Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,372: Geonosian Picador (The Vintage Collection)

GEONOSIAN PICADOR with Orray
The Vintage Collection 3 3/4-Inch Vehicle Pack-In Figure
Item No.: No. G2769
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #411
Includes: Pike, Orray, plugs for orray, reins, stand, wagon
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $79.99
Availability: July 2026
Appearances: Attack of the Clones

Bio: Geonosians use orrays - sturday quadrupeds native to the rocky planet - as mounts for the picadors in the execution arena, as well as to pull carts carrying condemned prisoners. (Taken from the cardback.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at eBay now!

Click here to buy it at Amazon now!

Commentary: It's great to finally have this Orray & Geonosian Picador set. It's also a little late. Attack of the Clones came out in 2002, so this beast hit 26 years later. To put it in perspective, the long-delayed Bantha first got made by Kenner in the summer of 1998... only 21 years after the original movie had been in theaters. Prequel kids have been either much more patient or indifferent than the Gen X-ers, so now they get to pony up $80 for what is an admittedly very good - and over-engineered - display piece. It's very good, it's original, and most importantly it's packed with new stuff you didn't buy when the movie was still new. That is such a rarity that I think it's actually worth holding your nose and getting your credit card without waiting for a sale. I doubt we're going to get a lot of never-before-made stuff next year.

So what's in the set? It's versatile, and it's this year's "playset." It's an item designed to be bought more than once for display reasons, and it became apparent as I was setting it up. The orray creature has a saddle plus little plastic plugs in his side, which you can pull out to connect the reins. This means you should probably buy one of these guys to be pulling the cart, and a second one so that the Geonosian may ride him and the cart can be overturned in a display. Heck, you can probably buy more if you want. Like Mos Eisley and the Tantive IV, this set was very clearly intended for repeated purchase. The cart is good, but noting special. The orray is superior to the Mattel Jurassic World toys by a fair bit, but also you're being charged accordingly. It's the same size as the baby stegosaurus mold from a few years ago. The creature has loads of joints and deco, but is sized similarly to the $13 toys in Mattel's line. If this were made at 2009 levels of Hasbro articulation, I assume this set would probably be $40 - but we are in an era where the goal seems to be to give the fan the very best, most expensive offering possible. Everything has tons of extra detailing and joints. If you love that sort of thing, you're going to love this. If you're on a budget, you're probably mad.

The carded Geonosian Picador figure inside comes on a card, with the biggest blister in The Vintage Collection. The giant spear covers almost the entire box for the photo, and probably makes a pretty good case for Hasbro to try a new 3 3/4-inch packaging style after nearly a decade so we can get some other kinds of accessories. The ones released with the movie had sticks or blasters, but I think they were lacking this specific lengthy stick. It's distinctive, so if you have an army of these guys it'll stand out.

The figure itself surprised me. It's not a figure that shares parts with Poggle the Lesser [FOTD #3,342]. Both seem to share elements from a CAD file ancestor, but nearly every piece is significantly altered with added (or removed) armor plus different carapace detailing. Poggle has a lot more spikes and bumps, and this picador is a bit more smoothed out. Functionally, they're pretty much the same with joints in the same places. The range of movement will not surprise you, but perhaps the hands will. Poggle's are larger, with fingers outstretched for gesturing or holding his cane. This picador grips either the pike or the reins tightly, to the point where I would say it might be challenging to get them gripping.

The level of detail on the figure is pretty great, with the green bug bits being texturally similar to the others in the line with flexible gold armor so nobody loses an eye. This one stands out because the back of the armor has various jewels and tassels. Perhaps the significance of the blue gem or various rings and bars are known to you, but I may have forgotten with time. Maybe they just look cool! I appreciate that they made this guy look different than the four-pack at Hasbro Pulse. The quality is there. Hasbro did a nice job, and if you just want more bugs you can skip this set and get four in the cheaper army pack.

