Imperial Pilot Legacy (Series II) - LC - Evolutions (Exclusive)

Imperial pilots emerge from secrecy as valorous warriors in the waning days of the Republic, then devolve into ruthless enforcers as an evil Empire is born. Clone pilots fly Republic gunships during the Battle of Geonosis. In the final days of the Clone Wars, clone pilots in V-wings battle the enemies of first the Republic, then the Galactic Empire. Imperial pilots rise from the ashes of the Republic to defend the new Empire and enforce the Emperor's orders.

We certainly love our pilots (whether Rebel or Imperial), don’t we? The Walmart exclusive Imperial Pilot Legacy (Series II) will no doubt satisfy pilot lovers of all kinds with three “never before available” clone pilots. We tend to be of the opinion that Imperial Pilots can be a bit more exciting than Rebel Pilots anyway. These figures may look familiar to you, but we never got these “exact” types before. Basically the figures are repaints of the original 2008 TLC Imperial Pilot Legacy Evolutions set, this set offers some new and inventive ways of making old stuff seem new with positive results. Let us first admit our confusion about a few things first. The white Clone Pilot (Republic Gunship) looks a whole lot more like a V-wing Pilot (based on some reference material we found) and the black Clone Pilot (V-wing starfighter) looks a whole lot like a revisited 2005 ROTS Clone Pilot [Shadow] (III 34) than a V-wing Pilot. So we are inclined to believe that Hasbro got these two mixed up. Imperial Pilot (TIE Fighter) is pretty straightforward, but fans and collectors will be thrilled to know that this is based on the same character that was first immortalized in mini bust form by Gentle Giant Ltd. as the extremely limited Black Three variant. This is a very cool thing and we are utterly joyous that this got attention in 3.75” scale. All three figures are loaded with articulation and if you have the first set, you won’t find too many things that differ from the original sculpt-wise except for a few new parts. For ease of this review, we will refer to them by their packaged names. (Even if they may be wrong – which they are….) But you get three unique pilots in this set and collectors are going to love them regardless.

Clone Pilot (Republic Gunship) is a rework of the original Clone Pilot from 2005's ROTS Clone Trooper To Stormtrooper Evolutions but this time comes with a new helmet (based on the Episode III clone trooper design – but a helmet design we haven’t seen with the attached chest plate). He has very simple coloring that includes both forest green and red and it is just enough to set him apart from the rest of the clone troopers. Clearly borrowing a design very similar to an AT-AT Driver, the newly sculpted helmet is a fresh take on what we have seen thus far in the clone trooper ranks. Although very simply painted with no battle-damage, you will be very happy with this figure since we have yet to get this clone flavor in our collections until now. Clone Pilot (V-wing starfighter) is a rework of the Clone Pilot (Revenge Of The Sith) figure from 2008’s TLC Imperial Pilot Legacy Evolutions set. As stated earlier, we first got the Shadow Clone Pilot as a running change in the 2005 Revenge Of The Sith line (with subsequent repacks into other lines as well). But Hasbro significantly reinvented the body of the original figure and included a removable helmet and the final results are fantastic. It has also translated very well in this exclusive set too. The figure looks stealthy and ominous and it is incredible to have him with revised articulation. (We now have a Shadow Pilot with a removable helmet and ball jointed arms.) He is another wonderful and excellent addition into the line. The silver ‘mohawk’ stripe on his helmet looks stunning. It was a simple paint application, but a clever way to make it stand out. Probably our favorite figure in the set is the Imperial Pilot (TIE Fighter). While nothing too new exists with him, save for a new helmet, it is awesome to get this unique pilot finally in action figure form.

The sculpt is nothing new (he is a rework of the 2008 TLC Imperial Pilot Legacy Evolutions Biggs Darklighter figure (with new helmet) and even has parts dating back to the 2004 SW TIE Fighter Pilot (Battle Of Yavin) ('04 #14) figure. But the sum of the figure is just plain awesome. The silver stripes coming down the face of the helmet are muted but striking. Hasbro did more than a fine job on this action figure. And we are very thankful to finally get him. This Evolutions sets marks the end of a collecting era for us. The line unfortunately has been forced into retirement for the time being, but that doesn’t mean that we will never see them again. Too much attention given elsewhere, glut of product and overall collector apathy have all added to the lines untimely demise. But Hasbro definitely likes to change things up a bunch on us frequently and now is the time for this change. Perhaps it will gain return but only time will tell. We do wish to iterate to Hasbro that the Evolutions line is not the place to make the most out of their tooling costs. We would like to be assured that a premium format not be full of repacks and repaints. These sets should only contain new sculpts (or barely noticeable retools) since the cost is higher than the basic action figure when you do the math. Hopefully Hasbro will reconsider their stance on this line and a fruitful future exits somewhere down the road. In the meantime, we highly recommend all of the Walmart exclusive sets. They are making a healthy appearance all over the place and we are sure you have seen them yourselves. For mostly being retools however, we think Hasbro did a great job on reinventing the figures enough to warrant your purchase of them. They continue to impress us, so we want to be sure you are aware in case they have the same effect on you.