Agent Kallus - R - Saga Legends (SL05)

Agent Kallus is a member of the Imperial Security Bureau, a secret police force that hunts down and crushes any rebellion in the galaxy. Intelligent and ruthless, Kallus is a skilled pilot who makes it his mission to stop troublesome freedom fighters.

Agent Kallus is already proving to be one of the tough guys in the Rebels television show and we should have all figures this out just by his name alone. Then again, his outfit is strikingly similar to the Death Squad Commander/Star Destroyer Commander vintage Kenner action figures we grew up with as well. The Rebels line is wrought with controversy. Collectors want to see super-articulated action figures, but Hasbro is of the belief that kids don’t care. There are some collectors who side with Hasbro too with their “Hasbro knows what you should like” attitudes and it makes Star Wars collecting in 2014 a very toxic environment. It’s no secret that we believe five points of articulation is a huge step back for the Star Wars brand. We don’t swallow the “Kenner throwback” logic and we don’t think that this is the direction anyone wants to see action figures head, but this is what it is. Admittedly, we see some vast improvements in the simply articulated action figures starting with the products in the Rebels lineup. Agent Kallus is a perfect example of this. No matter if you loathe 5POA or not, none can deny that Agent Kallus has a spectacular sculpt. Yes, it’s unfortunate he isn’t super-articulated, but we are quite impressed with what Hasbro has worked into this action figure. It’s a crying shame the early Saga Legends and Mission Series figure were utter crap. The Rebels figures show that quality craftsmanship and good paint operations are possible.

As you already know, Agent Kallus comes with five points of articulation. A swivel head, two swivel shoulders and two swivel hips are all he comes with and for an accessory he has a cool looking blaster rifle with some sort of electrical and/or clamping device at the end of the barrel. To reiterate, Agent Kallus has a dynamic sculpt. If you carefully inspect the head sculpt, there is no way you cannot be impressed. He has a screen accurate “angry” expression and a helmet design that looks so real that it’s incredible. It’s important to note how far down the “permanent” helmet has been glued because it greatly affects his expression. (We have two samples and one helmet covers the eyebrows while the other does not. The former doesn’t looks half as intimidating.) But if you do find this figure with the correctly placed helmet, you will own a character that looks like he’s been ripped right out of the Rebels television show. Agent Kallus has a very lean and athletic build. And his body has been faithfully replicated into the action figure. The paint job on the body is simple, but nicely applied. And the gray details add dimension to a seemingly bland and flat costume. The plastic used is quite shiny. And this little nugget of detail works excellently for his boots, but some may call to question whether his Imperial duds needs to be this glistening. Overall, we’re quite pleased with how Agent Kallus has turned out nonetheless.

We know that the whole point of the Saga Legends/Mission Series lines is to produce affordable action figures for all, but the MSRP has increased to a dollar higher after only a year. If the basic Sag legends figures reach $9.99 most will have to question if this is the right thing to do with such simply articulated action figures. The bright side to all of this is that Agent Kallus is a well designed and nicely painted action figure. More importantly, it gives us revitalized hope that things are on the upswing as far as how good are action figures are going to look going forward. There have been some real scares in both The Black Series and Saga Legends/Mission Series line, even in recent history. They angered collectors to the point of not even considering them for purchase. Then you have to wonder who Hasbro would blame next for the line’s apparent demise. But not to continue circular discussion, things do looks excellent on the horizon. The sculpts are resonating with collectors more and more and the paint operations that accompany these new and improved sculpts are also looking impressive. It may take some time to spread the news and get collectors back into the fold who have dropped out, but we believe that if Hasbro keeps up the good work that there is hope for the simply articulated basic figures lines, such as Saga Legends and Mission Series. Agent Kallus is comforting proof on all issues. And we hope that Hasbro has the stamina to keep it up.