So here’s a thing that I can get excited about.  A debut item from an iconic scene in one of the core movies (OT + PT).  It’s a rare thing indeed, and something that we really need more of in order to keep the old-timers interested. 

The Battle of Geonosis theme from Hasbro is a tough one, for sure.  One the one hand, it’s really hard to argue this choice of focus.  Needing to give the PT some Haslab love, BoG is certainly one of the most action-packed and iconic set pieces from the entire PT.  It officially launches the Clone Wars, and it’s an alien landscape that has it all:  The main heroes fighting together for survival, several large and dangerous beasts wreaking havoc, a local army of bug people, a massive force of battle droids of various types, an entire council of bad guys, the introduction of the Clone Troopers and the Grand Army of the Republic in all its might and glory, and the most Jedi warriors ever seen on screen at the same time (before or since). What’s not to love?  It makes perfect sense that for the first PT Haslab, Hasbro opted to go for the Gunship (probably the PT’s most recognizable, ubiquitous, and popular vehicle) and a halo of BoG product.  From a marketing standpoint, it’s hard to argue that this was a bad choice.

While the iron was hot and AOTC was fresh back in the early Aughts, Hasbro introduced a ton of figures and toys from BoG, and they continued to add to the riches with a combination of updates and debuts for at least a decade before the well dried up.  BoG is supported by arguably the largest and most comprehensive selection of toys from Hasbro vs any scene across the entire Saga.  The recent arrival of the Cantina and The Streets of Mos Eisley (along with a small handful of debut figures) may allow ANH Tatooine to give BoG a run for its money, however.  But all of that is what actually made the BoG Haslab choice a bit of a double-edged sword.  If you’ve been in the game for a little while, you probably have all the stuff already.  And there’s almost nothing new to do that we haven’t seen before.  We documented this when we covered the entire AOTC Act III Geonosis set piece in our Scene It feature, which can be found here - (which we’ll have to update once BoG is over).  Across the entire act, we are left missing a Separatist or two, a couple of “mini-rig” vehicles, and maybe some obscure blink-and-you’ll miss them Jedi.  That meant that there was very little for BoG to offer me that I didn’t already own (and multiple versions in many cases.)

I was therefore really skeptical of the Gunship Haslab and the BoG halo being something that I would enjoy - and this is despite the fact that it is, in fact, one of my favorite scenes in the OT/PT and I love most of the toys we have from it.  While there are a handful of items missing that we will likely never get, there was one piece that I could never quite fathom how it wasn’t made back in 2002.  Fairly prominent, existing in multiples, and ridden/used multiple times by the heroes themselves over the course of the battle - the orray and cart were never realized in plastic form.  For me, it has been one of the most glaring omissions from the BoG that should have been corrected long, long ago.

So despite my general apathy toward the Haslab/BoG effort (mind you, I bought…MANY...Haslab gunships), if there’s one victory for me, it’s the arrival of this Orray & Geonosian Picador set.  In fact, I’ve wanted this item for so long, I even sprung for a really great custom orray that was made in a small batch by a collector and sculptor from Spain who (ironically) goes by LordSixthCustoms.  It is one of my favorite things I have on display, even though it’s ultimately a 3rd party sculpture - not an action figure.  Also, it doesn’t have a cart; it’s just the orray alone.  But now, I can happily present a review of the 24-years-too-late Orray & Geonosian Picador.

Starting with the Orray, it’s a great sculpt.  It has a bunch of articulation, including a ball jointed neck, a swivel upper jaw, and four legs - each with ball jointed shoulder/hips, ball jointed elbows/knees, and rocker wrists/ankles. Utilizing these joints, you can really bring this guy to life in a number of poses.  Everything from the teeth to the eyes to the texture of the skin shows a lot of care and effort went into making the Orray as close to “lifelike” as possible.  The paint is nicely done as well.  He’s got a sculpted saddle and a metallic “cap” to replace the amputated tail (as was the style at the time).  There is a separate bit accessory that fits nicely inside the orray’s mouth, although it will come loose unless the jaw is shut.  Attached to the bit are the reins, made of a string.  An important feature is that there are two removable “plugs”, one on each side of the animal, that can be removed to reveal rectangular holes that accommodate the connections to the strings that pull the cart.  When plugged in, it’s barely noticeable, and just looks like it’s part of the saddle equipment.  The bad thing is that the plugs are tiny, and there’s no place to store them.

