The Saga Collection
Major Bren Derlin
Here’s another figure in The Saga Collection that I like more than I probably should. It’s Cliff Claven. It could have been a chunk of sedimentary rock, and it would be awesome. It’s the first and only time we’ve gotten a Derlin figure, which is more than we can say about several Rebel Officers. But he had a few short scenes and a couple of lines, so he definitely deserved a figure. Like so many offerings at the beginning of the Saga Collection run, the figure is under articulated (by today’s standards) but still manages to look nice.
Derlin has a…passable face sculpt. It’s got a nice mustache. Out of context, it’s not immediately recognizable as John Ratzenberger, but in context of the named figure, it works well enough. The overall figure is sculpted and painted nicely, It looks good and fits very nicely in any Echo Base diorama. However, other than the neck, there are no ball joints. There are swivels at the shoulders, elbows, wrists, waist, and hips, but sadly, nothing for ankles or knees.
As with TSC 007 General Veers, this figure does a great job of standing around at parade rest, or in some other professional-type stance. That’s probably what you’ll need it for. Is that acceptable? Not really, but it is what it is. It’s a 14 year old figure of a tertiary character that we are probably lucky to have, and are extremely unlikely to ever see revisited. So in that sense, it’s better than a 5POA, and it earns a 5 on our rating scale. But more subjectively, it’s Cliff Claven. So I bestow upon it a bonus point. 6/10.
The figure was repainted with a gray uniform in the 2011 TAC Target Exclusive The Battle of Hoth Ultimate Battle Pack. It loses Derlin’s name in favor of being a generic Rebel Officer. It’s kind of silly, since the face sculpt was clearly meant to be Derlin, but that whole set was made up of shortcuts. But just like we have a “Not Veers” AT-AT Commander, we also have a “Not Derlin” Rebel Officer. But that review is for another day…