I found getting the orray on the cart fairly easy, but contorting this nicely jointed Geonosian to fit in the seat was tough. I worry it might distort the plastic limbs over time, so I'll probably display him nearby either seated on the creature or standing until/unless I buy a second one. (Unlikely at $80.) I'm sure anyone that worked on this is rolling their eyes at my price-related comments, but you do get a sense of sticker shock when a very good $20 figure is in an $80 box with a floating boat and dinosaur of sorts. At $60 I'd say "this is pretty great." There's so much paint, articulation, and detail on everything in the set that you can get why they are asking $80, and I assume only a sliver of that has to do with our current fun with international trade. It's also the first completely new mold we've had for an Attack of the Clones vehicle or creature in over a decade, and I appreciate that we actually got something that isn't another remake. If you're a prequel collector, go buy this, it's great. If you love creatures and vehicles, it's very cool. If you want it to be 2002 and this to be $25 with a roaring sound box, well, maybe they'll try a "retro" thing for the prequels by going back to 1990s-2000s aesthetics some day. (This won't happen.)

 

Collector's Notes: I got mine from Entertainment Earth.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,372: August 18, 2026

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,366: Battle Droid (Right side of tray, The Vintage Collection)

BATTLE DROID (Geonosis, far right)
The Vintage Collection 3 3/4-Inch Action Figure Set
Item No.: No. F9259
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: Blaster, backpack, antenna, 2 slightly different red droids and 1 Super Battle Droid with gear
Action Feature: Blaster
Retail: $67.99
Availability: July 2026
Appearances: Attack of the Clones

Bio: Battle droids, also known as combat droids, war droids,[2] clankers, droid soldiers, or battle bots, were a type of droid designed for combat. (Stolen from Wookieepedia.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Click here to buy it at eBay now!

Commentary: I love a nice surprise. This is one of three barely different Battle Droid figures in a four-pack with an all-new Super Battle Droid. I appreciate there was some subtle variety, but I particularly appreciate that this figure is not identical to the 2022 Battle Droid [FOTD #2,913] from Walmart's "Clone Wars" (no "The") collection. Not only is it a different shade of red, the hands and feet had some changes.

Looking at my review of the previous red droid, Hasbro listened. The same plain basic droid is a new shade of red, with some silver enhancements painted on the arsm, ribs, and metal antenna on the backpacks. On this particular robot, Hasbro added some excrutiatingly subtle silver weathering on its right neck collar area and around the right area of its torso. It has to catch enough light just-so, or you won't even notice it's there. I wish Hasbro could have amped it up or left it off, but it's appreciated. The backpack has similar weathering, also on its right side. There are also black blast marks over the vents of the backpack, and some on the front of the figure's torso too. Check out the right thigh and a unique rusty drip coming from the nipple - the pattern is different on each droid in the set. Hasbro could have put them all out with the same (or no) weathering and while I would probably complain, I certainly would understand why they didn't go all-out. But they did! There are some black enhancements to the eyes too, but they're so small you might miss them.

Hasbro was not content to use the same body as last time. A few parts may be derived from similar CAD files or tools, but the legs are new. The arms are new. The chest seems to be new. I can tell because we have things like bend-and-swivel wrists, swivel knees, and what seem to be attempts at rocking ankles. I can't get the ankles to move much from side to side, but the pins are much more subtle and that can be said of the arms, too. Hasbro getting more movement out of one of the skinniest figures in the line is quite impressive. He can mostly fold up and crouch, but I found the telescoping neck will cause the head to bump into the backpack. 

Both the head and the backpack were knocked off when I tried to do this. (He works fine with the OOM antenna, though.)  At least he can get pretty close, though. I was particularly pleased at the range of motion given to the shoulders thanks to its ball-and-socket construction, which lets him get a few decent blaster poses when combined with the wrists. Hasbro did a generally excellent job here, and we're probably approaching the limits of what you can do with joints on very thin limbs. Swappable arms might be a way around this, or slug figures specifically meant to crouch and only to crouch.

The one accessory that I think could have knocked this set out of the park would have been a single C-3PO head to swap out on one of the droid bodies. Maybe next time. What we do get is an unpainted black blaster and silver-antenna'ed backpacks. They fit nicely, even if they sometimes get in the way of some poses. It's a pretty decent load-out given what we saw in the Geonosis arena in 2002.