The cart is also pretty great.  It’s a little surprising how large it is.  The sculpt is excellent, and captures the curvy, organic nature of Geonosian style.  The painting is simple and clean, with nothing as far as weathering or wear and tear.  It has flashes of dull metallic panels, which look great.  The interior of the cart has some decent detailing on the floor, but is otherwise simple.  On either side of the insides are short chains, which are what was used to fasten Anakin and Padme’s manacles when they were transported to the execution poles.  There is plenty of room for both prisoners inside the cart.  The driver’s seat is an interesting design. A raised, padded chair allows for a figure to sit, and there are two hand grips, as well as foot pedals.  Attached to either side of the cart are long strings which plug into the sides of the orray as mentioned above.  There is also an included clear “hover” stand, which is very similar to the one included with the recent speeder bike.  With it, you can choose three different hovering heights, while allowing for different angles to add a few action-oriented posing possibilities. 

Finally, there’s the Geonosian Picador.  This is also technically a debut character, although he is barely distinguishable from others of his kind, save for the ornamental, wavy “flair” raised on the back of his armor.  The figure has the full JLA, including ball jointed neck, torso, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, and knees, along with rocker ankles.  As such, it poses quite nicely in a variety of positions.  It balances well, and does the one-legged running pose without a problem (image 211 in the gallery above). The sculpt is nice overall, while the paint of his “skin” is simple, but effective.  Aside from the eyes and teeth, the body is painted a single color.  The armor is a shiny golden plastic, with a few colorful doodads to spice it up.  The figure comes with a long electro-lance, which he can grip fairly well in either hand or both.  The lance is unpainted, and comes cast a silvery plastic.  In the end, it’s obviously a great figure, but as with many remakes of figures that were already pretty good, standing this guy next to a Geonosian from more than a decade ago doesn’t exactly knock my socks off.  The headsculpt is better, as is the improved articulation.  But in a side-by-side photo, it’s not a huge difference - and this is why I’m rarely a fan of redos and resculpts.  It definitely isn’t forcing me to yeet the older Geonosian figures out of my displays.

The Picador can be posed to fit in the seat of the cart nicely.  His three-fingered hands are a little tricky to get onto the grips, but once accomplished, it looks nice.  His feet fit on the pedals and are held in place by the stirrups.  When the Picador is seated, and the cart is attached to the orray, the whole effect is pretty great, and very satisfying.

Not everything is perfect, however.  There are two major negatives, which I find frustrating.  First of all, the cart is missing the rear doors, which can be seen when Padmé and Anakin step out of the cart, and onto the arena floor.  It’s probably not the end of the world, and the cost of the extra parts and assembly would have added a few bucks to the $80 price tag, I’m sure. But it just feels like that feature is missing.

Perhaps more frustrating is the lack of a proper saddle for the orray.  As mentioned, there is a saddle sculpted onto the orray, but it’s just meant to be a leathery patch that conforms to the shape of the animal’s spine.  The first issue is that it makes it a little tricky to seat the Geonosian due to his big nubby tail.  You can get him to sit, he just suffers from the hovering affect because his butt isn’t flush with the saddle.  But the second issue is that on screen, there’s a large, specially designed saddle/seat in which the Geonosian rides.  This omission jumped out at me because the custom orray that I have includes this, and it satisfies the need to be screen accurate as well doing a better job of accommodating a seated figure.

Overall, the orray is a 10/10, the cart is a 9/10, and the Geonosian is a 9/10.  The missing doors and saddle, the lack of weathering on the cart, and the lack of any wash or painting depth to the picador figure keep it from being a perfect 10/10.  Nevertheless, I absolutely love this set, and it just about completes the Arena scene (even before all the other updated BoG stuff is finished arriving).  I should be more annoyed with the door and saddle omissions, but adding this to my Arena set up is something that stirs that collecting joy that I’ve been missing for a while, so it gets a little extra love from me.  9/10.

Also - with every update to my Geonosis arena display comes a renewed frustration with how terrible the Arena playset is - especially the stupid balcony.