Tag Archives: Star Wars

#3789: Greedo

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

GREEDO

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE (HASBRO)

Okay, here we are at the end of the week.  We made it, you guys!  Good for us!  As a reward to myself, you know what I gonna do?  I’m gonna review a Power of the Force figure.  You know, as a little treat.  Yeah, that’s the ticket.  Waaaaaaaaaay back, nearer the beginning of this site, I took a look at the first Greedo from Power of the Force (and pissed off one of my trolls along the way), but today, I’m setting my sights on the second Greedo, from the tail end of the line.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Greedo was part of the 1999 run of Star Wars: Power of the Force, in the first of the two Commtech-sporting sets that ended the line.  By this point, the figures were officially branded as “Hasbro” products, as Kenner had been disbanded and absorbed.  This figure was designed to pair off with the Han Solo form the same line-up, both of them specifically being based on the cross-table conversation from the cantina.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 8 points of articulation.  Like Han, he gets a better articulation set-up than earlier figures, with actual bending knee joints, which let him sit properly in the Cantina booth.  His sculpt was all-new, and was a far less stylized one than the prior version.  His proportions land closer to the actual film look, so he’s a lot skinnier, and his head is a bit bigger.  There’s also a bit more work into the texturing and such, and his vest is now a removable rubber piece.  Under the vest, there’s even a blaster mark on the chest, from where Han shoots him, which is particularly gruesome, but also kinda cool.  Greedo’s color work is rather on the basic side, but it does what it needs to, and is generally pretty solid.  There’s even some slight “scorching” where the blaster wound is sculpted, which is a neat touch.  Greedo is packed with a blaster pistol and the Commtech stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I actually bought this figure several years ago, back during one of my initial pushes to round out my collection, but he’s sat unopened, hanging from a thumbtack on the wall in my upstairs hallway for most of that time, because I had the other Greedo actually out on display with the rest of the collection.  A couple of months ago, I picked up the cardboard Cantina set, and it’s got the little booth for him, so I finally opened him to put him there.  He’s actually quite a nice little figure.  The first one’s not *bad*, but this guy’s better, and holds up incredibly well for a figure that’s more than a quarter of a century old.

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 and their eBay storefront.

#3761: Purge Stormtrooper – Holiday Edition

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

PURGE STORMTROOPER — HOLIDAY EDITION

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

Happy Chrithmas. Its Chrisman. Merry Crisis. Merry Chrysler.  Do you get it?  Like the Vine thing?  Ah, what a timely reference, right?  I’m hip and with it and I know how to get home with the downies.  No, wait, that’s that right.  Ah, it’s Christmas, so I’m just gonna give into the hokey not coolness.  Let’s be all festive and cheerful.  Anyway, here’s another Star Wars guy, named after the fact that he purges members of a religious sect.  Yay for festive cheer?  Anyway, here’s the Purge Trooper, I guess.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Holiday Edition Purge Stormtrooper is figure 5 out of 6 from the 2023 Holiday line-up for Black Series.  He, like the Jawa I looked at last year, was a Fan Channel release.  He was *supposed* to be out before the holiday….but he *just* missed it.  Oh well.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation.  I haven’t personally messed with the Purge Stormtrooper mold yet, since I didn’t snag any of the earlier runs.  It’s largely just the old style Clone mold again, so it does what it does, but the head’s new, he’s got a pauldron, and the belt’s been tweaked.  He’s also got a cloth kama piece.  In general, he’s got the same pluses and minuses as the Clone I looked at yesterday, so he looks good, but posing can be a bit iffy.  The decos for last year’s run were generally a bit less “just vomit some holiday colors on the figure” so the Purge Trooper is a little more focused in his design, directly referencing the classic Nutcracker design.  Honestly, it works quite well with this particular mold.  I’m not sure it hits quite as well as the Santa Jawa, but it’s solid.  I especially like how they made the jaw work within the helmet design’s mouth piece.  The Purge Trooper gets a blaster rifle in a deco that matches him, as well as a re-decoed Mouse Droid.  It’s a weird deco on the droid, but I think it’s supposed to be a nut?  It doesn’t quite read right.  Also, doing a Nutcracker-themed trooper deco, packing him with a Mouse Droid, and not going for some sort of, oh, I don’t know, mouse themed deco seems like a missed opportunity.  Like, it’s right there, guys.  A mouse is literally the antagonist of the story, guys.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got this guy brand new last year, right after the holiday.  Admittedly, it felt a tad silly, but there it was.  I kept him sealed all year, waiting to open him up when it came time to decorate.  While I can’t say the Purge Trooper design and concept is one I really love, I do like the angle they took for this particular release, at least for the main figure.  I do wish they’d picked a better deco for the droid, but at the same time, I’m just kinda glad to get the mold.

