Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,167: Grand Admiral Thrawn (Rebels, The Vintage Collection)

GRAND ADMIRAL THRAWN Live Version of Cartoon Look
The Vintage Collection 3 3/4-Inch Action Figure
Item No.: Asst. E7763 No. F7346
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #296
Includes: Blaster
Action Feature: Working holster
Retail: $16.99
Availability: April 2024
Appearances: Star Wars Rebels

Bio: Thrawn, was a Chiss male officer of the Chiss Ascendancy and Grand Admiral in the Imperial Navy during the age of the Galactic Empire. (Stolen from Wookieepedia.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

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

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Commentary: For a character that was de-canonized and later re-canonized, life has been good for Grand Admiral Thrawn. Since his 1991 debut in Heir to the Empire, he's popped up in comics, PC games, several more novels, and of course, toys. His first action figure was one of the last under the original Kenner name way back in 1998, and we've since got a few more. While this new The Vintage Collection release professes to be from Rebels, the Hasbro cartoon Grand Admiral Thrawn [FOTD #2,342] from 2017 is probably the one you'll want first. His hairline is going back a bit more, his face is elongated and even more alien, and the colors really pop above his very eerily pressed uniform. This new figure shares parts with other movie Imperial Officers, which is kind of annoying, but can you blame Hasbro here? It's the same uniform, a lot of collectors aren't going to open him, and it's a uniform. Shared parts are part of the territory for this kind of figure, and since reusing parts is Hasbro's MO these days it makes sense.

The elephant in the room is that this figure is getting another revision already - a tweaked version with a live action Ahsoka-specific head and some wider pants is on deck, with a slightly different blaster. Will you need both? Probably not - the Ahsoka one doesn't have the slightly-shabby uniform or the added paunch, though. They're similar enough that I would recommend you just buy one unless you have some specific diorama needs, and as Rebels isn't getting any official Imperial dioramas he may be superfluous.

His gold epaulets are a little wider in live-action, and a tiny bit more pronounced in the cartoon - so for any potential inaccuracies, this figure can be labeled "artistic interpretation." The uniform adapts a standard officer's uniform with the added shoulder ornamentation, you get the holster like you saw in the cartoon, and he's a little more wrinkly. If you said "Oh it's from the novel" I'd believe you, because the head is too human and too plain to look like the cartoon design. The brows are a little different there, as is the hair. But, again, in the name of making the CG real? It's good enough. He looks more or less like you expect, although he's not perfect at replicating the character's body language.

While his articulation is good, it's not perfect. He can put his hands behind his back, but not quite like we saw in the TV shows. The elbows stick out a bit. The legs have ball-jointed hips and rocker ankles, which is great for any figure - but he can't quite get his legs right next to each other, also he struggles to stand as finding the sweet spot pose is challenging. He can sit, though, with the jacket flap flipping up a bit. Because he neither looks exactly like the cartoon or the live action, his off-model body language makes him feel more like a figure of an excellent cosplayer.

This figure is indicative of what the line is today - pretty good. There are new parts, there are reused parts, and you're being charged the collector premium pricing for something that has signs of cost-cutting. But he's on a cardback that fans demand, and comes from a popular TV show, and is (weirdly) probably one of the oldest-known characters in Vintage these days. If you go to the store you might see Ahsoka (2008) or Mando (2019), you probably won't see Luke or Vader or Qui-Gon or Obi-Wan, but I've seen Thrawn from way back in 1991 hanging around a bunch. (And now, he's sold through.) I don't know if I'd consider him to be secondary or tertiary at this point due to his rising star in the cartoons and on streaming, but also, a lot of people don't watch those shows. Older collectors and a certain kind of super fan will love this guy, but you might also be perfectly content with any of your many Thrawn figures. If Hasbro had any sort of Imperial playset or ship, I'd say he's a must-buy. But if you're happy with your old Thrawns - or prefer the Lars Mikkelsen look - I think you can give this otherwise perfectly acceptable figure a pass.

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

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,167: August 29, 2024