There has been a convergence over the last few years with action figures and statuary. The same sculptors are working on both, and many companies are producing both. There are also plenty of action figures that are either minimally articulated, or are best not to move. Now the convergence gets even closer with Gentle Giant Studios line of Bust-Ups.

If Bust-Ups are new to you, you didn't read our previous coverage of these new toys. Luckily we can help you out by providing a link to the Summer Con Exclusives from Gentle Giant. And for the lazy among you (or people who have trouble clicking on things), Bust-Ups are micro sized busts done to scale with Star Wars action figures in the 3-3/4" scale. Yep, Star Wars fans love stuff less than four inches in size...

The good thing is that they have the sculpting and paint details just like mini-busts, but they are made of plastic and cost far less (around $5-6 each). They also come in a variety of pieces that have to be assembled (they are model kits, which is how to get around certain other companies' licenses). No glue is required, so you'll have to rely on the mimeograph machine to get your high today.

This is the first set of Bust-Ups that is widely available. The initial Bust-Up was a Blue Clonetrooper given out at Toy Fair 2004, sort of homage to the Blue Clonetrooper Bust that Gentle Giant sold at the summer cons in 2003. The next Bust-Ups were sold at the summer cons in 2004 - Wizard World Chicago and Comicon International - and cover the spirit of the Rebellion with both transparent and glow-in-the-dark versions.

Another thing that is new for the commercial release for Bust-Ups is the use of the blind box. It sounds like a chapter of the Kama Sutra but what it means is that you don't know which character is in the box until you open it. There is a small window at the bottom of the box, but it is hard to tell which character you are getting. Good news, the first you buy won't be a repeat. Bad news, after seven you're getting duplicates, maybe earlier if you aren't lucky.

For the first series you get a chance to get fully painted versions of the four figures that comprised the Spirit of the Rebellion set, plus a few new characters to round out the mix. In addition to Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia and C-3PO you can get Chewbacca and Yoda as well as an alternate version of Leia. I guess she needed two versions to make up for the lack of women in Star Wars, or maybe like most women she couldn't decide which pose she liked best.

The skinny on Leia is that she comes in two different poses, one with the 'I've had enough' look with the gun by her face waiting to shoot someone. The other pose is her caught in the act, with pistol extended and presumably about to unleash photonic death upon someone (probably because he never called her back). The regular version has her gun held by her face while the other (the shooting pose) is a chase, and is a bit harder to find, and the only difference in the two figures are the hands and arms - the faces are the same.

Next up are Han and Chewbacca, shown as they looked at the end of Star Wars - Han with a medal and Chewie without one. Both figures are done in scale to each other, and Chewie is probably the best looking figure in Series 1. Chewie is posed like he's fed up or maybe waiting for something to happen. Hopefully a moon won't fall on him... Han is just checking out his medal, and wondering what he could get for it on eBay from some crazy Star Wars fan!

The last three figures in this set are a puppet, an android and last hope for the Jedi order. Luke is the last hope, and he's dressed in his finest threads to try and impress his sister and get a date from her. He is from a backwater world you know (Tatooine was called Arkansas in the original draft). Next is the killer frog himself, Yoda 'the' Jedi Master. He is ready to rumble with his saber out from Episode 2, or perhaps this is his pose for the writer after reading the script for Episode 3. Last is C-3PO, human-cyborg relations. That's great for a resume since the Governator is looking for a non-girly man talk droid in Caaleeefornyaa. Yes, he's half stuck in an oil bath and be thankful for which half you can see!

Where to buy Star Wars Bust-Ups: The Bust-Ups retail for about $5 to $6 USD each (some stores sell them in sets or by the case) and are available through your local comic book store as well as various online toy retailers. Several such online stores are RTM sponsors Action Figure Xpress, Action-HQ.com, Big Bad Toy Store, CornerStoreComics.com, Killer Toys, and The Outer Reaches. (Be sure to check the other RTM sponsors, listed on the Shop Center.)