Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,161: Garazeb "Zeb" Orrelios (The Vintage Collection)

GARAZEB "ZEB" ORRELIOS Vintage Debut, Sort Of
The Vintage Collection 3 3/4-Inch Action Figure Deluxe
Item No.: No. F9257
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: Blaster
Action Feature: Expanded bo-rifle, compressed bo-rifle, 2 energy effects
Retail: $24.99
Availability: July 2024
Appearances: Star Wars: Rebels

Bio: Garazeb Orrelios, commonly known as Zeb, was a male Lasat rebel who manned the starship, the Ghost. Prior to joining the Spectres rebel cell, Orrelios was a Captain of the Lasan Honor Guard and was trained to fight with a bo-rifle. (Stolen from Wookieepedia.)

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: I kind of groused at a $25 deluxe Garazeb "Zeb" Orrelios coming, but it's good so now I un-grouse. I think the 6-inch "realistic" Zeb is actually a little bit better, with superior brighter colors and a face with more personality, but this is also pretty good. The one in the HasLab The Ghost should have a better face, but a different costume - so you'll probably want both. Hasbro has been doing this sort of thing with most of its deluxe boxed figures, so not only are you getting charged more - you're getting charged more twice. This hasn't yet happened with Jango Fett but I assume it's coming. So should you get this one?

I think so - this is a figure I'd strongly recommend to non-fans of Rebels who are fans of 1980s-style toys. He looks like a toy that may have existed from the late 1970s or early 1980s, and he's engineered well. He's loaded with articulation and his legs swing forward fully. There's no "well it barely sits," he actually sits very nicely. The arm joints are all good, the hands are huge, and the belt covers the waist joint. He can even mount either of his staffs on his back, but it's a little tricky to get things in just-so. It works, though.

While I would have liked a snarkier head or lighter purple fur on his face and legs, it's certainly good enough for me to say "give this one a look." Everything goes together pretty well, even if the character seems far more serious than he was on the series. The eyes are a little less lively than other figures, and the creature on his left shoulder armor is more subdued than I would like too - it's usually lighter and much more visible. But it's there, and it's not an eyesore. I assume it was a stylistic choice, but I should note it does appear significantly brighter on the figure's box. The yellorange looks great, though, and this is one of the most colorful figures we've had in a while. I really love it when we get something that has a color scheme that isn't "1970s earthtones living room" or "Z Gallarie Coke Den ca. 1988."

I find a lot of super-articulated figures to be annoying because you have to fight them. I don't want to spend a lot of time balancing it, or getting the joints coaxed into a position that allows them to not fall over. This one simply works, and he's easy to play with or pose without flopping over because the joint starts to slowly pose back to how it was in the box. Hasbro did a good job here, and if all figures were this good they could probably convince me that a $19.99 price on basics could be a good move. (This, of course, assumes better gear and fewer repaints/resculpts.) If you're going to make it good, I can't argue that the higher price seems to have resulted in a product with higher quality - but an alternate head would have made this a much easier recommendation. This is the perfect figure to hang out with your Fisher-Price Adventure People, so if that means anything to you, go ahead and order one of these at any of the many sponsored links on this page.

This is not the first 3 3/4-inch Zeb - one was made for the cartoon Rebels line that got rereleased in The Force Awakens trade dress as a set with Chopper. I'm also very keen on those figures, but this one has more sculpted fur detail, tons more articulation, and given secondary market prices may be the better overall buy in today's market. But if you're happy with Zeb Classic, I'd still recommend giving this figure a look because he really is a good example of Hasbro putting in the extra work to make fans happy (or happy-adjacent) to fork over a few more bucks.

Collector's Notes: There's a variant! The head deco has two versions - mine is supposedly the fixed release, and matches the packagings. The lines on the head are wider and not tapered at the ends on some figures. I got mine from Entertainment Earth.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,161: August 8, 2024