Imperial Ground Crew - RO - Basic

Imperial installations, whether space-bound or ground-based, buzz with activity and vehicular traffic. Skilled ground crews sort through this would-be chaos and see to the smooth operation of Imperial craft through regular maintenance.

If there is a Rebel Ground Crew, then there must be an Imperial Ground Crew.... or something like that. It’s the “poor man’s” Death Star Gunner! Or, it’s a lower ranking Death Star Gunner that functions more like an Imperial technician than the custodian of a huge laser capable of destroying an entire planet. However you describe the Imperial Ground Crew, it’s a relevant enough character to be part of the very first wave of Rogue One basic figures, and it seems to be already getting a warm reception from collectors. The Imperial Ground Crew is full of familiar elements. Obviously, the head sculpt looks just like a Death Star Gunner’s helmet, but there are other portions of the costume that have an Imperial appearance as well. For example, his jumpsuit looks like an Imperial Officer, the ones that are technically Imperial Technicians. And then the chest armor is very reminiscent of an Imperial pilot like the AT-AT Driver and TIE Fighter Pilot. The Imperial Ground Crew has Galactic Empire wrote all over him.

The sculpt is right on par with everything else we get in the simply articulated 5POA range, but one thing that sticks out with the Imperial Ground Crew is his shortened stature. We’re talking 2008’s TLC Bane Malar (BD 7) short. Maybe that’s no big deal when all is said and done, but this guy is a shrimp when compared to the Imperial Stormtrooper in the same line. According to promotional images, we do see Jyn Erso wearing a similar outfit at some point in the film. Perhaps this was designed intentionally shorter so that they could reuse it for disguise version of her in this outfit? We don’t know, but we just know the figure looks a tad out of place in the height department. The paint operations are simple but very well done. Mostly black and great (with both flat and glossy applications), Imperial Ground Crew also has some finer red, blue and silver details to give his costume a little more depth and dimension. With only five points of articulation, there isn’t much this action figure can do. Maybe that’s all alright here. After all, this character probably doesn’t NEED to do much.

Imperial Ground Crew comes with two marshalling wands. These “light sticks” are used to send off and bring in various Imperial vessels. Honestly, we’re surprised we haven’t seen something similar released in the Hasbro line to date. If we recall, a canceled Accessory Set was going to include them, but then that set was never released. So, this is the first time. The Imperial Ground Crew also comes with some complex flight gear meant to be extra play value for kids. In all honesty, it’s a goofy addition, but the figure admittedly looks cool wearing it. It attaches to the figure via a harness. There are also “grooves” at the tips of the flight pack that look like they should be able to “house” the marshaling wands. We tried, and they don’t seem to be intended for them. But we have also seen some images online where people did exactly what we thought they were meant to do. You’ll have to try it out for yourself to see if it works for you. The Imperial Ground Crew will probably become a forgettable action figure by the time everyone will have seen Rogue One, but for the time being, we think he is pretty cool.