'Star Wars' Collectibles & Toys Review: 'Star Wars Black Series: Grand Moff Tarkin'

Photo Credit and © 2018 Hasbro, Inc. and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL) 

Hi, there, Dear Reader! It's Thursday, March 28, 2019, and it's a nice spring day in my corner of Florida. And, as you can see, it's time for another Star Wars action figure review. In this installment of A Certain Point of View, I'll be talking about the Star Wars Black Series 6-inch scale action figure based on Grand Moff Tarkin, the Governor of the Imperial Outlands and commander of the Galactic Empire's ultimate weapon - the Death Star.

Released early last year as part of a consignment that included Death Star Trooper, Han Solo, Jawa, Range Trooper, and Lando Calrissian, Grand Moff Tarkin (Black Series figure #60) marked the debut as a 6-inch figure of the fearsome Imperial villain from Star Wars - Episode IV: A New Hope. Hasbro intended it as an April release to whet fans' appetite for Solo: A Star Wars Story and related merchandise, but many retailers put this wave of figures on store shelves as soon as it arrived in March of 2018.

An ambitious, ruthless proponent of military power, Wilhuff Tarkin became a favorite of Emperor Palpatine and rose rapidly through the Imperial ranks. - Hasbro character description 

The Empire's sinister and conniving bureaucrat is depicted in his gray Imperial officer's uniform, with its blue-red-orange rank tabs, silver code cylinders, and matching black belt and military-style boots.

The figure, which has nine points of articulation and is an all-new original sculpt that bears a striking resemblance to the late Peter Cushing, doesn't come with a blaster pistol or other Imperial-issue personal weapon. Instead, Hasbro has seen fit to more appropriately adding an IT-O model interrogator droid identical to the one Darth Vader uses in his interrogation of a captive Princess Leia Organa aboard the first Death Star in A New Hope. The Interrogator Droid figure comes with a transparent stand to replicate its movie counterpart's ability to float through the air with the aid of repulsorlifts.

Unlike Hasbro's 1990s Power of the Force 3.75-inch action figure, this Star Wars Black Series sticks to the character's depiction in Star Wars - Episode IV: A New Hope and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and doesn't arm the ruthless Governor Tarkin with a blaster. Instead, he has a menacing IT-O interrogator droid to intimidate and torture his enemies with. Photo Credit and © 2018 Hasbro, Inc. and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL) 

Princess Leia Organa: No! Alderaan is peaceful! We have no weapons, you can't possibly...

Governor Tarkin: [impatiently] You would prefer another target, a military target? Then name the system! I grow tired of asking this so it will be the last time: *Where* is the rebel base?

Princess Leia Organa: ...Dantooine. They're on Dantooine.

Governor Tarkin: There. You see, Lord Vader, she can be reasonable. Continue with the operation; you may fire when ready.

Princess Leia Organa: WHAT?


Governor Tarkin: You're far too trusting. Dantooine is too remote to make an effective demonstration - but don't worry; we will deal with your rebel friends soon enough.

My Take

When Kenner Toys, a Cincinatti-based subsidiary of General Mills, introduced its 3.75-inch action figures 41 years ago, Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin was the only major character of the original Star Wars movie that was not immortalized with his own miniature likeness. He wasn't one of the original 12 released in 1978 after Kenner's famous "Empty Box" campaign, nor was he included in any of the other 12-figure waves that came after in the various Kenner collections, even as other characters (mainly Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia Organa, Han Solo, and Lando Calrissian)  were given variants such as Luke Skywalker (X-Wing Pilot) and Princess Leia Organa (Hoth Outfit). 

In fact, even though Kenner did produce a 12-inch action figure of the gaunt, icy blue-eyed Imperial Governor, the company only went as far as making a prototype for a Power of the Force 3.75-inch figure that was canceled when Kenner ceased production of its Star Wars line in 1986. (Tarkin finally got his due in 1997 when Hasbro-owned Kenner released a Grand Moff Tarkin 3.75-inch figure as part of the rebooted Power of the Force collection.)


This 6-inch-scale Grand Moff Tarkin figure is carefully detailed to look like the character from Star Wars: A New Hope. Figure features premium detail and 9 points of articulation.  Hasbro's Star Wars website product page

I have that 1990s Power of the Force figure (still in its carded bubble packaging) stored away in one of my many moving boxes, and although I'm fond of it for sentimental reasons, I must admit that I like this new Star Wars Black Series figure more.

Why?

Well, not only do the 6-inch figures have more detail and can be posed in more lifelike stances, but Hasbro wisely decided to not add accessories that the character did not use in the movie. I mean, seriously. Tarkin is more of a bureaucrat than a combat officer at this point in his career; with the Death Star under his command, thousands of Imperial stormtroopers at his beck and call, and even the Emperor's right-hand man, Darth Vader, at his side, does anyone think that Wilhuff Tarkin needs a blaster or an E-11 blaster rifle?

Still, an unarmed Imperial bureaucrat, even one as high-ranking as Tarkin, isn't intimidating, so Hasbro saw fit to include an IT-O droid and a transparent plastic base along with the basic figure. The interrogator droid is mostly black, with red and silver detailing that closely resembles the original torture robot seen in A New Hope. 

This figure is difficult to find in local stores, but several online sellers, including the Disney Store and Amazon, carry it. I got mine at the Disney Store; it's my birthday month, and because I'm a registered member, I got a 25% discount on my order.