Tag Archives: star wars

Sep 19 2010

Star Wars: The Rise of Boba Fett Ultimate Battle Pack (TRU Exclusive) by Hasbro, Part 3

Welcome to the third and final part of my look at the Rise of Boba Fett Ultimate Battle Pack and the entire reason I bought this set: Slave-1. Hasbro has been teasing us with a Super Slave-1 toy for a while now, and here it finally is. Now, I’ve already heard some rumbling complaints from fans who were expecting something a lot bigger. In truth, this Slave-1 is about 20-25 percent bigger than the past Slave-1 releases. It isn’t quite the facelift that the Falcon or the AT-AT got, but it is an extremely nice upgrade. Considering Slave-1 isn’t in the same size class as either of those two toys, I think Hasbro did a fine job in settling on how much bigger to make this ship. After all, proportionally speaking, this Slave-1 upgrade is pretty much right in line with the new Falcon. Yes, there are a few directions that Hasbro went with this ship that I take issue with, but size is not one of them.



The sculpt and paint job on the ship are absolutely fantastic and was obviously designed for life beyond the more simplistic style of The Clone Wars. In short, this ship is every bit as detailed as any regular Star Wars toy, at least that’s the case on the outside. The panel lines are nicely executed, there’s a ton of sculpted detail in the areas where the stablizer wings attach, and the bottom/back part of the ship is just brimming with details, which is a good thing, because this bottom portion of the ship is highly visible when Slave-1 is orientated in flight mode. The paint job is especially good, and while those of you looking for an ESB version will be disappointed, I’m happy to overlook the difference. The hull’s paint job is nicely weathered, making this ship look so much more like an Attack of the Clones Slave-1 and not one based off the Clone Wars series. The interior of the ship is a big step down, though. There are a few sloppily applied stickers on the inside cabin, but precious little else in the way of detail.


This Slave-1’s play features are basically a hybrid of the Vintage/POTF2 version (opening back compartment) and the Attack of the Clones version (opening cockpit) to give us the best of both worlds. Let’s start with the cockpit.

The opening cockpit is one of those play features where Hasbro is taking liberty with the ship’s design to help you get a little more fun out of it, since this panel was never seen to open on the actual ship design. It’s similar to what Hasbro incorporated into the cockpits of the Millenium Falcon toys to allow you to have access to that part of the ship. It wasn’t necessary with the Vintage/POTF2 toy, since you could put a figure into the cockpit seat (or bed?) and then flip it into position. But in the case of this ship (and the Attack of the Clones version) you need to open this hatch to put the figures into the cockpit. This huge portion of the ship swings up and locks into the open position with a very scary click that makes me think I’m hurting something.


This version of Slave-1’s cockpit allows for three figures, one pilot in front and two in the backseats. They are basically standing in the compartments with clips to hold them in place. If you are planning on putting Jango or adult Boba into these seats, you’ll need to use one with a removable jetpack. With the stabilizer’s unlocked, the cockpit will use gravity to orientate itself in the upright position like a gyroscope, so the pilot is always looking straight on in the direction that the ship is flying. The pilot and passenger area isn’t quite accurate to what we’ve seen, but I do like it very much. It’s impressive enough to be able to get three figures into it.

Opening this cockpit hatch also reveals a cargo slot at the base of the ship, which is obviously designed to store a carbonite slab of Han Solo. Unfortunately, the POTF2 slab won’t fit, but the more recent Saga version (yep, that annoying half-melted one) will slide right on in. It is, however, a snug fit, and if you push it in too far, you’re going to need a pen or something to coax it out again. Again, this isn’t at all accurate to what we’ve seen, but it’s still a nice little addition to the ship.

The side panel on Slave-1 lifts up to reveal a compartment inside. There isn’t a lot going on in here, but at least it adds extra room for cargo or passengers or whatever you want. There’s access to the cockpit, but you can’t really get figures in or out of the pilot seat this way. There’s also a peg on the wall, which I’m guessing is to store either Jango or adult Boba’s jetpack, but there’s no official word anywhere as to the function of this peg. I haven’t checked Jango’s backpack yet, but the VOTC version of Boba’s backpack clips on pretty well. There’s also a grid or vent that looks into another part of the ship, which we’ll see in a minute. As I said earlier, the amount of detail in this compartment isn’t stellar, but there are a lot of pegs to stand figures, and a fair amount of room.

Ah, but here we get to what I consider to be the most disappointing (possibly the only disappointing) thing about this vehicle. Despite the fact that the boarding ramp on the back slides down, there is no access into or out of the ship from this point. There’s a fake hatch sculpted on the inside of the compartment, and only part of a fake hatch sculpted on the outside. I think this was a huge mistep on this toy’s design, and in a way can be considered a step back from the Vintage/POTF2 version. Yeah, I can live with it since the ship has so much else going for it, but it really sticks in my craw. It’s like if Hasbro had the gangplank on the new Falcon not really lead into the ship.

Slave-1 features two rotating cannons on the tail boom, both of which fire missiles. It’s also got two bombs that store in sockets on the bottom of the ship and can be ejected by pressing buttons on either side of the ship’s base.