While I'd be lying if I said the prospect of a new Battle Droid in 2026 was something I was excited to see, I can say it's an improvement over the ones I had at home already. It's nice to see them fit in wrist articulation, and I appreciate the attempt at the tilting ankles. I had a hard time getting this figure to balance in a lot of poses, but at least he can stand on a shelf. If you're on the fence, I'd nudge you to give this set a shot. It's slightly cheaper than four carded figures, which is nice to have in this economy.

Collector's Notes: I got mine from Hasbro Pulse.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,366: July 28, 2026

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,342: Poggle the Lesser (The Vintage Collection)

POGGLE THE LESSER Take Three
The Vintage Collection 3 3/4-Inch single figure
Item No.: Asst. F6878 No. G2602
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #391
Includes: Cane
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $19.99
Availability: March 2026
Appearances: Attack of the Clones

Bio: Poggle the Lesser was a powerful figure within the Confederacy of Independent Systems, commanding hte droid armies that fought the Republic for control of Geonosis. (Taken from the single-figure packaging.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at eBay now!

Click here to buy it at Amazon now!

Commentary: Older fans like to dunk on the prequels, but they did a nice job there. The design work is amazing, with weird backstories and some genuinely great nomenclature. The sequels didn't top Poggle the Lesser, a bizarrely-named, strange-voiced, uses-his-rival's-leg-as-a-walking-stick antagonist from Attack of the Clones. Maybe he'd be more popular if Hasbro put out the figure in year one - we got our first basic figure in 2003 with a redeco in 2006. That means he's been off the market for about 20 years - so this is a good time to try again, now with knees, elbows, wrists, and other added articulation.

The 2003/2006 sculpt was very good, being based on digital assets and having all the wrinkly skin and intricate armor detail you might want - but it was still painted like a toy of its era. This new one has a bigger budget, with more detailing of the leather-like stuff covering his lower waist, more mottling in his beard, livelier eyes, and many - but not all - of the gems now painted. The turquoise bits were left unadorned, and the red gems seema little too bright, but otherwise? They did a nice job. The bug brooch looks good, the golden bangles are colored well, and the skin seems generally about as good as you can expect at this price point. I'm not sure if the vest color is quite right - but I'm not going to knock it. There are a lot of paint apps here and Hasbro did a great job making him feel a little more finished. Even the wings have a nice shimmer to them!

The sculpt is mostly great. The bug skin? Perfect. The clothing texture? Top-notch. The only parts I'm not fond of are the artistic decisions, which generally coincides with how I feel about most "collector" figures in general. The figure seems to have perfectly replicated a basic pose of a digital model. That's good, right? Mostly, yes. The problem is that it missed some key details or quirks that make the figure seem alive. If you look at the digital model from the movies, you'll notice the bangles around his wrists are sort of a cluttered, messy, jangly thing. The figure is tight and orderly. The figure stands upright with his head held high, and excellent posture. The movie character was something of a hunchback, with his Wookieepedia portrait tilting his head in a way the figure just can't do. They nailed the details, but this goes to show you that even a super-articulated figure needs work on its pose in order to give it the right personality. It's not bad. It's no worse than what we had before. But if Hasbro does Version 3.0 some day, I would recommend making him a little slouchier, a little messier, and generally more alive.

His one accessory is a cane, and it's also about as good as the last one. The movie model has some gold on the top, and a few cracks, and some weathering. This one is mostly clean except for some gold adornments. The sculpt is good, but it's a little too nice and clean. If this were still a $17 figure I'd have little reason to complain, but as we're at $20 and probably not that far off from $23, I want either a perfect figure or a cheap figure.

Articulation is very good, with the shoulders inset in his torso nicely. The hands move well, the feet rock a bit, and he has the knees, thighs, hips, and any other joints you might want. Thin-legged figures with unusual poses can dip and fall over with time, so the articulation is very welcome here as a correcting mechanism to the aging process. I suspect Poggle figures will slowly lurch forward over the years, so at least you can to in there and move the ankles and knees a bit rather than warp a single-piece leg. He's not going to sit in any vehicles, or probably at any war room tables, but at least he can stand as the manufacturer intended.

