Editor’s Note:  This review has been updated with our second look at TVC…

No review given at time of release.

Updated Review: 

Note:  Loose photos are of the TAC release.  Explanation to follow.

From 2005 through 2008 and then again in 2011, Hasbro released what were known as repaint/repack waves.  These were waves that consisted of figures with no (or very little) new tooling.  Usually this was an indication of the health of the line and it was a way for Hasbro to keep up with retail demand.  Cynical collectors said it was a sign of Hasbro getting caught with their britches down like Kirk in The Wrath of Khan (you should have had the shields up, Jim).  The truth is that it was probably an indicator of either one depending on the circumstances at the time.  In 2005 and 2006, it was definitely the former with retail demanding more Saga Collection figures before the line transitioned to TAC.  In 2011 it might have been the latter.  Early on in the Vintage Collection, the official wave designations and the fan wave designations diverted due to the Ultimate Galactic Hunt revisions and later remix cases.

Fans recognized this as Wave 5, but the cases might say Wave 23 for all I know.  The biggest oddity with this case is that for the vast majority of the country, it showed up at retail before what is known as wave 4 (the ATOC wave).  It was the first sign of trouble for the Vintage Collection, and ended the brick and mortar retail experience for many collectors.  After the holidays, stores greatly reduced their Star Wars footprint.  This meant the glut of leftovers from waves 1 through 3 (yes, Wooof was problematic for a few weeks), more than satisfied that allocated shelf space.  Retail ordering was already slowed by this.  When that was followed by cases of repacked figures (that most fans didn’t care to see) instead of the new figures from wave 4, the line was essentially sunk.  Most serious collectors abandoned the brick and mortar collecting experience in favor of ordering cases online after less than half a year.  Traditional retail collecting was touch and go for the remaining year and a half of the first run of the Vintage Collection. 

This long introduction serves to highlight that this Commander Gree figure is in fact a repack.  Furthermore this was the third time in just four years that it was released.  It was first released at the tail end of the Thirtieth Anniversary Collection and then almost immediately re-released with a GH “Greatest Hits” designation in The Legacy Collection.  The paint changes for the TVC release are so subtle that I doubt I could pick them out unassisted.  To that point comes the following confession:  the loose pictures above are not of the TVC release, but are the TAC release instead.  It appears I sold the wrong figure when I was paring down my clone collection.  This is embarrassing to say the least.  If you click HERE you can see a comparison shot of the two from our original gallery.  The TVC release has a more vibrant green visor and the sides of the upper torso appears black instead of brown.  Which version you prefer would fall under “dealer’s choice”.

As far as the articulation itself, the figure was one of the first “ball jointed everything” figures incorporating both ball jointed hips and wrists.  The wrists really add to the THWG posability allowing the figure to approximate looking down the sights of the DC-15S carbine.  The same can’t be said of the included electrobinoculars.  The wrists articulate in opposite planes.  If coaxing the accessory into a realistic viewing position is possible, I lack the patience to do so.  A passable one handed pose can be achieved, however.  The now decade old ball jointed hips allow for some dynamic posing, but are also a tad limited.  A modern implementation would be more free ranging.  Still, the figure can kneel naturally and unassisted, so it gets positive marks there.  Since this figure was never graded for the initial release, I will grade it as if it were released today.  With that in mind, I find it a solid 8 out of 10.

This figure definitely has room for improvement, but the combination of the fact that the source material lacks currency, and the original release easily satisfied demand, Hasbro should rest the subject for a long while.  In fact, many are still suffering general “clone fatigue” from the first round of The Vintage Collection.  Aside from perhaps an update to the Galactic Marine, clones as a whole can be ignored for a while.