Review – Star Wars 12″ Zuckuss

“The bounty hunter Zuckuss uses the mystic religious rituals of findsman traditions dating back centuries on his gaseous homeworld of gand. His uncanny abilities make other bounty hunters uneasy. Zuckuss is a tireless tracker and weirdly effective.”
— from the back of the box

Back in the early eighties, Kenner managed to provide us with all six of the bounty hunters from The Empire Strikes Back; Boba Fett, IG-88, Bossk, Dengar, Zuckuss and 4-LOM . . . well, that’s where things got weird. For the longest time, you see, Star Wars fans were forced to contend with Zuckuss the droid and 4-LOM the bug-eyed alien monster. In fact, I remember that the very first time I saw the new (for then, it was the 90s) 4-LOM figure with the Zuckuss name I thought Kenner/Hasbro had made a mistake. Today I can freely admit that, yes, 4-LOM is a more reasonable name for a droid than Zuckuss. But still, rewriting a chunk of your childhood memory can take some work and to this day I still call Zuckuss 4-LOM. One of the few “official” places I can find a reference to the name change, the Star Wars Action Figure Archive (published in 1999), says:

“The new Hasbro action figure has corrected the character’s name to Zuckuss, a change brought about originally by West End Games.”

And I still remember my very first encounter with 4-LOM (now Zuckuss) very well. It was a Saturday morning when the following commercial popped up:

No doubt I had to have a 4-LOM figure.

But none of that’s important to this review.

Nice Costume

The first thing I noticed as I freed Zuckuss from the packaging was his outfit and accessories. In his review at www.mastercollector.com Thomas Wheeler writes:

“Zuckuss is very nicely outfitted in a leather-like robe, to which has been attached an assortment of native gear to aid him in his bounty hunting. He also comes with a heavy assault blaster rifle. The figure’s eerie alien head has been very well designed. Zuckuss has excellent overall articulation, and movement is not terribly hindered by the thick robe he’s wearing.”

Overall, Zuckuss’ accessories and costume are quite well-done (especially for a 12-inch figure from Hasbro). The blaster could use some paint details — it’s simply molded gray plastic without any detailing at all — and the harness needs some extra details, but the final product is quite pleasing and Zuckuss actually looks pretty good when he’s by himself on the shelf (just don’t stand him next to one of the Sideshow 12″ figures; see below).

My only real complaint with Zuckuss’ outfit is the fact that his sleeves are too long; the poor guy’s hands get hidden and I have to keep pushing his sleeves up to reveal his hands. Zuckuss needs to take some money and see a tailor.

Poor Articulation

I disagree with Wheeler’s assessment that Zuckuss has “excellent overall articulation.” The action figure has Barbie-like articulation, with the legs made of a rubbery material that has that familiar “click and lock” movement feature you see on Barbie toys. I haven’t tried to remove all of Zuckuss’ accessories or his robe to get a look at the details, but from feeling around (quiet, you) I can tell that he’s got a hinged elbow, ball jointed shoulder, and his wrists, head, and waist have some swivel to them.

The good news is that Zuckuss does stand pretty well, and has reasonably excellent balance for a 12-inch tall chunk of plastic. Even without a stand I’ve managed to get Zuckuss into some nice poses, so I guess his articulation isn’t all bad. I really do dislike those Barbie joints, though.

He’s Definitely Not From Sideshow

Over the past few months I’ve managed to score some of the Sideshow Collectibles 12-inch Star Wars figures and I don’t think anyone would argue when I say: Zuckuss is more doll than collectible figure. Comparing Zuckuss to one of the Sideshow 12-inch figures is like comparing the original 1982 4-LOM action figure to one of today’s Star Wars action figures; the quality differences are so great that the newer figure looks 1000x better than the old. It’s not that Zuckuss is a bad toy. It’s just that the Sideshow toys are infinitely superior pieces of art.

Poor Zuckuss. Maybe he’ll get the Sideshow treatment.

Closing Thoughts

Zuckuss is a decent 12-inch figure that has been harmed by time and the amazing quality of the Sideshow Collectibles 12-inch action figure line. As a toy, Zuckuss is tops, with excellent toy-like accessories and poseability, while as an art collectible he suffers from being too much of a toy. It feels unfair to mark Zuckuss down as a lesser toy only because of the Sideshow series — especially when you consider that this Zuckuss cost $20 while a Sideshow Zuckuss (if they were to make one) would no doubt cost $100-$120 — but I just can’t help myself.

If you want a 12-inch Zuckuss that looks okay on the shelf, but has an excellent price, you can’t lose with this guy. Hell, at the moment this is the only 12-inch Zuckuss available so if you want one this is your man. There’s no reason for you to wait for a possible future toy when there’s a perfectly adequate toy available today.

Hmmmm. That’s not exactly a raving endorsement. Sorry, Zuckuss. I just can’t get too excited about you when I’ve got a 12-inch Imperial Commander that looks awesome.

You can see a few more photos of the 12-inch Zuckuss at Toy Haven.

Philip Reed wonders if it’s a stupid idea to try to find all six of the bounty hunters from this line. Would a collection of six semi-okay 12-inch bounty hunters look good in the display case or would they just look like a bunch of cheap dolls?