Hasbro did a great job on the craft, but I would like to see a slouchier, nervier pose if we ever see him again. Poggle the Lesser is an awesomely weird alien out of the George Lucas catalog, but he's not a being who you would say holds his head high. I think the final deco details - even with the missing turquoise - are a good choice as it looks more like he would on a red-tinted Geonosis or Mustafar. This is probably the very best Poggle the Lesser collectible of any kind you can buy today, and it's certainly one that's loaded with personality, jointed wings, and precious metals galore. If you have that 2002 Geonosis Arena playset, he'd love to hang out there. I assume I will not see a higher-grade 3 3/4-inch version of this figure, so I can recommend this one as the best figure you'll probably ever get. The amount of fine detailing here is impressive, and I imagine followed a style guide to the letter. Companies just need to start making messier figures that love drama.

Collector's Notes: I got mine from Entertainment Earth.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,342: May 5, 2026

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,269: Asajj Ventress (The Vintage Collection)

ASAJJ VENTRESS Vintage Debut
The Vintage Collection 3 3/4-Inch Action Figure
Item No.: Asst. F6878 No. G0932
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #364
Includes: 2 lightsabers, 2 hilts
Action Feature: Hilts connect to belts
Retail: $16.99
Availability: July 2025
Appearances: The Clone Wars

Bio: Trained in the ways of the dark side by Count Dooku, assassin Asajj Ventress longed to be considered a true Sith. Durig the Clone Wars, she fought for the Separatists with her twin red-bladed lightsabers. (Taken from the figure's cardback.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at Entertainment Earth now!

Click here to buy it at Amazon now!

Click here to buy it at eBay now!

Commentary: Back in 2011, we got a 6-inch version of Asajj Venturess. Of course, I wrote about Asajj Ventress (The Black Series) [FOTD #2,786] and in the beginning I wrote this: "If you love The Clone Wars you should be buying this figure and demanding that Hasbro make a matching 3 3/4-inch version for you."

Well, here we are, four years later!

This figure is very much a slightly re-engineered, shorter take on that very good release. The colors are about the same, the articulation is pretty much the same. She's got the mummy-wrapped pants under her skirt, but the skirt isn't quite as shiny as the last one. The top has a metallic hint to it, with striped, long arm wrappings that would be at home in Beetlejuice. Her make-up is very similar in both releases, just a little lighter and fairer at the smaller size. Her lips, eyes, and other adornments look amazing to the human eye and Hasbro continues to lead the industry in doing a good job with teeny-tiny details. All her painted elements look very good. If you enjoy The Clone Wars, I think this is a must-have figure.

Her belt is pretty much the same, ust scaled down. The pattern on her tabard is a little different, oddly enough. This one is more in line with the 3 3/4-inch figure we got in the cartoon line around 2008, albeit with more saturated colors. (That, too, was a very good figure.) The belt buckle has the same squared off holes to place the pegs on her lightsaber hilts, too - just smaller. She's pretty easy to pose, and the soft goods skirt doesn't get in the way of having her stand or fight. She has no problems holding her lightsabers, and the hilts fit in her belt relatively well.

Whenever Hasbro does an all-new 3 3/4-inch The Vintage Collection figure, I'm generally very happy. This is no exception. Even though they effectively scaled down an existing product, I literally asked for it. It's what I wanted, and I like how she was executed. If you can find her, or order her online, I'd recommend picking her up. This figure in particular is kind of where I like Vintage to go - new and highly improved versions of characters I haven't had a new figure for years, and/or all-new figures nobody has. Unfortunately we have to swallow a lot of leftovers to get here.

The rest of this wave has the very good Carson Teva, the not-open-yet Agent Kallus, plus reproductions/variations of Dengar and Ponda Baba. While I would prefer themed waves, this ratio of new and old figures scratches all the right itches for me. My compliments to the chefs.

