In league with the wicked Count Dooku, more and more planets slipped.

These words were spoken by Yoda, as he narrated the opening chapter to Tartakovsky’s Clone Wars microseries.  The images shown as Yoda spoke this line were those of Count Dooku shaking hands with the leader of the Quarren, Tikkes, and then standing defiantly on a rocky sea cliff in front of an army of Quarren soldiers.  The Battle of Mon Cala was apparently a big enough deal that the entirety of Clone Wars: Chapter 5 was dedicated to it.  Actually, Yoda refers to the planet as “Mon Calamari”, so that pointy-eared jerk forced me to do some research.  Apparently, the planet was originally referred to as Dac, dating back to a 1982 feature in Bantha Tracks.  It was later referred to as Calamari, Mon Calamari, and Mons Calamari.  In The Clone Wars CGI show, the planet was referred to as Mon Cala, and this has since stuck as the canon name.  Thanks, Yoda.  Sigh. 

Tikkes was in all 3 prequel films as well as the microseries.  Why did we never get a figure of him?

Anyway, during Chapter 5, The Quarren Isolation League, led by former Republic Senator Tikkes, joined Count Dooku’s Separatists, in an effort to overthrow and defeat the Mon Calamari council.  The Republic intervened by sending a fleet of cruisers, led by Jedi Master Kit Fisto.  Fisto, the clones, and the Mon Calamari fought against the Quarren and thier droid armies.  As the underwater battle raged, the Quarren unleashed their superweapon, the dreaded crab cannon.  This crab cannon almost could have been the inspiration behind the superlaser seige cannon used by the First Order on Crait.  The cannon climbed from the depths of wherever it was hidden, and emitted a powerful beam towards the surface.  It destroyed one Republic assault ship floating on the surface.  Then with a second shot, caused a huge wave that wiped out a bunch of Clones stationed on the hull of another assault ship.  Kit Fisto and the Mon Calamari forces eventually destroyed the cannon. 

That cannon is crabtastic!

Yesterday we posted a gallery and review of the BD14 Mon Calamari Warrior.  This one is it’s direct counterpart in the battle for the planet.  The Quarren Soldier is very well sculpted.  The body is the first time we see a Quarren without a shirt, and this warrior is very muscular.  He has protective greaves, vambraces, and a…uh…cummerbund, because he’s fancy.  Everything is painted very well, with the skin having a nice wash to provide depth, while the armor is painted in a nice metallic finish with highlighted detailing.  The figure sports a soft goods skirt, which not only covers his bikini bottom, but also conceals a thigh sheath which holds a rather dangerous looking knife.  The head is painted particularly well.  Hasbro has pretty much nailed the Quarren likeness, so it shouldn’t be too hard to get an update to the Tessek figure we’re waiting for.  The knife is removable, and the soldier can grip it well in either hand.  He also comes with a long trident, a weapon used by every oceanic warrior ever.  He can wield it convincingly and with both hands.

The articulation is pretty decent, but just like the Mon Calamari Warrior, it lacks knees.  Again, this is a shame, because knees probably would have been enough to make this a definitive figure.  As such, the figure is lacking in posability, at least from the waist down.  The ball jointed head is a plus here, because while it was lacking from the Mon Calamari figure, here it allows the soldier to look up/forward if you pose him in a swimming position. 

Because of ball jointed head, as well as having accessories that interact very well with the figure, this Quarren Soldier ends up scoring better than the Mon Calamari Warrior. Knees are really the only thing holding the figure back.  That alone is a tough loss, and prevents it from scoring higher than a baseline 7.  Everything else about it is pretty great.  So while it is highly unlikely, and frankly unnecessary, for Hasbro to revisit this figure, the articulation shortcoming is enough to prevent it from being deemed definitive.  Nevertheless, it is probably good enough for almost everyone, and we don’t recommend Hasbro put any measurable priority on an upgrade in the foreseeable future.  If you’re a fan of the microseries, you should own this figure.

Build-A-Droid 

Quarren Soldier contains the head and third 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.