Just putting that banner there as a quick link to “Get to the Gunship.”  As I wrote yesterday, this is not my dream project nor am I happy with it not being a never-before-made product.  But that is my personal concern.  I’m not bothered by the cost (I’m numb to Haslab pricing at this point); I’m totally on board with the PT-era focus for 2026; and it’s hard to argue that Geonosis isn’t the most action-packed set piece in the PT - if not the entire saga - even if I personally would have preferred a different focus.  But with all that, there is simply no way around this irrefutable fact:  This is an amazing looking replica of an iconic PT vehicle.  I’m looking forward to adding it to my collection. 

I absolutely abhor the shaming campaigns aimed at people who don’t unquestioningly support TVC.  Chris and I will spend enough time espousing the benefits of these Haslabs, but that’s just to help some fence-sitters with their decisions and to get backers excited about doing it.  If you don’t want it, then don’t buy it.  You owe nothing to anyone in this hobby. 

I equally despise the concept of attempting to sink someone’s dream and attempt to undermine a Haslab that one may not be happy with.  That’s just asinine.  I would use other choice words for the scum that have nothing better to do than troll the hobby that which they pretend to love.  Most of those choice words have either passed out of favor since my childhood, or are simply not appropriate for this website.

There was definitely a very loud corner of the collector base that demanded some PT love from Hasbro, and specifically the LAAT/i.  Those folks had better get out from the rocks under which they hide, and step up to the plate and back this thing en masse.  I backed 3 of these, and I didn’t even have the Gunship in my top 500.  I want nothing more than for TVC to evolve and expand.  It would be a travesty if Hasbro responded to community feedback to bring us this iconic PT vehicle as a Haslab, only to be left high and dry.  So if you have any interest in backing this thing, join us for the next 40+ days as we ride the campaign trail and Get to the Gunship.

Now then, here’s Alexsandr Kallus.  I’m always fascinated by the naming choices made by Hasbro/LFL.  Why is this “Alexsandr”, instead of “Agent”?  The horrific 5POA Cartoony Cartoon Toon figure from the Rebels line was called “Agent”.  I have no idea why they do these things, but I demand an explanation!

Also, this:

What the hell is this crap?  Yep, we totally should bring back 5POA and/or cartoony sculpts.

We’re fortunate that long, national nightmare is over.  Unfortunately this has been replaced with Pong Krell ridiculousness.

But back to Kallus.  If you liked Rebels, you were probably a fan of this guy.  He was a pretty well fashioned villain that didn’t grate on your nerves, like, for example, Pong Krell.  And his character arc was enjoyable.  He was General Hux, but much better.

The figure is outstanding.  It uses the recent imperial officer sculpt for its base.  This isn’t necessarily perfect.  This sculpt has its warts, most notably the fact that the elbows and knees don’t go past 90 degrees.  That’s more of a problem with an action-oriented character like Kallus that it is with a typical Imperial officer.  But while it uses a lot of parts from that figure, the torso is all new, so that it has the chest armor that was typically worn by Kallus.  It’s not removable, but it looks like it’s probably a separately sculpted piece, giving it a more realistic look.

And of course the headsculpt is all new.  Hasbro has often been called upon to make a realistic interpretation of a cartoon character.  Sometimes the hit it out of the park, and sometimes it still looks too cartoony (whether by accident or intentional).  In the case of Kallus, it’s a really nice job, but I think they could have dialed back the “severity” of the facial hair.  The beard, which may be Kallus’ signature trait, has that odd little upturn at the ends of his mutton chops.  I was a little put off by this, thinking it was an unfortunate translation from a decidedly cartoony look.  But a quick search online of “mutton chops” reveals that real dudes often have this little feature when they sport this look.  So I’ll allow it.  Nevertheless, I do think the arched eyebrows should have been toned down a bit.  Overall, I think Hasbro did pretty good with the translation.

For accessories, Kallus comes with a removable helmet. It seems that it depends on the style of helmet as to whether or not I’d prefer Hasbro give us swappable heads.  In this case, the helmet works wonderfully.  It fits snugly over the head, and comes off with no difficulty.  Kallus’ face lines up perfectly with the openings on the face mask.  This is a very well executed accessory.

For weaponry, Kallus only comes with a completed bo-staff.  It looks nice, and he can perform various grips and poses with it.  I would have liked if Hasbro provided an alternative “half” bo-staff (like they did with Zeb), to give additionally options for posing.  Kallsu often used it as a blaster.  To compliment the bo-staff, Hasbro included a pair of electrostatic effects that plug in nicely to either end of the staff, and look great when attached to the posed figure.

Now that we have the (stupid) Ghost, I really hope Hasbro keeps it rolling with more Rebels-sourced characters in the line.  Prior to The Ghost I was content to just ignore the show completely in TVC (even though I enjoyed it).

9/10 (due only to the limitations of the elbow/knee range of motion).