Collector's Notes: I got mine from Entertainment Earth.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,269: August 21, 2025

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,226: General Grievous (The Retro Collection)

GENERAL GRIEVOUS Kennerized
The Retro Collection 3 3/4-Inch Action Figure
Item No.: No. G0371
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: 4 lightsabers, another 5 figures
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $59.99
Availability: November 2024
Appearances: Revenge of the Sith

Bio: The Star Wars Retro Collection is inspired by the original 1970s Star Wars figures and features original figure design and detailing! Continue your collection from a galaxy far, far away. (Stolen from the marketing copy. Packaging has no bio.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at Amazon now!

Click here to buy it at eBay now!

Commentary: This The Retro Collection General Grievous is great modern figure, based on a character that maybe just can't work as a Kenner figure. Thin limbs might snap, maybe the eyes wouldn't look right with less color in them. There's no right or wrong way to spin the tale of the Kenner-era Grievous. 2024 Hasbro opted to base Kenneral Grievous off of General Grievous (Four Lightsaber Attack) [FOTD #424] from 2005. Kenner of old rarely included button-activated features on its old action figures, but it wasn't shy about breaking out of the standard five jointed format for its droids. Hasbro also opted to try something new.

In terms of deco, it's very similar to the 2005 figure - bony armor, silver highlights, and mutli-color eyes. The eyes are a bit too advanced for any 1980s figure - honestly, it's pretty advanced for a 1990s figure. I would've been fine with a single-fill color, because the very fine red border around a yellow eye with a slice of black in the middle looks excellent for modern standards. Figures with two eye colors were very unusual back then - The Emperor comes to mind, cartoon C-3PO, some variants of Lando, Max Rebo - but not too much more. As to the color choices, it matches the movie - so as a fan, you might ask if Kenner would have gone with "movie colors" or the sneak preview figure colors, based on a cartoon or other preproduction source. Like I said, there's no wrong way to do it, but I think this one seems a little too good as coloring goes. I'm also one of very few people who would love to see a repaint of this figure in incorrect colors.

The arm engineering is this toy's shining feature, and shows some real creativity. With EV-9D9's mouth, C-3PO's removable limbs, and FX-7's many bending arms, Kenner wasn't shy about integrating all-new features on droid toys. General Grievous' arms all swing out - but not forward. He has seven jointed parts, which more or less would qualify as super articulated back in the 1980s. It's a choice that makes for a more fun figure, but also restricts his ability to fit inside most toy vehicles. (Note: you can cram him in the Grievous Starfighter if you slide him in without the control console. It's weird, but it fits.) This is something we've seen on a few collector figure lines that would sometimes get fixed down the road (especially 2007 G.I. Joe) but the oversight always stings a bit. Most old action figures were designed with vehicles in mind - Kenner wanted to get another $20 out of kids. This is an understandable, but unfortunate, choice that probably would happen in the old days. It's also possible they would sell another Grievous figure. I wish it had SilverHawks-style "squeeze the legs and arms pop out" action, but it's probably too advanced for the toy story that this figure aims to tell.

It's also fun to imagine this figure's hypothetical development cycle. We all know the movie, and Hasbro clearly made this figure after seeing it. But would Kenner have had the luxury? Would they even have known about the split arms? Yoda (1980) seemed to be made from the wrong playbook, so it's kind of fun to think of a version of this figure where they had to make up or imagine details.

While the Clone Trooper was almost too stiff, Grievous is a little too loose. His pose and posture all seem to show years of toy expertise and thought about how to make a good figure, whereas most old Kenner toys were a little simpler and in many cases, stiffer. C-3PO's pose was pretty close to how he moved on-screen, but not exactly. Grievous feels like they nailed it. There's a lot of detail with very skinny hands and fingers (probably impossible by 1980s standards) and a lot of fine detail that seems unrealistic for an old toy. The legs are sculpted more robustly, so he won't fall over - and I love that. The feet are also unusual in that the claws are instead massively wide talon-like toes, which is an interesting way to solve the problem. Walrus Man had swim fins, so seeing Hasbro imagine Kenner taking a weird swing at the feet makes total sense.

