Toy Review: Hermi Odle (Hasbro Star Wars)

I was a huge Star Wars collector for about a decade but after Revenge of the Sith I took a much-needed Star Wars hiatus. I swore off Star Wars for a few years just to cleanse my collecting palate. I'm now dipping my feet a little back into the Star Wars pond (or, more appropriately, vast oceanic expanse), but only in that I'm trying to get the figures that I think I'll regret not getting later. One of those figures is Hermi Odle.

Stats
Year Released: 2007
Company: Hasbro
Size: 3 3/4" scale
Price: My sample was payment for webpage work (thanks, Chad!) but Hermi can be bought for $5-$10 carded on eBay
Packaging: Carded

Looks:
Hermi looks like an overweight hairless sloth with his face smashed-in. And this figure captures that disaster of a face really well. There's a good deal of sculpting detail in his skin, hands, and tongue (which is a good thing, considering his tongue is his most prominent feature). The paint apps are adequate, if a bit monochromatic. I've seen pics of the real Hermi costume that have a lot of interesting color variation (like this one) that the figure lacks. But the washes help to give the skin some texture and depth. You can lift up his robe and see all the interesting skin textures.

Speaking of which, the soft-goods robe just doesn't work. It's thin enough that it looks better than the soft-goods on most SW figures, but it has a tendency to be somewhat unruly and flow all over the place. I would have much preferred a plastic removable robe or a robe sculpted into the figure's mold.

Articulation:
Hermi Odle has 11 points of articulation: hinge jaw, ball hinge shoulders, swivel wrists, swivel waist, swivel hips, and ball-hinged ankles. The shoulders are pretty tough to move and have very limited backward movement given the sculpt of the shoulder sockets. Also, the sculpt of the legs and the character's design make the ankles useless, for all intents and purposes. But the articulated jaw is awesome and gives the figure a lot of character.

Accessories:
Hermi's weapon is a vibro-ax that's so thin it seems puny in Hermi's huge mitts. It might bend or break if not stored properly, so be careful. He also comes with a coin, the shine of which mesmerizes me (remember my stupefying love of shiny things). The robe is not removable unless you plan to cut it, which I would not recommend because it fits very loosely on the figure and you wouldn't get it to stay particularly well if it wasn't attached. Also, the robe is very thin and I suspect it might rip if you're not careful.

Value:
You probably won't be getting in any bidding wars on eBay for this figure. You can get Hermi for about five bucks on eBay, which is a little less than his original retail price. That's certainly an acceptable deal. The plastic is nice and heavy, and he's one of the most substantial basic Star Wars figures (Ephant Mon and Muftak are probably the only ones that are larger).

Coolness:
Many of the Jabba's Palace creature designs are among my all-time faves: Amanaman, Ephant Mon, Rancor, and Jabba himself are some of the coolest aliens ever. Hermi Odle doesn't quite make it into that list, but he's close. The coolest Star Wars aliens are the weird ones, and this dude certainly is weird.

Overall:
Hermi's sculpt is great, showcasing his weird countenance well. But a few improvements would make this figure awesome: a plastic removable robe, better movement, and a more substantial weapon, to be specific. This is probably the only Hermi Odle we'll get, but he's good enough for me to be cool with it.