Admiral Ackbar - TVC - Basic (VC22)

Celebrate the legendary Star Wars saga that changed the universe forever! This collection brings to life the incredible story of good versus evil that captured our imagination and took us to a galaxy far, far away. Iconic Star Wars heroes and villains are captured with incredible detail and premium features to commemorate each epic tale in the Star Wars saga. May the Force be with you!

Admiral Ackbar, please! And Hasbro answered our call and gave us exactly what we wanted! You’d think that Hasbro should continually revisit figures from The Power Of The Force “2” era at least every five years, but time flies by, and before we know it, we’re approaching decades (and longer) before we see updated action figures. Hasbro’s protocol, approach, and figure-making technology for the modern line of Star Wars action figures have come so far. Whether it is part of the plan or not, some of their earliest attempts at standout Star Wars characters are getting the attention that they finally deserve, and new versions are eclipsing the stuff from the 90s at an incredible rate. Admiral Ackbar is “a trap,” from a certain point of view because this action figure will be responsible for capturing and holding the attention of many collectors. Hasbro’s latest sculpts have wholly blown away action figure collectors, and Hasbro held nothing back with their Admiral Ackbar release from The Vintage Collection. Now, they re-released the figure for the second time in The Vintage Collection (third time overall). Admiral Ackbar is available again in the return of The Vintage Collection with most of the original packaging and all of its original accessories. In 2010, we were surprised that Hasbro didn’t try to revisit Ackbar sooner. Before the 2010 release, the first (and last) incarnation as an action figure dated back to 1997’s POTF2 [R/G] Admiral Ackbar figure. After nearly a decade and a half, Hasbro pulled out all of the stops and designed an Admiral Ackbar that is not only significantly improved but will forever stand the test of time and remain the definitive version of the on-screen character. Admiral Ackbar is another action figure in the Return Of The Jedi wave of The Vintage Collection who has flawless execution, a brilliantly shining sculpt, and a paint job that would make most other action figures hang their heads in shame. It’s that good. And its re-release looks just as impressive as the first two times it hot retail.

The 2021 re-release doesn't break too much new ground as the other re-releases have. The shell tone is darker, and the mottled pattern looks slightly different, but not much difference exists between this version and past versions. The gold blood stripe also looks different on the 2021 version too. If you’re zealous of super-articulation, you may consider Admiral Ackbar lacking a bit. But we believe you would be wrong. While the figure comes without ankle articulation, it still comes with premium articulation throughout the rest of it. And these articulation points are more than enough for this character. In Return Of The Jedi, we see Admiral Ackbar sitting and standing. So in actuality, we have more than enough articulation than we need for the figure to accomplish these poses. The required extra tooling to include ankle articulation would translate into wasted dollars, so better to have it with a skiff guard or other character that needs it. We’re glad Hasbro saved it for a figure who needs it. Hasbro kept tradition and nostalgia faithful here. Hasbro added an accessory derivative of the baton accessory originally from 1983’s ROTJ Admiral Ackbar figure for collectors. But this time, it is significantly detailed and colored in sterling silver and a little bit shorter. It didn’t make an appearance in Episode VI, but it’s nonetheless a fantastic inclusion here. And for the first time, Hasbro has included a “cross-section” of the character’s computer console. It is small but packed with detail, and it is immediately recognizable from the scenes where we see Ackbar controlling and navigating the Home One. While it may not rank as a required accessory, we love it, and it gives Admiral Ackbar an edge that the other figures in the wave do not have. Admiral Ackbar comes fully outfitted to take on the Galactic Empire and will do it in style! Admiral Ackbar is sculpted so well that the figure looks like a scaled-down version of the costume from Episode VI. We'd still like to see Hasbro release the character's command chair, which they began tooling, but never completed. It's a necessary inclusion in The Vintage Collection.

Admiral Ackbar's head sculpt is superior and includes the distinguished mottled and spotted pattern on the exoskeleton shell/skull. It is done subtly and yet clearly visible at the same time. We would have preferred to see Hasbro add some of the “whiskers” hanging from the chin, but the sculpt is impressive despite this. The head sits on a ball-socket articulation point and allows for optimal and natural movement. Some collectors commented this joint is loose, but ours wasn’t. It may not be the tightest fit, but it isn’t loose. This figure is expertly detailed. The eyes are also impressively painted. The yellow parts of the eyes are metallic yellow, and the pupils are perfectly centered. Because of the shimmer of the paint, the eyes pick up light gorgeously. Admiral Ackbar’s hands are everything you’d expect them to be, and Hasbro’s sculptors have faithfully studied the reference materials carefully to get all these details to perfection. And how awesome is it to have both arms with fully functioning hands to hold things? The uniform is pristinely white with yellow blood stripes that are thin and proportionate. We have come across a few samples where it ever so slightly bleeds into the white of the pant leg. But again, this is barely a fault when the rest of the figure is flawless. Admiral Ackbar highlights the third wave of The Vintage Collection. Although unnecessary, it’s nice to see the figure again at retail a decade after its original release. And the figure is a leader of the Rebel Alliance and a must-have for any collector. A little note for carded collectors: Hasbro didn’t match the background color of the figure’s nameplate and the background where the figure sits in the same teal color used for 1983’s ROTJ Admiral Ackbar figure. Hasbro didn’t bother to fix this detail on the re-release either, unfortunately. It’s still dark green for the current TVC release. We don’t think the dark green effectively captures the spirit of the original release, but that is just our opinion.

Editor's Note: Hasbro re-released The Vintage Collection Admiral Ackbar (VC22) in April 2021 with a significant number of changes. Updates include: (1) revised deco on the portrait, (2) repainted outfit with revised colors throughout including gold blood stripe, (3) a slightly darker deco on accessories (4) new date stamp on figure, (5) refreshed 2021 packaging with different graphics

Review Status Update: The original publication date of this review is November 23, 2010. It was subsequently updated with a new Photo Gallery and revised General Analysis and republished on April 29, 2021 after Hasbro reissued the figure.