The most difficult Babylon 5 figure to locate – and the most expensive to find in the current collectors’ market – the Shadow Sentient is a strikingly intricate representation of Babylon 5’s ancient evil. It’s also possibly the best shot anyone has of figuring out the creatures’ shape, which was always kept rather indistinct on screen.
Technically, the Shadow Sentient figure belongs to the third wave of Babylon 5 figures, but it was seldom if ever distributed on its own; the Shadow Sentient was an exclusive pack-in figure with the first release run of the Babylon 5 Collectible Card Game. Still on its card, the Shadow Sentient commonly fetches prices of $100 or more. (I specifically sought a loose figure just because I wanted to be able to examine it outside of its blister bubble without devaluing it – and because it’d be cheaper, though I discovered not by much.)
Each of the Shadow’s legs are jointed, as is its head. The two arms are also jointed, though due to the sculpt of the figure, they offer a very limited range of movement. Unusually enough, the Shadow’s insect-like tail is also jointed, and can be folded up toward its torso or extended past its hindquarters.
Now that the entire creature can be seen more distinctly, it has to be said that, for a six-inch chunk of plastic, this thing looks damned evil in every sense of both of those words.
Front view.
Rear view.
Head and leg details.
Our first look at a Shadow Butt.