Elite Praetorian Guard - TVC - Basic (VC138)

Celebrate the legacy of Star Wars, the action-and-adventure-packed space saga from a galaxy far, far away, with this collection of premium, highly-detailed 3.75-inch scale figures and vehicles. (Each sold separately. Subject to availability.)

Love it or hate it, The Last Jedi provided Star Wars fans with a scene that most fans agree was the most exciting part of the film. When Kylo Ren and Rey took on the Elite Praetorian Guards, it was one of the most exciting and unexpected moments in the entire movie. The action-packed sequence showed us how athletic the Elite Praetorian Guard is and how they unswerving loyalty to Supreme Leader Snoke caused them to react in the manner that they did. The scene also showed us that the Elite Praetorian Guard is easily overcome if the right tactical plan was in place, which it was in the case of Rey and Kylo Ren. The Elite Praetorian Guards have different bits of help and different weapons of specialization. For The Black Series [Pphase III] Walmart exclusive 3.75” super-articulated line, we received a nearly perfect action figure of this character. Now, it’s part of The Vintage Collection without any changes at all. You’d think with all of the different helmets and weapons they produced for these characters in the 3.75 Force Link line that Hasbro might have changed things up a bit for the figure’s re-release. But we’re getting an identical figure with the same helmet and same weapon. Collectors, in general, seem to be hard on the design of the Elite Praetorian Guard. Their arms look a lot like those collapsible cups we had as kids, and their faceless masks tend to make them look like droids instead of the experienced and well-trained warriors they are. We’re so thrilled with how the Elite Praetorian Guard turned out that we hope Hasbro has plans to make the rest of them for collectors.

The 3.75” super-articulated Elite Praetorian Guard action figure is better than we ever assumed it would be. The arms have more functionality than the 6” version and the lower body movement, while somewhat comparable to the 6” version, is still better and offers much more with regards to posing options. This figure offers a great deal of movement. You can see the variety of poses this figure can achieve in our Photo Gallery. We don’t often use the word “masterpiece” to describe everything Hasbro makes, but for us, the Elite Praetorian Guard would unequivocally be covered under that description. It's a generous accolade to make, but it's a forthright one. Let’s be honest, although Hasbro had to sculpt a great figure to make it an effective one when it came to deco they dodged a bullet here. They didn’t have to worry about recreating a human or alien likeness. There are no paint operations here except for a little dot on his chest (and maybe some on his legs but they are covered up by the lower skirt), so the Elite Praetorian Guard succeeds on its own solely by its sculpt and not much else. It isn’t a bad or lazy thing for Hasbro to create a figure that doesn't need much. We're certainly not insulting them here. No, this figure succeeds at every level, and Hasbro has ensured that it can do many, many things. Its simplicity is innate to the character, and Hasbro just lucked out. It works in a 3.75” figure’s favor because less tends to be more on this scale. Aside from a lack of versatility with this release, it’s nice to see this figure available to collectors once again.

Plus, shiny red things just capture our attention, right? Remember your decades-long obsession with the Emperor’s Royal Guard! The Elite Praetorian Guard has a stunning articulation system. The only thing that makes this release better than The Black Series [Phase III] version Is the new The Vintage Collection packaging. Smartly, Hasbro copied the coloring schematics of the original vintage Kenner 1983 ROTJ Emperor’s Royal Guard figure. The medium blue name pill and figure placement follow in the same footsteps of the classic Star Wars action figure. And as one of the most functional figures in The Black Series [Phase III] 3.75” line, it’s great to see it re-released now under The Vintage Collection banner. Let’s talk more about the figure. Thanks to a soft-goods skirt, none of the figure’s movement is inhibited, and you can fully articulate this beauty as you desire. Like most other Star Wars figures, the Elite Praetorian Guard doesn't come with enough accessories. Hasbro could have taken full advantage of the premium The Vintage Collection packaging and added additional portraits and weapons to give us all of the versions of these soldiers possible. The extra head sculpts would be the time to make sure collectors could “remake” all of the characters featured in The Last Jedi. Some collectors don’t like the mix of soft-goods with sculpted parts. In a perfect world, we’d agree. But giving figures soft-goods for the lower half of the body allows them such freedom and incredible movement that we’d want it no other way. Besides, Hasbro has gotten pretty good at matching the colors of fabrics to the plastic they use for the upper body.