COMMANDER GREE

STAR WARS: REVENGE OF THE SITH (HASBRO)

“On the planet of Kashyyyk, Commander Gree serves Jedi Master Yoda and helps the Wookiees fight the invading Separatists. When the secret Order 66 is issued, Commander Gree suddenly turns on the Jedi, but Yoda senses his betrayal and quickly eliminates him.”

I am nothing if not willing to go through with the bit.  The bit in this case, of course, is doing a weekly Star Wars review based on one of the prequel movie tie-in lines, in order.  I did Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones, so now it’s time to jump to Revenge of the Sith.  While I have nostalgic attachment to all of the prequels, and am willing to discuss my enjoyment of the first two…well, it’s not the worst of the prequels in terms of quality, but I think it’s the prequel I’ve always enjoyed the least, which is, of course, a big contrast, I think, from most people.  Look, I think it’s big dumb fun, but it’s also a real mess.  Honestly, that’s a sentence that describes the third entry in every Star Wars trilogy, so there you have it.  It does have cool clones, though, and in particular I’ve always been fond of Commander Gree.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Commander Gree was figure 59 in the Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith tie-in line.  He was one of the late-run figures for the year, hitting retail right before the holidays, which also made him quite difficult to get.  the figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 13 points of articulation.  Gree made use of the second Phase II Clone Trooper from the line, dubbed “Super-Articulated” at the time.  It was a solid sculpt, and remained the best version of this style of clone for quite a ways after this line, and was re-used to a crazy degree, as you would well expect.  Gree is himself not too far off the standard armor, so it generally works just fine for him.  The main selling point here was the new deco for Gree.  Technically, it’s not entirely accurate to his on-screen appearance, specifically dealing with the details on the helmet, but it reads well enough, and it’s honestly fun and got a sufficient bit of pop to it, so I dig it.  There were two possible shades of green for his visor, darker and lighter.  Mine’s the lighter, which is the one I prefer, even if it’s the less accurate of the two.  Gree is packed with a standard blaster, a removable antenna, and a large missile-launcher-style blaster.  The launcher is laughably silly, but I can again dig it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I recall finding both this guy and Bly in store shortly before Christmas when they hit, but it being so close to the holiday, I couldn’t get them, and my parents weren’t able to get them for me before the holiday craze wiped them out.  I didn’t have to wait too long for him, fortunately.  I recall him being a late winter purchase from Cosmic Comix, who had managed to get in some relatively recent figures and a reasonable enough price post-holidays.  Gree was my favorite clone from the film, and subsequently my favorite figure from this line, so he survived a good number of collection purges.  He honestly holds up really well.