Slave-1 has one last play feature. There’s a hatch that opens above the fake boarding ramp and lowers down to reveal a compartment with a removable cell for holding captured quarry. This is the area that the grid in the main compartment looks into. I’ve heard more than a few fans complain about this gimmick as being silly, but I don’t see a lot wrong with it. At worst, I’d compare it to the little escape shuttle in the updated Millenium Falcon that can be ignored. In fairness, you can remove it entirely and use this compartment to store the carbonite slab instead of putting it in the front of the ship. Now whether or not including this gimmick prevented Slave-1 from having a working boarding hatch under it, is another matter. if that was the case, I highly disapprove.

All in all, I am very happy with this new Slave-1. It is by no means perfect and the fake boarding ramp will always bug me, but many of Hasbro’s greatest Star Wars toys have involved compromises, and this Slave-1 is no different. Still, it’s bigger, it takes play features from all previous versions and incorporates them together nicely, and it even adds a few surprises. Nonetheless, despite Hasbro’s coy and non commital answers at various Q&A sessions, I think we can all agree that there’s a 99 percent chance this ship will be released again with ESB accurate colors, probably with a Boba Fett figure and Han Solo Carbonite slab (painted without the melting effect) thrown in. I’d even wager it’ll happen next year, so if you just can’t justify the price tag for all this stuff, you can probably wait with confidence that you won’t be disappointed.

As for the price tag on this set… two ships five figures and a $109 price tag. Good deal? Well, it’s not a bad deal if you collect the Clone Wars toys. If you factor in that the figures would run around $7-8 each if you bought them all carded, then that’s about $37 right there. The Jedi Starship fits into Hasbro’s boxed vehicle assortment, which are selling for about $25 now, and that brings the total up to $62. If I set aside the fact that I wouldn’t have purchased the figures or the Starfighter on their own, that makes Slave-1’s cost nearly $40, and I don’t think that’s outrageously high. There’s a lot of fun to be had in this box for kids, and one really nice new version of a classic ship for us adult collectors.

Sep 18 2010

Star Wars: The Rise of Boba Fett Ultimate Battle Pack (TRU Exclusive) by Hasbro, Part 2

We’ve looked at the figures from this Ultimate Battle Pack, so now it’s time to check out the first of the two vehicles: The Jedi Starfighter. Obviously, this toy is based off the Clone Wars era starfighter, which I don’t find quite as appealing as the one that superceded it in The Revenge of the Sith. Still, it’s a cool little ship with some nice features. This particular toy is a repack that has been released several times since 2008 as part of Hasbro’s $20-25 medium sized vehicle assortment. The only version of this Jedi Starship that I’ve ever owned was the Obi-Wan Starfighter that came with the Hyperspace Ring. It was the same basic design, but lacked some of this ship’s gimmicks, so this toy is essentially new to me.

My first impression of this starfighter was that it seems to lack the heft of other Star Wars toys in this size class. As I said, I have never owned this exact mold before, so I may be entirely off base here, but it feels like Hasbro may have skimped on the plastic quality a bit when producing this one. It just doesn’t feel as heavy or sturdy as the plastic used in Slave-1 or any of the other ships I own in this size class. The sculpt is very nice, as it features a good number of panel lines and details. There are no stickers to apply, although the Republic emblems are already in place. The paint scheme is ok, a little drab, and the paint lines are kind of sloppy in places. I think my biggest complaint, is that the ship looks a bland with no other paint apps or weathering or stickers. Maybe it’s designed to look a little more clean and cartoony because it’s a Clone Wars toy, I don’t know. But when I compare this ship to my Revenge of the Sith Starfighters, there’s a huge difference.


The rear cockpit opens to reveal a nicely detailed interior, which can seat either Mace or Anakin or most other figures. Just in front of this cockpit is the Astromech droid slot. There’s actually a hinged hatch that opens so that you can put the droid in and close it around his head and shoulders. It’s a nice feature as it keeps the droid locked in place and he won’t come flying out if you’re inclined to have your ship whooshing around the room and doing barrel rolls. The inside of the droid slot compartment is actually nicely detailed and features a cockpit that is clearly intended for a humanoid pilot, but we’ll get to that in a minute.

The starfighter includes three firing missiles/laser cannon. Two are mounted on the top and the third is concealed in a channel under the ship. It can be easily pulled out to fire or to serve as a third landing strut.

This starfighter’s main gimmick is that you can pull it apart to become two separate ships. The back portion resembles a smaller, cruder prototype of the Jedi Starfighter seen in Revenge of the Sith. The front has two spring loaded wings that deploy when the ships are separated. So here’s where I get confused. On first glance it seems like the ship made up of the front portion is meant to be piloted by the Astromech, but then the slot obviously is designed to accomodate a humanoid figure. Of course any figure sitting in there and piloting this smaller ship would be exposed to the vaccuum of space. I’ve seen most of the Clone Wars cartoon, and I’ve never seen one of these ships split apart, so I’m really unclear on what the purpose of it is. If anyone out there knows, feel free to drop me a comment. Either way, it’s a pretty cool gimmick that doesn’t interfere with the overall design of the toy, so I’m fine with it.

As a pack-in ship, this starfighter is a pretty nice item. I wouldn’t have bought it on it’s own, as I’m not overly fond of the design, but now that I have one in my hands, I may actually wind up keeping it. It’s a cool little ship, but there’s nothing about it that makes me all that excited.