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 and their eBay storefront.

#3760: Clone Trooper – Holiday Edition

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

CLONE TROOPER — HOLIDAY EDITION

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

Twas the night—er, day before Christmas, and all through the house, Ethan was realizing he hadn’t actually had a review go live on Christmas Eve in two years.  I didn’t used to do the themed review until the actual day, but last year I had two new Star Wars holiday-themed figures, so I did both days…well, sort of.  Anyway, there aren’t new holiday Black Series figures this year, but I’ve wound up with some old ones to fall back on, so let’s do that!  Here’s another Clone Trooper, because these guys are just everywhere.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Holiday Edition Clone Trooper was part of the debut run of Holiday Star Wars: The Black Series figures in 2020.  He was exclusive to GameStop and was figure 5 in the set of 5.  The figure stands just over 6 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation.  This guy is using the older style Clone base body, with the Phase II-style helmet.  These figures were released after the introduction of the newer style of Clone, but presumably the exclusive offerings had to be turned around at a quicker pace, hence the older molds.  The Walgreens Clone Lieutenant did the same thing, and he was from right around the same point.  The mold certainly has its limitations, but at the same time, it was solid for its time, and still looks pretty decent.  As with all of these figures, the deco is what’s really selling him.  It’s appropriately tacky, with sort of an ugly Christmas sweater set-up on the torso armor.  Apart from the fact that he’s a Clone Trooper who inexplicably has TIE Fighters and a Death Star on his sweater, it’s a nifty idea, and honestly pretty solidly executed.  Beyond that, he’s just got a lot of red and green, as well as the striped stockings look that’s been recurrent with this sub-line. The stripes are a bit inconsistent, but everything else is quite sharp.  The first year of holiday figures didn’t do any guns (amusing, since they were all some variation of trooper), but went instead with melee weaponry.  This guy gets the Knight of Ren’s sickle thing painted up like a candy cane.  I don’t know that it quite lands the way it was intended to, but it’s not terrible.  He’s also packed with a porg, who’s got a little tiny scarf painted on, and I just love that.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

In 2020, I was very definitely not going out and hunting exclusives, so I didn’t get any of these the first year.  This was the one from that batch I wanted the most, but I just never came across it.  Earlier this year, however, a set of them were traded in at All Time and I was able to snag a few of them, this guy included.  They continue to be exceptionally hokey, but I sure do love me some hokey decorations.

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 and their eBay storefront.

#3758: Commander Gree

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

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.

#3753: Jango Fett

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , , ,

JANGO FETT — FINAL BATTLE

STAR WARS SAGA (HASBRO)

