Special Action Figure Set (Android Set) - TVC - Exclusives

This team of comrades battles side by side with the Rebel forces in their struggle against the Galactic Empire. R2-D2 carries Princess Leia's plea for help to Ben Kenobi. C-3PO, R2-D2's sidekick, is a human-robot relations specialist. Chewbacca, the hundred-year-old giant Wookiee, copilots the Millennium Falcon starship.

TARGET is absolutely going nuts over the Special Action Figure Sets from Hasbro. And you know what? Collectors are really digging them too. The Special Action Figure Sets are really designed to be an “in package” collectible because for the most part they don’t contain any new figures. Some of these sets have had “hard to find” figures added to them, but really nothing new has been presented in them. But if you are a collector who salivates over every little detail or variance, you may find some use in opening these up for your loose collection because some differences definitely exist. Take for example the Android Set. Destined to be one of the most popular sets in wave 2, all three main characters are “newish” in the sense that they have difference paint jobs from their original releases. Some are absolutely more subtle than others, but they exist. We’ll get to these differences in greater detail in just a moment. But before we do, we’d like to let you know that Hasbro has confirmed that future sets will contain a good amount of newness in them and that is something that excites us greatly. Obviously the purpose of the vintage sets being modernized and released today is to give modern collectors a replica of a very rare and hard to find collectible. And for that they are wonderful collectibles for any Star Wars fan. It would be sublime to get all-new figures in them, but the standard of figures has been raised for so long that the catalogue of figures to use hold up so well use after use. You can blame technology for that.

See-Threepio (C-3PO) is a repaint of the C-3PO that came in 2009’s LC Resurgence Of The Jedi Battle Packs set. What exactly is different about it? The “new” Special Action Figure Set version has been painted in a much richer golden yellow color. To be quite honest, the figure in the Battle Packs set was very pale or faded (or just too chrome) in our opinion. We don’t think we have seen a more golden C-3PO (that utilizes this sculpt) in such a long time. The same black paint has been used to give him dirty spots throughout his armor and for some reason his right leg looks extra silvery. But that probably is because the rest of him is so golden. The updated paint job does wonders for the figure and actually provides a reason to repurchase him should you have him multiple times already. C-3PO has the most visible paint job changes of the three figures in this set. But changes exist with Artoo-Detoo (R2-D2) as well. R2-D2 is pretty much the same figure that also came in 2009’s LC Resurgence Of The Jedi Battle Packs set. But Hasbro made one improvement that makes Artoo-Detoo (R2-D2) even more screen accurate than every before (as far as this sculpt is concerned). When facing R2, there are two small parallel panels to the left of his main eye port. These have been painted in a light or teal blue to represent the glistening quality of whatever these buttons function. It’s immediately noticeable and makes the Battle Packs figure look inferior in comparison. The sad thing is that the blue paint used to paint him is no longer a metallic blue and just a flat blue instead. So the sparkly finish of that blue paint is no longer present.

Chewbacca also has similar differences. The blue paint used for his eyes in much darker (and clearer) than the 2005 TSC Early Bird Figures Chewbacca figure. Also, and this is quite interesting, his bandolier has the speckled “snow” patterns that was most recently used on the 2010 SW “Shadow Of The Dark Side”Chewbacca (SL18) Saga Legends figure. And another interesting thing we noticed is that the updated paint job of the body that was first seen on 2007’s TAC Betrayal On Bespin Chewbacca figure and 2009’s LC Chewbacca (SL15) Saga Legends figure has been used here on this figure too. (And if you don’t know what’s different about them we will tell you. There are golden streaks on the fur that are brighter and more pronounced that weren’t on the 2005 TSC Early Bird Figures version. And the brown paint is overall much shinier. If you still don’t know what we mean, hold the Android Set Chewbacca side by side with the 2005 TSC Early Bird Figures version and you’ll see just how many differences they are. The Special Action Figure Set (Android Set) is pretty awesome and we love that Hasbro included enough updates to warrant a purchase for us. Not all of the sets include so many differences, but it’s great when the figures get ever so slightly refreshed. We hope that Hasbro has long term plans for this exclusive program. There are some great vintage Special Action Figure Sets from the vintage era that would really present an opportunity to give us all-new figures (or significantly retooled ones). We’ll just have to wait and see where these exclusives go!