Jawa — Star Wars The Black Series #61

Overview

Red Line #61 is the Jawa — the diminutive robed scavengers of Tatooine who collect, repair, and trade technology salvaged from the desert, who appear in the first minutes of A New Hope selling R2-D2 and C-3PO to Owen Lars, and who have since become one of the franchise’s most recognisable and beloved alien species. At approximately 3.5 inches tall (correct scale for the species), the Jawa is one of the smallest figures in the Black Series, providing both a scale challenge and a display opportunity — their height relative to standard figures communicates the specific Tatooine ecosystem of small dealers and large droids.

The iconic glowing yellow eyes visible within the hood’s darkness, the brown robes, and the ion blaster with equipment harness are all accurately rendered. 15 joints reflect the specific articulation constraints of a figure at this scale. Six total Black Series Jawa releases across multiple waves. MSRP $19.99.

The Character and Species

Jawas occupy a specific ecological niche in the Star Wars universe: technological scavengers who travel the Tatooine desert in their massive Sandcrawler vehicles, collecting derelict droids and machinery, repairing them to minimal functionality, and trading them to moisture farmers who can’t afford new equipment. Their relationship with technology is utilitarian and total — everything is potentially useful, nothing is wasted, the desert provides what the desert provides.

The specific Jawa characteristic most observable at display distance is the glowing yellow eyes visible within the hood. The eyes are the only part of a Jawa visible in standard operation — their robes cover the body completely — which gives the species the specific quality of being entirely readable through two small yellow points of light. The Black Series figure renders this with reflective yellow paint on the eye areas that catches light effectively.

Their language — Jawaese — is incomprehensible to most humans without translation equipment, which gives their trading interactions a specific performative quality: the rapid excited speech is simultaneously negotiation and personality display, and the species’ enthusiasm for transactions is legible even without understanding the words.

Accessories

Ion blaster with equipment harness — the Jawa’s primary tool for disabling and securing droids. The ion blaster delivers an electromagnetic pulse that shuts down droid systems without destroying them, making it ideal for the Jawa’s trade: you want the merchandise intact and mobile. The harness holds the blaster and associated equipment in the specific configuration visible in ANH’s Jawa scenes.

15-point articulation: dual neck, ball-jointed shoulders, ball-jointed elbows, ball-jointed wrists, ball-jointed waist, ball-jointed hips, ball-jointed knees, ball-jointed ankles. The compact scheme is appropriate to the scale.

All Six Black Series Jawa Releases

The Jawa has been produced six times across the line — an unusually high count that reflects consistent collector demand. 2017 Jawa — the pre-numbered release. Jawa #61 (2018) — this figure: The numbered Red Line release. Offworld Jawa (2019) and Offworld Jawa First Edition (2019): The Mandalorian-era Arvala-7 Jawa configuration. Phase 4 releases continue the species’ representation in the line. For the ANH Tatooine configuration: the 2017 and 2018 versions. For the Mandalorian Arvala-7 Jawa: the 2019 Offworld versions.

Scale Display Considerations

The Jawa’s 3.5-inch height means it stands significantly below standard 6-inch human characters. This accurate scale creates display possibilities rather than problems: a Jawa at the base of a Sandcrawler display, or surrounded by taller figures in a Tatooine marketplace scene, reads correctly as the small but commercially capable species that keeps Tatooine’s technology economy functional. Multiple Jawa figures — taking advantage of the scale’s anonymity — create the group impression that the species typically presents in.

Secondary Market

Available at modest prices. No production variants documented for the Red Line #61 specifically.

Verdict

Buy for the ANH Tatooine display, the scale figure variety in an Imperial-era collection, or Red Line sequence completion. Multiple copies create the Jawa group presence that single figures can’t achieve.

Jawas in The Mandalorian Era

The 2019 Offworld Jawa releases reflect the species’ expanded canonical presence in The Mandalorian, where a group of Jawas on the desert planet Arvala-7 strip the Razor Crest and trade the parts back to Din Djarin in exchange for a completed task. The Mandalorian Jawas are visually consistent with the ANH originals — same hooded robes, same glowing yellow eyes, same general behaviour pattern of enthusiastic acquisition and reluctant trading — but in a new environment demonstrating that the species is not exclusively Tatooine-bound.

The Red Line #61 covers the ANH configuration; the Offworld versions cover the Mandalorian-era appearances. For collectors who want ANH accuracy, the numbered #61 is the correct version. For Mandalorian display, the Offworld releases.

The Ion Blaster’s Specific Technology

The ion blaster is a specialised weapon optimised for droid capture. Standard blasters destroy electronics as well as the housing; ion weapons deliver an electromagnetic pulse that disables electronics — including droids — without destroying the hardware. This makes ion weapons specifically useful for the Jawa economy: you want the droid intact and functional enough to resell, just controllable. The ion blaster accessory on this figure is thus not a combat weapon so much as a trade implement, which communicates the Jawa’s specific relationship to technology.

The Jawa at #61 is the Red Line’s smallest figure by a significant margin — approximately half the height of a standard human character at the correct Tatooine scavenger scale. At 3.5 inches, the Jawa standing alongside Luke Skywalker ANH (#21) or Obi-Wan Kenobi ANH (#32) creates the correct scale relationship visible in the Lars homestead scenes and the Jundland Wastes sequence. The species’ stature is the specific detail that makes them simultaneously unthreatening and commercially dangerous: they approach in large groups, talk fast, and the deal is usually worse than it appears.

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Part of Star Wars The Black Series | Red Line. Related: Tusken Raider P3-41 | Luke Skywalker ANH P3-21 | A New Hope | Tatooine scene.