A week ago, I was writing an intro about The Phantom Menace (for the SECOND time….), and I guess I’ve just decided to make my way on through the Star Wars…es.  So, let’s jump to Attack of the Clones!  Look, I’ve come around on the prequels as a whole in recent years, but Attack is emphatically the worst Star Wars movie, and it’s not even close.  It’s barely even a movie.  It’s a Wikipedia entry that they filmed to bridge the two actual movies in the prequels.  The thing is, I’m nostalgic as hell for it.  And the toys?  Oh, they’re emphatically some of the worst Star Wars toys produced.  But guess what?  I’m nostalgic as hell for those, too.  I’m an enigma, you guys.  Jango Fett was a big deal when Attack hit, and a lot of the toys centered on him.  Here’s the one with the best action feature ever.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Jango Fett (Final Battle) is figure 31 in the Star Wars Saga line, which ran alongside Attack‘s release.  He was one of the three Jangos available at launch, and the second of the two “standard” ones.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 13 points of articulation.  His articulation, like so many of the Saga figures, is mostly pointless, thanks to how heavily pre-posed these figures were.  In Jango’s case, that pre-posing is exceedingly awkward, and doesn’t really much allow for…anything.  He’s also super hard to stand, largely because what even are his legs supposed to be doing?  What’s crazy is the’s got actual knee joints, a thing that were still not exceedingly common at this time, and they’re useless, which is just laughable.  On the plus side, I guess the actually quality of the sculpt isn’t bad.  It’s clean and the detailing is sharp, and he’s pretty accurate to the movie.  The biggest drawback (other than the posing) is the advertised action feature, where his gauntlet launches a fire-shaped missile.  It’s not very effective, and it means his left arm is misshapen.  Making up for it, however, is the unadvertised second action feature.  Saga made use of magnets on a number of figures, and a recurring instance was for easily removable body parts, to simulate the damage characters might take.  In Jango’s case, his whole neck joint’s a magnet, so you can behead him, easy-peasy.  It’s so freaking morbid, and I absolutely love it.  Jango’s paint work is a bit murky, which wasn’t uncommon in this era.  He’s got a lot of fake dirt build-up, which is definitely a bit too heavy.  It’s at least all pretty cleanly applied, so there’s that.  Jango is packed with the fire projectile, as well as his twin pistols.  Unfortunately, the holsters are non-functioning on this release, so there’s nowhere to store them.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When these figures came out, both of my cousins around my age who collected Star Wars had this version of Jango, but I didn’t, and I always desperately wanted one.  Something about how morbid that head feature was just greatly amused me.  He’s on the short list of Saga figures I’ve purchased as an adult; he was traded into All Time a couple of years ago, and I just couldn’t resist him.  He’s terrible, but at the same time also wonderful.  He’s the perfect encapsulation of my relationship with the movie and its toyline as a whole.

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 and their eBay storefront.

#3748: Obi-Wan Kenobi

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

OBI-WAN KENOBI

STAR WARS: EPISODE I (HASBRO)

Welcome to draft 2 of today’s review, brought to you by me accidentally deleting all the text I’d written before saving!  Always remember to save incrementally, kids!  Otherwise, you’re gonna wind up writing the same damned review twice.  Yaaaaaaaaaaaaay……

When I wrote this before, I had this whole piece discussing the Prequels and their merits, and the sliding nature of how we’ve all viewed them, as well as how online opinions and peer pressure can seriously influence how you take in media.  Well, I don’t wanna write all that again, so you’ll just have to take my word for it that it was indeed very good and very smart, and I made a lot of excellent and compelling points.  The long and short of it is that maybe we were all a little harsh towards The Phantom Menace.  I haven’t talked Phantom Menace a ton here, especially not its direct tie-in line, largely because I don’t still have much of it.  I do have a lot of the Obi-Wans, though, so here’s one of them!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Obi-Wan Kenobi was one of the three deluxe releases in Hasbro’s Star Wars: Episode I tie-in line, alongside Qui-Gon and Maul.  They were all released with the other launch product, but, at least from my observation, Obi-Wan seemed to be a little rarer than the other two.  Maybe he was just more popular, though.  At his core, he’s not a terribly different figure from the one in the main line.  He stands about 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  He lacks the wrist swivels and one of the elbow swivels compared to the standard, and his shoulders are rather limited by the nature of the action feature.  The sculpt itself isn’t all that different to the standard.  He’s a little more pre-posed, and the hair braid is swept back, rather than sitting over the shoulder, but the end result is about the same.  There’s a button on the lower back that activates the action feature, but it’s pretty low profile.  The paint work is again pretty similar, with the most notable change-up being the slightly lighter hair color, which winds up being a little more accurate.  Obi-Wan is packed with his standard saber, which is pretty straight forward.  He’s also got a larger “control” saber, which hooks around his waist and activates the swinging feature, but also has its own telescopic blade for…reasons?  I don’t know.  It’s there.  Unless, of course, you’re talking specifically about my figure, in which case it’s not because silly child Ethan went and lost it like some sort of silly child who wanted to pretend he was Obi-Wan or something silly like that.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The deluxe version of Qui-Gon was actually the first figure I got of the character, and I liked him more than the standard release.  My seven-year-old brain assumed the same would be true of the matching Obi-Wan, so I desperately begged my parents to get me one.  Well, okay, I don’t know how desperate it really was.  I probably just waited until I saw one in store and asked for it.  Wait, did my parents buy it for me?  I’m suddenly having flashes of my Grandmother buying it for me?  Maybe I desperately begged her for it.  She was the sort that would have actually specifically taken me out to get him (not that my parents wouldn’t; they just had busier schedules), so this tracks.  Huh.  Well, he’s not ultimately that special or unique or different, but he’s hardly bad, and in ’99 he continued my commitment to having all of the Obi-Wans from the movie.

