Tusken Raider — Star Wars The Black Series 40th Anniversary

Overview

Tusken Raider in the 40th Anniversary lineup is the Black Series tribute release of A New Hope’s Tatooine Sand People warrior — the desert-dwelling tribal raider character class that ambushes Luke during his search for R2-D2 in the Jundland Wastes. Released individually carded in May 2017 in Kenner vintage-inspired packaging that replicated the original 1977 cardback art design. Mainline non-exclusive at $19.99. 19-joint articulation — high count for the line. Six accessories: a rifle, a Gaderffii stick (the iconic Tusken melee weapon), three different exchangeable Gaderffii tips, and a removable soft-goods robe. The figure is identical to the single-boxed Black Series Tusken Raider (figure id=5977), differentiated only by date stamps in the bottom of the feet between the two production runs.

The Three Exchangeable Weapon Tips

The figure’s most distinctive accessory engineering: a Gaderffii stick with three different exchangeable tips. The tips can easily be plugged into the stick — supporting both the standard combat configuration and the alternative-tip configurations across multiple display states. For collectors who want display flexibility on the figure’s primary melee weapon, the three-tip system is meaningful.

A specific army-builder design positive worth flagging: it was smart by Hasbro to include three different looking tips for the weapon, this way if you purchase multiple Tusken Raiders, they can be made to look slightly different on the shelf. The three-tip configuration is structurally designed to support army-builder displays where collectors purchase multiple Tusken Raider figures and want visible weapon-variant differentiation across the team. Tatooine raiding parties in the source material aren’t depicted as identically-equipped — the tribal warriors carry visibly different weapon configurations across the source material’s appearances, and the three-tip system captures this variation cleanly.

This is the kind of attention to army-builder collector behaviour that distinguishes the better Phase 3 trooper-class releases. Most figures with multiple variants of the same accessory ship with redundant duplicates; the Tusken Raider’s three-tip system specifically supports the multi-figure-display use case.

The Gaderffii and Hand Engineering

The Tusken Raider is able to hold the Gaderffii stick with both hands at the same time — supporting the screen-accurate two-handed combat configurations that the source material’s Sand People deployment depicts. He can also raise it over his head — capturing the iconic Tusken Raider battle-cry pose where the warrior brandishes the weapon overhead. This is one of the most recognisable Star Wars character poses, captured cleanly through the figure’s articulation engineering.

For collectors who want to recreate the Jundland Wastes attack scene (where Luke is ambushed and the Tusken Raider raises the Gaderffii overhead), the figure supports the canonical pose configuration. The articulation engineering specifically enables this screen-accurate moment.

The Rifle Hand-Grip Issue

The blaster rifle looks nice, but the figure is unable to hold it properly. Specific accessory engineering negative: the Tusken Raider’s hand sculpt doesn’t accommodate the rifle’s grip cleanly. The weapon ships with the figure but doesn’t actually integrate functionally into the display configuration — collectors who want the rifle-equipped Tusken display will need to handle the weapon placement carefully or accept that it’s primarily a shelf-display accessory rather than a functional equipped configuration.

This is a meaningful structural compromise. A figure that ships with a rifle the figure can’t hold properly is structurally undermining its own accessory loadout — the weapon’s value depends on the figure being able to deploy it functionally. For the Tusken Raider specifically, the Gaderffii stick is the more iconic weapon and the one that engineering supports cleanly, so the rifle limitation is a secondary issue rather than the figure’s primary accessory commitment.

The Removable Soft-Goods Robe

Once the head is popped off it’s possible to take the Tusken Raider’s soft-goods robe off — but detailed reviewers don’t recommend doing this. It’s quite tricky to get the robe back on. The dress-removal-and-replacement difficulty is the same engineering pattern that affects Princess Leia at #P3-40A-03 — the soft-goods costume is technically removable but practically challenging to restore to clean display configuration after removal.

For collectors who plan to display the Tusken Raider in the standard with-robe configuration, the figure ships ready for that display. For collectors who want costume kitbashing flexibility, the robe-removal warning means the kitbashing path is harder than it looks. The straps across the chest and the pouches around the waist are not removable — the secondary equipment is integrated as fixed sculpted detail rather than removable components.

The Sculpt and Paint

Hasbro sculpted the Tusken Raider very nicely. There are lots of details on the head which look great — the screen-accurate Sand People mask configuration with its specific tube-and-goggle equipment captured cleanly. The overall figure represents what was seen on screen quite accurately.

The colour tone on the outfit looks good, and the Tusken Raider’s boots were nicely weathered. This is a meaningful exception to the recurring Phase 3 paint critique — the figure ships with appropriate deployment-grime weathering on the boots specifically, capturing the screen-accurate Tatooine desert-deployment configuration. Most Phase 3 figures undershoot weathering commitment; the Tusken Raider’s boots are an example of where Hasbro got it right.

