Vault Review: Star Wars
The Clone Wars Embo

Vault

I hadn’t planned on buying a Star Wars figure on my latest toy hunt. I was going to just use my TRU Rewards coupon to pick up a 6″ War Machine. But when I saw Embo sitting on the peg, the battle had begun. I came back to him three different times before surrendering and buying both him and War Machine.

I had already taken a shine to Embo’s character before I’d ever seen the toy. He first appeared in The Clone Wars, season 2 episode 17, Bounty Hunters. A group of Felucian farmers hire some bounty hunters to protect them and their crop from pirates. When Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Ahsoka crash nearby they form an uneasy alliance with the bounty hunters and agree to help. The story is your basic The Seven Samurai plot line, which I’m a huge fan of. I enjoy everything from The Magnificent Seven to Soldier, so it was great seeing the idea adapted into the Star Wars Universe.

Embo is one of the bounty hunters hired by the farmers. He’s a male from the Kyuzo race and seems to be a regular part of the bounty hunter Sugi’s crew since the two have made a cameo in a later episode together. So why’s a character that’s only shown up in two episodes worth having a figure of? Much like his attire would suggest he’s a badass with a certain code of honor. Out of all the bounty hunters and Jedi, Embo seemed to take down the most pirates on his own. Yet he threw down his weapon to fairly fight a pirate he’d just disarmed. Little actions like this bring depth to his character even though we don’t know anything about his history.

Embo’s overall sculpt is really impressive and deceptive in its simplicity. His upper torso is covered in slatted body armor while his lower body is mostly covered by his skirt. This gives the impression of an almost flat figure, but as you get closer you begin to see these tiny details that were easy to overlook like the buttons on his wrist device.

The first thing I noticed was that his skin was actually textured and wrinkly. His pants legs are normal until you get down to his shins, which is where the wrappings start. This is one of those things I didn’t notice on the show, but Embo is actually wearing metal sandal-like shoes and the wrappings only cover his actual feet.

Embo’s head is just as impressive as his body. Not only are there textured wrinkles and bone plates, but his breathing device even has these tiny raised lines in its recesses. But in my opinion, these details pale in comparison to the look on his face. Embo has one of those wonderfully sculpted likenesses that can change in emotion with the angle you choose to put the head in. I love subtle features like this because it adds a whole new level to play and posing.

Embo’s armor is a rubbery plastic which can be easily removed. Like the rest of the body, it seem simple at first, but then you begin to see all the sculpted nicks and scratches that decorate it. His upper belt and skirt are also a soft plastic, but Hasbro made the interesting choice to make his lower skirt out of fabric. I’m not usually a big fan of fabric clothing on toys, but every time I seem to make an exception it’s with a Star Wars figure. They’re always able to blend the two mediums together better than anyone else it seems.

Like the sculpt, the paint job on this figure is something you really begin to appreciate the more you study him. There are large swaths of various browns that cover the majority of his body, but this really helps those tiny little details to stand out. For instance, his mouthpiece, wrist device and metal sandals have been given a metallic shine. His armor has also been given the look of metal, but this time it’s with a dry brush coating. This gives it a really great used and worn look. Continue to Page 2…

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18 thoughts on “Vault Review: Star Wars
The Clone Wars Embo”

    1. Is there a way to edit posts on this site? I hit enter by accident.

      Anyways, the episode alone is the reason I originally got him. After opening him up I was surprised by all that he had and came with. I’d honestly say he’s a contender on my list as well for one of this year’s best figures. I hope he shows up in the show again.

      P.S: If I’m correct, the name of his race, Kyuzo, is homage to one of the seven samurai’s names.

      1. Sorry, no edit button. I know I could use one sometimes.

        Yeah, I actually really liked that group of bounty hunters. I’m glad Sugi showed up again in the Chewbacca episode. It’s just too bad Embo wasn’t with her.

        You’re right about the name, it’s definitely inspired from the movie.

  2. star wars jedi sith lucas tatooine lightsabre hutt solo millenium falcon r2-d2 x-wing yoda mace old republic?

  3. Vault, you’re gonna get me collecting Star Wars figs again, dammit! 🙂

    Isn’t it amazing how Hasbro can do all this, all those paint apps over complicated shapes, all the spot-on accessories and all the new tooling, and Mattel can’t put biceps on the right way or paint eyes correctly?

    I bet Hasbro spends money on QC people on-site at the factories…

    1. Not to mention Hasbro’s working on a canvas that’s a fraction of the size of Mattel’s.

      1. I know, you’d think Mattel would have the advantage here. But if they do have one it seems to have been squandered down the line somewhere.

    2. While they’re not immune from paint problems (see early Iron man 2 figures), the fact that everything is put together correctly and the fact that they try to fix things (see the much improved paint on the Thor movie figures) makes the issues forgivable.

      Now if Mattel had a history of recognising problems and fixing them down the line, they might get some more slack.

      Back on topic, while I would love to get into these SW figures, the fact that they are true 3 3/4 scale and not 1/18 like the Marvel or Joe figures hurts them in my eyes. It’s a very small difference in height, but at this scale it becomes very noticable. And I’ve also been spoilt by the stronger articulation model on Joes and the various Marvel figures. Doesn’t stop me from picking up the occasional SW figure like kid!Boba though.

      1. This is something I’m really learning to appreciate in Hasbro. They actually work with the fans and collectors in trying to improve their products. It’s not that mistakes don’t happen, but that Hasbro actually admits and tries to rectify those mistakes.

        It would be cool if they could all be the exact same scale, but I think are too far in to change now.

    3. Sorry Steve, if I’m going down the Star Wars road again then I’m taking as many people with me as I can. 😛

      Yeah, I didn’t want to name any specific companies in the review, but you all know exactly what I alluding to.

  5. Damn, those swords look pretty cool on him. And you’re right, Samurai’s should have swords. I might have to pick up that Snake Eyes now.

    Thanks for the pics Fire.

  6. Cool review Vault. Great figure and one of the few CW characters I actually liked – the 7S reference is nice. More like this guys.

  7. I don’t often buy Star Wars figs, but will every once in a while go on a streak and pick up five or so, then go for a SW dry spell for a year. I just picked this guy up, and he is crazy cool. I just think he is a really cool design, and comes with some fun weapons. I love the battle damage on his hat/shield. This makes me want to give The Clone Wars series another chance, I’ve never been able to get into it.

  8. I was going to pass on him to save some money, but my wife picked him up for me and I was amazed at how cool he was. One of the better clone wars figs yet.

  9. Great review!

    Thanks to the consistency in quality that the Clone Wars series has been putting out, I’m clearing out my more realistic collection of the prequel movie figures and concentrating solely on the animated Clone Wars ones. The only exceptions being of course the realistic versions of the original animated ones (by Genndy Tartakovsky) that have been put out: Obi-Wan in clone armor, Yoda on Kybuck, Padme the SnowBunny, etc.

    @Vault: If you’re going to get swords for Embo, go for the POC Desert Battle Storm Shadow. He has 6 blades(!) and they have a slightly more sci-fi vibe than Snake Eyes…

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