IG97/Rom Mohc - LC - Comic Packs (Exclusive)

Rom Mohc is an Imperial general involved in the testing of advanced battle droids known as Dark Troopers. One of these droids ends up on Tatooine and becomes activated by scavenging Jawas. The Dark Trooper attacks three friends camping in the desert. But things change when the prototype encounters a clumsy IG97 Battle Droid on Tatooine, and the machines battle each other.

Strike two, Hasbro. You have read our review on the Storm Commando/General Weir Walmart exclusive Comic Packs set and learned that while it is a good set, it just doesn’t rattle the earth underneath of you. The same is true for the IG97/Rom Mohc set. And let's just get this out of the way. The droid's name is really spelled IG-97 (not IG97). While this round also doesn’t impress us for character choices, we believe that we are even further annoyed by how they are named, especially IG97. Is Hasbro really calling a Trade Federation battle droid with a new head (that has a striking resemblance to the Tin Man from the 1985 film Return To Oz) an IG droid? We’d like to think this borders blasphemy, but apparently it was OK with the folks at Lucasfilm, Ltd. Despite its heterogeneous mixture of parts, the IG97 droid is the winner in this set. And that isn’t saying too much since we just compared him to a character from L. Frank Baum’s brainchild. The Comic Packs line is officially doomed and it is unknown if Hasbro will make a return to it at some point. But the line is not going out with a roar and the sets are barely getting us saddened that the sets are going away. We won’t imply that the Comic Packs line is crashing and burning, but Hasbro certainly didn’t come up with the most exciting way to say goodbye either. But then again, there a few sets heading our way shortly and we hope that they deliver the excitement and intrigue that so many older sets did for us a very short time ago. But there is humor in collecting sometimes, and since Rom Mohc is responsible for the whole Dark Trooper (Phase III) thing, this may entice many collectors to pursue this set.

The IG97 is a fair figure. It utilizes the brand new Battle Droid body sculpt from the ultra-cool Geonosisan Arena Showdown sets (it appears as if you are indifferent to some and adore others) so you know this droid is designed from the best tooling out there. IG97 has a brilliant weathered wash on him and every crevice that was designed in its body has picked up the brown rusty detail beautifully. It almost makes us with that he came with an interchangeable battle droid head since we only have the maroon/red battle droid bodies so far. And we do like his head, but it looks way too “cartoonish” and not something you would typically see in the Star Wars universe. The awesome articulation, great paint job and interchangeable backpack and antenna (both are included here) all make up for the droid’s bizarre design and the gun isn’t too shabby either. But we still wish that he wasn’t graced with the cherished IG name. It nearly cheapens the ominous character of the bounty hunter IG-88. IG97 is obviously guilty by association since its name is so similar to IG-88, but there is no way that he resembles the cool and awesome assassin droid we love so dearly. Rom Mohc is the “loser” of the set. An Imperial officer who sports a “too” green Imperial uniform, he looks a lot like Admiral Motti, but don’t worry, he has an all-new head. His character in the comic looks a bit thicker than the action figure, but we think that since Hasbro used parts from both 2009’s TLC Janek Sunber/Amanin Comic Packs set and the basic 2005’s ROTS Tarkin (III 45) figure, he is going to look thinner than he should be. After all, those are too very skinny characters. It only makes sense the skinniness would (also a Walmart exclusive Comic Packs set) transfer over to this figure.

And not to backtrack, we can't help but see IG97 as some punk with his baseball cap turned backwards. Plus, the goofy expression on its face makes this droid immediately likeable or detestable. (We're not sure yet.) And Rom Mohc was much portlier in the comics than how the action figure turned out. So while we can’t rave and jump up and down over this set, we do believe that fans of Star Wars: Tales should be very happy. We buy one of everything so this was an obligatory purchase for us – it wasn’t something we actually wanted to get. The Comic Packs line started off so strong and Hasbro expressed great joy that they were happy with the sales performance of the line. Then the egregious price hikes started plaguing the Star Wars brand. And Comic Packs started being found at retail for $12.99, then $14.99 and even at some places for $15.99. Then Hasbro started reporting that the Comic Packs line had significantly tapered off quite a bit. Um, do they not see the same correlation as we do? We understand the need to reuse parts and that is fine. But keeping the MSRP at an affordable plane is just as important too. And Hasbro should have been able to successfully administer both of these things to create a delicate yet successful balance. We will just have to wait and see what the next sub-line will be from Hasbro. Comic Packs did have a great run, but just like pop starts, they only have the eyes of the hoi polloi for a “short” period of time. The same is true for the Evolutions and Mighty Muggs lines as well. We bet that Hasbro will find new ways to get the Expanded Universe comics characters out to us again. Maybe the temporary ignoring of them will create enough desire for the line to flourish again at a later point. Just like everything else, we will have to wait and see.