In Star Wars collecting, Qui‑Gon sits in a weird, revered corner: he’s critical to the saga’s lore, but he doesn’t get anywhere near the merch volume of Obi‑Wan, Maul, or Darth Vader. High‑end, 6‑inch, super‑articulated Qui‑Gon figures are still comparatively rare; you basically have Black Series and S.H.Figuarts as the main viable options. This is the updated, 2024 re‑release of S.H.Figuarts Qui‑Gon Jinn, a version 2 figure commemorating The Phantom Menace’s 25th anniversary. It’s a 6‑inch figure under Bandai Spirits / Tamashii Nations’ S.H.Figuarts line, with new accessories and revised deco over the original late‑2010s release.
Over two decades after Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace thrust Qui-Gon Jinn into the galaxy—ruffling Jedi Council feathers with his “living Force” heresy before Maul’s double-bladed exit—Bandai Spirits has elevated him anew. Announced alongside refreshed Darth Maul and Obi-Wan Kenobi figures in late 2023 for a mid-2024 release, this S.H.Figuarts Qui-Gon (6 inches / 15cm) arrives as Prequel nostalgia peaks. No mere cash-in on anniversary hype; it’s a candid refinement of the 2017 original, confronting sculpt quirks and accessory gaps to deliver what feels like the most lore-true plastic tribute to Neeson’s doomed mentor. This figure sidesteps Episode I’s narrative pitfalls to spotlight its operatic Duel of the Fates core. In a franchise bloated with Vader clones and endless Troopers, Qui-Gon’s scarcity amplifies this release. No Jar Jar sidekick gimmicks here; Bandai targets obsessives craving screen fidelity over mass-market sheen. As a character‑defining release, this S.H.Figuarts Qui‑Gon Jinn hits the trifecta: strong likeness, excellent accessories, and articulation tuned for cinematic posing.
The inclusion of real textile outerwear at this scale is one of those details that separates a premium Japanese import figure from the kind of thing you find carded next to the registers at a discount retailer. The drape behaves like fabric because it is fabric, and it photographs accordingly. The lower skirt section is cast in a pliable material that flexes with posing rather than fighting it — a lesson Bandai learned across the Figuarts Star Wars line over years of iteration. Soft goods in this scale are notoriously divisive—some collectors love the realism, others see frayed edges and out‑of‑scale fabric and start reaching for the craft scissors—but here they’re implemented with enough structure and wiring to actually support dynamic posing. But the base figure is fully complete without them, with a strong sculpt and clean silhouette that still looks fantastic if you’re a “no cloth, all plastic” purist.
Body‑wise, the tunic, tabards, belt, and boots are sharply sculpted with crisp folds and panel lines that catch light nicely, especially with the modest paint wash Figuarts uses to bring out wrinkles and edges. The Jedi belt has well‑defined pouches and buckle details, plus attachment points for the lightsaber hilt, so you can do proper “lightsaber off, lecture on” poses. The hair is sculpted in long, pulled‑back strands with a tied section flowing over the shoulders, including sculpted texture and subtle color variation, rather than a flat plastic slab. The face printing tech captures Liam Neeson’s likeness with finely printed eyes, subtle beard detailing, and that tired “ I don’t have time for this” expression. The 25th Anniversary S.H. Figuarts revision improves meaningfully on the 2017 original in this department, with updated paint applications and a refined sculpt that get noticeably closer to the character’s screen presence.
Bandai’s paintwork on anniversary SHF releases tends to be conservative and precise, and this Qui‑Gon follows suit. Skin tones use muted washes to avoid the waxy look that ruins many likenesses. The robes employ layered earth tones—darker underlayers with slightly weathered outer fabrics—that read as lived‑in rather than freshly dyed. Metallics on the belt and communicator favor satin finishes over chrome, matching the prequel trilogy’s practical, used‑future aesthetic. The soft grays, the textured neutrals of Jedi civilian wear — is accurate to the film’s costume design.
For the packaging, you get a sleek black window box with a large front window showing the figure and accessories, glossy finish, and bold logo treatment that matches the rest of Bandai’s Star Wars Figuarts line. Inside, Qui‑Gon and his gear are laid out in a clear plastic tray, everything visible and securely nested but easy enough to re-pack if you’re an open‑and‑store‑the‑box type collector. There’s also an illustrated inner card/insert featuring Phantom Menace artwork, which doubles as a simple backdrop.
Accessory Loadout:
- Interchangeable face part (alternate portrait/expression)
- 5 pairs of interchangeable hands (10 hands total — left and right variants for each of the 5 types)
- Lightsaber (green blade, naturally — this is not a figure that’s going to give you a red saber as a cheeky “what if”)
- Lightsaber effect parts (for those mid-swing, energy-crackling action poses)
- Jedi Communicator (the small flip-device used to contact the Jedi Council — new tooling, remodeled for this release)
- Hologram Device (specifically the one Qui-Gon uses when betting the Nubian starship during Anakin’s pod race entry on Tatooine)
- Fabric outer cloak
- Poncho (the garment he wore during the Tatooine desert sequences and the climactic duel staging)
This is where the release earns its stripes. The accessory suite is intentionally cinematic rather than gimmicky. These aren’t filler pieces. They’re scene‑building tools that let you stage Council debates, desert negotiations, or quiet temple moments.
S.H. Figuarts is synonymous with articulation, and Qui‑Gon delivers the expected range: multi‑jointed neck, double‑jointed elbows and knees, and a flexible torso for believable Jedi stances. The real design choice here is the cloth cloak and the included Tatooine poncho. The cloak drapes cinematically and is removable, which is Bandai’s practical compromise—keep the silhouette for static displays, or remove it for full dynamic posing. The poncho is a small but delightful nod to the desert sequences and gives you a second silhouette for shelf rotation.
The joint system is complex — the Figuarts Star Wars figures use an internal articulation architecture that allows for a remarkably wide range of motion in the upper body, particularly the arms and shoulders, which is critical for lightsaber-wielding figures. The hip and lower body joints accommodate wide stances for battle poses, which is exactly what you want when staging the Duel of the Fates across your shelf.
This release absolutely has a legitimate claim to being the definitive 1:12 Qui‑Gon Jinn on the market right now, and it’s not just hype—it’s the combination of updated sculpt, modern face printing, smart accessories, and those surprisingly well‑done soft goods that push it into “definitive” territory. When you line it up against earlier Figuarts and the better Black Series attempts, this one simply covers more bases—screen accuracy, posing range, and accessory depth—than any single Qui‑Gon has managed before. Hasbro’s Black Series’ blends into armies; Bandai demands close-up admiration.
The S.H. Figuarts Qui-Gon Jinn (STAR WARS: The Phantom Menace) 25th Anniversary Release is the definitive Qui-Gon Jinn in the premium 6-inch action figure scale. It improves meaningfully on the original 2017 release in sculpt refinement, paint quality, and accessory count. The double-portrait system, ten interchangeable hands, lightsaber effect parts, cloth cloak, scene-specific poncho, and the delightfully obsessive inclusion of the hologram device and re-engineered Jedi Communicator make this a package that treats the source material — and by extension, the collector — with respect.