A specific paint negative worth flagging: there is a wash on the bottom of the Tusken Raider’s clothes, but it looks as if somebody just painted a stripe from left to right. Detailed reviewers’ direct assessment: not a deal breaker, but it could have been done better. The lower-clothing wash application reads as mechanical rather than naturalistic — visible stripe pattern rather than the random distress that screen-accurate dirt would show. For collectors who care about screen-accurate weathering execution, the lower-wash limitation is a small but visible compromise.

Articulation

19 joints. Ball-jointed top neck, swivel-jointed lower neck, ball-jointed shoulders, ball-jointed elbows, ball-jointed wrists, ball-jointed upper body, ball-jointed hips, swivel-jointed thighs, swivel joints above knees, swivel joints below knees, ball-jointed ankles. High joint count for a Phase 3 mainline release — substantially above the standard 17-joint baseline. The dual-axis knee articulation supports the dynamic combat-pose configurations that the Sand People raiding-attack scenes require.

The Tusken Raider stands securely when on display without any balancing issues — the figure handles both the standing combat-ready pose and the iconic Gaderffii-overhead battle-cry configuration without joint drift or balance problems.

Distribution and Mural Position

Standard mainline 40th Anniversary release at $19.99 through wide retail channels — Target, Walmart, Toys R Us (still operating in May 2017), Amazon, hobby shops. The mainline distribution and the standard pricing make the Tusken Raider accessible. Aftermarket pricing on the secondary market has remained reasonable due to broad initial availability and the figure’s army-builder collector demand.

The Tusken Raider sits in the broader 40th Anniversary lineup as one of the secondary character class releases. For loose display, the figure works best alongside the Tatooine-era ensemble (Luke at #P3-40A-01, Jawa at #P4-40A-JW2, R2-D2 at #P3-40A-07, R5-D4 at #P4-40A-R5) for the Tatooine moisture-farm and Jundland Wastes scenes that anchor the source material’s first act. The figure also works in multi-Tusken army-builder displays where the three-tip Gaderffii system supports visible weapon-variant differentiation across the team.

Other Tusken Raider Figures

The Tusken Raider has been a recurring Hasbro release subject across multiple lines. Other notable releases include the 1996 POTF2 With Bantha version (figure id=100), the Saga Collection ANH-era release (figure id=457), the Power of the Jedi Desert Sniper variant (figure id=743), the Discover The Force Phantom Menace version (figure id=953), the Vintage Collection Villain Set II 3-Pack release (figure id=1168), and the standard POTF2 release (figure id=1250). The 40th Anniversary release is the dedicated Phase 3 Black Series ANH-era flagship version of the character class.

Secondary Market

Single-carded mainline release on Kenner vintage cardback, May 2017. Available at MSRP through standard retail and the secondary market with broad availability. Verify all six accessory components — the rifle, the Gaderffii stick, all three exchangeable tips, and the soft-goods robe — are included. The three small Gaderffii tips are the components most likely to be lost during transit. No production variants documented beyond the date-stamp difference vs the standalone single-boxed Tusken Raider release (figure id=5977).

Verdict

The Tusken Raider at the 2017 40th Anniversary line is one of the more thoughtfully-designed releases in the commemorative set — the three exchangeable Gaderffii tips specifically support army-builder display variety across multi-figure purchases, the screen-accurate iconic battle-cry pose works cleanly through the figure’s articulation engineering, the head sculpt captures the Sand People mask detail with sharp definition, the boot weathering captures the screen-accurate Tatooine deployment configuration, and the figure stands reliably on display.

The rifle’s hand-grip incompatibility is the figure’s most defensible engineering negative — a weapon that the figure can’t hold properly is structurally undermining its own accessory commitment. The robe-removal-and-replacement difficulty makes costume kitbashing impractical despite the technical removable design. The mechanical-stripe lower-clothing wash undershoots the boot weathering’s better paint commitment.

Buy this figure if you collect the 40th Anniversary line as a complete set, if you build Tatooine dioramas, if you want a well-tooled Tusken Raider representation at the 6-inch scale, or if you build multi-Tusken army-builder displays where the three-tip Gaderffii system enables visible weapon-variant differentiation. The mainline pricing and the generous accessory loadout make this one of the stronger value-per-dollar figures in the line.

The desert raider with the three swappable weapon tips. The figure with the iconic Gaderffii-overhead battle-cry pose engineering. The Tusken Raider that recognises army-builder collector behaviour through deliberate weapon-variant design. Mainline distribution, May 2017.

---

Part of Star Wars The Black Series | Phase 4 40th Anniversary Collection. Related: Jawa P4-40A-JW2 | R5-D4 P4-40A-R5 | Luke Skywalker (40th ANH) P3-40A-01.