Rebel Alliance - Celebrate The Saga

The Rebel Alliance stood bravely against the evil of the Galactic Empire, never backing down despite overwhelming odds.

How frustrating is it that the best-looking 3.75” action figure interpretation of Princess Leia Organa (Hoth Outfit) is a poorly articulated version with Photo Real update? We’ll concede that Photo Real for the 3.75” line is all over the map when it comes to accuracy and quality in the 3.75” range, but the new release of the Rebel Alliance Celebrate The Saga five-pack delivered the most incredible version of the princess as she appeared on Echo Base in The Empire Strikes Back. Back in 2017, we knew when this figure was first released that Hasbro nailed the head sculpt. And in all honesty, the previous paint operations on this figure weren’t bad. Now they’re glorious. The likeness to Carrie Fisher circa 1980 is astounding, and it pains us to admit it blows 2010’s/2019’s TVC Princess Leia Organa (Hoth) (VC02) release entirely out of the water. Now, our praise of Princess Leia (Hoth) doesn’t necessitate an instant purchase of the Rebel Alliance Celebrate The Saga multipack. No, there is a lot of “garbage” included too. The lack of consistency in the Celebrate The Saga line is frustrating. Some include TVC-worthy astromech droids, while others do not. Perhaps if Hasbro included one higher-quality droid )that meets TVC standards), then we’d imagine this whole collection of commemorative multipacks would sell through strongly.

You know how we feel about Princess Leia (Hoth), but how are the other figures? Hasbro should have skipped over R2-D2 and included a yet-to-be-released astromech droid from Echo Base instead. Hasbro utilized this R2-D2 figure to give us R2-Q5 in the Galactic Empire Celebrate The Saga set. And while it’s not the worst R2-D2 sculpting of the character in 3.75” scale, it leaves a whole lot to be desired. Why are they so reluctant to include at least one new character in these sets, especially when the focus is as redundant as the Rebel Alliance? Han Solo (Bespin) is a decent upgrade to the figure that made its debut in the Rebels line a couple of years ago. The Photo Real is decent. But the hairstyle is too poofy and high and gives Han Solo (Bespin) an extraordinarily large head. Chewbacca comes from the 2015 Star Wars [The Last Jedi] line and is once again used as an Original Trilogy version of the character. Hasbro, this Chewbacca figure is terrible and shouldn’t ever see the light of day also. We’re disappointed to see it reused for this multipack once again. We hope that Hasbro will set their sights on better likenesses and tooling for the beloved Wookiee because this figure was never up to par with how the on-screen character appears in the Disney Trilogy.

Luke Skywalker (Jedi) is complete and utter bewilderment here. In a set that could have been based on something from The Empire Strikes Back, on Echo Base, Hasbro decides to throw a wrench into the works by including a version of Luke Skywalker from Star Wars Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi. The figure feels like it’s from the Land of Misfit Toys. That’s how out of place it is. With so many other 5POA versions of Luke Skywalker Hasbro produced throughout the years, it’s quite perplexing that they didn’t choose an outfit from Hoth, or Dagobah/Bespin or another character altogether to develop a multipack with a tighter theme and a cast of characters that interact together. In all of the other sets produced in the Celebrate The Saga lineup, what other action figures can you interact with Luke Skywalker (Jedi) with here? The options are not so versatile! Admitted, the Photo Real updates on all of the “human” characters exceeded our expectations here. Five or seven articulation points are far from acceptable, but at least we have beautifully decorated head sculpts that can be used on better-developed bodies with super-articulation. Just imagine if this set came with a never—before offered Echo Base droid utilizing the Build A Droid tooling, and then a replacement for Chewbacca along with an Episode V version of Luke Skywalker. Because of the excellent sculpting and Photo Real and the newness, we know this set would have been a home run hit. Order all of the Celebrate The Saga multipacks HERE.