Romba & Graak

Romba (the reddish brown 'wok)  is one of the figures fans have been looking forward to for awhile.  The POTF2 generation hasn't seen him, but he was part of the vintage Kenner line.   Apparently, Graak is another characters that has been renamed and changed.  He's almost the vintage Lumat with different colored fur.  (See this Wookiepedia article.)

Both Ewoks are of the generic variety.  You have to think that the costume department for Return of the Jedi mixed and matched fur color, head covering, and weapons to fill out the Ewok ranks.

Romba's face is a good example of improvements in paint since the vintage line.  The pink around the eyes and lips are well done.  Where the vintage Romba has the glossy plastic look of a teddy bear, this version has the angry warrior look of a crazed chipmunk.

While the paint on Romba's face and toes is good, there's none on the hood.  While the rest of the figure has all the sculpting improvements of the modern figures, the plain hood looks like something out of the Kenner era.  A leather like wash or some paint on the tie details would have gone a long way to improving this fella.

While Romba's hood is a letdown, Graak's is what we've come to expect.  The very slight wash really gives the hood the look of leather.  Not too much, not too little, the wash is perfect. 

Graak's body is dry brushed a bit to give some variety to the pattern of his fur.  While it's not perfect, it's not bad.  He's considerably better than the frosted Hoth Chewbacca of a few years ago.  Furred characters are some of the hardest to portray in action figure form, but the newer Ewoks make a pretty good stab at it.

Overall, this two figures are a good representation of the Ewok horde in the film.  They're generic enough that you could mix and match them a bit and have some more background rabble in your vintage Ewok village.  (I don't have one, but have been thinking about making a diorama for a shelf that's half Endor / half Kashyyyk...but I digress)

Two figures on a card are always going to be fun.  As soon as your free both of them from their blister card stasis, you've got an instant Ewok hunting party.  How cool is that?

I'd never thought I'd like Ewoks with more articulation, but I do.  The wrists, ankles and shoulders really give them a decent number of poses available.  The one joint that is out of place on both of them is the waist.  Yeah, I know people like cut waists.  In this case it detracts from both of the sculpts.  Also, you'd be hard pressed to find any footage in ROTJ where an Ewok pivoted at the waist.  The costumes wouldn't allow it.

I was a little disappointed with the articulation on Graak.  It's the same issue I had with the 25th Anniversary Storm Shadow.  He can't use his bow.  He can hold it, but can't draw it.  It's a combination of articulation and the sculpt of the bow.  If the string of the bow was an actual string, it would help a bit.  The hard sculpt of the bow just doesn't bend the right way.  (Ed. note:  The vintage Lumat shared this malady.)

To match up to the bow are three tiny stone tipped arrows.  The arrows tuck neatly away in the quiver over Graak's shoulder.  Pretty nifty.  However, the arrows don't lock on to the bow.  The arrows are so tiny Graak can't grip them, either. 

Romba comes well armed with a spear and a knife.  These tiny Ewok knives continue to amaze me.  It has a tiny painted blade, and it fits in a small sheath that attaches to his belt.  Impressive, most impressive.

Being a 30th Anniversary figure, this duo comes with the requisite coin.  I have to say, a year or so later, I kind of miss these.