The Evolutions format started out as one of the best ideas Hasbro brought to market in, like, ever. It consisted of 3 figures for $20 which was a good deal even 2005 when it launched.  The figures were intended to be premium grade, with Hasbro pulling out all the stops in sculpting, articulation, accessories, and paint applications.  Although the value of the sets slowly eroded over time as the “premium” aspect dwindled, we still often got what could be considered “ultimate” versions of main characters, as well as a few obscure ones that had no chance of being part of the main line.  The Fett Legacy set from the latter part of the Thirtieth Anniversary Collection was one of those.  It contained 2 outstanding versions of main characters, as well as a third figure of a character most casual fans probably had never even heard of.

Mandalore

Mandalore is an all new figure of a never-before-made character, and typically these are my favorite releases by Hasbro.  I’d rather see a never before made character be offered as a figure, rather than Hasbro make incremental improvements for the 15th time to another Sandtrooper.  I mean, I would like to see a perfect sandtrooper, but it’s been released so many times that if I have to review another, it had better be 100% perfect.  Alternatively, I’ll just take a vacation and Chris would have to do it.  Anyway, this figure is that of Mandalore the Indomitable, a male of the now extinct Taung species.  The Taung were humanoid simians who were driven off their homeward of Coruscant by humans.  The Taung reestablished their culture on another planet.  Eventually, under the leadership of Mandalore the First, the Taung traveled to a new planet, wiped out the native mythosaurs, and then named it Mandalore, in honor of their leader.  Each subsequent leader took on the mantle of The Mandalore, as was the case around 4000 BBY, when Mandalore the Indomitable ruled.  He led his people during the Mandalorian Wars, in which they were allied with Ulic Qel Droma and Exar Kun.  By then the Mandalorian warrior culture had welcomed other species, including humans, and lived on despite the Taung’s virtual extinction as a result of the war.  Mandalore the Indomitable himself had been separated from his clan during a retreat from Coruscant near the war’s end when he crash landed, alone, on the moon Dxun.  He was killed by several wild beasts in the jungles of Dxun. 

The character is translated well into plastic, and has a look that is unlike almost any other in the history of the figure line.  The coloring is rather monotone, and, dare I say, un-toyetic.  But the physical design is pretty great.  He is a large figure, and the only thing from his appearance that is a bit familiar looking is the visor on his helmet, which resembles that of the “modern” Mandalorian helmet, and by extension, covered with rather crude looking armor.  His helmet feels a tad small, but it’s not bothersome.  There are separately sculpted tubes which run from the helmet into a couple of spots on the shoulder armor, and are both removable.  Perhaps it would have been cool if Hasbro sculpted a switch-out head of a Taung as a bit of an Easter egg for fans of the source material.  Mandalore comes with 3 accessories, with which he can interact well.  The small shield has a loop on the inside to fit nicely over the forearm, along with a handle that he can grip.  The staff fits in either hand.  The giant battle axe is a pretty cool looking weapon, and can be wielded in either hand (or even both)

Other than the bland coloring (true to the source), this is a really nifty figure from the old EU, representing one of the last Taung Manalores of the ancient line.  The figure deserves an 8 out of 10.  While he’s not a direct ancestor of the Fetts (not even the same species, obviously), he serves as a nice foundational figure for the legacy of the modern Mandalorians, Jango and Boba included.

Jango Fett

Jango Fett started out life as an action figure as an Attack of the Clones preview figure at the tail end of the POTJ line in early 2002.  Since then, he’s been resculpted, repainted, and re-accessorized to be a constant presence in the line.  This figure was outstanding upon release in 2007, and it remains outstanding today.  The figure is specific to the scenes on Geonosis, as the jetpack is the second one Jango wears following his expenditure of the rocket out of the first pack while fighting Obi-Wan on Kamino.  The jetpack is removable, and stays in place when attached.  The articulation is of the standard super articulation variety, which was top notch in 2007, and still acceptable for most figures today.  The removable helmet works well and is not misshapen, as often happens with these types of accessories.  The Temuera Morrison headsculpt is passable.  The figure can be posed in some decent action stances.  He comes with two blasters that fit in the working holsters. Jango also comes with his pilot headset, which he wore during the space duel over Geonosis.

