'Star Wars' Collectibles & Toys Review: Hasbro 'Star Wars Saga Screen Scene Pack: Jedi High Council 2'

Photo Credit: Rebelscum.com. (C) 2003 Hasbro Inc. and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL) 

The Jedi High Council is the main interface between the Jedi and the government of the Republic. The twelve High Council members are chosen from the ranks of the Jedi Masters and represent a gathering of great minds who have proven themselves and their abilities in the service of peace and justice. – Package blurb, Jedi High Council 2, Star Wars Saga Collection Screen Scene Pack

During the first quarter of 2003, Hasbro released the second wave of its revamped Star Wars collection of action figures, vehicles, creatures, and other toys and collectibles based on the popular franchise created by George Lucas. The Star Wars line – which was dubbed the Star Wars Saga collection by various collectors even though Hasbro never officially used the moniker on the new logo – featured many products based on Star Wars – Episode II: Attack of the Clones, but it offered toys and collectibles from the other films as well.

Screen Scenes – Hasbro’s new product name for the company’s three-figure sets that were essentially mini-dioramas of specific scenes from the Star Wars films – were among the most sought-after offerings from the Star Wars Saga collection. One of the Wave 2 Screen Scenes was Jedi Council 2, a “three-pack” derived from a scene in Star Wars – Episode I: The Phantom Menace.

As the name indicates, Jedi Council 2 features three prominent Jedi Masters that were on the High Council 32 years before the Battle of Yavin. They are:

• Yarael Poof: a male Quermian Jedi Master who served as a Council member during the waning years of the Galactic Republic. Like all Quermians, Master Poof has four arms and two brains; he is an expert at using mind tricks, and he prefers to use them even though he is also highly skilled with a lightsaber. 
• Depa Billaba: a human female from Chalacta and former Padawan to Mace Windu, the head if the Jedi High Council. Depa was present when Anakin Skywalker was brought in front of the Council by Qui-Gon Jinn and presented by the late Jedi Master as the legendary “Chosen One.” Many years later, she took a young Caleb Dume as her apprentice during the Clone Wars.
• Yaddle: a female Jedi Master of the same species as Grand Master Yoda and a member of the High Council at the time of the Naboo Crisis. Younger than Yoda (by about 300 years) he was in the Council Chambers when Anakin Skywalker’s Force abilities were evaluated by Jedi Master Windu and was one of the Masters who opposed his entry into the Jedi Order. She stepped down from the Council shortly after the Battle of Naboo and was replaced by Coleman Trebor.

My Take

Jedi Council 2 was produced and released in the same wave of Hasbro Star Wars products as Jedi Council 1. Its base – which replicates the floor of the High Council Chambers in the Jedi Temple – is designed to mate with the base of other Jedi Council sets, including four subsequent Screen Scene sets from Hasbro’s Star Wars: The Original Trilogy product line, to create a “complete” Jedi High Council collection. (I don’t have any of the later sets, regrettably.)  

Oddly, even though this Screen Scene is called Jedi Council 2, Hasbro decided to highlight characters from The Phantom Menace instead of Attack of the Clones, the source film for the previous Screen Scene, Jedi Council 1.  It’s designed to be visually consistent with the other Jedi Council sets – even ones that were only in the design pipeline in 2003 – down to the “angry sunset” backdrop and simulated Council Chamber décor; however, this concept only works if you ignore the films’ internal chronology and focus on the coolness factor of having a complete Jedi Council collection.

Interestingly, Hasbro chose two feature two female Jedi Masters – Depa Billaba, whose fate was revealed in Disney XD’s Star Wars Rebels animated series; and Yaddle, a character based on an initial idea for a younger Yoda that was dropped from the script of The Phantom Menace and morphed into the auburn haired Yaddle – and Yarael Poof, a decidedly alien Jedi who resembles one of the long-necked denizens that visit Earth in Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Per the Star Wars Encyclopedia, Master Poof has four arms and two brains, but the action figure based on the character depicts him with only two arms. 

The three figures are nicely done; they’re not as finely sculpted/painted as, say, the newer Black Series action figures currently in production, but Hasbro’s early 21^st Century manufacturing tools and computer-assisted-design technology gave them better detailing than their 1970s Kenner precursors. Overall, the detailing on the figures is good, although – like most of the female characters in Star Wars – Depa Billaba’s face seems to have been the most difficult to depict on a figure that small.

The overall look of Depa’s 3.75-inch plastic avatar is good; you can see at least one of her Chalactan Marks of Illumination on her forehead, and Hasbro did a nice rendering of her braided hairstyle and her beige-under-brown Jedi robes. The figure in my Jedi Council 2 resembles Dipika O’Neill Joti, the actress who portrays her in Episode I, but photos of the Depa Billaba action figure in Rebelscum.com show that the quality of the sculpt/paint job varies slightly from figure to figure. 

 Yaddle is essentially a slightly smaller version of Yoda with auburn hair on top of her green-skinned head. Her Jedi outfit is tan and beige, but it has no “soft” (i.e. fabric) detailing on her costume. She also does not come with a lightsaber.

Because Jedi Council 2 is a “static” Screen Scene, I don’t recommend taking the figures out of the package unless you are going to create a large Jedi Council diorama.

Yes, the figures have the five basic points of articulation (head, shoulders, and hips) that allow you to pose the figures in other positions than the “default” one here – Yarael Poof and Yaddle are seated on the cool-looking High Council chairs designed by Gavin Bouquet for The Phantom Menace, while Depa Billaba stands between her fellow Council members. But unlike Jedi Council 1, which comes with a simulated hologram of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jedi Council 2 doesn’t come with any accessories (lightsabers, comlinks, or blasters) that would allow fans to create an action scene based on “head canon.”

As I said earlier, Jedi Council 2 depicts the Jedi Council’s High Chamber at the top of the Jedi Temple’s tallest spire; in addition to the Yarael Poof, Depa Billaba, and Yaddle, the Screen Scene includes the following accessories:

• Two Jedi Council Chairs
• Interlocking Base

See? This Screen Scene doesn’t include a treasure trove of Jedi equipment that the three Jedi Masters can use in imaginary settings outside the Jedi Council chambers. (Well, you could “borrow” loose lightsabers from other 3.75-inch Jedi figures, but I think it’s better to simply let sitting Jedi sit.)

If I were still actively collecting these days, I’d be scouring the galaxy for the other Jedi Council sets Hasbro produced in the 2000s just for the fun of having the whole Screen Scenes collection. Alas, my circumstances – lack of space for displaying my existing Screen Scenes/Cinema Scenes and financial limitations – only permit me to acquire a few token items from the new films. Consequently, I am just grateful what I have and enjoy looking at my two Star Wars Saga Jedi Council sets.

Hasbro recommends Star Wars Saga Screen Scene: Jedi Council 2 for children 4 and up, I'd say most buyers of this collectible would be more serious collectors over the age of 12.