Reference
Wookieepedia link on Airen Cracken
Major Variants
*None Reported
Notes
*Deleted Scene sticker on bubble
Roundtable Reviews!
Mer. It feels this figure could have been a little bit more. Including a removable headset would have been a start. It’s the way the character appears in the card photo and also how he appears when he’s manning the gunner station in the deleted scene. Colonel Cracken also appears donning the Endor Rebel helmet in several shots. Since this accessory already exists, packing it in with the figure would have seemed like a natural. I would have preferred either of these items to the heavy blaster with which the figure can’t do too much. The legs on this figure come from the 2006 Rebel Trooper and are somewhat dated. The articulation is modern with ball jointed knees and ankles, but the knee joints are quite large and obvious. Overall, this amounts to a 7 out of 10 figure for me. Good, but not worth going out of you way for if this isn’t a figure you wouldn’t normally collect.
7/10 Bantha Skulls
Reference
YouTube video of the Tatooine Sandstorm deleted scene
Major Variants
*None Reported
Notes
*Deleted Scene sticker on bubble
Roundtable Reviews!
Like the Lightsaber Construction Luke from this wave, this is another two-fer figure. It can serve as the deleted sandstorm scene Lando, but after swapping out a few accessories, it becomes a Skiff Guard Lando. Hasbro didn’t have to pack in the helmet and vibro-axe, so it’s an appreciated inclusion. It was also a wise one. I’m not so sure how well this figure would sell if it only worked as a sandstorm scene figure. And as sandstorm figure, I don’t love it. The plastic hood and cape over the soft goods tunic looks okay, but it doesn’t blow me away. The goggles are the same ones that came with the 2008 Legacy Collection Han Solo. It was made to fit that figure’s head with the sculpted wind swept hair. They’re a little too large for this Lando head sculpt. As such, putting the plastic hood over the figure tends to slide the goggles over the figure’s head.
But where this figure is in the money is as a skiff guard figure. As has been pointed out in our forums, it is a tad to short. It’s about the same height as the Luke Skywalker figure from the same wave. Billy Dee Williams is listed at 5’10”. Mark Hamill measure 5’6”. What this means is that, in the 3 3/4” scale, this figure is about two tenths of an inch too short. Other than that, is pretty damned sweet. The figure is fully articulated and the joints have good range of motion. The head sculpt looks spot on to me. The DL-18 blaster is too small. It’s a new sculpt from the one we’ve been receiving with other Vintage Collection Jabba’s goon figures such as the Weequay Skiffmaster and Wooof. Why Hasbro decided to fix something that wuddint broke is beyond me. The one included with this figure gets almost entirely swallowed by the holster. If you have a spare of the previous mold, you’ll probably want to swap it out. I feel the the improper scaling and and miniature blaster are offset by wonderful detailing, super articulation and a nice head sculpt, so this figure scores a respectable 8 out of 10 with me.
8/10 Bantha Skulls
Reference
YouTube video of the Tatooine Sandstorm deleted scene
Major Variants
*None Reported
Notes
*
Roundtable Reviews!
It’s a statement I’ve been making a lot lately. You probably already own this figure. This is the third time the core figure has been released. It was first released in 2009 as part of the legacy collection. It came with a build-a-droid part, a second set of seated legs, and a tankard of ale (AH HAH). It was re-released in late 2011 minus the swappable seated legs, but this time it was released on a Vintage Collection card. Because of that, some fans consider that release more betterish despite the lack of the seated legs. This third time around the beverage glass, and the collar and chain are gone. In their place we get a pair of goggles, a soft goods tunic and a plastic hood. Three releases with only changes in the accessories to distinguish them for the most part. Because the collar is gone, this figure is technically very specific to the deleted sandstorm scene. One other difference in this release is that the colors of the metal bikini that so thrilled Jeremy Bulloch are a little more vibrant. This seems to be more accurate to the film. It appears on previous releases that Hasbro was basing the colors on the actual prop as it exists in it’s current state, but 30 years have darkened and dulled the prop. Again this current paint scheme seems to more closely match the film.
I don’t particularly think the head sculpt reminds me of a 23 year old Carrie Fisher. This seems to be a problem common to both of the Skywalker twins. The lower legs are a little too thick. This is supposedly to accommodate the point of articulation. But the 2008 CW-09 Ahsoka Tano figure proves that a ball jointed ankle can be achieved in a slender mold. The ball jointed upper torso provides the ability to extended the achievable poses. Ball jointed torsos are hit or miss and sometimes compromise the aesthetics. Not so in this cases. It’s cleanly hidden into the costume which is commendable considering the amount of exposed skin. I’m really wrestling with the score of this figure. I really feel it’s an 8.5 out of 10, but we don’t do fractional scores. I’ll round down since I only gave the wave 1 Maul and 8, which I regret. 8 out of 10.
8/10 Bantha Skulls
Reference
YouTube video of the Lightsaber Construction deleted scene
Major Variants
*None Reported
Notes
* Deleted Scene sticker on bubble
Roundtable Reviews!
You probably already own most of this figure. The legs and arms are from the VC23 - Luke Skywalker (Endor Capture) figure. That figure was brilliant and this one is as well. The super articulation of the predecessor was off the charts with not only 14 points of articulation, but with the upgraded ball joints at the hips and wrists. Because of the tooling reuse, that articulation is present in the Lightsaber Construction version. This allows you to strike almost any lightsaber fighting pose you desire. I say “almost” because on this version, the flare of the sculpted tabard limits the range of motion at the shoulders in some cases. In particular, you can’t achieve the over head chop Luke employs to exact his hand for a hand justice.
What’s different in this release is the upper torso which includes a sculpted Jedi tabard. This is an exponentially better approach to these costume items. Previous attempts to make these soft goods items were noble, but simply didn’t work well at this scale. The sculpting looks much nicer and giving these garments a subtle shading difference really adds an element of depth. The lower portion of the tabard is incorporated in the sash (more on the sash later) and is part soft goods and part sculpted. This is a best of both worlds solution as it strikes the right balance between aesthetics while not compromising the range of motion of the ball jointed hips. The fact that the sash is here at all it commendable. This could have simply had a sculpted utility belt to match the exact scene, but having the belt removable with the sash underneath allows us to use this figure in Jabba’s palace displays. It also give Hasbro the flexibility to release the correct figure on the vintage Jedi Knight card down the road.
The head is also new. I’m reluctant to say whether or not the new or old head is better. The hair color on this release is definitely more accurate to Mr. Hamill’s appearance in Episode VI, but I feel the Endor Capture release had a more accurate face sculpt. The hair part on this head appears to be on the wrong side, but with a rich history of flipped negatives in the saga (the ones that were actually filmed anyway), I’m reluctant to etch that in stone. Unless there was a sudden wardrobe change between the cave and the entrance to Jabba’s palace, the inclusion of a robe instead of a cloak is wrong. However, the brown of the robe is a step in the right direction in terms of matching the actual color of the costume prop. The brown is still too light, but is better than the incorrect black we’ve received on previous releases. You can check a faithful facsimile of the costume at Museum Replicas so you can make your own judgement call. Lastly the boots have some sort of intentional wash or distressing on them. I assume this is to represent sand, but as I can’t say definitively, it means that whatever this was supposed to represent, it wasn’t execute to perfection. If you go mental from losing figure accessories, put the tool in a safe place immediately. Merely dropping it onto a plush carpet could cause a Bermuda Triangle scenario.
The negatives are so inconsequential to me, I won’t even consider deducting a point. A perfect 10 out of 10. I look forward to inevitable Endor release.
10/10 Bantha Skulls
