Baron Fel/Hobbie Klivian - TAC - Comic Packs (No. 12)

There were multiple multimedia events in the Expanded Universe in 1996. Overshadowed by Shadows Of The Empire, no pun intended, The Star Wars: X-wing Rogue Squadron introduced Star Wars fans to some brand new characters as well as reintroducing those that we were already familiar with from the films. This storyline occurs almost 7 years before the Battle of Yavin, so you’ll see characters that perished in other battles alive and well here. Starting out life as a book, it was quickly adapted into a comic series. This was an incredible step forward so fans could see what these characters looked like from the novel. Two characters, Baron Soontir Fel and Derek “Hobbie� Klivian are culled from the plot and developed into Hasbro very popular Comic Packs line. The figures are done quite well, although there is some room for improvement. But it is our belief that the positives outweigh the negatives and this will be a Comic Packs set that Expanded Universe lovers will absolutely embrace.

Baron Fel (as he is called on the front of the packaging – he’s called Baron Soontir Fel on the back) is the real gem in this set. He’s essentially a TIE Fighter pilot with removable armor. The head sculpt looks great, although he had a much broader neck and a goatee in the comics. (We admit that a broad neck is something Hasbro won’t be able to achieve on action figures with ball-socket heads.) And the red striped on his sleeves are absent. Despite this, Baron Fel is still an excellent sculpt. Actually, we would love to see Hasbro retool this sculpt to make a movie-specific version of the TIE Fighter Pilot. Baron Fel is athletically bulky with some great mass to him and he would be a prime candidate (or at the very least a good jumping off point) for Hasbro to develop a definitive TIE Fighter Pilot for the realistic line. The 1982 vintage Kenner figure was a bulky figure, and so is this one. And Baron Fell is excellently articulation with a great stance and stature. He comes with a removable helmet and chest box combination and a removable chest armor piece that’s designed to fit him like a glove. He also comes with a blaster pistol.

Hobbie Klivian is a little less exciting, but still a fun figure. Based on the slightly revised 2004 SW Dutch Vander: Gold Leader (Battle of Yavin) ('04 #13) sculpt, Hasbro used the 2007 TAC Rebel Pilot Biggs Darklighter (No. 14) sculpt to being him to life for your collection. The paint job is unique and Hasbro has used a shade of orange we haven’t really seen before on any X-wing pilot to date, but it looks really good here. With a mixture of awesome articulation and poor articulation, Hobbie Klivian has multiple-personality syndrome in the articulation department. He comes with a newly painted and removable pilot helmet and the standard blaster we have seen one hundred times before him. As a whole, this set is perfect! It’s the age-old Rebel Alliance versus the Galactic Empire in one fell swoop. And once again, we think Baron Fel is reason worth celebrating this set alone. And what may soften the hearts of the movie crowd is that both characters are from the films. Hobbie Klivian is from The Empire Strikes Back and Baron Fel is from Return Of The Jedi. Now that is reason to consider this Comic Packs set now, right? (Editor's Note: Special thanks to Jayson Krebsbach from Yakface.com for the reference images.)