Sep 18 2010

Star Wars: The Rise of Boba Fett Ultimate Battle Pack (TRU Exclusive) by Hasbro, Part 1

Never in a million years did I think I’d be dropping a hundred on another Star Wars item so soon after picking up the gargantuan AT-AT last month, much less on what is essentially a Clone Wars set, and yet here we are. In fairness, this isn’t just one toy, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t buy it for basically just one of the toys in the set, and that is of course the new Slave-1. I tried to convince myself to wait for the inevitable Empire Strikes Back themed release, which would likely contain just Slave-1 and a couple of figures, but there was no getting out of it and I crumbled. Didn’t I stop collecting Star Wars stuff a couple of years back? Yeah, I thought that was me, but maybe not.

This Ultimate Battle Pack consists of the brand new Slave-1, Mace Windu’s Jedi Starfighter, and five Clone Wars figures: Boba Fett, Mace Windu, R8-B7, Anakin Skywalker and Mace Windu. So, as I gather it, the content of this set is based on one of the later episodes of season two of The Clone Wars series. I have seen most of the show, but watching it is such an extremely low priority for me that I’m probably five episodes or so behind. It doesn’t matter. Even if I’d seen it, I’m sure I would have little interest in the five figures included in this set. The Jedi Starfighter is decent enough, and I guess as long as I’m now compelled to own one, it’s not a bad thing to have a Mace Windu and R8-B7 to go along with it, but yet another Anakin? Or young Boba and cartoony Bossk? Hells no. They’re bound to be consigned to one of the dreaded hodge-podge totes in the deepest, darkest recesses of my toy closet or perhaps tossed on The Block, also known as Ebay.

Anyway, I’m going to divvy this review up into three parts. First we’ll look at the packaging and the figures. Next we’ll look at the Jedi Starfighter, and we’ll save the main attraction, Slave-1, for last. That way, if you have no interest in the Clone Wars stuff, you can just wait for Part 3 to turn up. Probably tomorrow.

The box for this set is understandably large, as it contains two mostly assembled ships and a handful of figures. But it isn’t as large as the box for the AT-AT. It’s probably as long, but only about half as tall. The packaging includes a front panel illustration of Slave-1 and Mace Windu’s fighter blasting away. There are two windows to display the five figures. The box also proudly proclaims that Slave-1 is over 18″ long, that the figures come with the accoutrement needed for that crappy card battle game, and that this is indeed a Toys R Us exclusive set. The back panel shows actual photos of the toys and some of their action gimmicks. Tear the box open and you find that the Jedi Starfighter is completely assembled and Slave-1 just requires you to attach the stablizer wings. The figures’ stands and cards come in a baggie, along with the instruction sheet, a small sticker sheet, a dice, and the missiles. You could conceivably pack everything back up into the box again, but getting the stablizers off again once they are attached isn’t at all easy, nor is it recommended.

Ok, let’s look at the figures.

Let me start out with the disclaimer/reminder that I am not a big fan of the character designs for the Clone Wars series and so none of these figures are at all aimed at me and my collecting tastes. As for this particular assortment: I’ve got way too many Anakin figures already. I can live with the Mace Windu and R8-B7 since they compliment the Starfighter nicely. I have no interest in owning a young Boba Fett figure, especially since Slave-1 will be going to my fully growed up Fett. And as for Bossk, I’m perfectly happy with my VOTC version. Nonetheless, I’ll try to give each figure his due and be respective of their proper context, and above all not offend anyone who digs these style of figures. Of the five figures, two of them (Anakin and Mace) are repacks, whereas the other three are brand new and exclusive to this set.

The Anakin figure is the least cartoony of the bunch. In fact, I’d dare say he could pass easily for a regular Star Wars figure. I don’t have a lot to say about him, although I will point out that his face is scarred up and he looks pissed. He is nicely articulated, with ball joints in his head, shoulders, elbows and knees, basic joints at the hips and a swivel waist, and he comes with his lightsaber and a stand. Interestingly, he has a socket on his belt to hold a lightsaber hilt, but the light saber he comes with does not have a removable blade and he does not come with a separate hilt to attach there. All in all, I think this is a very good version of Anakin, but chances are most of the people buying this set already have one.

Mace Windu isn’t too bad either. His face is definitely stylized, but not ridiculously so. Mace comes with a Clone Trooper helmet as well as three pieces of removable Clone armor, but the armor on his forearms is part of the sculpt. He also comes with a stand and his purple lightsaber. Like Anakin, his lightsaber is one piece, without a detachable blade. The articulation on this figure is a bit subpar for today’s standards. He’s ok from the waist up, with ball jointed neck, shoulders and elbows. Below the waist, however, he only has standard joints in his hips, but at least this allows him to sit in his starfighter. His waist features one of those annoying spring loaded gimmicks to make him snap back. I’m told there’s a far better Clone Wars-styled Mace figure hanging on the pegs now, so this throwback isn’t likely to excite anyone and if you already collect the Clone Wars, there’s a good chance you own him already anyway.

I really like R8-B7, despite his simplified cartoony sculpt. He actually looks like he could fit in with regular Star Wars figures as a variant design. His legs rotate at the “shoulders” and have hinged “ankles” and his head turns 360 degrees. His third leg is removable so you can have him standing still or rolling. What I really like about him are all the little gimmicks. His front has two doors that open to reveal a retractable claw and a laser gun or welding arm or something. His back also has an opening panel that reveals a grappling hook. He’s also got a sensor-periscope thingy that pops out of his head. Hasbro packed a lot of cool stuff into this simple little droid figure.

