Original Review by Bret:  2/28/09

Very Disappointing.

That sums it up.  This figure had a lot of potential, but it falls short.  Grievous is obviously part of Hasbro’s category of figures: “2 steps forward, 1 step back, 2 steps sideways, and one diagnally back and to the left.”  They’ll probably never release him in a version that will make everyone happy.

Good:
-This figure is very tall, which is great.  Fans complained about all previous Grievous figures being too short.  Hasbro fixed this.  He’s as tall as Chewbacca.
-The paint job is very good.  Lots of detail and weathering.
-Lots of articulation.  Grievous has a new double jointed knee which allows him to be posed in some unusual stances.
-He has a 2 arm and 4-arm mode, both of which look very good.
-He comes with removable chest plates, which expose his living guts.
-The neck piece is removable, so you can recreate the scene in which Grievous takes off his neck piece after a hard days work killing Jedi.

Bad:
-No cape!  A poor oversight by Hasbro.  A nice silky soft goods cape with the appropriate logo would have carried this figure a very long way.
-His hands are sculpted poorly, making holding his pistol and/or lightsabers difficult.  He holds the gun better than the lightsabers.
-His hands look odd, especially the one with his pinky extended, as if he’s preparing for a spot of tea.
-His elbow joints aren’t optimal.  When in 4-arm mode, his elbows allow for a decent range of motion.  However, when the arms are together in 2-arm mode, his elbow articulation is limited.
-His arms are supposed to connect at the forearms, with 2 pins on one arm, and 2 holes on the other.  Unfortunately, they don’t stick too well. You can “solve” this problem by using the ubiquitous clear rubber bands to hold the arms in place, but this obviously hampers the ability of the figure to switch into 4-arm mode.
-His head is too small.  This is pinhead Grievous.
-Even though he is tall and sports a ball jointed torso, he still can’t be posed like a hunchback, which is how he is for most of the movie.

Overall, it’s an impressive looking figure at first glance.  But a quick inspection reveals some major flaws.  If you’re waiting for the definitive Greivous, keep waiting and pass on this.  If you are looking for the best one so far, this is probably it.

Updated Review by Bret:  6/19/19

Back in our original review above, I mocked the confusing mix of improvements/regressions of this General Grievous figure over previous releases by Hasbro.  Well, in TVC, Hasbro updated the figure with VC17 General Grievous.  It was this figure, with some deco modifications, and the inclusion of a cape and two lightsaber hilts.  That figure also was curse and a blessing.  The good parts were the aforementioned accessories.  The cape alone is nothing short of awesome, and was something that was horribly absent from this TLC release.  The deco change was more or less an improvement, as it gave the character a cleaner, more screen accurate look.  But on the other hand, it took one of the big problems with this figure and made it worse.  VC17 is manufactured with even softer plastic than BD25.  This one is hard enough to pose without it wilting over under it’s own weight.  The VC version is best posed laying down.  VC17 also added 4 swivel wrists.  It’s a great upgrade in theory, but the hand sculpt still precludes him from holding the lightsabers well, and it just makes the 2-arm-to-4-arm mode feature that much more…wonky.

So because of all of this, it’s really a tough choice as to which of these is the best available Grievous.  If you can get the VC17 to stay posed as you want, it looks great and the cape/paint job are better.  But if you can’t, you’d probably lean towards displaying this version.  Or, if you’re completely frustrated with the lack of posability (and also a little insane), you could skip this figure, get VC17 for the accessories, and use them on the 5POA Mission Series figure, which Chris seems to like.  No, Chris, 5POA is not okay.  But I understand the point about our “society” you are trying to make.

Oh, and to be super picky, the accessories that come with the figure don’t actually allow you to properly recreate any lightsaber fighting scene, since he only comes with two lightsabers.  Surely you can scrape up two spare sabers for Grievous to use, but this really should come with 4 (as should the TVC version).

VC17 is better for the accessories, even though it’s flimsier.  I gave that figure a 4.  Based on the good and the infuriatingly bad aspects of this figure, I give it a paltry 3.  I’m not going to acknowledge the 5POA, to which Chris gave a 6 at the time.  Hasbro really needs to give us a definitive grievous.  Proper height, proper scaling, full load of accessories (hilts and blades), and this nice cape.  There should be foot pegs as well, you know, just in case.  And please use plastic that does’t have the consistency of molasses.  We are a long way from a definitive Grievous figure. 

Build-A-Droid 

General Grievous (First Release) contains the head for MB-RA-7.  The droid seems to have been inspired by the original Kenner Death Star droid (actually 3B6-RA-7), but the name indicates that it is a specific Expanded Universe droid that served as an instructor during the final days of the Republic.  Source:  Legends.

OR

General Grievous (carry forward) contains the right leg for the astromech R5-A2.  This droid can be spotted rolling through Mos Eisley around the time Luke and Obi-Wan are stopped by the sandtrooper checkpoint, but don’t find the droids they are looking for. Source:  A New Hope.