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

This fearsome group's goal is to seek and destroy all the Rebel forces in the galaxy.

The Vintage Collection Special Action Figure Sets wave 2 have hit TARGET! After wave 2 Hasbro has promised that a good bit of newness will be included in these sets, but for now we’ll have to put up with the incessant repacking. Hey, at least they’re including quality figures, albeit ones that we don’t really need. The interestingly titled “Imperial Set” is a bit of a misnomer. Dengar (Bounty Hunter) is not an Imperial and one of the figures in the Imperial Forces Special Action Figure Set should have been switched with him so we got one whole set of Imperials and one whole set of bounty hunters. But that would have only happened in a perfect world. So for now Dengar (Bounty Hunter) will be an incognito Imperial. The Imperial Set is a solid three-pack for sure, but if you have these figures, there really isn’t enough here to get excited about because it’s one rehash after another. One thing we must address however is that Dengar (Bounty Hunter) has a slightly revised paint job as far as his “dirt” on his outfit is concerned. The 2010 TVC Dengar (VC01) figure has dirt that looks very splattered on his gear whereas the Special Action Figure set version has this same colored dirt applied much more smoothly. You’ll only see this with a side by side comparison and it may (likely) be something you’d care less about because it isn’t really a variation.

Imperial Commander is really just a renamed version of 2009’s TLC Captain Needa (BD 40) figure. This awesome action figure (that has origins to 2007’sTAC Death Star Trooper (No. 13) figure) is honestly wonderful to have available again for for purchase, but it would have suited collectors much better is they gave this figure a generic head sculpt, or even better, General Veer’s portrait. We must remind ourselves to be patient because Hasbro promised us that “newer” figures are coming to these sets. But we digress. We have noticed very slight differences in the way the paint in the eyes was applied, but again it’s nothing that noteworthy. The color of his cap and uniform is a still that gray with that barely subtle tint of green and it looks wonderful. These variances that we note are not intended to drive you insane. 90% of these changes are direct results of producing the same figure during two different time periods. The recipe for paint may get slightly altered which render these noticeable differences to type A personality collectors like ourselves. But there is no denying they are there. Is the Imperial Officer different from the Captain Needa (BD 40) figure? No it isn’t. Are there some small differences that exist between them? Yes there are.

AT-AT Driver is a straight repack of 2009’s LC AT-AT Driver (BD49) figure. But this time we have noticed right off the bat that he has a sterling even white paint job on the helmet. On the Legacy Collection figure, the helmet was relatively muddy looking. But the paint operations have been tightened up quite a bit and there is now an unmatched evenness (especially on the helmet) and we think this makes the figure look better than ever. This same AT-AT Driver action figure was included in the original Special Action Figure Set 9-pack, but it seems that something has been done to improve the overall aesthetics of the AT-AT Driver. And last but not least, do you remember that awkward lean the LC figure had? It's possible that Hasbro tightened up the waist joint because the AT-AT Drivers stands more erect this time around. We have seemingly pointed out a lot of differences here, but we do want to pull this review back and make it clear that these are really just straight repacks. AT the same time, the small differences we’re documenting really do update the figures in positives ways, but you won’t be missing anything that big if you decide not to repurchase them. These replicas of the vintage multipacks from long ago are so cool to have in this modern era. And the updated figures in this classic packaging are some of the best work Hasbro has ever produced. We should have a lot to look forward to with these nostalgic replicas, so we’ll wait until Hasbro announces the next waves. Until they do, enjoy them for your collection.