#3732: Momaw Nadon

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

MOMAW NADON

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“An exile from Ithor, Momaw Nadon was a rebel sympathizer who cultivated a hidden garden in the mountains south of Mos Eisley”

Hey, look, I was just talking about the slowdown of Black Series reviews around here on Tuesday, and I’m already reviewing another one.  So much for spacing them out, right?  Alright, so the last one was a rather modern entry in the franchise, but today, I’m jumping back to the beginning, with one of the first movie’s many distinctive alien designs, Momaw Nadon.  Momaw appears only in a head shot during A New Hope‘s cantina sequence in Mos Eisley, and was at the time unnamed.  When Kenner entered their second year with the license, they made up their own version of his body and named him “Hammerhead,” with his proper name not being granted to him until 1989, along with an actual backstory, and a full design.  He’s become a recurring fixture of the Star Wars toy lines since, and now he’s the latest cantina alien to join The Black Series!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Momaw Nadon is figure 7 in the A New Hope sub-set of Star Wars: The Black Series‘ Phase IV incarnation.  Thus far, five of the seven ANH figures have been cantina-themed, so he’s in good company.  Like Tuesday’s IG-12, Momaw is at the deluxe price point, which still feels kind like a hazy distinction, but he does a have a little more to him than the average Black Series release.  Momaw is a Fan Channel-exclusive offering, so no big box stores for him.  After the poor performance of the last three cantina aliens that went to mass retail, it’s probably not the worst call.  The figure is about 6 3/4 inches tall and he has 26 points of articulation.  Momaw’s sculpt shares a good number of its parts with fellow Ithorian Dok-Ondar, who was a Galaxy’s Edge Disney Parks-exclusive last year.  He gets a new head, forearms, belt/skirt, and scarf, allowing him to be differentiated from Ondar.  It’s a solid sculpt, through and through.  There’s a lot of texturing going on, which looks really great, and the new head’s a good match for what we see on screen.  His articulation scheme’s pretty much what we’ve come to expect from Black Series at this point, so he’s pretty mobile for the most part.  His color work’s not bad.  Notably, the exposed skin gets a wash to help accent the sculpted texturing, which really does help.  In terms of accessories, he does feel a little light.  There’s a blaster rifle, and three different cups.  I don’t know *exactly* what you could give him, but he’s a deluxe, so *something* more would be nice.  Even a recreation of his Power of the Force era big honkin’ gun would be cool.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’d say this guy was an impulse buy, but he wasn’t quite that.  I mean, I didn’t know if I was gonna buy him ahead of time, but by the time he’d arrived in-store, I was pretty sure.  This is just one of those designs I have a hard time saying no to, because it certainly does look cool.  He’s a pretty nifty figure.  Not a ton to say beyond that, but I’m not really sure there’s a ton that *needs* to be said beyond that.

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 and their eBay storefront.

#3730: IG-12 & Grogu

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , , ,

IG-12 & GROGU

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“Clever Anzellan droidsmiths refurbished IG-11’s salvaged parts into a pilotable frame for Grogu, who operates the droid body like a vehicle. Stripped to base motor functions, the droid was renamed IG-12”

Well, it hasn’t been an *exceedingly* long time since my last Black Series review, but they’re definitely getting a little more stretched thin.  I suppose the line’s just not as much of an all-in thing for me anymore, so I’ve been focusing more on punchier stuff.  I don’t believe I’ve discussed Mandalorian‘s third season at all here in the year plus since it aired, but I did actually quite like it, even if others were a bit split.  It offered more coverage of the IG line of droids, which is always something I’m okay with, especially when it also results in more toys.  And result in more toys, it has.  We got an IG-11 to coincide with the first season (albeit a rather inaccurate one), and while he’s not really coinciding with the third season, we did at least get a version of his salvaged frame, IG-12.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

