusty brass paint job over most of it, leaving it looking worn and weathered. It too can't be held in the traditional manner and is left with the Jawa sort of holding it from above and out to the side rather than in a firing pose.
While these accessories ar "ok" and consistent with what we see on screen, an opportunity has been missed here by not including something new and relevant to the episode such as The Egg?
Articulation 3/5
Despite the small frame, the Jawa still includes 16 points of articulation in total.
Head : ball joint neck
Body : waist ball joint
Arms : ball joint shoulders, single joint rotating elbow, wrist pivot
Legs : ball joint hips, thigh swivel, single joint rotating knees, ankle rockers
While on paper this is positive, the joints themselves are quite restricted. The head barely moves due to the shape of the hood, and the arms too are not very mobile with the width of the sculpted sleeve beneath the soft goods. We also know the hands are not big enough or mobile enough to hold a weapon.
The legs should be more maneuverable thanks to the removal of the sculpted skirt and replacement with soft goods. Unfortunately the legs joints are not upgraded and with only a single joint knee that barely bends, there is no real advantage of the soft goods in posing.
Summary
The Offworld Jawa is an odd choice to fill in the 2nd slot for The Mandalorian in Wave 22, and there are many other choices that would have been preferable such as Kuill or even IG-11 (who went on to be an exclusive).
The figure is a rehash of the existing Jawa with soft goods the only real update aside from the new paint job. This means issues with arm articulation and the ability to hold his weapons are still present, and with no upgrade to the leg articulation the soft goods add no real value in posing.
He is however a very good looking figure with a bit of work, and will look better in groups if you want to go down the route of army building these.
The Offworld Jawa scores a just above average 3 out of 5.
action figures, reviews, review, articulation, star wars, black series, the mandalorian, hasbro, jawa, offworld,
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