Umpass Stay

That being said, any alien is typically a welcome figure so lets check him out.

Appearance:

The first thing you notice about this guy is his size.  He's huge.  Even in the package he looks big.  His knees are bent (permanently) so he's a bit hunched over.  If he was standing straight he'd tower over regular figures.

His appearance though isn't too bad.  He's actually a pretty detailed intricate figure for somebody that just wants to bang on the drum all day.  His shoulder piece is painted wonderfully and is removable.

His head cover is also removable.  Underneath is a head that reminds me of Killer Croc from Batman.  The original comic book version, not the animated stuff kids like today.

Overall, I was actually impressed with the looks of this guy. 

Fun:

Umpass is a drummer, so he's got some accessories, of course.  He's got half of the big drum that he beats a rhythm on.   The drum is okay.  I'm reserving my total opinion until I see both halves together.   In the film, the drum is seen edgewise.  I wondering how bad the seam will look in a display like that.  It's great to see another diorama size piece with a figure, even if it's only half.  I've played with using mirrors in some of my displays, might have to try the drum that way.

 And to tap out that beat he's got some sort of large drum stick.  It looks like a big bullet with a stick and some straps or strings coming off of it.  In all probably one of the worse accessories we've seen in awhile.  The head of the, um, stick is painted to look like, well no drumstick I've ever seen.  It would have been nice to have real texture instead of this paint effect.

The drumstick actually fits in clip on the middle of Umpass's belt.  Head up or head down doesn't look good either way.   I had to refrain from taking the pic that way, this is a PG rated site after all.  A loop on the stick and a hook on the belt would have been much better, well a hook to one side that is.

Hidden under the shoulder pads and head cover is some nifty articulation.  Both shoulders are ball jointed, as well as his head.  The head articulation is limited due to the head piece when it's on, but customizers will love it.  Cut wrists and elbows go along with those joints.

The coin was the first one I'd seen with the Jabba logo on the back.  It actually looks cooler reversed.

Now, the three things  I think could be better on this figure.  due to the nature of holding the drum stick, this figures hands and arms have a natural tendency to look like they are holding the stick.  When the drum utensil isn't in his hands, he looks like he's, uh, holding his stick.  'Nuff said

The second thing is his legs.  I'd give up wrists or elbows to have knees on this figure.  I'm sure they were cut due to the drum accessory.   But, as pointed out on the Sir Steve's Guide forum, this figure is devilishly hard to get to stand up.  Cut ankles help, but not much.  You'll probably end up using the drum to prop him up.

Third thing is his size.  Or the drum size. Or a combination of both.  By looking at the card back you see Umpass standing on both feet striking the middle of the drum with his stick.  However, the figure hits the drum near the top.  This will get him kicked out of band camp.  The drum should in reality be about twice as big as it is.  Or maybe Umpass should be a bit smaller.  Like about the size of Barrada.  Check out the bottom picture. 

Overall:

Like I said above, aliens are always welcome.  I know a lot of people really like the Jabba's palace aliens, and I'm sure will love Umpass Stay.  It's great to see more big accessories, it really adds to displays.

However, to me, this figure, while a great concept and never made character, is just a couple of beats off on the execution. 

(Check out our review of Ak-Rev, Umpass's partner here.)

Engineernerd Score: 85/100

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