Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,241: Director Orson Krennic (The Vintage Collection)

DIRECTOR ORSON KRENNIC Yes, from 2023
The Vintage Collection 3 3/4-Inch Action Figure
Item No.: Asst. F6878 No. F7321
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #302
Includes: Cape, blaster
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $16.99
Availability: October 2023
Appearances: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Bio: Cruel but brilliant, Director Krennic has staked his reputation on the completion of the long-delayed Death Star project for the Emperor. (Taken from the figure's cardback.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at Amazon now!

Click here to buy it at eBay now!

Commentary: There are lots of unopened figures around my desk from 2023 - not because they aren't good, but because I usually review about 2 figures per week (104ish a year) and we got a whopping 36 The Retro Collection figures in 2023. I got excited and prioritized most of those - leaving me to not open Director Orson Krennic until, oh, about two weeks ago. Since I already owned Rogue One Krennic [FOTD #2,300], I dragged my feet to open the new one. My enthusiasm for upgrades can be mixed, but I'm often very excited for downgrades. You may say "that's dumb" and to you I say "start your own review blog."

Hasbro used the same basic sculpt for all the Imperial Officers, so you'll recognize the same pants on numerous other figures like Thrawn and a lot of the folds and wrinkles in the tunic - which is a different tool - are similar between the various British white guys. Thanks to the cape, you're probably less likely to notice this. Hasbro's decision to go with plastic for the cape was the right move, as I assume cloth at this scale would not hang properly. It drapes well, but the more I think about it the goofier it feels. Very few people in the Empire tend to wear capes, so you have to wonder why Krennic and not Tarkin or Motti. Especially since it seems there's a pretty strict dress code. I see no open-toed shoes anywhere! But I digress.

I like the uniform and how it turned out. The white plastic is bright, and the blaster fits nicely in his right hand - but not his left hand. In the movies he's left-handed, but the left hand here isn't really designed to hold the blaster easily. He drops it. But, you can store it in the holster if you prefer. Be sure to have the grip facing forward so he can draw it with his left hand.

The 2016 toy has a good sculpt, but the paint on the rank pin was a little bit rougher as opposed to the 2023 figure which has individually painted rectangles. It also lacks the white stripe between rows - it's better. The face sculpt has printed detail that has that fancy face printing paint we all love, and it's just so good at conveying the sneer of arrogance that Ben Mendelsohn gave to the character. His hair is also vastly improved, with a brown molded plastic "wig" being given a touch of gray on the sides that looks increasingly familiar from my recent glimpses into the mirror.

Hasbro did a good job here. They leveraged their tooling library and existing digital sculpts to spit out an improved version of a figure who, at the time, was probably released both too late and too early. Andor and the upcoming anniversary of Rogue One undoubtedly will make more people interested in the figure if they missed it, and let me assure you it is the best version of the character at this size. However, the cape makes him a statue - the toy does not necessarily benefit from (or need) the articulation in this format. With a cloth cape you might have him kneeling down choking on his aspirations, but this figure's cape will make you want to leave him just standing around. All parties involved did a really nice job here and other than maybe fixing up that left hand, I would say Hasbro would do well to rerelease him with no changes in Andor packaging for season two. Unfortunately, it's too late for that, so go ahead and get this one off Amazon or eBay.

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

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,241: May 15, 2025