Nomadscout’s Collection Part IV

We've got another installment of Hey! Look At My Stuff!

Previous parts can be found here if you missed them or are interested in looking again:
PART I: CIS Droids
PART II: CIS Factions and Leadership
PART III: Naboo

This time we've got Coruscant Minus Jedi, since we'll save those crazy wizards for another time. Coruscant was represented somewhat nicely, with a bunch of figures from different scenes, some environmental pieces, and a bunch of figures. It isn't the most fleshed out of the key planets, but it's still pretty good. To start with, we'll look at what we have from the less glamorous side of the Jewel of the Core Worlds.

In Attack of the Clones, we got our first on-screen look at parts of Coruscant aside from the Senate and Jedi Temple that we saw in The Phantom Menace. We got a look at Padmé's apartment, where we witnessed the second assassination attempt of the Senator from Naboo. After the bombing on the landing platform, we saw an assassin droid deliver two kouhuns, poisonous centipede-type creatures into the apartment. R2-D2, who was on guard duty, fell asleep for some reason - one of the few times the droid failed a mission. Fortunately horny Anakin was nearby and sensed the disturbance, coming to the rescue. Obi-Wan jumped on the droid, which eventually took him towards the bounty hunter Zam Wessell. Some hijinks ensued, and we got another George Lucas car chase.

We got an electronic R2-D2 figure, which beeps/whistles/lights up, along with the two kouhuns. We got a couple of Zam figures, with the TVC version being the best one, by far. Importantly for world building, we got the two cars. They're pretty nifty vehicles. Each one has exploding panels to simulate damage from the chase, and also a flexible skin to create a crunched up body from the chase. This is particularly effective on Zam's vehicle, so you can zoom your cars around your house, and then satisfyingly smash them into the ground and get some awesome temporary damage. I always figured that the rubbery plastic would eventually disintegrate, but mine are in great shape over 20 years later. Your mileage may vary, of course.

After the car chase, the participants enter the Outlander Club, where Anakin conducts Jedi Business. We've got 4 different patrons, along with some solid environmental pieces. Two parts make up the bar, and then we have 2 bar tables, and a cushioned stool. Along with some bar glasses, we get some drug paraphernalia. At first I was thinking that Elan Sleazebaggano's Death Sticks were a unique Star Wars accessory, but then I realized that we've also got Jabba's hookah pipe, and Dannik Jericho's pipe. There are probably others. I hadn't really thought about that, but Hasbro is clearly promoting heavy drug use with their action figures. I don't have a problem with this.

Then we have a bit of Dexter's diner. Dexter himself is a pretty cool figure, even if a bit dated. We also got WA-7 the sassy waitress unicycle droid. Additionally, several astromechs are available which populate the streets in and around the Club and the Diner. Not bad. A few other patrons would help flesh out both locations. And being from the New York/New Jersey area, I can't help but wish we actually got a diner play set.

And a couple of other figures that populate Coruscant - we have Anakin and Padmé in their peasant travel outfits, trying to blend in with the common folk. Additionally, we've got Baron Papanoida, played by none other than George Lucas. He can be spotted hanging out in front of the Opera House where Anakin hears about Darth Plagueis the Wise. The figure was part of a set which included 3 of Lucas's kids that were also in ROTS. His 2 daughters play senators, and are pictured near him.

Speaking of senators, Hasbro gave us quite a few figures here. A (somewhat undersized) senate pod accessory was included in a battle pack from 2005 with a pair of Coruscant Clone Troopers, a Yoda, and a Palpatine. I went a little crazy and bought bunches of these pods on Ebay, along with many discounted sets that I found at Target. I didn't have them all displayed in the images above. I think I have over 20 of them. They're frustratingly small, because in most cases they only hold 1 figure. Some of the figures of less tremendous stature can fit 2 per pod, but that's not so common. I had a mind to build some kind of rudimentary framework to place the pods in a tiered setting, but I was lazy and then just resented having to do something I felt Hasbro should have done themselves. So I just have them flat on a shelf, spread out and looking a little lame. Also disappointing is the lack of a Chancellor's pod, which aside from being the center of the senate and featured in multiple scenes, it was also the main battleground spot when Palpatine and Yoda faced off. I think it was a big miss that Hasbro never made this piece.

Along with various senators and aides, we have 2 chancellors: Zod Valorum and Sheev Palpatine. Palpatine, of course, came in multiple iterations, and I chose to display his non-Sithy appearances for this setup. His scarred and disfigured self will come in a later installment.

Not to be left exposed and open to attack, the senate is protected by multiple iterations of the blue Senate Guards, the best one of which is from TVC, albeit with a too-bulky robe. Alternatively, we've got a few versions of the red senate guards that specialized in protecting the chancellor, and were re-dubbed "Imperial Guards" for the Imperial Era. And for a final touch, I included a pair of Coruscant Firespeeder pilots (sadly, with no ship to pilot) that helped protect the citizenry.

Last but not least, I included Senator Bail Organa's Alderaanian entourage, with Breha Organa, Jeremoch Colton, and a young Raymus Antilles.

All of this does a pretty decent job of giving Coruscant some solid representation in our 3.75" collections, but a few more items would bring it all up a couple of notches. Aside from additional patrons and some more background senators, there aren't too many figures that I would feel are missing. However, there are a few environmental pieces that I would have liked to have seen from Hasbro, as I think they would elevate our displays. Probably at the top of my list is Palpatine's office, which was featured is several key scenes on film and in The Clone Wars series. I think another vehicle or two, like a taxi with the Bothan-looking driver, and the aforementioned chancellor's senate pod would be great.

So share your Coruscant collections, and let us know what you'd like to see.

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