Jedi Training On Dagobah - TAC - Battle Packs

Humid, swampy, and inhospitable, the bog world of Dagobah was the home of the last of the great Jedi Masters. After a fevered vision of Obi-Wan Kenobi on the planet Hoth, Luke Skywalker used the Force to puzzle out the proper hyperspace coordinates to the lost world, hoping to complete his Jedi training at Yoda's hands. There, in the oppressive heat of the swamp, young Luke underwent the first of many grueling tests that would mold him into a Jedi Knight.

The 30th anniversary of the Star Wars saga came before most of us expected. Did three decades of our huge passion really pass us by “that” quickly? 2007 was the anniversary year where we reminisced and pondered why the fire for a fictonal story hadn't dissipated in the least. 2007 was not simply about the 30th anniversary of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. It was literally the 30th anniversary of "Star Wars" which is why Hasbro's celebration of it included Prequel Trilogy, Original Trilogy and Expanded Universe products. Hasbro was probably as equally excited to celebrate this three decade landmark as we were. The efforts of the 30 (77-07) show this to be true. Hasbro found very poignant ways to commemorate this very special time. They brought back collectors’ coins, the packaging had a neo-classic feel to it and every single Star Wars source was represented in this this very large and aggressive line. One of the sub-lines they really extrapolated upon was the Battle Packs line. Hasbro spent time developing cool concepts with key characters while making it collector friendly at the same time. Keeping in mind that this is a sub-line that they tried to split equally amongst kids and collectors, they created sets that were visually striking and helped get out old and new figures out to collectors to change up the mix. Knowing very well they couldn’t go wrong with a The Empire Strikes Back themed set, Hasbro created the Jedi Training On Dagobah set and it piqued our interest even though it wasn’t entirely warmly accepted by all Star Wars fans. It looked great packaged, but the figures included didn't age so gracefully But did that matter?

All of the figures included in the set have been repainted in one way or another and the paint job updates are noteworthy. The newest figures in this set date back to The Original Trilogy Collection, so a three year space between them and the 30th anniversary of Star Wars sort of prove that this set is somewhat stuck in time. It will show signs of aging. Yoda and Spirit Of Obi-Wan Kenobi are repaints of the figures that originally came from The Original Trilogy Collection. They come with less accessories, but the environmental display stands they originally came with aren’t something that Hasbro likes to include in the Battle Packs format. The figures still have strong sculpts and great likenesses. Even their approaches pass the exam for us. Still, they lack articulation. In a strange move, Hasbro chose to go even further back and use 2002’s SW [S - P1] Luke Skywalker (Bespin Duel) (’02 #29) figure. It’s not that this figure is terrible, but 2004’s OTC Luke Skywalker (OTC #01) figure would have been a much better choice here. It's interesting that they chose not to reuse that essentially perfect figure in this Battle Packs set too. The set is called Jedi Training On Dagobah and NOT Jedi Training On Bespin, right? Most versions of this Battle Packs set contain the version of Luke that comes the removable magnetic hand, but we have found others that come with the "plug" hand too. Of particular note, Luke's lightsaber is two pieces and includes a real metal hilt with a detachable blade. Always a nice feature to have action figures come with metal hilts, these lightsabers proved to be a lot less ideal than originally thought due to easy breakage.

For R2-D2, Hasbro dusted off 2004’s SW [S - P3] R2-D2 (Jabba’s Sail Barge) (’04 #05) figure and gave him a filthy paint job. We would have much rather see Hasbro retire any R2-D2 molds that don’t utilize some form of the 2004 VOTC Artoo-Detoo (R2-D2) (With Extension Arm) figure or 2005 ROTS R4-G9 (4 of 4) Sneak Preview figure. These sculpts would have been fantastic figures to utilize here but it seems that they are adamant of going back to older sculpts. It doesn't make sense that they're using such old molds when they already have near-definitive versions that they can use instead. But again, this is where the “kids” come into play. Hasbro must feel that they can get away with using a less than stellar version of R2-D2 if they think that this was developed for younger collectors. Darth Vader figure is a “new” figure available for the first time in this set. Based on the exact sculpt of 2004’s SW [S - P3] Darth Vader "Silver Anniversary" (although not designated as such) figure which was a Toys R Us exclusive, the figure is originally a kit-bashed figure. It was based on 2000’s POTJ Darth Vader (Dagobah) figure (the body) and 2001’s POTJ Darth Vader (Emperor’s Wrath) figure (the head). This is the only place you can get this version of the figure. Jedi Training On Dagobah is perhaps better than fair. It exceeds in concept, but misses the mark. But Hasbro could have tweaked a few things to make it much better before it got released. (Editor’s Note: Hasbro re-released this set as 2008’s TLC Jedi Training On Dagobah Battle Packs set and made many changes to the set. You can read about that and see side by side comparison photos HERE.)