Once again I must extoll the virtues of the Clone Wars microseries. One of the more striking episodes was when Padme and yoda detour to Illum to see what was up. Turns out some droids were trying to wreck the Jedi caverns where they get their lightsaber crystals! Luckily Padme, Yoda, Luminara Undulie and Barriss Offie take care of them before they can. Snowbunny Padme, as she was called, was one of the design highlights of the series, and really it is just her in her AotC getup with a fur cape. But genius! Hasbro of course released their outstanding Legacy Wave 2 last year and attempted a version of Snowbunny Padme in realistic rendering. Which was nicely done but not quite as arresting as the stylized cartoon version. Too bad they never made her in the little subline of statue figures. OH well. The main issue is sculpting and painting a decent face on a head that is like a centimeter big. So they did good enough! Her cape is well done.
One of the five clones I have from the Tartakovsky line that came out, I think this one was only available in the States but a Snowtrooper hooked me up. Basically the same sculpt as the regular clone but with a backpack and obviously different helmet. Looks sweet- after a year I still have the same setup on my shelf of these guys. They just look good. Like the Galactic Heroes line, don't do much but look good.
I watched the Tartakovsky series again so I decided to feature one of the figures from that line. Dooku this time, since I think this is the only Dooku I will ever get- on purpose anyways. He's a great character onscreen, Christopher Lee is amazing, but as a figure he is a little visually boring. THough this sculpt of him is bang on to the cartoon. Sculpt being the keyword since, like alll the figures in this line, he is not articulated and is meant for display only. Fair enough. The photo is a little subpar but I like the earthier colors, fits Dooku's half-Jedi half-Sith wardrobe.
I've said many times how much I loved the microseries, and how happy Legacy Wave 2 made me. And on paper this figure sounds like a great idea, since the visuals of Obi-wan Kenobi wearing clone trooper armour was stunning in the cartoon. In figure form, well, it's best if you leave his helmet on. HIs head looks more like viking warrior in clone armour. Oh well, they tried and I appreciate the effort. It turns out the Clone Wars Kenobi was pretty much perfect anyways. Judging by how many Kenobis I have they might have used him as the basis for the clone army.
Leave it to Genndy Tartakovsky's studio to finally get a ship right. For the most part the ships in the prequel trilogy lacked that cool factor. Naboo starfighters? No thanks. Hard to picture one of those shiny yellow things strafing a Death Star. BUt the Torrent is perfect Star Wars. Elements of Imperial Shuttles as well as maybe the B-Wing with all those movable parts. S-foils I imagine they're called. I'm glad this ship shows up in the CG series, though I'd love to see it more often. But wait- I have my very own V-19 to look at anytime I want! And even better, my employer bought it for me! Safety points get turned into wal-mart gift cards get turned into Star Wars vehicles, the first I've bought in the modern era. Other than a black scout bike. Too bad there's no $20 AT-TEs here like there are in Ontario.
Another great figure from my favorite wave, Saesee Tiin all done up in space trooper armour. Remember when he led a bunch of clones out into space and they boarded that Droid ship and kicked ass? That's the general idea here and they did a fine job. Removable helmet so you can get his horned head in full effect if you want. But his helmet looks great. I convinced a small child that he had to buy this figure once and his mom bought it for him. Just doing the good deeds.
One thing I learned as a Canadian collector is it doesn't really pay to buy from the Starwars.com shop. Shipping and duties pretty much kicks you in the kybutt. Although I don't know how else I would have gotten concept Grivous and shadow biker scout. I though this Yoda and kybuck would be hard to find too so I put them in the order, too. Turns out he isn't that hard to get. And would have been a way better deal to just get here, since it is priced as a regular figure. And a fine figure it is, too. Yoda riding his kybuck. Which is a mount that appeared in the Clone Wars microseries and made for some amazing visuals. As such he would have fit in with Legacy Wave 2 but is actually from the Anniversary Collection (TAC). The kybuck is quite beautifully done, with the minor complaint that his feet are really only able to stand in one position. Otherwise he falls and crushes clones left and right.
So the Mon Calamari and the Quarren are from the same planet and they don't get along too well. The Quarren have hordes of battle droids and other technological wonders to bully around with but the Mon Calamari have Kitt Fisto and the Scuba Clones on their side! Plus giant sea lizard mounts. Which weren't included with the figure but since it came with a million other little trinkets that's alright. Even if said trinkets don't stay on too well- not shown is their water horns. So I love these guys and all the guys from this wave but ten times over on the three figures based on this one episode of the Tartakovsky series, my favorite one. Must be popular with the folks at Hasbro too. I managed to restrain myself and only buy two of them and two quarren but if they go on clearance it's army-building time.
Another of the stylized figures from the microseries line. Not too much going on here, just the ultimate Jedi Master brandishing his lightsaber at you like he means it. Poke you, I will, if outta my way you do not get. I think this is my favorite Yoda that I have- the actual 3.75 inchers are a little too small really. And this one has that look I love. Like the rest in this line, more of a statue than action figure. Though I do miss my original vintage figure with that orange snake that went around his neck.
How many Grievi do I own? Many- 6 so far if you count the kinda lame pre-cyborg one they did. But this was the first, one of the stylized figures they put out in the style of the Tartakovsky microseries. Not much in the way of articulation, it is more of a statue. His head pops off though, a fact that I had Aayla Secura take advantage of in a silly little photo story I did once. This photo comes from an even sillier story which involves many Grievouses and popsicles. Anyways. He only has two arms in evidence but remember, he has four arms at his disposal, each with a lightsaber for chopping you into many itty bits. So watch out.
Alright well I recently profiled Asajj in my fanart Friday feature on my main blog, but since my wife and I watched the Clone Wars DVD (CG one) last night and really enjoyed it I figured I would discuss her here too. NOt much to say really- the one Ventress figure I have is from the animated-style line they released a few years ago with the Microseries- thus they are heavily stylized and more statues than figures. But very sweet statues as far as I'm concerned. I got the Grievous one when they came out and got the rest of them from some Snowtroopers. I like Ventress a lot but one issue she has is her one lightsaber always falls out of her hand. Ah well.
Back in 1993 I foolishly sold my entire collection of vintage figures and vehicles for sixty bucks. D'oh! But I kept three- the Hammerhead shown here as well as Bossk and Snaggletooth. For being over 30 years old he's in pretty good shape- a little loosey goosey maybe but his four-toed splayed feet let him stand up fine. His partner there is Roron Corobb, the Ithorian Jedi from the Clone Wars Microseries. He tried unsuccessfully to rescue Palpatine from General Grievous. Maybe that's why he looks so mad.
Quad Gunners The Genndy Tartakovsky Clone Wars series is one of my favorite things about the whole Star Wars universe. Hasbro has released a number of figures based on that series, and recently an entire wave of Legacy figures. I love them all. These Quad Gunners are great- but a bit of a cheat in that they aren't very close to how they appeared in the cartoon. There they were just regular ARC clones, and their guns were a little smaller. Minor details. I actually like this version better as it sets them apart from other ARC troopers. Their helmets are slightly redone AT-RT drivers' helmets. So far I have three! *Turns out they are exactly as seen in the cartoon- gotta go to chapter 21 not 3 which is where I was looking.
