Figure of the Day: Day 408: General Tagge

GENERAL TAGGE Death Star Briefing
The Saga Collection Diamond Exclusive
Item No.: No. 87268
Number: n/a
Includes: Imperial Blaster
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $39.99
Availability: January 2007
Appearances: Star Wars

Bio: The cautious and unambitious third in command of the Death Star, Tagge urges caution in dealing with the Rebellion. His recommendation is ignored, and he dies along with his fellow commnaders when the Death Star is destroyed. (Taken from the figure's box.)

Image: Adam Pawlus' TV tray.

Commentary: "More Imperial Officers!" has been a rallying cry of fans for years, but it's been toned down lately-- because Hasbro is throwing everything they can at us! General Tagge here was one of four previously unproduced characters sold in early 2007 as part of a gift set, all of which used the same basic body with new heads. As such, the costume isn't the most authentic in the world, but it's what we in the business call "good enough." 10 points of articulation is nothing to sneeze at, especially given that Grand Moff Tarkin only had 6 when he first came out. This figure has a good sculpt which looks like the character from the movie, and while it isn't perfect it's quite good. If Hasbro ever releases a Death Star playset of any real substance (translation: $100+) this figure and this entire set should be the first things you get to populate it. This figure isn't exactly remarkable, but as far as recycled parts go, this is a fine example of Hasbro exploiting the tooling they have handy to make a new figure on the cheap. Plus, it's Tagge-- how can you not want to get one of these?

Collector's Notes: This is the first and probably last figure based on this character. With this gift set, Hasbro essentially said "here's your damn officers, now shut up and leave us alone." Well, maybe not quite that harsh, but you get the idea. As a character with a speaking role in the original movie, it's notable that Tagge took nearly 30 years to see release as an action figure, and it's nice to see another figure like this on the market.

Day 408: June 18, 2007