Star Wars Saesee-Tiin

Robot Mode: At first I really didn't like this robot mode. The head looks like that of an old man (a really ugly old man), while the body seems more like that of an adolescent boy. But then I flipped down the helmet and man, does he look cool now, especially if you put his two lightsabers in his hands. Tiin looks like a very deadly ninja, lean and dangerous. His posability is excellent, though you need to get used to the way the shoulder joints work at first. Then you can put him into lots of cool poses, though. To me he seems like a mixture between the Nazi assassin guy from Hellboy and Prowl from the Animated series. Very cool.

The robot mode can be enhanced by adding the hyperspace booster ring from the jetmode. It works as a backpack for Tiin and gives him power of flight and more firepower, whatever holds your fancy. You can either leave the ring as is or remove one half to use it as an additional leg for balance. The latter is more sensible, as the backpack makes Tiin prone to toppling over backwards. He can shoot his two light sabers as missiles from the ring's jet engines. All in all I think Tiin looks better without the booster, but it's a nice extra nevertheless. So to sum it up, a great robot mode (as long as you keep the helmet closed).

Alternate Mode: Saesee Tiin transforms into the kind of Jedi starfighter we saw Obi-Wan Kenobi flying in Episode II, a delta-shaped craft that looks made for speed, not necessarily combat. The detailign on the starfighter looks pretty good and it does feature a nicely made landing gear, too. The cockpit fits the small Tiin figure inside without any problems.

In order to travel interplanetary distances, the fighter needs a hyperspace booster ring, which slips into the craft's nose. The ring looks pretty cool when attached, but you can't really put the fighter down now, as it will roll onto it's side. In the movie the ring always remained in space while the craft landed on the surface of whatever planet it was heading for, so that makes sense, but it did pose a difficulty for shooting the pictures. Still, the booster ring looks cool on the fighter (more so than it does on the robot) and gives the craft additional firepower as well, as you can shoot his lightsaber missiles in this mode, too, of course. So all in all, a good vehicle mode.

Remarks: I have absolutely no idea who Saesee Tiin is. I get he's a Jedi, but did he ever appear in the movies? I have no clue. I think I saw him a comic book once, but it can't have been all that significant and I'm too lazy to look it up further. Anyway, Tiin is one of those figures that simply grows on you. At first I didn't like him all that much, but the more time I spent on him, the more I liked him. Now he's one of my favorite Star Wars Transformers of them all. A very nice, very posable robot, a very decent alternate mode, and a nice extra that you can use or leave aside as you please, all this sums up to a very good toy. Just keep the helmet closed so you don't have to look at his ugly face, then you're fine.

Rating: A-

Additional Info: Tobias H. was so kind to give me a little additional information about Saesee Tiin:

Saesee appeared in all three prequel episodes, but sat mostly in the background. In Episode III he's one of the three Jedi fighting against Palpatine, who die about half a second into the battle. He did have a big appearance in the Clone Wars mini-series, though, where he took over an enemy ship alongside some clone soldiers. He also had command of the fleet that battled the Separatists above Coruscant at the end of the series, which led directly into the beginning of Episode III. He does fly his alternate mode at the beginning of Clone Wars, so it's really his ship, not Obi-Wan's.