Bossk is an extremely nice figure for this style and I’m guessing that if you collect the Clone Wars figures, this guy is going to be a really big deal to own. His sculpt is certainly simplified to maintain the cartoony appearance, but still hits all the points and overall he looks pretty decent with a nice balance between the two styles. The biggest difference is in his forearms, which are much longer, thinner and rubbery, which give him an enhanced lizard-like appearance. Bossk’s articulation sports balljoints in his shoulders, elbows, knees and ankles as well as his torso. His neck rotates, no balljoint there, and he has standard leg joints in his hips. Bossk comes with his blaster rifle and a stand.

I have the least to say about Boba Fett, because he’s basically just a bratty looking kid in desparate need of a haircut. The sculpt is pretty good, as is his articulation. He has balljoints in his neck, shoulders, elbows, knees and ankles. His hips have standard leg joints. His right hand looks like it is sculpted to hold a blaster, but he doesn’t come with any accessories apart from his stand, so maybe it’s sculpted so that he can pick his nose.

The figures each come with their collector card and stand. Yes, even the droid comes with a stand. You can plug the cards into the stands and have them fight each other by rolling the dice and checking numbers against each other.

So yeah, I’m not really the target audience for these figures and I tried not to be too hard on them. I suppose if you are a collector of the Clone Wars figures then the exclusives in this set are pretty cool. True, you are getting saddled with two pretty common figures, one of which is a subpar repack, but then I guess only two out of five isn’t so bad.

Next time… we look at Mace Windu’s Jedi Starfighter.

Sep 9 2010

Star Wars: Pirate Speeder Bike with Cad Bane by Hasbro

As soon as I saw this set, I knew I was going to have to buy it. No, I’m not a big fan of the Clone Wars series (I just can’t get past those goofy, stylized character designs), although I’ve seen most of it. As a result, I’ve never been tempted to buy any of the figures until Cad Bane came along. I love Westerns. I love Clint Eastwood. When you mix those things together with Star Wars to create a Bounty Hunter character, you’ve pretty much got me hooked. Make a figure of him bundle it with a cool Speeder Bike and my money is yours, Hasbro.

The packaging is a sort of hybrid between a window box and a pegged cardback. It shows off the figure and vehicle nicely and it converts to a little backdrop diorama too, which is always a nice touch. I don’t find a lot of appeal in the Clone Wars packaging artwork. It just seems too confused and busy, but then it’s hanging on the pegs next to the vintage style stuff, so it’s hardly a fair comparison. Either way, this packaging is serviceable. Let’s start off with the figure.

Ah, Cad Bane. Even his ridiculous name works for me, although it makes me wonder how long it will be until Lucas just gives up his thinly veiled names completely and introduces a character named Jerk Badguy or Nast E. Douchebag. Either way, Bane’s character design is an obvious homage to the classic American Western icon. He is the Star Wars equivalent of The Man With No Name right down to his wide brimmed hat and dual pistol belt. Maybe there’s more Lee Van Cleef in him than Clint Eastwood, but either way I’m surprised he’s not wearing a poncho. Maybe I can find my Hawkbat figure and make him one. Seriously, the only thing missing here is a tiny little cheroot hanging out of the corner of his mouth. The other thing I like about this figure is that it is sculpted to fit in just fine with the non-cartoony Star Wars figures in my collection. Try doing that with the Clone Wars version of Count Dooku!

Bane is designed to fit perfectly on the Speeder Bike, and yet apart from a slightly wide stance, nothing was sacrificed for it, as he is a great stand alone figure too, with excellent articulation. His hat is removable, as is his shoulder bag. His blasters fit into his belt holsters too. He’s got all sorts of controls and gadgets sculpted onto his arm bracers and he’s even got the jets on his legs that he used to fly around in the show. They did a good job recreating his character, but not making it overly stylized and cartoony. Like I mentioned earlier, this guy will fit in with regular Star Wars figures quite nicely.

The Speeder Bike is really cool. I’m pretty sure this one has been released before, but it is new to me. It has a nice chopper-style front stablizer, seats for two figures, and a clip on the back to hold Cad’s blaster carbine (also included). There are also twin blasters that can flip out of the rear stablizers to give it some firepower. Bane sits on the bike really well, and the pedals have pegs to help keep him seated if you are so inclined to zip him around the room on it.

In addition to the figure and vehicle, you also get a figure stand, a game card and a six-sided dice. These trappings are for the new card battle type game gimmick that Hasbro launched with their 2010 Star Wars figures. The idea is you plug the card into the stand, you face it off against another figure and its card, you roll the dice add up some numbers and see who wins. Sounds fun, right? How did I ever manage to play with figures when I was a kid without this ridiculous convaluted system? I guess video games, Pokemon and Yugioh have robbed kids of all the remnants of imagination so this sort of thing is necessary now. At least the gimmick doesn’t detract from the toys at all, and the stand is still perfectly serviceable.

This set cost $15.99 at Walmart and I think it was a pretty good deal. I’m not sure what the centerpiece of this set is supposed to be, the figure or the bike. I’m guessing it’s the bike since that’s what’s stressed in big letters on the package. I’ll confess, I bought it mainly for the figure, since I haven’t seen him carded alone yet, but the bike was a really nice bonus too.

