Tatooine Desert Ambush - LC - Battle Packs

Wow! Hasbro has once again exceeded our expectations with another release in the Battle Packs line! After early worries that the packs wouldn't necessarily be collector-friendly anymore (this is from the mouths at Hasbro, not our opinion), it seems that Hasbro is making good for both kids and collectors. And of course we hope that the collector trend continues, but the balance seems to be fair and for that we are thankful. We are affectionately referring to this particular Battle Packs set as Tatooine Showdown 2.0 because Hasbro has nodded to the ghosts of Star Wars lines past and reinvented the original 1999 Episode I cinema scene set into new and epic proportions. They have given us a relatively good deal for our dollars and instead of the awful pre-posed action stances and limited articulation of the figures in the original 1999 set, Hasbro gives us a much improved grouping of figures, enhanced wherever possible. To help put things in better perspective here, we ask you to recall what we got for $19.99 in 1999. The cinema scenes were designed with inferior quality to the basic figures of the time and very rarely did figures exceed five points of articulation. While the Darth Maul in the cinema scene looked pretty darn cool with his robes flailing around, the set overall left a lot to be desired.

The Tatooine Desert Ambush Battle Packs set has taken the same premise of the 1999 Cinema Scene set but yet provided a world’s worth of new authenticity and great packaging of an incredible value. Yes, this is a set that may look better as time moves on packaged than loose and on display, but there is certainly no denying that is blows the Episode I set completely out of the water. Qui-Gon Jinn is a repack of the figure from the exclusive mail-away Qui-Gon Jinn & Eopie set (complete with shawl) which is a repainted version of the figure that came from the 2008 TAC/TLC Evolutions sets. This of course is a super-articulated figure and as a result is a significant upgrade to the 1999 figure. The soft-goods look pretty great and while they are a little bit difficult to maneuver off of him, they accurately represent the accessory we saw him wear in the film. Hasbro also decided to throw in a slightly updated (paint job) version of the 1999 EI Sith Speeder And Darth Maul set as well. This version of Darth Maul has seen countless rereleases (particularly in the Saga Legends line) and while the paint job has been significantly updated the 1999 release, it is also a bit different than the Saga Legends versions. Also, he has a noticeable wider stance than previous releases which works very well in this case since he comes with his speeder. His Sith Speeder looks darker and more accurate to the film and other than that, not much else differs. Anakin Skywalker is another repaint in the set. He was first offered in the 2000 Power Of The Jedi line and it marks the first time in a while that he has been available for purchase at retail.

Clearly, all of the figures and the accessories in this set are upgrades and/or have been enhanced in some way except for Qui-Gon Jinn, so most of these can constitute as new enough in our opinion. This set not only provides a great opportunity to get some older stuff updated in the line, but it beautifully complemented The Phantom Menace wave that was released in September of 2009. It is not too often that we get a nice helping of characters from this film, so the attention Episode I is getting in the modern line is very encouraging. We will continue to look forward to what Hasbro has in store for us too. We have commented on this time and again here, but we love the Battle Packs line. There are some sets that lack quality and substance, but this is one set that does anything but that. Hasbro has commented multiple times that they have no plans to revisit young Anakin Skywalker, so it is quite possible that the best version of him that we will get is the repainted Power Of The Jedi figure. Not that this decision will satisfy us because we want a modern update of him as well, but this figure may just have to serve that purpose until Hasbro changes their mind. Tatooine Desert Ambush is a very exciting update to that 1999 Cinema Scene and a very acceptable Battle Packs set for the collecting habits of today.