Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (Sith & Imperial Troopers) - SW [SOTDS] - Exclusives

Set in the dark times between the fall of the Republic and the rise of the Rebellion, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed video game explores the aftermath of Order 66 and the continued evolution of Darth Vader. Starkiller is the secret apprentice of Darth Vader and the son of Jedi. Darth Phobos is a Sith Lord with strong mental powers. Navy commandos are stationed at key Imperial facilities for patrol, guard and combat duty.

Long rumored and long kept tightly sealed from collectors’ prying eyes, the next The Force Unleashed five-pack is finally out of the bag and gets exclusivity (again) at Toys R Us. Shipped alongside the Star Wars: Republic Commando (Delta Squad) set that premiered at 2011’s San Diego Comic Con, the Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (Sith & Imperial Troopers) multipack nicely complements the previously released Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Figure Pack (1 of 2) and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Figure Pack (2 of 2) sets that were available in second quarter 2010 during the Legacy Collection era. Unbelievably, only a year has added $15 to the MSRP, but we suppose that’s the price we have to begrudgingly pay to get (mostly) all-new sculpts in a store exclusive in this day and age. (It's really easy to swallow the price in this case quite frankly.) Just like its counterparts, the 2011 set brings the obligatory repaint, but also impresses with the inclusion of four new figures (one of which is a retool of the other as well as an "almost" all-new figure kit-bashed with the legs of a 2008 ancestor). (Hmm, can something be "almost" all-new? We digress.) Simply put, this set is a lot of fun and a wonderful addition to your The Force Unleashed collection. It’s quite amazing to take in just how far this sub-collection of video game characters has come. Since its story is rooted between Episode III and Episode IV, fans and collectors alike are curious to know the events that transpired during this time and can't get enough, even if the story comes piecemeal. It’s clever marketing on Hasbro’s part to take advantage of this opportunity and take an Expanded Universe source that plays on the hearts and curiosities of fans who want to see how Darth Vader wreaked havoc all over the universe. But they manage to do it with grace and respect and interest and pull in those that typically consider themselves “movie-only” fans.

On the Toys R Us receipt (and even on Hasbro’s slide presentation at SDCC), the Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (Sith & Imperial Troopers) set was incorrectly identified as The Force Unleashed II set. All of the characters represented in this multipack are from the first The Force Unleashed video game, but not all the characters are from the same version of the game if that makes any sense. So don't be misled by the misnomer. While the introductory information on this set was erroneous, it's nonetheless and awesome little collection of figures that is a lot of fun. Hasbro brings a cool new mix of old and new, borrowed and blue (literally) into this Expanded Universe set and the marriage between collector and collectible is absolutely a match made in heaven. As a bonus, it adds new variety to what many of us already have in our collections. Collectors get another shot at the beautifully repainted Imperial EVO Trooper. Hasbro cleaned up some of the details and the lines are sharper than ever. His weaponry is clean (as in almost unpainted) this time around and you may be disappointed to know that his heavy assault rifle is essentially a piece of black plastic. Thankfully, this very small setback doesn’t affect overall goodness of the action figure (and has little to no bearing on the quality of the multipack as a whole). This sculpt was fantastic in 2008 and 2010 and it’s just as good to have again in 2011. Darth Phobos is the all-new Sith Lord in this set. Yes, she can be described as colorful, agile and decorative (and very blue), but adjectives like cool, awesome and a must-have, no, we honestly don't think they apply as much. She may be the weakest figure in the set. We’re not too fond of her, but then again, we weren’t too fond of Rystall in the Return Of The Jedi (Special Edition) either. The species is a little too flashy and colorful to be a Sith Lord that you’d take seriously and we don’t think her likeness is top notch either to the reference materials we came across while working up this review. Besides, most gamers may have never even seen this character because she didn't appear in all of the versions of it. Coming to us with a generous 18 points of articulation, she also comes with a Darth Maul-esque double-bladed lightsaber which should elate Sith Lord fans. (It’s an all-new sculpt as well.)

Starkiller can almost be considered an all-new figure. Except for utilizing the legs from the Sith Lord figure in 2008’s TAC Vader’s Secret Apprentice Evolutions set, the rest of the figure is an all-new sculpt. The most notable part of this figure is the fitted and very well-sculpted cape. It is lined with a blood red interior lining and the hood is superbly sculpted to hang down and cover his face to his eye line, making it difficult to see his full facial expression. And we love that about this figure. It fits like a glove and functions as its own "clasp" allowing for a very snug fit on figure; so it's not going anywhere. This is the type of brilliant sculpting we need to keep seeing in the basic figure line for sure! The figure is athletic and agile as he should be and there are wonderful details all around to appreciate. The head sculpt is phenomenal and he should quickly become one of the most favorite Starkiller interpretations for fans of the video game. The Imperial Navy Commando Officer and the Imperial Navy Commando are just barrels of fun (and totally awesome Imperial troopers). Despite having a very small case of pudginess, we love them nonetheless and they look like a hybrid of a Stormtrooper (and in the case of the Officer, a Sandtrooper) mixed with a McQuarrie inspired Imperial such as the Concept Stormtrooper (Ralph McQuarrie Signature Series) (30 09) or the Concept Snowtrooper (Ralph McQuarrie Signature Series) (30 42). Both share the same body sculpt except that the Imperial Navy Commando Officer has a retooled head sculpt which contains a rangefinder. Also, the Officer comes with an orange pauldron a la Sandtrooper squad leader to help in keeping the distinctions clearer. Both figures have unique paint jobs, albeit they are very similar to each other and despite a few sloppy spots, the figures are decorated quite nicely in general. Loaded with premium articulation, these two figures are the reason to pick up this set. As a bonus, Hasbro has revisited the way the backpacks attach to the figures. No more gaping holes it seems are in our action figures’ future! These figures look just as good with or without their backpacks on them! The Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (Sith & Imperial Troopers) may not be 100% everything you want in a multipack, but there is no denying that the good stuff in here is worth your time and money.