There are few nitpicks with the figure.  First and foremost are the weird floating holsters.  Hasbro didn’t do a great job of getting them to look natural, and like some Han Solo figures, the holsters are lacking the thigh straps.  The blasters fit nicely in the holsters, but they are a tad loose in his hands.  While not apparent in 2007, the lack of ball jointed hips and wrists inhibit the possibility for an action oriented “hero” character like Jango Fett.  Also of some concern to collectors is the coloring of the jumpsuit.  As you may know, this isn’t my area of expertise.  It looks good to me, but people have been complaining about the blue to purple ratio ever since Jango figures first hit the market.  This exact figure was re-released several times, and it seems that each time the coloring was altered slightly.  Nobody is ever happy.  One other thing I don’t like is that the “wrist” articulation actually occurs where the gauntlets end near the elbow.  I’m not a fan of this aspect, and prefer actual wrist articulation. 

Nitpicks aside, this Jango Fett is arguably the best figure of the character available.  It competes well with VC34, released in 2010. That figure has one major sculpting difference, in that the gauntlets have the extended blades he used to halt his slide down the side of the landing platform on Kamino.  This, along with the first jet pack accessory (with removable missile) and poncho, source that figure to the Kamino scene.  The permanent gauntlet blades hurt that figure a bit and technically make it scene specific, but between these two Jango figures, you can mix and match the accessories to essentially create any moment from Attack of the Clones.  The only thing missing would be some kind of fire/exhaust from the jetpack itself.

This figure still holds up today, and works as your Geonosis Jango Fett.  Hasbro could make a few improvements, but it still earns an 8/10.

Boba Fett

Boba Fett has not fared so well over time.  Mostly this is because the figure hasn’t aged well and has concerns that should be addressed, but its also partly due to the obsession fans and collectors have with the character.  Like Vader, the Stormtrooper, and Luke, Hasbro has to get them perfect.  The smallest imperfection will ruin figures of these characters.  Sure, we can nitpick any figure, no matter how minor the character might be, but in the end, they’re just nitpicks to keep Hasbro honest.  But there just isn’t any room for error on a figure of Boba Fett, and there’s no forgiveness on the part of the collector.

This figure is the same sculpt that was carried forward several times, including VC09 (which not only had a running change from ESB to ROTJ, but also was just recently released (ESB) with PhotoReal.  Chris already went through the problems with the figure in the VC09 review, and they all hold here.  But to review, here is Chris’s list:

The stance is too narrow and the hip articulation is too restricted.
The removable helmet stinks out loud.
The arms have limited range of motion.
The gouges in the sculpt of the armor don’t work to express battle damage.  It looks more like Richard Dreyfuss playing with his mashed potatoes in Close Encounters.
The trigger guard on the EE-3 carbine is smaller than the figure’s trigger finger.
The cape and the jetpack work together like a snake and a mongoose.
And finally, the removable helmet stinks out loud.  Did I say that already?

To add to that list, this particular figure is missing the chest emblem upon its first release (and which was later updated).

It’s high time that Hasbro ditch this problematic Boba Fett sculpt, and give us a proper modern rendition.  Ditch the removable helmet, add modern super-articulation of the JLA (Jedi-level articulation) variety, address the maddening cape/jetpack fiasco, and update the hands so they interact well with the accessories.  Once perfected, update the belt and colors to give us a proper ROTJ version as well.  It’s a shame Hasbro opted to apply PhotoReal to this tired sculpt, even more so that it’s the ESB version so doesn’t even add anything to your Khetanna display. 

We give this Boba Fett a paltry 5.  Yeah, it’s really better than that, but it’s upsetting at this point that this is the best Boba to date.  We had been feeling the same way about Stormtroopers until VC140 came around.  Let’s get the same treatment for Boba, please.

Fett Legacy

Mandalore is a really good figure of an obscure character, another example of what makes 3.75” great.  Sadly, there’s really no other characters for it to properly interact with, so it’s kind of an oddity.  Still, it’s about as definitive as we should ever want for Mandalore the Indomitable.  Jango is an outstanding figure.  Although it can stand some tweaks, it absolutely works anywhere in your Geonosis display, or in the cockpit of his Slave I ship.  We’re down on Boba, even though it really isn’t a terrible figure on it’s own.  It was nice in 2007, but it’s time for retirement.  Overall, the Fett Legacy set gets a solid 7/10.