I can't imagine they could do the sculpt in a way that would work better, nor would hard plastic limbs likely survive being handled by a child. Thin, rubbery limbs were scarce in the Kenner days - I have to say Hasbro did the best they could with this one. The four retro lightsabers look great, and his hands are sculpted amazingly well to hold them without dropping any. It's a nice quality of life improvement, and I'm glad Hasbro is making Kenner figures with improved grips.

This one just doesn't have a Kenner feel or, other than the lightsabers, a real Kenner look. If I were toy tyrant, I'd probably ask Hasbro to make a version in the wrong Clone Wars cartoon colors and simplify the eye deco - but I'm not, and I'd say this is about as good as you can get. He's a popular character, but it's possible weaseling out of doing him in favor of Dooku or Obi-Wan Kenobi would result in no Kenner fanatics arguing how a cyborg's fingers and toes should look. It's a perfectly nice modern action figure for a great price.

Collector's Notes: I got mine from Hasbro Pulse.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,226: March 25, 2025

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,171: Darth Maul (Deluxe, Cyborg, Epic Hero Series)

DARTH MAUL Cyborg Redeco - New Kids Line
Epic Hero Series Deluxe Walmart Exclusive Figure
Item No.: No. F9375
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: Lightsaber, Armor, Spinny Lightsaber Energy
Action Feature: Lightsaber splits in two
Retail: $19.84
Availability: August 2024
Appearances: The Clone Wars
Bio: Darth Maul wields an intimidating double-bladed lightsaber and the power of the Dark Side. (Taken from the packaging)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at Walmart now!

Click here to buy it at Amazon now!

Click here to buy it at eBay now!

Addendum: Walmart.com seems to have dropped the price by $7.  If your store has a price scanner (it doesn't) you should see if it got updated.

Commentary: I'm not going to beat around the bush here - is it possible Hasbro has been experimenting with price points to see if there's a figure that's too expensive to scalp? This Darth Maul figure is exclusive to Walmart and a wallet-shocking $19.84. One peg over, for the same price, is a two-pack of Bo-Katan and Moff Gideon with bonus weapons for the exact same price. (How people are selling them for $19.90 shipping on eBay, I don't know, I can only assume the seller somehow got them for free.) A normal Maul costs $8 or $10, so you're being charged for a 2-part spinny energy thing and an unpainted piece of clamp-on armor. It's so expensive that I want to believe that the prices were an administrative error, that someone put a wrong number on a spreadsheet because there is no way this is worth more than a typical The Vintage Collection figure and certainly isn't worth as much as 2.5 basic carded figures.

 I'm going to start the review by saying "wait for clearance or a sale." I think this is an incredibly clever figure - it takes some shortcuts that for the price are unacceptable, but in the form factor, are charming in a 1990s Kenner way. I hate what I paid for this figure, but I am delighted by the item, which I am sure is causing some of you to read this and go "so why are you so cranky?" Yeah, that also bothers me, but this is who I am after writing about toys on the internet for 29 years.

The core figure is the same as the basic Darth Maul figure from last week. They molded the limbs in pink and painted the boots and gloves to more closely resemble (but miss the mark on) Order 66 Maul figures [FOTD #2,858]. At this price - here we go again - it should be a whole new mold, the budget is there and a repaint with a new shorter "skirt" piece is insufficient for the asking price. But if this thing were $12.99, the same as other deluxe figures in the line right now? I would chuckle and say "it's probably fun enough to be worth running out to get." Heck, it's possible the pricing hike was intentional to see how popular characters sell for the holidays. Maul is at least a recognizable, and I turn gray saying this, classic part of Star Wars.

The figure's range of motion is identical to the last figure - 5 joints - but he is a little more dynamic thanks to his accessory. Similar to the spinning things we saw for some kid-focused figures in the early to mid 2010s, you get some red Lightsaber energy whooshes that spin fairly well. It's a good accessory, but compared to what you got with Boba Fett or Paz Vizsla, it's pretty slight. The blade snaps in, and you're off to the races.

