Commander Gree - TLC - Basic (GH 1)

Like all clones, Gree never questions his loyalty to the Republic. When told the Jedi are a threat, he immediately moves to eliminate Yoda. But he underestimates Yoda, who instantly becomes aware of the attack and acts swiftly to stop the commander.

The inaugural wave of the highly anticipated The Legacy Collection was wrought with confusion initially. In all fairness, Hasbro had quite the task on their hands to precariously organize case assortments that would give collectors fair playing ground to assemble the new Build A Droid pack-in premiums, while offering a diverse selection of characters that would be as enthralling as they were appealing to fans. Still trying to maintain waves of figures that shared a certain theme (with most arranged by Star Wars film), there were always a couple of holes that needed to be filled into the grouping in an effort to maintain full Build A Droid completeness and integrity. Obviously, what’s the point of releasing droid parts if you’re ultimately unable to complete them? Not everyone “buys them all” and other popular characters are often cherry-picked. So, in an effort to keep those droid parts coming even if balanced disbursement was futile, figures outside the normal parameters of the planned line were peppered in to help collectors complete their Build A Droid while re-releasing recent popular action figures. And back to that initial confusion? Hasbro decided at first that these “extra” figures should be deemed as “Greatest Hits” figures when in reality they were just part of the very first wave of The Legacy Collection. Reaching just a few months back in the 30 (77-07) line, Hasbro picked four figures from the final two waves of that line look and brought them forward into The Legacy Collection.

Commander Gree was the first figure chosen for the Greatest Hits subset of Build A Droid figures. This nearly hyper-articulated figure was a hot figure in the 30 (77-07) lineup and he was equally popular in The Legacy Collection. Commander Gree is super-articulated, but what sets him apart from the rest are his ball-jointed wrists and hips. These two enhancements make this figure absolutely unbelievable. And you can imagine that the array of movement he can perform is so impressive, you will likely like to add multiples of him into your collections, although there are parts of him which could have been given a little more fluidity. If you recall, the original 2005 ROTS Commander Gree (III 59) figure has painted-on suspenders. That has been remedied (thank you Hasbro) this time around with textured suspenders you can feel as well as newly styled chest armor which has a different pattern than the standard clone. Hasbro also paid attention to the character's garter belt on his left thigh too and it looks fantastic although it is not a functioning one. His antenna/backpack is a new sculpt and attaches to the back via a plug. Unfortunately if you choose to pose him without it, you'll have a big hole, but it attaches very snuggly against his back and looks awesome when in attached mode. Gree is green and camouflaged where needed and once again, we think his palette is spot on for the most part.

Commander Gree is a figure that deserves re-rerelease in the basic figure line year after year. It of course will be gravy should Hasbro decide to improve some of the little decorating issues, but he passes with flying colors in our books. The paint job alone on him is pure beauty and will be one of the most impressive ones we'll see on an action figure. Sure his visor looks a little light, but does that really matter in the grand scheme of this action figure when he excels in every other area? Just even considering that Gree's macrobinoculars are painted beautifully and the attention Hasbro gave them is mind-boggling. Yes, all action figures should be hailed to this level of superiority, but we do need to express gratitude when they make there way into our collections. Decorated at a level that only high-end collectibles really see, you actually have to spend a few moments looking at Gree's armor and accessories to appreciate how much effort went into finishing them off. As part of The Legacy Collection line now, Commander Gree comes with the left leg of R4-D6. One of the best action figures released by Hasbro yet (especially of a clone commander), we don't expect the quality of action figures by Hasbro to exceed much more than what this figure has already brought us, aside from slimming down some proportions. Commander Gree has it all: one of the best sculpts yet, a stunning paint job and fantastic accessories.