Rebel Commando
Another of my favorite figures from the vintage era circa 1983 was the Endor Rebel Commando. Stylistically, it was not quite the same as the other vintage Kenner Return of the Jedi figures, something about the coloring, proportions and face sculpt didn’t quite mesh with the other human figures in the line. Also it was one of those figures never made by Lili-Ledy in Mexico, although I remember getting that guy loose at a local mall.
Over the years, we have been getting updates to the character (or better said, character-class) every so often, but other than the Power of the Force version, most of these updates stray quite a bit from the original toy design.
The latest iteration of this character class comes as part of the third wave of Hasbro’s Star Wars Vintage Collection (VC26), and it seems to borrow liberally from the concepts used for previous figures.
The base body shares the same leg sculpts used for Major Panno in the Legacy Collection, but from the waist up it’s made of entirely new pieces. The torso and arms are molded as a nondescript long sleeve T-shirt, which no doubt will see more use in the future. A nice touch is that the separate strap that crosses his chest has a small badge sculpted on that looks like it’s actually pinned to the torso.
The head sculpt is also new and sports a rather nifty goatee. The one thing I’m not entirely sure of is if Hasbro intended to make this a bald character or they originally planned to glue the hat to his head, thus making futile to sculpt hair. In any case the end result is simply great, even if there is no real resemblance to any of the extras seen on the movie.
The Rebel commando features a fabric coat decorated in camouflage print. The pattern seems to be similar to the one used for the Endor Han Solo released in VTSC a few year ago, but the print has more color to it, as well as a hole in the back to allow placing the backpack onto the figure.
As for articulation, this new Commando is pretty much super articulated, having:
• Ball jointed neck.
• Peg & hinge shoulders.
• Peg & hinge elbows.
• Swivel wrists.
• Swivel waist.
• Swivel hips.
• Peg & hinge knees.
• Peg & hinge ankles.
The pieces that conform the Rebel Commando are molded in fairly neutral poses and in pretty much the right plastic colors, thus reducing the amount of paint apps required.
The pants have a green woodland camo pattern with boots and gloves painted an ashen tan hue with some darker shading applied. The torso is pretty much left unpainted but since most of the time it will remain covered by the coat, it doesn’t really matter.
The Rebel Commando comes with a fair number of accessories: an armored hat, the camo coat, a pistol, a rifle and the backpack. Other than the sidearm, all of these items sport some extra deco that really adds to the visual impact of the whole.
Even though the Rebel Commando wasn’t right at the top of my list of wave three acquire-on-sight figures (that distinction belongs to the new Gamorrean Guard), I must say this is a very satisfying figure to have and a welcome addition to my Endor strike team.
Errex Score: 97/100
Category: Featured, Star Wars, Toy Reviews