Updating EP1: Collection 2

Yesterday we looked at surviving figures from Episode I that were part of Hasbro's "Collection 1." Today, we're going to take a departure from that, and discuss..."Collection 2." Ha!

Again, these are figures that survive in today's displays, usually because they have either never been updated, or because there is some value in this older figure that helps it stick around. As I mentioned yesterday, Hasbro labeled each figure from Episode I into 3 "collections", mostly based on whether they were primary, secondary, or tertiary characters. There were some oddities in the decision-making, but it was what it was.

Here's the Collection 1 article.

One would predict that there'd be more survivors from Collection 2 than Collection 1, just inherently because the odds of Hasbro revisiting a backgrounder were lower than that of a main character. That seems hold true here, but we'll see about Collection 3 tomorrow.

Let's get on with it:



1. Captain Panaka: I never liked Panaka's character. He was super lame, just like the figure. Apparently the actor was a jerk, and they basically kicked him out of the PT so they had to replace him with Captain Typho. He was cool. He had an eyepatch. Regardless, Panaka was pretty prominent in TPM, and I'm a little surprised Hasbro never revisited him.

2. Naboo Royal Security: Kind of a cross between a fast food worker and Ralph Kramden, these guys were a little silly. I mean, Naboo was silly in general. They had a queen that they elected, their starfighters were bright yellow and shiny chrome, and apparently security on the Mediterranean coast was so tight, the queen had to be surrounded by a bunch of look-alikes just in case there was a droid invasion. Elvis would be proud. This figure was pre-posed in a running stance, which isn't ideal. Instead of redoing this guy, they made two variants of the Naboo Soldier. Not sure they should ever bother. I have a bunch. That's all I have to say about that.

3. Padmé Amidala (Battle): This Padmé was relegated to Collection 2, even though the predecessor in the same outfit was in Collection 1, which we discussed it yesterday. This one has pros and cons that prevent it from being a slam dunk improvement. It's got a soft goods skirt, which is very cool. It's got a rudimentary ball jointed neck (actually, two separate joints that work more or less in concert to simulate a ball jointed neck). The accessory is quite good: an ascension gun (grappling hook blaster) that was cool before ziplines were all the rage in 2017. She can even perform a decent THWG. However, the only pose that actually works is the moment in time when Padmé fires the gun straight upward. The figure doesn't balance well if you try to pose with the arms/gun aiming forward in a more natural shooting stance. So if you want to display it right at the moment Padmé and her team are about to scale the palace exterior, than this is a great figure. If you want it for anything else, it's fairly useless. And no, the under-articulated 2012 TPM3D effort doesn't count. If you have that figure, you should feel bad. You contributed to the onset of the Dark Times. I hope you're happy with what you've done.

4. Sio Bible: The existence of this figure can mean only one thing, invasion Hasbro hadn't realized yet that figures of old white guys don't sell. It's a really nice figure of a boring secondary character. Of course, he has some outstanding facial hair, so there's that. It's great that we have Sio Bibble to flesh out our Theed City dioramas, because it would seem there's about zero chance for an update.

5. Yoda: Here's one I kind of included as an honorable mention. Obviously the figure is trash. However, I believe it is the only one that is sculpted in the likeness of the horrible puppet that was used in the original cut of Episode I. It's kind of a novelty. I would probably keep it displayed amongst special figures, rather than displayed in an actual diorama, but I included it here anyway.

6. C-3PO: This may be one of the best 5POA figures made in the history of the line. The detail and paint apps are amazing. Someone commented yesterday that there was some info or rumor that the figure was predicted to be a loss leader due to the cost of painting it, but they produced it anyway because it was awesome. Hasbro may have done that same thing with Jabba's Court Denizens, which is the highlight of the last 5 years of TVC as far as I'm concerned. A modern update would be pretty cool, but I still dig this figure. It was released well over a decade later in one of the TRU multipacks during the TVC/TPM3D era for the pod race scene. That version was much more muted, probably because the climate wouldn't allow for a full paint application. They're almost two different figures when looking at them side by side. Anyway, I like this C-3PO, and I don't have a problem keeping him around.

7. R2-D2: This figure is also a curiosity, just like Yoda. The booster rockets are based on a deleted scene. This R2, unlike the AOTC and ROTS versions, has four boosters that are deployed from his cylindrical body. To replicate this action, you must first rotate the dome to reveal the hidden boosters inside the body, and then push in the third leg to extend them outward. It's not a very practical figure, beyond exhibiting this feature. The dome and the third leg are both severely limited in range of motion, so it's very specific. Again, probably no need to ever revisit. It's more like a concept figure than anything else.

