First of all, what the heck is up with this figure’s name?  Imperial Royal Guard?  There cannot possibly be any feasible explanation as to this.  The character has been known as the Emperor’s Royal Guard since the first time a figure of its likeness was carved out of oak by an artisan working for the Dutch West India Company in New Amsterdam in 1631.  The only possibility is a Russian hack.  I cannot exist in a world in which people employed by Hasbro intentionally named this figure the Imperial Royal Guard.

This figure, in the 5POA format, was previously released in a Target Exclusive 3 pack in The Last Jedi line.  The pack contained a Luke Jedi, and an Emperor as well.  All three figures have now been released as basic carded 5POA figures, although the Emperor seemed to have only been released as an international exclusive.  It was seemingly not even able to be rescued by Entertainment Earth.  Or maybe it was, and I didn’t care enough to pay attention. 

Well, here we have a ‘tweener figure.  It’s not terrible, but it’s not great.  It may actually offer something worthwhile to some collectors, while making other collectors angry that it even exists in the first place.  This figure isn’t even truly 5POA.  It has only 4 meaningful points of articulation (shoulders and hips).  The head is removable, and is sculpted as a single large piece with the robes.  As such, it can’t really move.  The right hand is sculpted in such a way as to hold the staff rather well at a position of rest on the shoulder, just like as seen in Return of the Jedi.  Which brings me to the point of why this may be good for some collectors.  The figure for all intents and purposes, is little more than a statue.  But it does look great doing what it did on screen, which is just to stand there and be red. 

The plastic robes harken back to earlier incarnations of the EMPEROR’S Royal Guard.  But it looks WAY better than any of them.  The question is, does it look better than the TVC or TBS version?  In my opinion, it’s not even a fair comparison.  What the TVC/TBS version sacrifices (in a very limited way) is that it doesn’t quite look perfect when posed in the “just standing there” guard position.  The hand holding the staff is a bit awkward, and it’s tricky to get the staff to rest on the shoulder perfectly.  The robes might be slightly billowy.  This 5POA figure pretty much nails the pose.  BUT, if you want any semblance of posability or playability, this figure totally sucks.  The TVC/TBS version not only can be posed in no less than 116 scientifically verified positions, it also has accessories that allow it to be displayed in any number of configurations.

I got a case of these figures from Entertainment Earth.  They were 2 per case.  It makes sense, since having only one of them would be ridiculous.  You would need at least two, for purposes of symmetry.  That is, if you wanted them at all.  Personally, I would have preferred Hasbro skipped this guy altogether, and added another Quay Tolsite and one non-Han Mudtrooper.  It’s bad enough that 5POA exists, but rehashing figures from pre-Disney films that have already been given the collector treatment seems foolish.  If this is going to be the only way we get figures from the new films in any meaningful quantity or depth, than please stop taking up slots with pre-Disney characters.

Anyway, the figure does look good.  It’s interesting to note, when lining up the ERG’s plus IRG as in the gallery photo, there’s a clear trend with the character getting smaller.  Holding the POTF2 figure in one hand, and this in the other, almost makes you feel like you have figures of different scales.  If you’re looking for ERG’s, just cut to the chase and get the awesome TVC/TBS version.  Of course, if you’re looking for IRG’s, this is the only game in town.  But your friends will mock you because you can’t even spell ERG right.  Idiot.

Figure gets a 4.  It’s a 2 as an action figure.  It’s a 6 as a display statue.