The figure also includes a snap-on piece of very Kennerian, Savage Oppr-esque armor. It's about as convincing as the Quick Change Batman chests, but it does give the figure some visual heft and I appreciat that because the painted-on triple belt doesn't look terribly convincing. In many respects, the figure is representative of the line as a whole with more recycled parts and fewer new characters, and great head sculpts. It's goofy fun, and it will be interesting to see if we get other characters oddly painted to pretend it's a new and different outfit. It may not draw any new converts to the brand, but I can tell you right now that I'll have more fun playing with and complaining about this figure than almost any collector-level toy in 2024, and that's kind of concerning in a very different way.

Nothing about this seems like a 21st century toy. A retooled skirt with the belt hastily painted on? Painting sleeves and boots and not giving him the specific armor, gloves, or chest at a massive mark-up? For such a major character it's a bold strategy, Cotton. Let's see if it pays off for them. 

Collector's Notes: I got mine from Walmart. I had to say, in front of my wife the first time I saw it, "That's... an absolutely terrible price. This is going to be on clearance before Christmas. Nobody's going to buy this." as I took it to the register so I could write about it and play with it. This is a disease now, right?

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,171: September 12, 2024

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,15: TC-14 (Droid Factory)

TC-14 Disney Edition
Star Wars Droid Factory
Item No.: ???
Manufacturer: Disney
Number: n/a
Includes: Tray, drink container
Action Feature: Comes apart
Retail: $14.99
Availability: May 2024
Appearances: The Phantom Menace   

Bio: All different types of droids populate the Star Wars galaxy. Each droid is different and has their own unique personalitty and colors. TC-14 is a protocol droid that was in the employ of the Trade Federation on their Profiteer-class droid control ship, Saak'ak. May the Force be with your... and your Droids! (Taken from the packaging.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at Amazon now!

Click here to buy it at eBay now!

Commentary: Given that it's the 25th anniversary of Episode I, it makes since that Disney would make a new TC-14 action figure. The first one came out in 2000, and had an accessory complete with flared base that inspired giggles in the young adult collectors and the fans who tolerated them. Back then, Hasbro made an all-new mold for what could have been a repaint. It had a shiny vac-metal finish and still looks gorgeous 24 years later. This new one hits the "just different enough to make you mad" button.

This one uses the build-a-droid mold you know, but has newly tooled changes and unique deco. When Hasbro made U-3PO, the figure had three sculpted dots on the chest - Disney's silver protocol droid had these as well when it was sold in the bins. The new 2024 TC-14 has a smoothed-out chest, plus a retooled pair of hands to better hold the tray. There are enough details that are changed or sharper that make me think this could be a mostly new mold, which isn't nothing. The "CHINA" and "LFL" on the feet are a little different, the details on the back of the head are sharper, and given it's completely coated in silver paint it's worth noting nothing seems washed-out. If it's not a new mold based on the existing sculpt, at the very least, they went in and remastered it to get a lot more out of it. If this retooled/new tool version has been released previously, let me know in the comments, because it doesn't quite line up with the ones I've got handy. The range of motion is similar, and you can swap parts between this new figure and your older ones. However, I should note the pegs and sockets do not feel exactly the same as before when you connect them.

The big question with any new upgrade is "Do I need it?" and in this case, the answer is a "no but maybe?" Because it doesn't match Disney's unpainted (but molded in silver with blue eyes) build-a-droid, and because it has different parts from Hasbro's hard-to-get silver version of U-3PO, and because Hasbro's own TC-14 was vac metal, to me, it's an easy buy. It looks sufficiently different from figures I have - but if I just wanted one of every character, the existing TC-14 would be good enough for my needs. I am a filthy figure collector, though, so I had to get this one too. For $15, she can hold the tray and look just fine. If she were on store shelves nationwide, or had literally any new-ish figures from the movie to go with her, it would be part of an exciting capsule program. Alas, she may be the only 3 3/4-inch figure from The Phantom Menace you see this year that isn't retro, so your enjoyment of this figure will be relying on your own droid mania or your existing cast of Jedi and dubiously-accented aliens in wacky hats from the end of the 20th century. (I can't imagine we'll ever get new and improved Nute Gunray or Rune Haako figures.)

