Editor’s Note:  This review has been updated with our second look at TVC, and an update for the 2021 Photo Real release.  The Photo Real review follows the original review and the updated review.

Original Review:  Chris - 11/20/10 10:55 pm

I don’t care that it doesn’t have ankles.  If you don’t love this figure, you are the worst person on the planet. This is the greatest figure ever. 10 out of 10.

Updated Review: Bret - 5/31/18 07:05 AM

Well, I guess Chris pretty much covered it.  While I do care that this figure doesn’t have ankles, and while he can’t sit 100% because the soft plastic for the tunic bottom is just not quite soft enough, Ackbar is still an amazingly awesome figure.  The sculpt is perfect.  The paint is perfect.  The accessories are…perfect?  It would be better if the data pad actually had a command chair to plug into, but that’s not the figure’s fault.  The head sculpt is one of the best ever.  Even though the TFA 5POA Ackbar and the RO 5POA Raddus both have moveable jaws, which are cool, that is only possibly by sacrificing the ball jointed neck.  While that’s a tempting tradeoff, I’ll pass.  There’s not much more to say.  Everyone should own this figure.

If you’re a carded collector, getting one of these on eBay is a snap.  Prices are reasonable; among the lowest we’ve seen so far during our TVC retrospective.  The reason?  The figure was already re-issued for the Walmart Black Series run.  In fact, odds are, if you walk into a Walmart right now you’ll probably find one.  If you’re looking for a loose Ackbar, it’s a steal.  Even though this is an awesome figure, current availability is high enough that the market is essentially saturated right now.  Hasbro need do nothing.  However, you need to get one.  If you have one already, go find it, and snuggle with it tonight when you go to bed.

Updated Review (For Photo Real release) Chris - 05/20/2021 07:05 AM

Hasbro has repeatedly said that the Fan Channel waves are primarily targeted at the European market (this is despite the fact that, unlike the mainline waves, every single Fan Channel wave has shown up at US brick and mortar stores).  With that backdrop, we need to be reminded that the Walmart Black Series line was not available in Europe, so that makes this re-re-re-release not as egregious as we might think (the second “re” was because Ackbar received a second TVC 1.0 release in 2011).

Unlike the human characters in this Fan Channel wave, the real squidhead did not get the Photo Real treatment.  During this figure’s reveal, Hasbro mentioned that the mottled pattern was made more accurate for this release.  This seems to amount to a few more spots toward the back of the head.  The overall…shell tone is also a noticeably deeper red.  If you’re reading this, chances are you already own this figure.  I have to say that if it weren’t for my obligations to this site, I probably would have passed on this, and I’m pretty obsessive about owning the latest and greatest of figures.