Sep 5 2010

Star Wars: Protective Figure Cases by Hasbro

I am not a mint on card collector. Oh, I’ve got boxes in storage full of carded figures, but they’re all doubles that I got through buying Lots or full cases in order to get at a few figures I needed. But as a rule I don’t buy figures with the intent of keeping them unopened. The exception to that rule has been Hasbro’s Vintage Collection of Star Wars figures, started with the Original Trilogy Collection and now reborn in their current vintage styled line.

When Hasbro reintroduced the vintage style packaging, they decided to forgo the customized protective clamshell case that every VOTC figure came in. Generally, I consider this decision a win, as it cut the cost of the figures considerably. Toward the end of the VOTC line, I was paying around $12.99 for some of these, which is about five bucks a figure more than I’m paying for the current line. I’m certain there were other factors involved in the price drop, but not including the case had to help. Now sure, I’m buying the cases separately from Hasbro at added cost, but since I’m pretty much buying a second one of each of these figures to open, it works out in my favor. And at $1.50 a case, things still work out in my favor.

The protective cases come in packs of ten and arrive nested in this plain white mailer box. They share some similarities with the ones Hasbro used on the VOTC line, but there are some significant differences too, so even in these cases, the VOTC and VC lines will not look completely uniform when displayed together. The biggest and most obvious difference will be the lack of the printed foil insert on the current collection. It sure looks nice on the VOTC line, but it also obscures part of the card and the figure, so I’m pretty tempted to say I prefer the figures without them, but not enough that I’m going to go ripping them open to remove them.

As for the cases themselves, the ones you can buy from Hasbro still have the embossed Rebel and Imperial symbols on the top, and they still have the “Star Wars” logo embossed into the back. The biggest difference is in the depth of the bubble. Because the cases that Hasbro sells are designed to fit just about all carded Star Wars figures, they are much deeper than the ones Hasbro used for the VOTC collection. You don’t get the same economy of space, but they do a better job of protecting your figure since the VOTC figure bubbles were pressed right up against the surface of the case.

As mentioned, a box of ten of these sell for $14.99. It’s a pretty good deal as far as I’m concerned, but then again, I’m only buying enough for my Vintage Collection figures. I can imagine that for some of you who display hundreds of carded figures, this can get rather expensive. Also, I’ve heard that some people have had issues with getting a bad fitting case in their batch now and then, so that might be something to watch out for.
 

Aug 28 2010

Star Wars Vintage Collection: 4-LOM and Zuckuss set (Celebration V Exclusive) by Hasbro

This year, Hasbro decided to have a little fun with one of their Celebration V exclusives by creating this 30th Anniversary Bounty Hunter set. The set includes updated figures of bounty hunters Zuckuss and 4-LOM carded on facsimiles of their original error cards, which switched their names around. It pokes fun at the sometimes ridiculous nature of the action figures that were produced off of characters that fans knew nothing about and often appeared for only a split second on screen. Sure, all sorts of stories and histories have been retconned around these characters over the last 30 years, but at the time they were released nobody could have possibly known that Kenner had named the characters wrong on the original packages. I can still remember getting my 4-LOM mailaway figure before seeing The Empire Strikes Back. I had no idea who he was. I’m pretty sure I wound up using him as a Rebel spy. I even remember looking for him in the movie, expecting him to have some huge role. I’m pretty sure I didn’t even spot him at all.

Oftentimes a big draw of these exclusives lies in the special packaging, and that’s doubly true for this set, since the whole point of it is to recreate the original error cards. The figures themselves are almost secondary to the whole package.

The set comes in a thin, illustrated cardboard sleeve. It’s decorated on the front with pictures of the two original cardbacks against an appropriate star field pattern. The bottom right hand corner has a Celebration V logo with Boba Fett. The sides include a brief synopsis of the history of the original packaging error.

Take the sleeve off and you have the box. The sides show off full size versions of the Zuckuss and 4-LOM cards. The box opens like a book and is secured with velcro tabs. Open it up and it reveals two windows displaying the carded figures inside. The top and bottom of each of these compartments are taped, but with the flick of a razor you can remove the carded figures for closer inspection.

The fronts of the cards are identical to the regular Vintage Collection cards with one exception. The borders used on these cards are actually foil as opposed to just being illustrated to look like foil. These figures also do not have the Free Boba Fett stickers that most of the carded VCfigures have. The back panels of the cards, however are identical to what is seen on the regular VC figures.

The figures inside are each unique in their own way. Zuckuss (or in this case 4-LOM) is the same sculpt as the figure that was recently released as part of the Legacy lineup. The paint job has been changed to match the vintage figure more and the cloth gown has been changed for a material that more closely matches the one used on the original figure. 4-LOM (or Zuckuss), on the other hand, is the same sculpt as the figure released in the Legends line and currently repacked in the Vintage Collection line, only with a cleaner and more basic paint job to better match his vintage figure.


Whether or not you can really consider this set an exclusive is a matter for some debate. It was obviously created with Celebration V in mind, but it went up for sale on Hasbro’s Toyshop after the convention and at the time of writing this article, it’s still readily available. Obviously, either Hasbro overestimated the demand for this set or just decided to produce enough to make fans happy [yeah, unlike the SDCC Sgt. Slaughter figures! -Ed.].

The price on this set is $14.99, which is a really nice deal. It’s about the same price as these figures would cost if you bought them individually off the pegs at Walmart. You’re basically getting the extra special packaging for free and it won’t break your bank if you want to grab a second set for openers.

