The review below, as well as the images of the incredible Chimaera diorama, are from our friend Tyler, a Thrawn fanatic/connoisseur.  (The basic figure images are provided by Banthaskull.)  You may recall that Tyler wrote a guest review for VC296 Grand Admiral Thrawn, including some amazing images of his star destroyer bridge diorama.  If you’re a frequent reader of this site, you may have also seen his occasional commentary below our articles/reviews.  But he is also known within the community as one of the @SWTVC guys on Instagram .  He also has his own page @swcollector3.75.  So without further delay, enjoy the review!

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Review by Tyler 11/19/24 7:05 AM

THRAWN! THRAWN! THRAWN! THRAWN! What was first just a dream has become a reality…for our collections.  Lars Mikkelsen’s Grand Admiral Thrawn as seen in Ahsoka has finally made his mark in The Vintage Collection as VC337.  I know what some are thinking: “Didn’t we just get a Thrawn? Why do I need this?” Well, there’s a surprising amount of differences when compared to the previous release, VC296 from Rebels. Let’s get into the details!

THE GOOD: The head is newly tooled in the likeness of Lars Mikkelsen, making it distinctly different than the Rebels release, whose portrait also works well for Thrawn’s Legends look, in my opinion.  This likeness to Lars is excellent, capturing a hardened, older, and more determined than ever Thrawn.  Exile on Peridea and keeping his Star Destroyer and its garrison going has been taxing, clearly.  Upon close observation you will notice that the code cylinders and collar devices on this new Ahsoka Thrawn are a brighter and shinier silver than the previous Rebels release, which really makes them pop and look great.  It’s a small detail, but it’s nice.  Additionally, Thrawn carries a different pistol in Ahsoka than the RK-3 he wielded in Rebels, and the included pistol is accurate to the show and is newly tooled.  The attention to detail there is nice, and the correct pistol is appreciated.  This release also sports Admiral Piett’s jodhpur thigh leg pieces (the poofy Imperial officer pants), which is accurate to Ahsoka, whereas the Rebels release had unique thigh pieces in which the pants were tighter to the leg, making his legs distinctly different than the other Imperial Officers that have been released in TVC since Piett.  Again, the attention to detail here is appreciated.  However, opting to use Piett’s thigh pieces does have an unfortunate side effect…

THE BAD:  The side effect is that it makes this Thrawn a few millimeters shorter than the Rebels version.  This is most unfortunate, as his height most certainly went in the WRONG direction.  “R2, we need to be going UP, not down!”  Lars Mikkelsen is TALL. Really, really tall. He’s 6’4”, which makes him shorter than Vader, but definitely taller than most people around him in any given scene. That is perhaps this figure’s biggest flaw; there’s just no way around it, no way to sugarcoat it.  He’s too short.  And there are a couple other issues too, unfortunately. Since this figure reuses the vast majority of the original Rebels release, the exact same torso is used here.  Some people may take issue with that, as Thrawn in Ahsoka had been, well, eating well.  I personally don’t need or want my Thrawn to be fat, so I’m personally okay with the torso reuse, but that’s just me. The real issue for me is the height.  Finally, the “skirt” and holster piece from the Rebels version was also reused for this release. Unfortunately, the holster in Ahsoka was quite contoured to the new pistol, so this holster is too wide and sadly inaccurate. It’s a small thing, but the details always matter. [Edit:  The Ahsoka Thrawn is definitely a darker blue than the Rebels Thrawn. You could do a head swap in either direction, but you’d need to also swap the hands and probably the neck too, which would require careful boiling and popping. Sometimes that piece comes right out of the torso, sometimes it really does not want to and you’ll tear it trying to pull it out with pliers.]. And now, for…

THE UGLY:  Somewhat irritatingly, this Thrawn is once again off-white rather than bright white like the ISB Officer from the 4-pack.  This despite my own SWTVC Teammate, Evan, specifically requesting (on my behalf) in a Q&A with Hasbro some time ago that if they were to ever do a Lars Mikkelsen Thrawn, to please make it bright white, unlike the Rebels release.  I am sad to report that once again did not happen.  The sky is not falling, but it is a tad annoying given that the community specifically brought it up.  As for the card art, it is truly the ugly of this release.  What an unflattering still they chose for the card back.  A quick Google search or simply watching the show and pausing will provide many other better options for the card back.  It’s just not a very good choice and with a character this important, the “Thanos” of the Mandoverse era, more time spent picking a better option would seem to me to have be wise.  But I digress. Finally, the arm articulation is still limiting, which has been an issue going back to Piett’s debut.  We need the elbows to go WELL past 90 degrees to achieve certain iconic Imperial officer poses.  Should Hasbro ever put out, say, a new Tarkin (or another Thrawn in a few years), new and improved arms are SORELY needed.

So, bringing it back to the question from the beginning, “Do I need this?” I would honestly say yes, you do. There’s enough difference here to justify your money. The portrait alone is radically different, and I personally like having options.  I think it’s nice and cool that we have two different Thrawns to pick from for our scenes and collections.  That’s cool, man.  Even though there are certainly some issues with this figure, I’m still thrilled to have it as a Thrawn enthusiast.  His debut in Ahsoka was just so darn cool. Instantly iconic, chilling, and cemented as one of the most badass entrances in all of Star Wars.  I hope you enjoy my attempt at recreating the dark magick (see what I did there?) of that scene.  I’ll be dispassionate and give this Thrawn an 8, given its flaws.  It’s still a great figure though, don’t get me wrong.