Collector's Notes: I got mine from Shop Disney.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,153: July 11, 2024

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,134: Battle Droid (The Retro Collection)

BATTLE DROID with Non-removable Backpack
The Retro Collection 3 3/4-Inch Action Figure Target 6-Pack
Item No.: No. G0370
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: Blaster with Queen Amidala, Jar Jar Binks, Qui-Gon Jinn, Darth Maul, and Obi-Wan Kenobi
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $59.99
Availability: March 2024
Appearances: The Phantom Menace

Bio: The Star Wars Retro Collection is inspired by 1970s Star Wars figures and features original figure design and detailing! Continue your collection from the galaxy far, far away! (Stolen from the marketing copy. Packaging has no bio.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at eBay now!

Commentary: Sometimes a retro figure looks a lot like a regular figure - take the Battle Droid. At first glance, it looks like any of a number of figures put out by Hasbro around the turn of the century, many of which had more articulation. This one stands out with sturdier, thicker limbs, no knee or elbow joints, and a distinctive pose that actually gives him some personality. You also lose a removable backpack, but depending on how you see Kenner figures, that's something that may be a good creative decision.

I'll give away my overall opinion by saying I'm annoyed that this figure is in a $60 gift set, as I'd love to buy another one or two. (Maybe Hasbro can repaint it later.) A lot of fans forget that a lot of old Kenner figures had poses with personality, including bent arms or hands that look like maybe they were posed to push a button on a panel. The Battle Droid keeps both hands able to grip things, but the sculptors made a good decision to twist the right wrist and bend the elbow so he can look like he's gesturing and telling you that you're not authorized to go there. This sets the design apart from a lot of modern figures who just stand there with their arms at their sides, which is never quit as interesting. His pose is mostly upright, but that's typical for this kind of robot - and probably why it looks so much like existing "modern" figures. He's hard to get wrong.

The details are pretty good, a little less intense than Hasbro's other droids but all the major elements are all there. You can see little ridges and joints (that are cosmetic), and the head has some mold seams that I assume weren't intentional, but certainly add to the old-ness of the design. His head now turns at the base of the neck only, so be careful - you don't want to torque the head off the neck. I don't know if this design would hold up to kids playing with it, but hey - that's never going to happen, is it? In the hands of collectors it should be fine.

In the movies and previous figures, we saw Battle Droids with removable backpacks - Kenner never sold a figure with a removable backpack. (Some accessory packs with backpacks did, however, exist.) Hasbro 2024 opted to co-opt the backpack designs of 1979, fusing the backpack to the body with some hand-waving, rounding it off and making for a thicker torso. I think this is the right idea - we saw similar design cues in Dengar and the Rebel Commander, but the connective tissue was refined as time went on. The Battle Droid has tiny antenna and a rounded-off look that seems unfinished, or perhaps made from memory - which is how a lot the Cantina Aliens of 1979 were made. I think going with how the Rebel Commander backpack made it look more like a separate element than part of the body would be a better looking choice, but the weirder choice is certainly more interesting (if intentional.) If you told me the idea was to make something Kenner might have designed before the original Star Wars line, I think I'd believe you - it's wrongness feels a little right.

It's always a little jarring to have Retro figures that have modern touches (hands that can grip the blaster well) and things that seem primitive (backpack), but it works for me. It's different enough from a standard figure that I can say "hey, that's interesting" even if I can't say "hey, that seems worth the ten bucks." Hasbro made freebie Battle Droids as substitutes for CommTech chips in some non-English speaking markets in the 1990s... and this is about that good, with similar articulation. And let's be honest, probably why the entire set is $60, unlike $72 or more like some of the other retro 6-packs we've seen. I like this figure for what it is - quirky, fun, sturdy - but odds are its pose isn't "retro" enough to please purists and anyone who has an MTT full of Battle Droids already doesn't need another one. Recommended for retro enthusiasts... unless this set goes on clearance, in which I say don't buy it at all, just leave it at the store so I can buy more of them.

Collector's Notes: I got my set from Target. It was in a pile of stuff on the "Collectibles" shelves without any real indication as to where it should have been.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,134: May 16, 2024