 

Aug 24 2010

Star Wars Vintage Collection: AT-AT Commander by Hasbro

I really am trying to pace myself on picking up these new Vintage Collection figures. After being away from Star Wars for a while, I’m trying not to overdo it. Nonetheless, I’ve picked up a new one each time I stop in to Wally World to pick up something. Early coverage of the Empire Strikes Back assortment referred to this figure as General Veers, which I think he is definitely intended to be, but I suspect Hasbro went with the more generic “AT-AT Commander” to satisfy the requirements of reusing the vintage card. As far as I’m concerned, it’s Veers.

Still loving the packaging, but then even as a kid, I loved the vintage AT-AT Commander card. Even though it doesn’t show the character, it shows the AT-AT’s and that’s plenty cool and made it somewhat distinctive. As with the other releases in this line, the card features the Free Boba Fett sticker on the front and the back featues photos of the vintage figures and cards. These new vintage style figures are also issued without the clamshells used in the Vintage Original Trilogy Collection. The downside about the new packaging? Yep, it’s so cool, I had to buy two so I can keep one carded.

With that out of the way, the last time we saw General Veers as a figure was in the Saga Collection. Is this new release a major improvement? Well, in some cases yes, in others no. The articulation is a huge improvement, but we’ll get to that a little later. The sculpt on the new figure is excellent. I think the head sculpt is a significant improvement, but the rest of the figure is about on par with its predecessor. Like the Saga Veers this figure has a removable vest and helmet. The helmet is about the same, although the new figure comes with goggles that can be worn over the figure’s eyes or up on the helmet itself.

It’s the vest where I take issue with this new figure. On the Saga figure, the vest included the larger sculpted belt buckle and when it was removed, Veers was in his normal Imperial Officer uniform. His head was even sculpted with his officer’s cap and the helmet was made to fit over it. On this update, the huge belt buckle is sculpted onto the figure, so you can’t fully convert him to his officer’s uniform and he looks rather silly with the vest removed. He’s also not wearing his officer’s cap. Bottom line, I liked the option to go from his field outfit to his duty uniform on the older figure. It’s not a huge deal, and yes, this is still a nice figure. But I like to apply the Hippocratic Oath to figure updates. Hasbro should do no harm, or in this case, don’t go backwards on a good idea. And in the end, my Veers can’t chill with his fellow Generals without feeling like the odd man out.

I wish I still had my Saga Collection Veers to do a comparison pic, but I’m afraid he went with my Endor AT-AT, so we’ll have to just settle for a shot with good old Uncle Ozzel.

The AT-AT Commander’s articulation includes a ball jointed neck and universal joints in the shoulders, elbows, knees and ankles, as well as swivel cuts in his wrists. He has standard leg movement in the hips and he can swivel at the waist. Not bad at all.

Besides his aforementioned vest, helmet and goggles, the Commander comes with a blaster that fits into his sculpted holster.

The AT-AT Commander cost $7.98 at Walmart, which sure beats the $12.99 I was paying for some of the last Vintage OTC figures even without the clamshell. If it sounds like I came down hard on this figure, keep in mind that I still really love this guy and he’s a nice addition to my BMF AT-AT. I just think that Hasbro sidestepped some really good ideas employed in the last release that they should have applied here.

 

Aug 22 2010

Star Wars Vintage Collection: C-3PO by Hasbro

I looked at the Vintage Collection Han and Leia figures together, but I wanted to save C-3PO because he deserves his own review. Yes, he is just that bad. In fact, there’s so much wrong with this figure, it’s hard to know where to start. This figure is poorly designed, poorly executed, and he has a gimmick that doesn’t belong anywhere near a “vintage style” 3PO mounted on an Empire Strikes Back card. In fairness, I knew this figure was going to be crap when I bought him. You can see it right through the bubble. But I figured I’d check him out anyway and at least I’d get a PoP for my Boba Fett mailaway.

One ridiculous thing about this release is that C-3PO was already released as part of the Vintage Original Trilogy Collection on this very same card and so for carded collectors he’s somewhat superfluous. It’s possible that Hasbro was trying to make a mends for the VOTC 3PO, which was also a terrible, terrible figure, but somehow swapping one crappy 3PO for another doesn’t seem like a good plan. Either way, the packaging is the best thing about this figure. The front is nearly identical to the VOTC version. The only real drawback of this figure’s packaging is that the choking hazard sticker is stuck directly on the card, whereas it was on the clamshell of the VOTC release. There’s also the mailaway Boba Fett sticker on the front.

I’ll start with one of the few things I like about this figure, and that’s the coloring. We’ve had plenty of shiny 3PO’s but not too many grubbier ones. This version’s duller coppery finish makes it pretty good for the Tatooine scenes from A New Hope, which begs the question, why put him on an Empire Strikes Back card? The other thing I like about this figure is the articulation. 3PO has a ball jointed head, and universal joints in the shoulders, elbows and knees. He also has swivels in the shoulders and ankles. 3PO has a ball joint in his waist, but unfortunately the back lip of his torso gets caught on the wirey midsection, which makes use of this joint tricky. He’s also pulled apart at the waist a few times while trying to make use of this joint.


This 3PO has some issues with proportions, a lot of which has to do with the gimmick that I’ll talk about in a minute. His upper torso looks a little too wide, but his pelvis looks absolutely huge, which gives his hip joints a weird extra wide stance. I’ll admit there’s some nice sculpting at work, especially the detail on his arms and the exposed wires of his midsection, but that doesn’t help a lot when the proportions look so wrong.

