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Another "Gaming Greats" figure no one actually had a chance to get, thanks to the worldwide shutdown.
Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic II features Darth Nihilus, a Sith Lord so lost to the dark side that he became an endlessly hungry void.
Fittingly for a line of figures based on the various Star Wars games there have been over the years, the Gaming Greats were meant to be exclusive to GameStop. But without stores being open, what they functionally became was exclusive to scalpers. I had to get mine (both today's figure and Jango) from a dealer at a local con. Fortunately, there wasn't a huge markup, because he was willing to haggle, but I still hate giving money to someone just because they're standing between me and a store shelf.
This is not the first Darth Nihilus action figure there's been: the previous one was only available in a 2008 three-pack, so it wasn't exactly plentiful itself, but I don't think anyone was expecting to get a 6" version any time soon. That one had a removable hood, revealing that, thanks to the way continuity worked in the pre-Disney days, Nihilus canonically wore his hair in tight dreadlocks; this new one doesn't share that feature, just the "Spirited Away No-Face"-inspired skull mask.
At first, I was disappointed in Darth Nihilus. He wears black robes, so the majority of his molds are reused from Darth Maul - something that would have been minorly annoying if I could have just gotten this toy myself, but really chaps my cheeks when I had to pay a scalper tax. His new parts include the upper arms (no longer poofy) and the skirt portions of his robe (longer and kind of tattered), so he does look at least minorly different. He also wears a full-length softgoods cape, something that helps set him apart from the crowd.
Reused body means reused articulation. Darth Maul Nihilus has swivel/hinge rocker ankles, double-hinged knees, swivel thighs, balljointed hips and torso, swivel/hinge wrists, elbows and shoulders, a hinged neck, and a balljointed head. He can get into all sorts of dynamic poses, just like you'd want him to. None of the joints are hard to move, but they hold their position perfectly. The cape doesn't block things at all, obviously, and the skirt bits are soft enough PVC to let the legs move nicely.
The lightsaber is new. Its hilt looks even more like a dildo than normal lightsabers do,
all curved and ribbed and whatnot. The red blade is removable, but there's no tab or anything that will let the hilt plug into his waist or so forth.
The fact that this figure could reuse 90% of its sculpt is probably the only reason Hasbro opted to make it - KOTOR2 is not quite as beloved as the original, and while Nihilus has a great look, he's not so popular to be guaranteed a figure without some corners being cut. The biggest problem is that you're forced into the secondary market to get him.
-- 10/17/21
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