IG-12 and Grogu are entry 41 in the Mandalorian sub-line of Star Wars: The Black Series’s Phase IV incarnation.  It’s a deluxe-sized release, which is always sort of a hazy kind of a definition with Black Series, but it is what it is.  The figure stands just shy of 7 1/4 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation, plus an opening torso hatch and moving control sticks.  IG-11’s figure re-used most of IG-88’s mold, which is sensible from a standpoint that the two are the same model of droid, and very similar in design, but less sensible from the standpoint that the 88 mold was rather inaccurate in the first place.  The Vintage Collection actually gave 11 an all-new mold with far improved accuracy, scaling, and articulation, and IG-12’s all-new mold here is taking a page out of the VC book.  He’s about an inch taller, and scaled to match, and also has a much better articulation set-up, most notable at the hips and ankles.  The actual sculpt proper is far more detailed and manages to match up better with what he’s supposed to look like, including the unique hand/manipulators from IG-88.  Also, the covers on the elbow joints are now just part of the sculpt, rather than being rubber sleeves, so I look forward to those not totally disintegrating the way both 88 and 11’s did.  His color work is a little more basic than 11, lacking some of the accenting, but he gets the base coloring down a bit better, and is a little more striking.  IG-12 doesn’t get any weapons (though the manipulators are articulated, so you can easily supply your own, and he’s also all set for future uses of the mold getting weapons), but he does include Grogu (who’s *technically* billed as a separate figure, but we all know the deal), as well as two different members of Babu Frik’s species.  My quick bit of research tells me they’re “Anzellans.”  Cool, he comes with two Anzellans.  All three of the smaller figures fit in the central compartment, and the joysticks can be moved to meet their hands.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve loved the IG series for a good long while, and I’m a fan of getting it in toy form.  I loved the original Black Series 88 when I got him, even if he was inaccurate, but the mold was dated, and really not right for 11.  When 11 was a quick re-work, I was admittedly a little disappointed.  I’ve been hoping for some form of updated mold, and when 12 surfaced in the show, I was kind of figuring that would be Hasbro’s ticket to get a new one out.  Of the three potential IG-11 variants, this one’s admittedly the one I wanted the least, but that doesn’t mean I *didn’t* want it, and it turned out even better than I’d expected.  I’m eager to get proper updates to 11 and 88 in the future using these molds, and I would honestly kill for a Marshall IG-11.  Okay, maybe not kill, but I’d pay good money for it.  You heard me Hasbro.

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 and their eBay storefront.

#3718: Commander Bly

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

COMMANDER BLY

STAR WARS: REVENGE OF THE SITH (HASBRO)

“Equipped for battle on the exotic fungus planet of Felucia, Commander Bly fights alongside Jedi Knight Aayla Secura. When the secret Order 66 is issued, Commander Bly suddenly turns on Secura and the rest of the Jedi.”

We’ve arrived at another Friday review, and I’m once again doing a bit of clearing house on some of the hodge-podge of photographed Star Wars figures I haven’t yet reviewed.  Going into today’s review, I felt like I’d discussed the Revenge of the Sith tie-in line before, but a quick doublecheck showed that I have, in fact, reviewed nothing from this line.  Crazy.  Well, now’s as good a time as any to start, I suppose, so let’s kick things off with Commander Bly.  Everybody loves Bly!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Commander Bly was one of the last run Revenge of the Sith tie-in figures, hitting just before the holiday season in 2005, alongside fellow Clone Commander Gree.  Bly was actually intended to use the red color scheme used for the standard “Clone Commander” figure from the launch assortment for the line, but he was changed prior to the film’s release, so that figure had no direct counterpart on screen, and Hasbro had to follow-up with this update later.  There are also no less than three paint variations for Bly himself, as Hasbro kept tweaking him to be more accurate.  The figure stands about 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 22 points of articulation.  The clones were the best molds to come out of the RotS line, especially in terms of articulation.  This one’s a little restricted at the legs, largely due to the plastic kama, but he’s still quite posable, and also looks the part.  He’s the same mold as the not-Bly commander, which makes sense, since it was originally supposed to be him and all.  It’s got working holsters and a visor that goes up and down, which are both pretty standard for the character.  His paintwork, which was the subject of much adjustment, is the least adjusted version on mine, so he’s still got the white joints at the shoulders and lacks the brown detailing on the helmet and chest.  Still, it’s generally not bad, and the application’s all pretty clean, even if he does look a bit like mustard.  Bly was packed with the long blaster and two pistols, which the package dubbed “Battle Gear”.  He lost the grappling hook thing that the standard Commander had, which was kind of a bummer, but was also the least essential thing in the armament.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When this guy and Gree dropped, I really wanted them.  Unfortunately, they suffered from that last assortment syndrome, which made them both very rare for a while.  By the time I actually found them, they were aftermarket pricing, and I could really only afford one, so I just got Gree.  I didn’t get a Bly for over a decade, since he was always *just* above what I wanted to pay.  I did finally get a loose one courtesy of All Time.  It was a while back, maybe in early 2020?  That’s when I took the photos seen here, right around the same time I got the Black Series version.  He’s cool.  Like I said, the clones are really the best figures from Revenge of the Sith, and Bly’s one of the best clones, so just generally solid.