The dumbest thing about this 3PO is that he was designed with removable plates. It’s a gimmick that severely effects the aesthetics of the figure. Since 3PO never appeared like this in any of the Original Trilogy films, it’s obviously a nod to his appearance in Attack of the Clones, but if that was the intention, Hasbro should have saved this figure for an Attack of the Clones card, since they are doing some prequel figures in the vintage style too (don’t get me started on how stupid an idea I think that is!). The face plate, chest plate and right thigh plate are all removable to expose his inner workings. Unfortunately, the face plate and right thigh fall off almost every time I fiddle with him.

In the end, I think this figure is just a bit better than the awful VOTC 3PO, but mainly because that figure couldn’t even get the paint job right let alone the sculpt and there’s absolutely nothing that I like about it. Had Hasbro nixed the idea of the removable plates and improved the proportions, this could have been an excellent 3PO, but then it would have been an entirely new figure. Again, I like the coloring and the articulation at work here, but the rest of this figure is a damn shame.

Aug 21 2010

Star Wars Vintage Collection: Han Solo (Echo Base) and Princess Leia (Hoth Outfit) by Hasbro

I picked up my first figures from the new Vintage Collection today. Actually I picked up two of each, so I could keep two carded. This is something I almost never do, but since I already got on board this whole vintage style figure idea back during the Original Trilogy Collection, I might as well keep going. The first two I’m going to look at are Han and Leia in their Hoth outfits. I also picked up 3PO, but we’ll save him for next time.

The packaging is the real draw here for me. Hasbro certainly knows how to pull on the heart (and wallet) strings of late thirty-something geeks, because seeing these things hanging on the pegs again really is something special. As with the VOTC releases, the fronts of these cards are excellent facsimiles of their early 80’s counterparts. Ok, actually Han is oddly enough an original figure with an original card, but it still looks like something authentic. The backs of the cards show the old figure with the new one (again, except for Han), along with a blurb about the line and some photos of other figures in the assortment. The other big difference is the Boba Fett mailaway advert on the front, which is a sticker and not printed directly on the card. What’s missing? That’s right, the clamshell.

I had mixed feelings about Hasbro abandoning the clamshells they used for the VOTC line. On the one hand, these new released don’t quite look as streamlined next to the VOTC carded figures. Yes, I plan on putting them in clamshells (which Hasbro conveniently sells), but they won’t have the special foil stickers or the embossed “Star Wars” on the back. On the other hand, as we’ll see a little later on the price is significantly lower, so there are some good points too.


Let’s start with Han in his Echo Base outfit, which is basically a Bespin Han only instead of the regular blue jacket, he’s wearing a Hoth style trenchcoat. The trousers and boots are the same as we’ve seen Han wearing as part of his Cloud City outfit. His belt is a separate piece, which includes a working holster for his pistol. His trenchcoat is also a separate piece, which is actually sculpted like a vest, which in conjunction with the figure’s arms is meant to look like a jacket. It works, pretty well, although the illusion crumbles under close inspection around the arms, or obviously if you take it off. Still, I don’t mind it and the jacket features some nice sculpting.

Hasbro didn’t quite get the job done with this figure’s head sculpt, which is kind of strange, since many of the modern Han figures have been fairly good likenesses. This one doesn’t completely miss the mark, but it’s not exactly Harrison Ford either. Fortunately, you can always grab one of your other recent Han figures and swap the heads if you so desire. Of course, that doesn’t help you for your mint-on-card figure.

Han’s articulation is excellent. He has a ball jointed head. His arms have ball jointed shoulders, elbows and he has swivel wrists. His legs have standard rotation at the hips and balljoints in the knees and ankles. Han also has a ball joint in the torso.

Apart from his iconic broom-handled pistol, Han comes with a welding mask and a welding tool. The mask has a handle, so he can hold it up to his face. I think they’re pretty cool accessories to stow away in the BMF Falcon.

Hoth Leia is a very welcome figure, since this version of her hasn’t been done in a while, and I don’t think it’s ever really been done particuarly well until now. Her outfit consists of her Hoth off-white fatigues and gloves with grey boots. There’s a lot of excellent sculpting on her outfit, including wrinkles, stitching and her arm communicator. Her vest is a separate piece, and unlike Han’s jacket, this piece is intended to be a vest so it can be removed without exposing the whole fake sleeve syndrome.

Hasbro has frequently had issues getting Leia’s head sculpt right, but in a bizarre turn of events, they actually did a fine job here. It’s not a perfect likeness, but it’s close (certainly closer than Han’s), and it’s not f’ugly, nor does it look like a monkey. The hair is also well sculpted and the paint apps on the lips and eyes are razor sharp.

Leia’s articulation includes a ball jointed head. Her arms have ball joints in the shoulders and elbows, and her wrists swivel. She has standard rotation in the hips and her knees are ball jointed. She can also swivel at the waist. Leia is missing any ankle articulation.

Leia comes with a standard Rebel-style blaster.

I picked up these figures for $7.98 each at Walmart, which is what regular Star Wars figures have been priced at for a while now. Keep in mind that back when the VOTC figures were released, they sold for around $9.99 to start with, but before the line ended they were up to $12.99 each at a lot of retailers, and that was a few years ago. I realize that they no longer come with the clamshell, but even if you buy a pack from Hasbro, you’re still ahead of the game. I think what I like about this pricing the most is that I’m not paying for an unwanted clamshell on the doubles that I plan on opening. If Hasbro was smart, they’d sell special clamshells with the foil stickers on them, but I’m willing to make do with the generic ones in favor of this price reduction. In hindsight, it’s too bad I didn’t keep the ones from the VOTC doubles that I opened.


