Nien Nunb (B-Wing Pilot)
Hasbro released Nien Nunb in 2009 as part of the fourth wave of red-carded Legacy Collection figures, a wave inspired in the characters from the Episode VI: Return of the Jedi movie.
Nien Nunb is the sullustan co-pilot of the Millennium Falcon during the Battle of Endor, under the direct command of General Lando Calrissian, which is all well and good; only, this particular action figure doesn’t really represent the character from that particular scene.
This version of Nien Nunb is something of a cop-out by Hasbro. You’ll see, instead of giving us the character in the outfit everybody is most familiar with from the vintage Kenner line, Hasbro just kit-bashed this figure using the pieces they already had from the Rebel Pilots Legacy Evolution packs sold last year.
Debating the point of whether or not Nien Nunb as a character did actually wear this uniform would be a waste of time, and even attempting to put my thoughts about this issue in writing is giving me a headache, so, without further ado, let’s go on to the figure itself.
I must say that Hasbro did a stellar job on this figure. The base B-Wing pilot outfit is sculpted full of details and even displays some subtle fabric textures on the jumpsuit. The control vest looks like leather and the control panels on the chest are sharply defined.
The belt piece connects to a couple straps that go around the pilot’s knees and also connects to the control box at the vest via a wrinkled hose. A similar port can be found at the right flank of the figure; only this time the hose connects to the breathing device hanging from the pilot’s helmet.
The helmet itself is very detailed, consisting mostly of a metallic headset wrapped around what appears to be a padded leather skullcap. The whole piece is molded from soft rubber and is designed to fits perfectly over the alien features of the character.
Nien Nunb’s head sculpt is nothing short of gorgeous. Sullustans have very big ears, mouse-like eyes and very characteristic jowls and skin flaps over the cheeks. The figure was given a very nice sculpted skin texture on neck and face, and the texturing was enhanced by the application of a very thin wash of reddish paint. The eyes are painted solid black, with a glossy finish that really brings the face to life.
Nien Nunb has the following types of articulation:
• Ball jointed neck. Excellent motion range all around.
• Peg & hinge shoulders. Excellent motion range on both sides.
• Peg & hinge elbows. Very good near 90° bend and 180° sideways rotation.
• Swivel wrists. Actually these are glove cuts, but all the same provide free 360° rotation.
• Floating torso. This allows the torso to swivel sideways as well as forward and backwards.
• Swivel hips. Excellent motion range to fit into cockpits or simply sitting poses.
• Peg & hinge knees. Near 90° bending range and free sideways swiveling.
• Peg & hinge ankles. Unexpectedly ample bending and extending range, with full 360° swiveling.
Nien Nunb comes armed only with a small blaster pistol, and is equipped with a pilot helmet and a couple removable rubber air hoses.
What I like about this figure is that the color scheme was slightly revised and improved upon from the original B-Wing pilot figures sold as part of the Rebel Pilots Evolution Sets, thus justifying my purchase.
The red jumpsuit is actually a better looking, deeper red, and the rubber hoses and straps are made from a brighter white material. Pretty much the rest of the paint apps match the original designs, with glossy black shoes and gloves, matte black for the vest and bright silver for the control panels on his chest.
Like the rest of the figures released within the Legacy Collection, Nien Nunb ships with a Build-A-Droid Piece, this time the right leg for the R3-M3 astromech.
Even though I still feel a little cheated by Hasbro for not making a Nien Nunb in the correct outfit, the fact is that buying this version saves me the effort of hunting down the couple of figures needed to kitbash this specific attire on my own, and that even without considering the BAD piece.
So in the end I must admit I enjoy having this figure by it’s own merits, although I still look forward for Hasbro to make the true movie version of the character sometime soon.
Errex Score: 90/100
Category: Featured, Star Wars, Toy Reviews
About the Author (Author Profile)
I've been collecting action figures since the original Kenner Star Wars days. Nowadays, I still collect pretty much anything that catches my eye.Subscribe
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He actualy does appear in this outfit in the movie. If you watch the part with the discussion on how the rebels are going to blow up the second death star, look next to Wedge. He’s actualy highly visible, and, suprisingly tall.
There’s more than one Sullustan in the Endor battle scene. I’m pretty sure one is flying a B-Wing (hence the title of this post).
Does it actually say Nien Nunb of the packet or are you just assuming it’s him?
The card actually shows him as Nien Nunb. Like perhaps he was geared up to fly a B-wing before they found they needed a co-pilot for the Falcon after Han lets Lando take her.