GEORGE LUCAS IN STORMTROOPER DISGUISE

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

It’s not every film director that gets to have an action figure, but, I suppose it becomes much easier when you’re also the creator of one of the most merchandise-appealing franchises of modern times.  Subsequently, George Lucas, the aforementioned director whom created the aforementioned franchise, has actually had a few action figures over the years.  Thus far, he’s been covered by the smaller-scale, but this time around, he makes the jump to the 6 inch scale, with a figure that’s not a totally crazy exclusive for a change.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

George Lucas in Stormtrooper Disguise is a Fan Channel-exclusive Star Wars: The Black Series offering, released in honor of the 50th anniversary of Lucasfilm.  He’s done up in vintage style packaging, largely for the heck of it, I suppose.  This marks our second time getting George disguised as a Stormtrooper; Vintage Collection did it for a mail-away back in 2006, and now we’re getting it again.  The figure stands 6 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation.  The prior Stormtrooper George notably made use of a rather outdated base body, despite an updated one being part of the same line, so there was a degree of concern that this figure might wind up on the older Black Series Stormtrooper, but this one does at the very least use the upgraded Rogue One/Mandalorian-style Stormtrooper body.  It’s an impressive sculpt, and one of which Hasbro’s gotten a surprisingly small amount of use.  The sculpt is topped off by a brand-new head sculpt, to do that whole George Lucas thing and all.  Lucas appears to be based on his look circa Revenge of the Sith, which is something of an odd choice, all things considered.  The vintage branding comes with it pictures on the box of Lucas from A New Hope, and given he’s dressed as an OT-based design, you’d expect an earlier era Lucas.  But, no, they went with this one, for whatever reason.  It’s not a bad sculpt, perhaps a little bit idealized, but still certainly George.  The figure’s paint work largely matches the standard Stormtrooper, which is generally nice and clean.  The head gets a more involved paint scheme, of course, which is appropriately lifelike.  They’ve also done a rather nice job capturing the greying in his hair.  George is packed with the standard Stormtrooper blaster, as well as a removable helmet, allowing him to pass off as a basic rank and file trooper.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The previous Lucas figures were kind of tricky to get, but I’ve always kind of wanted one of them.  Sure, George may be a slightly weird dude, but he’s also a rather important fixture in a franchise that I’ve spent a lot of time around, so I’m down for having him in some sort of figure form.  Thankfully, Hasbro saw fit to give us a fourth go at him, this time in a far more easily found manner, and making use of a base that’s a solid figure on its own.  He’s got some fun novelty to be sure, and, if you’re not feeling the George Lucas head, he also works out as a basic Trooper.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website.