Jul 23 2010

Star Wars: Super Deluxe AT-AT Walker by Hasbro, Part 2

Ok, so last time we looked at the packaging and the exterior of the toy. This time, we’ll see what’s going on inside. I’ve had a hell of a fun time digging out my totes of Star Wars figures and setting them up in and around this beast. We’ll take a look at each of the three main components of the AT-AT, namely its head, body and rear garage.

The Head:

The head’s cockpit opens up similarly to the old Kenner toy. You just lift up the hatch to reveal the inside. The early boasting point of this toy’s size was that the head could hold six figures. Can it really? Well, yeah, but only if they’re packed in like sardines. Plus, there are some early reports that the new Vintage Collection General Veers is too tall for the head!

There are two seats for the drivers (but remember, you only get one!) and then six pegs total in front of and behind the tactical screen. The idea here is that you can get two figures in front and two behind. I’d say the maximum capacity of the head without getting ridiculous is more like five, as I can comfortably fit two guard types behind the screen and one in front, or vice versa and have it look ok. Don’t get me wrong, this is a huge improvement over the original Kenner AT-AT’s two-seater roadster head.

The tactical console has a button that will activate a number of phrases, some of which will cause the screen to light up blue. There’s a sticker of the Hoth shield generator that can be applied, but if you choose to leave your AT-AT less scene specific, the light up effect of the screen still looks pretty cool without the sticker. I’m actually considering removing mine. The rear hatch that supposedly leads into the neck is really well done and actually looks like it should open.

There is a concealed handle in the top front of the AT-AT’s hull that works the head movement. When it is concealed, the head locks in a position so that its looking straight. Pull out the handle and the head goes somewhat limp so that it can be moved up, down and side to side by the handle. It would have been cool if the chin lasers could be operated with this device, but those are operated with slider switches under the head itself. The handle also has two fold out cannons so that you can leave it out and it will still look as if it serves a real purpose on the vehicle. That’s a nice touch. There are also three buttons near the handle, which activate different battle sound effects.

All in all, the head upgrade is about on par with what Hasbro did with the recent Millenium Falcon cockpit. Its definitely roomier, fits more figures and adds a load of play value to the toy.

The Body:


The main body of the Walker opens up on both sides in a gullwing fashion. The bottom portion folds down to form a platform with pegs to hold extra figures. These can also be used as boarding ramps, if you have a surface about the right height, as well as staging platforms for the winches positioned on each side for ferrying troops up and down to and from the surface. The winches are mounted on arms that swing out. A single button drops them and a disc can be turned to raise them back up. Each lift can hold two troopers at a time.


The inside cabin features a trench with a ladder on the wall, a lower platform area, and a raised platform area with a console and a window that looks into the rear garage. The console has a button that activates various phrases, some of which cause the red alert light in the cabin to flash. There are plenty of pegs, two side rails, and two removable console posts, that I chose to leave out because they tend to get in the way. The trench leads to the trap door in the belly of the Walker, which also has a winch, and can be used to recreate Luke’s demolition of the AT-AT in the film, or as another venue for getting troopers down to the surface.

Again, the main cabin is a huge improvement over the old toy. Both toys hold a lot of figures, but this one definitely holds more than the electronic POTF2 or Endor AT-ATs and provides a more interesting play environment. The fact that both sides open also makes it easier to get to everything inside.

The Garage:

The back of the walker opens up to reveal the speeder bike garage. A button deploys the platform that the speeder locks into, accompanied by a sound effect. You can also store more figures in here if you choose to leave the speeder out. There are also windows that can be opened on either side to give your Stormtroopers some much needed target practice.

The speeder bike itself is ok, but it suffers from the very flimsy rubbery plastic that make up the handle bars and the stabilizer boom. I definitely prefer the older one I have that’s closer to the old vintage Kenner toy. Either way, the new figures don’t sit all that well on it, but you can work something out if you’re determined enough. Its a nice enough bonus to round out the package, but nothing special.


I will admit, I was a little worried about buyer’s remorse when I pre-ordered this beast, mainly because I just don’t collect Star Wars toys like I used to. It took me a lot of waffling before buying the huge Millenium Falcon last year, but I never regretted that, and the same is true with this monster of an AT-AT. It seems only slightly less substantial then the Falcon, but that’s probably because a great deal of this toy’s size comes from its legs. And to be fair, its debuting on the toy shelves for about $50 less than the Falcon did. Either way, I’d say it was well worth the price and I highly recommend it, unless you’re willing to wait for the vintage style packaging on the TRU exclusive later on down the road. Detractors may well point out that its still not close to scale, but the only time I find this really apparent is when its seen next to the Snowspeeder. As far as the figures go, its plenty big enough!

While my Star Wars collection is a far cry from what it used to be, this AT-AT makes a nice addition to my showpieces like the big Falcon and the Imperial Shuttle. I’m also very glad I hung on to most of my Imperial figures because now they have somewhere to live.

The only thing I’m afraid of now is that owning this is going to pull me back into collecting a lot more Star Wars figures and toys this year than I had previously planned.