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 and their eBay storefront.

#3713: Endor Rebel Soldier

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

ENDOR REBEL SOLDIER

STAR WARS SAGA (HASBRO)

“When Han Solo, Leia Organa and Luke Skywalker land on the forest moon of Endor to destroy the shield generator protecting the Death Star II, they are accompanied by a squadron of commandos. Loyal and courageous, these soldiers are inteprid fighters for the cause of the Rebellion.”

Wow, a Star Wars Saga review?  I really must be scraping the bottom the barrel for review subjects.  I mean, going to Saga.  Saga, people.  I mean, in the 3712 reviews here on the site, I’ve only reviewed a single Saga figure up to this point.  Which, honestly, pretty good metrics, right?  And even the one review can be chalked up to it being my first year reviewing and me just not knowing any better.  What am I getting at here?  Well, generally, that Star Wars Saga, the line designed to tie-in with Attack of the Clones’ product launch, is…well, it’s not a great line.  It wasn’t great when it was new, and it has’t gotten better with age.  The figures were all sorts of pre-posed, impossible to keep standing, and frequently just sort of weird looking.  But, I guess I’m reviewing one of them, and none of you can stop me because it’s my site and I do what I want.  It’s at least an Endor Rebel Soldier, so I think that makes it better?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Endor Rebel Soldier is figure No. 33 in Hasbro’s Star Wars Saga line-up.  He was part of Collection 2 and was released in 2002.  There were two variants: one bearded and one not.  This one is the not, in case you couldn’t tell.  He was the later of the two releases, and the rarer when the line was new, though it seems like after the fact, they’re pretty evenly balanced.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 10 points of articulation.  The articulation’s not a bad count, but it’s largely unusable thanks to how the sculpt is set-up.  Like the rest of the line, this guy is very pre-posed.  He’s got sort of a lunging-while-pointing-his-blaster look, which, I guess isn’t a terrible choice for the character.  Honestly, the arms aren’t bad (though they’re hit pretty badly by the sculpt interfering with articulation, since the jacket overlay piece covers the shoulders, making those joints essentially worthless), but the legs seem a little odd.  Also, with such a very specific pose, army building feels a little difficult, since you wouldn’t expect a bunch of guys to all be running around in exactly the same rather strange fashion.  Unlike prior Endor Rebels, this one got a removable helmet.  It’s a nice piece, and it sits very well on the head.  Said head is a nice sculpt of its own.  It doesn’t appear to be based on any specific Rebel from the movie, instead going for more of a general purpose thing.  The paint work on this figure is notable for being the first time we really got a proper deco based on what the Rebels are actually wearing in the movie, rather than the straight green up and down.  The camo pattern on the legs is a little odd, and the feet are the wrong color, but it generally isn’t bad, and the application works out pretty well.  He’s packed with his blaster rifle and a backpack.  The rifle’s a bit warped, since he was packed holding it, but it does at least get the cool blast effect piece, which is pretty nifty.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve always really dug the Endor Rebels, and the PotF one was one of my favorites from that line.  I wanted the Saga version, specifically the not bearded one, when they hit, but all I could ever find was the bearded one, who I begrudgingly bought, but decided to get rid of later.  I eventually got this one when I sizable run of Saga figures got traded into All Time way back in 2018.  Like last week’s Durge, I took the pictures of this guy pretty much right away, but just never got around to actually writing the review.  So, you know, here we are, I guess.  He’s not bad.  Not great, but given the rest of the line, he could certainly be worse.

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 and their eBay storefront.