Imperial Dignitary Janus Greejatus (Death Star Procession) - SW [S - P3] - Basic (’03 #35)

Emperor Palpatine surrounded himself with coterie of dignitaries, chosen by the Emperor for their complete subservience to him and their willingness to betray anyone who questioned the Emperor's authority. The Imperial dignitaries were with the Emperor as he arrived on the Death Star II as the Battle of Endor was about to commence.

Hasbro does indeed listen to collectors, but their attention may not be fully on point. When collectors started to jones for an Imperial Dignitary action figure, most assumed that when Hasbro got to it that it would likely be a reinvention of the classic 1985 The Power Of The Force Imperial Dignitary action figure. That action figure now has name thanks to the Expanded Universe. But Sim Aloo wasn’t the first choice Hasbro had for the modern line so they released two other characters instead. The first, Imperial Dignitary Janus Greejatus (Death Star Procession), is the more likeable of the two. It possesses a great likeness and an excellent paint job. And since all he really does is stay in one position whenever we can see him in Return Of The Jedi, the simply articulated action figures scores high marks for that fact alone. Imperial Dignitary Janus Greejatus (Death Star Procession) falls under the “obligatory” category. It won’t have widespread appeal and most of the kids won’t have an inkling to who he is, but he will make collectors happy as it’s a notch in our collecting belts for one of the most obscure characters from the final film of the Original Trilogy.

Imperial Dignitary Janus Greejatus (Death Star Procession) comes with an impressive nine points of articulation. This is indeed a lot for an action figure that strikes you as being more “salt or pepper shaker” than action figure. He comes without any real accessories, but in good form Hasbro has provided an environmental display stand. We have grown to love these accents brought to the basic figure line and this figure is no exception. They typically add new dimension and value to the included action figures. That is a great deal of plastic for one figure and we’re amazed that Hasbro is able to hold the MSRP at just under five dollars for the figures in the Star Wars “Saga” line. This time, collectors get a section of flooring from Death Star II and while it may look nothing more than a slab of black plastic, well, we love it nonetheless. You’re only able to situate Imperial Dignitary Janus Greejatus (Death Star Procession) on top of his with maybe his arms slightly outstretched. Clearly there is no “wow factor” here, but we don’t care because the figure and base together look remarkable and we never expected to see this done so well.

Hasbro has made the most out of some of the all-new sculpts brought forth in the Star Wars “Saga” line. You can almost look at both Imperial Dignitary action figures as running changes of each other, sort of like Luke Skywalker (Jabba’s Palace) and Holographic Luke Skywalker (Jabba’s Palace) as well as J’Quille and Tanus Spijek. You catch our drift. They’re not technically running changes of each other, but they certainly borrow more than just a few parts to create two completely different characters. We think that clever and borderline genius. Imperial Dignitary Janus Greejatus (Death Star Procession) will sadly get overlooked by many and he won’t leave a lasting important on the minds of many in our opinion. But we hope we have been able to convince you that Hasbro did a fine effort on the action figure interpretation of him and for that reason alone it deserves merit. That doesn’t mean we have forgotten about Sim Aloo. He is very high on our wish list and if Hasbro doesn’t make him soon we are going to freak out. But until that day comes, you should know that we have two very well done holdovers. Imperial Dignitary Janus Greejatus (Death Star Procession) is worth your time and effort.