Original Review by Chris. 11/6/14

Like Shadows of the Empire, The Force Unleashed was a celebrated and heavily marketed multi-media event.  The Shadows of the Empire blitz was lead by the novel with the video game and comics becoming secondary sources.  For The Force Unleashed, the video game was definitely the lead pony with the comics and novel serving as back-up.  As with the SotE, Hasbro joined the TFU party with heavy action figure support including a dedicated wave at the end of the 30th Anniversary Collection and a Secret Apprentice Evolutions set.  Some fans question the value these non-big screen properties add to the Saga.  I personally think the balance sheet for TFU is firmly in the black.  I even nominated the Rodian Heavy Defender for Bantha Skull’s Fans’ Choice submission.  I was voted down.  One of the better TFU contributions is the added variety of troopers it brings to the Saga.  Sadly, the new designation of this property as part of the “Legends” banner has made them non-canon, but we can still enjoy them nonetheless.

One of those “troopers” is the Emperor’s Shadow Guard.  Force sensitive members of the Royal Guard were culled to form this elite group. Despite the name, this elite organization does not guard the Emperor’s shadow.  He seems like the type of guy who would worry about such things, but the name is a red herring.  In the game, the Shadow Guards are far from mere saber fodder for Galen Marek.  They actually present a reasonable in-game challenge.  Perhaps that is the reason this figure remains one of the most collectible TFU figures.  Well, the real reason is most fans think a black Royal Guard is cool but we can pretend our collective mind goes deeper than that.  Unfortunately using the 2005 ROTS Royal Guard as a basis for this figure does not do the character justice.  In the game, the Shadow Guards appeared to wear Stormtrooper style armor on the torso with a kama draping from the waist.  Dressing the figure up in Royal Guard like robes is a disservice.  What’s puzzling is that Hasbro made new soft goods for this figure from the base figure.  If they’re going to redo that element, why didn’t they make it accurate?  Wikipedia says that the Shadow Guards were “identical” to Royal Guards with only an inversion of the color scheme to differentiate the two.  This seems like a retcon.  This is not supported in game.  Additionally, the blade on the lightsaber pike is too long.  The blade is as long as the staff, but it should really be about half as long. 

Inaccuracies aside, the base figure stinks.  I was frustrated by the 2005 Royal Guard when it was released and that opinion has only strengthened since.  The minor complaint is the lack of ankle joints.  You can engage the knees, but in order for the figure to stand, you need to rotate the lower leg so it looks like the Guard suffered a broken ankle.  The real issue is the swivel elbows and the limited range of motion of the ball jointed head.  The poses the arms can achieve are less than desirable.  Due to the length of the weapon and the limitations of the arms, the figure has to hold the ligthsaber pike across its body.  Unfortunately the helmet prevents the head from rotating more than a few degrees.  This means while the blade is off to the figure’s side, the head is looking straight ahead.  It appears like an arrogant no-look attack similar to Llyod’s fatal Kung-Fu blow in Dumb & Dumber.  If the head rotated properly, the limitations of the arms and lack of ankles could have been somewhat mitigated. The aggregate of these limitations results in a disappointing figure, however.  I’m probably going to get some heavy dissent, but this is a lowly 5 out of 10 figure for me.  Sadly, these issues do not mean the figure is affordable on the secondary market.  It has been commanding a premium almost consistently since the conclusion of the 30th Anniversary Collection.

Lastly, I know from other reviews that this figure can be disassembled to remove the soft goods cloak.  On my sample, that was requiring more force than I’m comfortable applying.  I’m not willing to risk breaking my figure for such things.  Even with the cloak removed, the upper torso still is not accurate.

Updated Review by Bret, 8/1/19 7:05AM

Again, not much to add to Chris’s review.  I think, however, that in the almost 5 years that have passed since he wrote the above, our standards have risen as far as expectations for the execution of super-articulation.  The decision to use a base figure that was 3 years old at the time seems particularly poor now.  It has definitely not aged well, if it was even acceptable at the time.  I would not consider a lack of ankles a minor gripe, particularly for a force-sensitive warrior figure like the Shadow Guard.  Ankles are required.  The figure just really isn’t very posable.  It can perform a rudimentary THWG, so it’s not a total loss, but it is basically terrible.

I will also reiterate that the figure is simply inaccurate.  Hasbro cheaped out by simply recycling a similar figure.  I generally have no problem with Hasbro’s practice (which used to be very common) of adding repaints to the line cheaply.  But this shouldn’t be a repaint.  It should have been an all new figure.  Still, if the alternative is not getting it all, I guess this was better than nothing.

One thing I will add is the blaster pistol is a waste.  The figure can barely hold it.  It seems the hands were more suited to hold the saber/pike weapons, which ultimately is the better option.  But the blaster and holster is essentially a useless inclusion in the mold.

It’s a less than stellar sculpt, it’s highly inaccurate, it poses poorly, the head doesn’t turn, the weapons aren’t designed well…but it does have a stand!  I’ll support the score of 5.  It’s better than a 5POA figure which would normally get a 4, but not by much.  They look decent standing guard near the crappy emperor figure, but Hasbro could have done better then, and they sure could do better now.  But they shouldn’t.  Totally not worth the effort of an upgrade.