Star Wars The Black Series Shaak Ti & Luminara Unduli review

Having more Jedi in the Black Series line is always a treat, especially since the Star Wars Prequels have plenty of characters, however prominent they can be, that are visually distinct from each other. Shaak Ti and Luminara Unduli weren't focused on much in Attack of the Clones or Revenge of the Sith, but they still filled in the gaps that somehow completed the universe like some Original Trilogy characters. For background info on the characters, Shaak Ti was one of the many masters best known for not just her involvement in the Clone Wars (from defeating Artel Darc and facing off against Grievous while surviving), but also her inconsistent deaths. One deleted scene has her killed by Grievous, another has her killed by Anakin, and then Starkiller shows up to kill her in The Force Unleashed. As for Luminara, she is known for her role as the advisor to the Supreme Chancellor and for training Barriss Offee (the good version, not the TCW version, hopefully) before she was slain during Order 66 on Kashyyyk. Let's see how these two figures turned out!

Here we have Shaak Ti in-hand, already showcasing some inconsistencies with the Black Series line and its approach to cloth goods. We just saw Black Series Leia with her outfit entirely sculpted, meanwhile, Hasbro gave this character the doll treatment, with the flaps near the front as PVC as well as there being some regular ABS for the torso peeking through. Obviously, it's trying to recreate the look of the Jedi robes in the movies, but can someone at Hasbro try finding a good balance? And if this is the intent, then could someone try explaining why Hasbro didn't have the bottom of the robes look worn out with the fraying threads on the floor? To the figure's credit, the flesh tones are natural, as is the detailing on the PVC parts of the figure to add some identity to this character's attire. There is also a hood in the back, though whether or not she would have it fit over her head remains to be seen. All I'm saying is that this amount of cloth-good material would easily contrast a Gaming Greats version of Shaak Ti where she's half-naked...assuming Hasbro would make one since they bent over for that one soccer dad who got mad at a Black Series Leia 30 years after Return of the Jedi came out.

As for Luminara, while her robes are in a single color instead of being two-tone like with Shaak Ti, this character does at least have a beautifully sculpted and painted middle piece for her attire, with the gold and the two different shades of red or orange popping on the black backdrop. The same also goes to her forearm guards, which are nice to see instead of more sleeve blocking the rest of the figure. There is a bit of gold on the necklace(?), but it's another case of the figure being swallowed by cloth.

The head sculpts for both figures are nicely detailed, but I need to ask if Luminara's head is meant to be smaller than it currently is. I get they wanted to retain the shape and proportions of her headset, which is thankfully a different color from her robes, but I find Shaak Ti stands out more thanks to her Togruta make-up and the head tails on the top and bottom.

With their specific lightsabers deployed, articulation is the same for both figures, with ball-jointed necks, shoulder rotation, outward arm movement, rotation at the elbows, elbow bends, wrist rotation, hinged wrists, diaphragm joints, ball jointed hips, rotation at the knees, hinged knees, and ankles that hinge and pivot. Overall, both figures are comparable to what we've come to expect from other Jedi figures like Ki-Adi-Mundi or Plo Koon, with the heavy use of robes and lightsabers being their sole accessories. They make great additions to your Black Series Prequel displays since they have unique designs despite not being that prominent as characters, but they're not the most mindblowing figures as is the case with most of the Black Series, regardless of what fiction there is (especially with raising prices and limited accessory count).

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