HERA SYNDULLA (The Ghost Pack-In Figure)
The Vintage Collection 3 3/4-Inch Pack-In Figure
Item No.: No. G0040
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: HAS 003
Includes: The Ghost ship, meiloorun fruit, blaster, Kalikori, 3 additional figures
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $499.99
Availability: December 2024
Appearances: Star Wars: Rebels
Bio: During the time of the Empire,
the Ghost served as a mobile base for General Hera Syndulla's small band of rebels working to aid the people of Lothal and other planets in need. (Taken from the figure's cardback.)
Image: Adam's photo lab.
Availability: Click here to buy it at eBay now!
Commentary: Well, you can't get this
Hera Syndulla because this live-action version of the cartoon version of the character was packed with a
HasLab The Ghost which arrived late December 2024. She, and most of the figures in this set, share some tooling with other figures - I would've been fine with straight repacks (or early releases) to not irritate figure completists who don't want to spend $500 ($600 after tax and shipping) to get a complete set. As of my writing this, it looks like eBay sellers are getting $100-$125 for her, which is more or less normal for
The Vintage Collection rarities upon release now. For the fans who bought these sets to part out and flip, I assume they're mostly very happy. Even the ship (sans figures) goes for a pretty penny, but will it last? If history is any indication with Razor Crest, probably not, no.
Hera surprised me by being mostly new with few shared parts. I would've assumed they would have kept the legs, or parts of the body, but no - the only parts that carry over with the Disney+ release are the head and the hands. This means that Mary Elizabeth Winstead's face is painted green and appears on this figure, with a gray (rather than brown) flight cap. I think brown looks better, but this is very good, and the sculpt was already excellent. The eyebrows on my sample seem a little weak, but it's a good "real life" translation of the cartoon character plus or minus the fact that her lekku generally are a little wider apart.
The costume is effectively the cartoon suit from the final episodes of the show - the gray around her collar is a big change, and the shoulder armor is absent. It's pretty close to the outfit she had throughout the series, though, but has the little rank badge on her shoulder, the medal on her left shoulder strap, and the gray straps on her orange flight pants. She even has the silver on her boots, and a working blaster holster! Hasbro nailed the costume's translation to this particular look with no real shortcuts. For fans of Mary Elizabeth Winstead asking "Is it caked?" the answer is "no," the proportions of this figure's body are more aligned with the cartoon. I wouldn't have minded if they made her headphones bigger and gave her different goggles too, but such is the mystery of whatever budgets Hasbro deals with.
As the pilot she can fit in her ships -
The Ghost has multiple seats and beds for her to use, and the articulation allows her to make good use of them all.
The Phantom is scaled-down to roughly mini-rig (with fancy paint) size, with only one very small seat and a scaled-down Chopper. The ship itself does not impress up-close, and it severely limits which figures can fit inside the cockpit, which sort of ruins its "toy" value. But - Hera can squeeze in there, barely.
The Retro Collection Hera will not fit, though, and I think Hasbro would have been better off fudging the ship up a bit or even selling it separately in a better toy size. I'm sure I'll sound whiny saying this, but I paid $500 for this thing, and
The Ghost ship is about 2/3 empty bulk,
The Phantom is almost comically downsized - which I didn't noticed at SDCC 2023 when I saw it in person - and the figures are more than 50% recycled parts. I expected a little more. Knowing that the Cantina is looking to be a little light (I don't need 100 glasses), I don't know how excited I will be to bang the drum for the next
The Vintage Collection crowdfund.
As far as accessories go, it isn't above/beyond most normal figures. You get a meiloorun fruit (you got one with Zeb already), a blaster (same as
Ahsoka Hera), and a Kalikori - a bit of Twi'lek family history/folk art/artifact action that, were it left out, you may not miss it. It's a nice extra, though, and I appreciate every last thing Hasbro can put in a set like this to add some semblance of value to a toy, even if that amount is maybe fifty cents. Was it worth buying this set for this figure - indeed, any or all of the figures? Heck no, unless you need a complete set. I assume Hera fans will want them all, and with good cause - this is a nice figure! Fans would appreciate it if Hasbro did a "white box" or photo cardback release later, maybe minus the accessories. At the right price, this is a well-crafted figure that delivers the promise of a real-life version of a cartoon character as a higher-end collectible action figure.
Vehicle Commentary: The entire package is probably not really worth the asking price, but you can see where the money went. The packaging (note below) is overkill, and the ship itself is decorated with loads of painted buttons, switches, screens, and panels inside the ship that older fans will most likely never really see nor appreciate. It's too fancy, yet also downsized, which probably is going to leave some fans with a sour taste in their mouths. Hasbro did a Galactic Heroes version of The Ghost for about $40. I feel as if it might be worth it for fans to consider lobbying Hasbro for more "toy" items because perhaps a $100 The Ghost would've scratched the itch, especially if size compromises are unavoidable. The Barge and the Razor Crest felt like the best possible expressions of those vehicles we could get with no wasted space... and the figures were pretty redundant. This set has figures that are different enough that you'll want them, but the vehicle comes up a little short in many places and overdelivers in others.
After three huge HasLab ships and a number of hefty The Vintage Collection releases, space is now becoming a concern. Hopefully Hasbro's next pick has a smaller footprint. A big tall Death Star that's basically a DETOLF but a playset could be fun. Or The Black Series AT-ST. Or just a really big box of unlikely The Retro Collection figures. What would you pay for a legit Vlix or two packed with the entirety of 1985 (and unproduced 1986) Droids cartoon figures? I can't do another ship that's going to require the purchase of new furniture to enjoy it, though.
Packaging Notes: This may be the most overpacked figure of all time. Hera comes on a standard, unpunched cardback. It's packaged in a big brown box with 4 other figures that measures 31x11.5-inches - which for 4 6x9-inch figures is kinda bonkers. The Retro Collection multipacks just stack them tightly. The Vintage Collection Amazon/Pulse sets sort of stack them with the bubbles visible. That box is packaged with 3 other boxes with ship parts in a graphical The Vintage Collection box, which has corner protectors and is in a brown cardboard box, which has additional corner protectors in a bigger, third cardboard box. And you know what? Despite the two outer boxes being perfect, my inner graphical box has dents on it - so it's a lot of extra cost taken on by Hasbro and the consumer that may not have done us any good. At least the carded figures seem to be perfect, but gosh it's a wasteful use of space.
Collector's Notes: I got mine from Hasbro Pulse.
--Adam Pawlus
Day 3,205: January 9, 2024
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