Obi-Wan Kenobi (A New Hope) — Star Wars The Black Series #32

Overview

Red Line #32 is Obi-Wan Kenobi in A New Hope configuration — Ben Kenobi, the hermit of the Tatooine desert, the old man with the lightsaber who Luke initially dismisses as a wizard and comes to understand as the last living connection to the world that was destroyed before he was born. This is the third Black Series Obi-Wan, the first to cover the ANH old Ben configuration in the desert robes that define his nineteen years of self-imposed exile watching over Luke from a distance.

Seventeen total Black Series Obi-Wan Kenobi releases make this the most extensively produced Jedi character in the line alongside Luke Skywalker. The red-line #32 covers the specific ANH configuration that precedes the prequel-era young Kenobi and the Clone Wars-era Kenobi covered by other releases. No production variants are documented. MSRP $19.99.

The Character

Ben Kenobi’s ANH presentation is built on a specific kind of patience — not the patience of a man who has come to terms with defeat, but the patience of someone who has understood that some things can only be done by one specific person at one specific moment, and that moment has not yet arrived. He has been on Tatooine for nineteen years. He has watched Luke grow up from a distance. He has spent the time that he was waiting being very still.

The specific wisdom of the ANH Obi-Wan is different from the prequel Kenobi’s active, combative competence. He teaches by asking questions, deflects Darth Vader’s aggression by making his death mean something different than a victory, and disappears at the moment when presence would interfere with what Luke needs to become. The desert robes are the costume of that patient, deliberate arc — a Jedi who has taken off the armour of the Order and put on the anonymity of an old hermit, and done so for long enough that it isn’t a disguise anymore.

The Alec Guinness portrait is one of the more demanding pre-Photo Real challenges in the Red Line — Guinness at approximately 63 has specific features, a particular quality of benign authority in his face, that is difficult to approximate in hand-applied paint. The figure captures the silhouette and the robe configuration accurately; the specific Guinness likeness is approximate at this production era’s standard.

Accessories

Blue lightsaber — the first Kenobi weapon, built during his Padawan years before the Clone Wars and carried through to ANH. The blade is removable from the hilt; the hilt fits both hands. No additional accessories — the desert hermit configuration doesn’t require equipment beyond the single weapon.

19-point articulation via the standard Red Line scheme, with the robes allowing natural standing poses and lightsaber-raise configurations appropriate to the duel with Vader and the cave-of-wonders teaching moment with Luke.

The ANH Obi-Wan vs Prequel Obi-Wan Display Question

Seventeen releases means collectors face a genuine decision about which Kenobi to display. The key configuration decision points:

ANH old Ben: This Red Line #32, the 40th Anniversary ANH Kenobi (2017), or subsequent ANH versions — all cover the desert hermit/Death Star duel configuration. For the specific moment of Ben’s death and its effect on Luke, this is the relevant figure.

ROTS Kenobi: The Blue Wave ROTS Obi-Wan (P2-08) covers the Clone Wars-era configuration. For the specific Mustafar duel and the transformation moment where Obi-Wan becomes the last guardian of what was.

Obi-Wan series Kenobi: Phase 4 releases cover the Disney+ series configuration — the Kenobi in the years between ROTS and ANH, on Tatooine, before he became fully Ben.

The ANH configuration is the terminal state — the end of Obi-Wan Kenobi’s physical arc, where twenty years of patient waiting resolves into the decision to let Vader win in a way that gives Luke what he needs.

All Seventeen Black Series Obi-Wan Releases

Seventeen releases spanning the prequel era through ANH, Clone Wars, and the Obi-Wan Disney+ series. The three primary configuration eras: prequel/ROTS (young Ewan McGregor face), ANH (Alec Guinness face), and Obi-Wan series (middle-era Ewan McGregor). Each is a distinct character presentation requiring a separate release.

Secondary Market

Available at modest secondary market prices. The 40th Anniversary ANH Kenobi (2017) and Galaxy Collection updates are the recommended display upgrades. No production variants documented.

Verdict

Later releases with improved production quality are the display recommendation for portrait accuracy.

Buy the Red Line #32 for: completing the Red Line numbered sequence to its conclusion; the first ANH old Ben desert robe configuration in the line; or budget ANH display where the pre-Photo Real portrait is acceptable at shelf distance.

Red Line #32 as the Wave’s Conclusion

Obi-Wan Kenobi at #32 marks the end of the first extended Red Line wave — figures #01 through #32, spanning the TFA launch wave, the Rogue One wave, and the mid-2016 broader franchise releases that filled out the sequence. After #32 the line continued but the wave structure shifted as the Red Line transitioned into its later years.

The specific choice to close this stretch with Obi-Wan Kenobi in the ANH configuration is thematically apt: the hermit who has been waiting, who has been patient, who disappears at the moment he’s needed into something larger. The Red Line wave ends with the character whose arc defines what patience and sacrifice mean in the franchise.

The Three Kenobi Configurations at a Glance

For collectors deciding which Obi-Wan Kenobi to display: the ROTS Blue Wave (P2-08) is the battle-ready prequel Kenobi for Clone Wars context; this Red Line #32 is the ANH hermit for the desert exile and Death Star duel; and the Phase 4 Obi-Wan series releases cover the years between, when he was neither the General nor Ben but something in transition. Each represents a different answer to the question of who Obi-Wan Kenobi is, and the answer changes depending on which point in his life you’re examining.

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Part of Star Wars The Black Series | Red Line. Related: All Obi-Wan Kenobi figures | A New Hope | Jedi Order faction.