8. Pit Droids: Ah, pit droids. Did anyone participate in that online contest for having the most pit droids in their collection? (I forget which site.) The prize was a $500 Toys R Us gift card PLUS an autographed picture of Brad Van Pelt, the model maker who created the practical Pit Droids that were in the film, PLUS an actual part from one of the screen-used Pit Droid props. You know who won that grand prize? This guy right here. I have have 20 regular pit droids and 4 more of Otoga-222 models. My 24 pit droids were the pride of my collection for a long time. I was pumped when I saw them with Peli Motto in The Mandalorian, and I thought there was a chance we might get an update. No such luck. In the meantime there are like 10 variants of the Pit Droid, and they were a real challenge to track down all of them.

9. Nute Gunray: In case you are wondering, I made up everything in the previous paragraph about the pit droid contest, except it is true that I have 24 of them. But that has nothing to do with Nute Gunray. This guy might be the most necessary re-do from TPM, aside from Theed Battlin' Padmé. The figure is pretty bad, particularly the most unfortunate sculpting of his right arm/hand. I believe he was supposed to come with some kind of staff to hold, but poor Nute is left to find something else with which to keep his hand occupied. But let's face it: he's the main baddie from TPM, he got a weak update for AOTC, and that's that. He needs a full resculpt, and variants for his appearances in each of the PT films. It's a small travesty. Oh, he also needs a Sheathipede shuttle that is better scaled than the tiny one that came with the Ghost.

10. Rune Haako: Speaking of Nute, what about his buddy Rune? This guy didn't even get a retool for the later films. Of course there is some debate about whether or not he was even in AOTC, as the guy standing next to Nute on the balcony of Petranaki Arena has a different costume mask, and looks like a completely different character. Lucas did Nute dirty, and Hasbro followed suit. I actually like his TPM figure better than Gunray, but either way, he needs an update. And a retool variant of that update.\

11. Destroyer Droid: We talked about the Collection 1 Battle Damaged version yesterday. This Collection 2 version was the first release of the Droideka. While it lacks the battle damage and break-apart feature, it does have 12 points of articulation, which was a rarity at the time (and might actually be a first for the line). For full disclosure, the 12th point of articulation, beyond the first 11 which are more traditional in nature, is the bendy spine, which does allow for more poses even if it's not a typical swivel/cut/ball joint. Like the Battle Damaged version, it's a great representation of the Droideka model we saw in TPM, and was never revisited after it gave way to the slightly modified model we saw in AOTC and ROTS. Like the Battle damaged release, neither figure can roll up, nor do they have a shield.

12. Darth Sidious (Holograph): While the non-holograph version of Sidious lasted until 2012 when TVC finally provided a worthy update, this holograph version still survives. It was a straight "repaint" (re-cast, actually) of the first Sidious, but continues to do its job as the full sized holograph. In TLC, Hasbro gave us an awesome smaller scale Sidious holograph projected by the articulated mech chair, but this version has yet to be updated.

13. Senator Palpatine: The senator from Naboo fooled us all with the shocking reveal that he was, in fact, Darth Sidious / Emperor Palpatine. Mind blown! This figure is nicely detailed and painted. The oddest item is the included Senate Cam droid, which was attached to a clear plastic stick with a peg, but it only worked with the commtech chip if you used it as a stand. Since I refused to include the commtech chip, in my displays, I would have Palpatine perform a kind of sleight-of-hand trick to hold it. I would put it in his right hand in such a way that it looked like he was hiding the stick behind his back, and he would use his left hand to point in the distance and distract other figures from seeing that the droid wasn't actually hovering. Palpatine was a real jerk from the get go, if only the Jedi had seen the signs. This figure is unlikely to be revisited, although a TVC 3-pack with him for TPM (Senator), AOTC (Chancellor), and ROTS (Jedi Arrest) would be neat if Hasbro wanted to do something special for the prequels before we die.

14. Watto: Along with the aforementioned C-3PO, this Watto is one of my favorite 5POA figures. I don't really think there's much that Hasbro could do better today, other than a bit more arm/wrist articulation (his legs seem mostly limp and useless on screen). The sculpting and paint details are amazing. Hasbro released two repaints of Watto later on, and they were both inferior to this one. They also released an AOTC version, when Watto was down-and-out and had his little Brodie helmet - but also a clear plastic stand that simulated Watto's hovering action. That would have been a nice inclusion with the Episode I figure, but would have required time travel.

Collection 2 had a total of 17 figures (18 if you include both pit droids in the two pack), and you can see 14 (15) of them listed above. The 3 that were updated were Ric Olié, the Naboo Royal Guard, and Darth Sidious, all during TVC 1.0 (although Ric Olié was on a TPM3D card). You could keep all 3 of them in your modern displays, because there are worse figures out there. Ric and the NRG can serve as deep backgrounders; put the helmet on Ric Olié and he's just another pilot, while the pre-posed NRG looks pretty good in the back of a battle diorama, with his THWG (plus he's also got a darker complexion and a mustache, to add a bit of variety to the ranks). Meanwhile, Sidious isn't bad for the Coruscant balcony scene with Darth Maul, but you're definitely a terrible person if you do that. And as stated above, Yoda and R2 are admittedly each a stretch for this list, but I made the executive decision to include them. Sue me.

We'll take a look at Collection 3 soon.

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