When a line gets as huge as Star Wars (something like 400 figures) it's inevitable that things will get a bit repetitious and, dare I say, stale. I had pretty much given up on Star Wars... that is, before Ephant Mon came along! This figure is a home-run for Hasbro, who I feel really needed a resounding success to keep people interested. Let's break it down (on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the best):
Sculpt/Paint: 5 Fantastic! Hasbro really pulled out all the stops for this one, with excellent detail in Ephant's grotesque visage. The folds and the rough edges of the robe really look great. The paint really adds a wonderful texture to the figure. The paint seemed pretty well applied on all the Ephant Mons I saw in the store, with no real major screw-ups.
Articulation: 4 The articulation is pretty much as good as you can get with a character as abstract as this. There are seven points of real articulation (shoulders, wrists, hips, and jaw). I would have liked to be able to pose it a bit more, like maybe with some elbow joints, but that's kind of nit picking. The jaw articulation really makes the figure fun! And speaking of which...
Fun Factor: 4 Ephant comes with a cane that can double as a vibro blade! Oh one more thing... the figure is HUGE!!! You'll be surprised that the figure only costs $5! But for a perfect score, I would have liked some kind of action feature, or sounds, or something to really make the figure fun to play with. As it is, it looks great as a part of a Jabba's Palace diorama, but you won't spend too much time goofing around with it.
Coolness: 5 Ehpant Mon has been one of my favorite background aliens for a long time, and this figure really does the cool ugliness of Ephont justice! Move over, Amanaman, here comes Ephont Mon!
Overall: 4.5 out of 5 This is one of the few times that I feel like I've gotten my money's worth out of a Star Wars figure! Does the greatness of this figure get me back into Star Wars collecting? Not really... but if Hasbro keeps this up, maybe they can get my interest back!
EDIT (9/25/03): You know, many times a toy seems really cool at first, but loses that coolness quite quickly, leaving me to ask myself, "Why the hell did I buy this?" I've decided to add another factor to my older reviews to reflect this...
Staying Power: 4 out of 5 After many months, Ephant Mon is still an interesting display piece at my work desk. This guy's a keeper for my permanent toy collection.
Adjusted Overall: 4.4 out of 5
-Nathan
Edited by Tortle, 25 September 2003 - 12:04 PM.