From 2003-2005, the Cartoon Network aired a series of animated shorts produced by Genndy Tartakovsky (Dexter’s Laboratory, Samurai Jack) called Star Wars Clone Wars, generally known by fans as the “Microseries.”  The first 20 episodes were about 3 minutes each, with the final 5 episodes lasting 12-15 minutes each.  The finale, “Chapter 25”, led directly into the opening scene of Revenge of the Sith, with Republic and Separatist capital ships participating in a battle above Coruscant.  The show had highly stylized animation, but contained some of the most Star Warsy moments in all of Star Wars.  Besides showing many of the prequel Jedi participating in some kick-butt action that highlighted their individual skills, we got to see the Clones perform in some of the coolest battle sequences ever shown, including Captain Fordo at his best.  The series did a great job of filling in some of the story between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, including showing the development of Anakin and Obi-Wan’s relationship, Anakin’s toeing of the line with the Dark Side, how Anakin made the rank of knight, when C-3PO got his gold plating, and how Palpatine was captured by Grievous.  The show was light on dialogue, and heavy on action,  It was essentially the movie that many fans wished was Attack of the Clones.  Later, when Filoni’s CGI animated The Clone Wars series was aired, it was originally meant to compliment Tartakovsky’s show.  However the subject matter of this show (as well as other EU sources) would often contradict events that were previously established in the Microseries.  In 2014, Disney essentially demoted the Microseries to Legends status.

In 2003, Hasbro dedicated a new line look, concurrent with the blue Saga line, to figures and toys from the Microseries.  The figures were realistically styled (AS THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN!), and fit right in with the existing main line.  They provided a bunch of characters and vehicles found in the series, typically Jedi in their battle-damaged combat outfits and a wide array of clone variants. I recall the line selling through rather quickly at my local store (which, at the time, was the Times Square Toys R Us), and for a while many of the offerings commanded hefty premiums on the secondary market.  Later, to satisfy that itch that most people didn’t really have, Hasbro released a limited run (AS THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN) of “action figures” that were sculpted in the highly stylized animated look.  I used quotes because the figures had very little articulation.  They did look really cool, even though they served no purpose in your regular collection.  Unlike later animation-based figures for The Clone Wars, Rebels, and Resistance, Hasbro did it right by producing the bulk of the figures in realistic form to keep things consistent and compatible.  Once they dropped that approach for TCW in 2008, things were never quite the same for the flagship line.

In 2008, years after the Microseries was over and The Clone Wars CGI series was debuting on TV as well as in toy form, Hasbro rolled out a wave of figures in the The Legacy Collection (Blue) from the Tartrakovsky show.  This was interesting because Hasbro was also issuing Filoni Clone Wars figures in animated form in the concurrent Legacy Collection Clone Wars line.  So for a bit of time in the early going, you had a Microseries wave in the realistic line alongside the animated figures from TCW.  It was a Clone Wars extravaganza!  Hasbro would continue to release realistically styled figures from the Microseries in various lines.  At one point, Hasbro let the community know that there would be no more figures based on the Microseries, but they went ahead and totally redeemed themselves with the super awesome VC54 ARC Trooper Commander, one of the best figures ever made.  It was a two-fer, and should have been named Captain Fordo.  (Maybe that’s how Hasbro snuck it past the LFL censors?)  Hopefully that wasn’t the last time we ever see figures sourced from this material.

This figure is a decent sculpt, and is the only armor clad Clone Wars General version of Saesee Tiin in the line, although there was a battle-worn version from the 2003 line, sans the armor.  He looks bad (in the good way), which is exactly his personality in the Microseries.  It’s basically a modified Clone Trooper body, including a torso that shows the Jedi tunic tucked around the chest armor and under the utility belt, with a soft-ish plastic “skirt.”  It has a striking look.  The head sculpt is pretty much what you’d expect from a Saesee Tiin figure.  The clone armor is gray, rather than white.  This is accurate, and gives Saesee Tiin a very unique and impressive look as he leads his Clone forces into battle.  The articulation is standard SA for 2008.  If this were revisited today, it would need to add Jedi-Level articulation (ball jointed hips, waist, wrists, and rocker ankles).  The one drawback to the sculpt is the plastic skirt.  It’s molded in a reasonably soft plastic, but it still reduces the range of motion of the hips.  Today, this would need either more pliable plastic, or soft goods.

One huge oversight is that Hasbro did not include his cape.  It is prominently shown throughout Tiin’s various appearances in the Microseries, particular in Chapter 23 when he leads his clones on a space jump mission above Coruscant to infiltrate a Separatist cruiser.  The removable helmet is particularly interesting.  It has the look of a clone helmet, but is specifically designed to fit over the distinctive Iktochi head.  It is large, but fits perfectly over and around the horns.  The helmet has air hoses that are connected to a chest box, making one continuous accessory.  It slips on and off very easily, and looks great either in place or in the figure’s hand.  Saesee Tiin includes a lit saber, which he can hold in either hand, and also perform a decent THWG.  It would have been nice if he came with an unlit hilt to hook on his belt. 

This figure has a decent sculpt, and is pretty close to definitive from that aspect, especially if you were happy with the older clone molds and not too thrilled with the TVC skinny version.  It’s unlikely Hasbro would ever revisit a character from this source, but if they did, Saesee Tiin could use an update.  To be clear, our ratings will show that this figure has room for improvement, but the recommended priority level for an update is negligible, meaning we’re happy with this figure as is for a long while.

Credit:  Carded sample provided by Randy S

Build-A-Droid 

Saesee Tiin contains the right leg for the astromech R7-T1.  R7-T1 was never seen on screen, but was briefly Luke Skywalker’s astromech when he flew an E-Wing fighter during the Black Fleet Crisis.  The droid was mentioned by name in the book Before the Storm.  While it first appeared in visual form with Hasbro’s BAD, the look was made official in other Lucasfilm reference sources.  Of course, all of this was rendered obsolete and relegated to Legends status.  Source:  Legends.