Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Figure of the Day: Day 1,265: Rahm Kota's Militia Elite

MILITIA ELITE Rahm Kota's
The Legacy Collection Toys "R" Us Exclusive
Item No.:
Asst. TBD No. TBD
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: 1 of 2
Includes: Helmet, removable shoulder armor, giant gun
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $29.99
Availability: April 2010
Appearances: The Force Unleashed

Bio: Rahm Kota's militia was his backing force during his scattered battles against the Galactic Empire. (Stolen from Wookieepedia.)

Image: Adam's yard.

Commentary: Under the helmet this Rahm Kota's Militia Elite looks more than a little like a pale Clone Trooper, but it's actually pretty much in line with renders of the character as provided by LucasArts. This is a particularly strange release, not just because it came out so far after the game but because Hasbro tried some new stuff out here. Like many other figures, he has no ankle joints. Unlike other figures, his shoulder armor is removable-- presumably to allow for more shoulder movement, but who knows. There's a little tab that fits into a small hole near the joint, providing collectors with new, easily-lost choke hazards. He's quite nice-- the armor isn't too bulky, the deco is pretty good, and the articulation is essentially the new standard (i.e., 12 points). While he doesn't have his fancy weird light-up features from the game, he does look a heck of a lot like an early version of the Rebel forces. You know, exactly like you might want. His giant gatling gun is pretty much like the one used in the game, despite having also been packaged with other existing releases.

If Hasbro released this one individually I'd wager more than a few collectors would put together a squad of them. I liked the look so much I bought one off eBay early and well, here he is. He feels like something that fell out of the mid-1980s, like a lost Kenner concept for a post-Return of the Jedi release, and I really like that. It's a shame he'll be stuck in the multi-packs, but with any luck Hasbro will continue to revisit The Force Unleashed as they have been doing on a fairly regular basis.

Collector's Notes: This is an advance sample so at press time we don't have full details on it. Actually, buzz is these just started hitting this week, but we haven't seen them yet. It will be packaged with an EVO Trooper, Juno Eclipse, Galen Marek, and a new Shadow Stormtrooper. Yes, another one. Kota's men have other armor as well, and one of the trooper variants could probably be built off a modified version of this particular release. So far there have been a ton of figures from this game-- 7 carded ones in 2008, another in 2010, an Evolutions pack of the Apprentice for 3 more, a pair of Trooper and Sith 3-packs, a Wookiee-themed Battle Pack, plus the big giant Rancor. Add in these two 5-packs, and your total collection for The Force Unleashed could be as big as 29 figures. (Some of which were repacks, not counting duplicates of course.)

--Adam Pawlus


Day 1,265: April 20, 2010

1 comment:

Unknown said...

"And now playing catcher for Rohm's militia softball team...." Seriously though, it is cool hasbro has made so many different figures from unleashed, just kind of sporadic with their releases.