General Grievous - TVC - Basic (VC17)

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Hasbro takes two steps forward and, sadly, a half-step back with The Vintage Collection General Grievous, released in the second wave of the line. For the most part, the positive greatly outweighs the negative, but it still frustrates us that Hasbro sometimes chooses to do things in a way that we disagree with. Underground rumors claim that this figure was originally intended to debut in the Legacy Collection as BD24 before being canceled. At the time, we didn't understand why Hasbro excluded Grievous in the Build A Droid series. However, those close to the industry explained that the reasons for the temporary cancellation were twofold. The cape and newly articulated wrists did not meet production deadlines, and Hasbro ultimately postponed the figure until the upgrades were completed. Thankfully, we now have that version in The Vintage Collection, and the results are impressive, although new issues have arisen. Hasbro made significant upgrades for this release of General Grievous. Hasbro took the ultra-popular The Legacy Collection General Grievous (BD 25) figure and tremendously cleaned up the paint job. They included new articulation in the four wrists and a beautiful soft-goods layered cape. This release isn't the first time we have seen a cape similar to this on a General Grievous action figure. The Kaleesh warlord looks best this way, and we have no complaints about the final results. If you own the 2008 version, you know that Hasbro cast it from too-rubbery plastic, making it difficult to pose the figure as you prefer. The new figure seemingly magnifies those issues, although Hasbro utilized a similar plastic for both.

Unbelievably, Hasbro cast the updated 2010 General Grievous from an even rubberier plastic, and we wonder why Hasbro missed this boat. We nearly tossed our sample out of the window while trying to photograph it for our photo gallery out of aggravation. Attempting to pose this figure in action-oriented positions was challenging. This figure has some center of gravity or balance issues, and the plastic's pliability doesn't help alleviate them. Your sample may continue to fall, so be forewarned. We chalk all of this up to Hasbro using inferior plastics. They must cast thin and spindly bodies from stronger plastics. It is common sense. Moving on, The Legacy Collection version of the figure had a paint job that was too dirty throughout its body. Hasbro cleaned up the figure to look less filthy, while maintaining some of the weathered and dirtied characteristics without compromising the shade of the organic, creamy, and white marbled bone portions of the cyborg body. As mentioned above, Hasbro incorporated swivel wrist joints into all four portions of the arms, which greatly aided the collector. Now, General Grievous has four new sculpted forearms and hand sections. We initially thought this addition was unnecessary, but it worked well to make the included hilts and lightsabers stick better in the hands. It assists with the gripping. We are impressed with the final results. Hasbro carried over the rest of the original articulation into this upgraded version, but it takes some effort to utilize all the movements to your advantage. If we were to sum up exactly how we feel about the new General Grievous, we would have to say that it is the best-decorated Grievous to date and, in theory, the best-articulated version, provided that Hasbro can manage to cast it in a much stronger plastic. As you can probably infer, The Vintage Collection General Grievous is bittersweet. And it's quite a shame that the material significantly affects how good of an action figure it is.

But the star in this package is the soft-goods cape. It is beautiful. Hasbro sewed together two unique layers: a "ribbed" outer gray layer with a Kaleesh symbol and a satiny red inner layer that fits General Grievous like a glove. It is ever so slightly too short, but depending upon how you successfully (or unsuccessfully) pose the figure, this may or may not affect the figure's aesthetics for you. Hasbro also designed two inner pockets, one on each side, with four compartments each, and these can hold the two lightsaber hilts that come packaged perfectly. You'll want to search for extra hilts to fill all eight pockets. (It's a shame that Hasbro didn't include enough hilts to make this happen for collectors. Hasbro made similar soft goods available in the highly overpriced Legacy Collection General Grievous/CB-3D Droid Factory Walmart exclusive set, but that one pales compared to this upgraded version. It adds a new level of coolness to this General Grievous action figure, making it look fantastic. The new paint job has helped this action figure to a massive degree. The head and collar now match the bone portions of his body, giving the figure a wholly matching structure. Sometimes, it takes minor tweaks like this to make these toys as good as they can be. While we would love to say that this is the definitive General Grievous, and it is, until Hasbro can produce a figure with a stronger frame, we cannot call it the ultimate General Grievous action figure. General Grievous is welcome in The Vintage Collection. It would be a crime to miss out on getting this superb version of Grievous into your collection. However, note that the figure needs further tweaking. We may have to make a case to Hasbro for another update. Just one more time is all we think General Grievous needs, Hasbro. Let's make it happen!