Zaalbar, Revan's Wookiee companion in Knights of the Old Republic, was a surprise announcement for the Gaming Greats line - the Star Wars Black Series collection of Gaming figures. Zaalbar was number 4 in the Galaxy Collection packaging and follows on from the Jedi: Fallen Order Flametrooper.
Like all the Galaxy Collection packaging, the Gaming Greats have a cohesive colour scheme of ice blue and a side artwork panel that lines up to a bigger montage with the figures on either side. The same artwork of Zaalbar is repeated on the reverse of the box along with the Knights of the Old Republic logo. To the side of this sits some brief background text,
"You alone determine the destiny of the entire galaxy in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, featuring iconic Star Wars locations and original characters, like Zaalbar, a Wookiee who aids Revan in their quest"
Zaalbar follows suit with most Gaming Greats figures and is heavily based on an existing figure, namely the body for all the Black Series Chewbacca figures released to date. The body is cast in a lighter brown to Chewie but lacks any real paint apps other than on the palms of the hands and the toes.
The head is new and is a good representation of the in-game Zaalbar, but he still looks very much like Chewbacca - and if you threw on a bandoleer you would struggle to call him anything else. The differentiator is the chest strap which is an individual piece cast in red rubbery plastic.
Zaalbar is armed with a bowcaster, using the same sculpt as Chewie's weapon. It comes in two parts and arrives heavily warped both across the main body and particularly the sights. There is also warping on the crossbow section, although the fit is now tighter where the two parts connect.
Paint on the weapon includes a gold trim to the end of the crosspiece and some black on the handles. When not in use the bowcaster can be slung using a neat clip on the back of the chest straps. It is not overly obvious which bit of the bowcaster is meant to clip into place but I found the piece just next to the trigger is probably the most obvious and would allow Zaalbar to retrieve the slung weapon.
Zaalbar also includes the very impressive sword, Bacca's Ceremonial Blade. This is a huge piece, as tall as a standard Black Series figure and well painted with a silver blade, red trim and gold handle.
Articulation on Zaalbar is again the same as Chewbacca, and that means quite a bit of restriction around the neck and the arms with their singular joints held in with the fur sculpts. The legs work well enough for wider stances and action shots and the chest will move under the rubber straps for some more dynamic posing options.
Before its announcement, I knew nothing about Zaalbar and he is a character I am exploring further thanks to the figure. Gaming Greats is a side-line in the Black Series that many will choose to skip, but I do enjoy adding these background characters and troopers to my collection for added variation.
Zaalbar was never going to bring us a new Wookiee body, that wait will go on, and despite the new head sculpt this still looks a bit too much like Chewbacca with a new red strap. The bowcaster still disappoints with its bowed joints on arrival, but the Sword of Bracca is impressive.
One for the purists and fans of Knights of the Old Republic, and not a big miss for those collectors focusing on mainline movies and TV.
If you are reading this via a 3rd party website that is importing our newsfeed, please come and visit us directly and give us a follow on Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube. Checkout our direct news feed for more action figure news, reviews and store reports
About Me : As a child of the 70's and 80's I grew up in a golden age for action figures and in my youth bought and sold myself through collections of Star Wars, G.I. Joe (Action Force) and M.A.S.K. while also dabbling in He-Man, Transformers and Ghostbusters. Roll forward and I am now reliving that Youth with the action figures of today and am a collector and fan of the larger 6-8 inch figures from my favourite movie and TV licences - including the ones mentioned above, but also the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Doctor Who and the Aliens. I launched The Mephitsu Archives in 2015 with a view of creating a UK focused site or these figures where fans can pick up the latest action figure news, read reviews and get information on where to buy their figures and what is currently on store shelves. I hope I am delivering that to you guys...
action figures, reviews, review, articulation, star wars, black series, hasbro, zaalbar, knights of the old republic, gaming greats
Comments