Despite the weird phenomenon which is how these Haslab campaigns bring out the absolute worst in the collecting community, I’m not fazed, and remain optimistic.  I guess I should re-assess that last sentence, as I wouldn’t characterize anyone who trolls these campaigns and roots for failure to be a legitimate part of the collecting community.  They deserve only our thoughts and prayers, and all the honors and benefits that such things will provide them.

3900 on the nose as I write this, which is 38 more than the count almost exactly 24 hours ago when I was writing yesterday’s Jawa/Gonk review.  Not great, but certainly well beyond the worst days we had last week.  I’m sure there were some folks out there thinking the campaign was cooked during those darkest of days, but we’re chugging along towards the 50% mark, which we should surpass easily this weekend.  My predictions haven’t changed for weeks:  Achieve 4200 by the last Friday of the campaign, and we have a puncher’s chance of hitting the numbers necessary to fund, and possibly take out a tier or 2 in the process.  I’m still not worried about it.

Also, I finally got some labels created from Hasbro Thursday.  I have my first Cantina scheduled to arrive Saturday.  So hang in there if you haven’t gotten notice yet.

So today is another milestone day for Banthaskull.  Today’s review is for the final POTF2 Commtech figure that has been missing from our database.  It is a small subset of POTF2, consisting of only 10 figures in total, as you can see HERE.  So we inch closer to that lofty “Phase I” goal of completing reviews for all basic figures in the modern line since 1995.  Based on recent engagement, I fully expect this review to garner at least 2,000 comments.

Admiral Conan O’Brien Motti is the subject of this review.  While we have recently received a brand new update to the character using the newest TVC officer buck, the figure was sadly unnamed in the nondescript Imperial Officers 4-pack, and seems to be more like an Easter egg, than an official TVC version of Motti.  But we mustn’t forget the awesomeness generated by this figure back In The Year 2000 (again, with this Andy Richter guy).

Like most of his counterparts in the POTF2 Commtech sub-line, he was a bit of a revelation.  While it was the debut for Motti’s character, we did have a couple of Imperial Officers (Piett and Tarkin) that were standard fare for the day.  This figure was a nice step forward.  The likeness to Motti was pretty decent, and the base figure was in a nice, neutral stance as compared to Tarkin and Piett’s more weirdly aggressive “Tory Power Stance” that was discussed in the comments section recently. 

As with the outstanding Han Solo figure’s absentminded plaster picking left hand, Hasbro came through with a huge win for Motti.  He’s got an elbow joint (a true rarity by this time) - and not just any joint, but a hinged joint that was paired with an arm sculpt that allowed the elbow to bend to something like 30 degrees, which was astonishing at the time.  And it wasn’t just a flex by Hasbro engineers at the time, it served the ultimate power in the universe purpose of allowing Motti to grasp at his uniform collar, to recreate the scene where he’s being Force-choked by Mr. Vader.  Even though the hinge joint had visible pins, it was perfect for the day, for sure.  But here’s the kicker:  Even the aforementioned TVC update from just a short time ago can’t do this!  It’s probably the most iconic move of any Imperial Officer in the OT (except for maybe Piett reacting with an “ewww gross” face upon seeing Vader’s crusty unhelmeted head). 

In exchange for Hasbro (thankfully) dropping the overly large extra E-11 wielded by Tarkin and the silly baton carried by Piett, we get the Commtech chip/stand, which provides us with the epic “sad devotion/clairvoyance” line delivered by Motti in the Death Star Briefing scene. 

Due to the figure being able to faithfully recreate the choking scene, it retains a potential place in your modern collection.  Not only is the TVC figure unable to bend his elbow sufficiently to grab his collar, it suffers from a major knock on the sculpt - it can’t even bend the elbow past 90 degrees.  The world has truly gone mad.  So while the figure is clearly inferior overall, it’s got that “other value” that hasn’t been supplanted yet.

Great back in its day, it’s still kinda nice today.

6/10.