TLC Crimson Empire

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Discuss this figure in the corresponding THREAD in our forums.
Check out various reviews of this figure below!

Reference


Wookieepedia article on Emperor Palpatine
Wookieepedia article on Darth Vader
Wookieepedia article on Lemmet Tauk
Wookieepedia article on Kir Kanos
Wookieepedia article on Alum_Frost
Wookieepedia article on Carnor_Jax

Major Variants
*None reported

Notes
*This is a Previews exclusive.

Roundtable Reviews!

nomadscout

2/10 Bantha Skulls

Well, I’ll try to be kind here.  The set has 6 figures, and retails for about $35.  That’s less than $6 per figure, which I guess makes it a good value, from a certain point of view.  Personally, I waited until there was a bit of a sale, so I got this at $30.

The Vader and Emperor figures are not new.  Depending on your preferences, you may or may not like these particular versions.  Vader has the removeable helmet with the youngish Anakin head.  The Emperor has the wacky snarling look.  The poorly sized cape makes him look ridiculous.

The Power Rangers Royal Guard “cadets” are kitbashed, with a few new parts.  The heads are all new, and honestly, they’re not bad from a sculpting perspective, although the paint is not done well, so this detracts mightily.  You might be able to swap the heads with some other figures in your collection to add some variety, but I haven’t tried this so I can’t vouch for compatibility.  The helmets are all new.  Since they’re the same sculpt, they fit the different head with various levels of snugness.

Regarding sculpt, the real downfall of this set is the fact that Hasbro opted to reuse the legs from the dreaded TAC Clone Trooper in Training Fatigues (also known as Pajama Clone, or Mess Hall clone, or Kamino Clone, or....ok I’ll stop.), which was a huge disappointment for me, as I was looking forward to that figure.  The legs are pre-posed in such a way that the figure is always leaning to the side and back.  The knees are ball jointed, but because of the odd hip position as well as the lack of jointed ankles, they are virtually useless.  My figures stand, but take some work to do so.

I happen to be more familiar with this story than almost any other EU, because I purchased a Crimson Empire collection in order to get the Holographic Emperor Bust-up that was packaged with it, as well as the Kir Kanos/Carnor Jax Comic 2-pack.  That being said, I could have done without this set ever seeing the light of day.  For fans, this was probably the only way these figures were ever going to get made (and wouldn’t be so terrible were it not for the choice of legs used).  The odd thing is that there was one other “cadet” pictured in the comics.  He wore green and was named Burr Danid, and was killed by Vader during training.  This guy will probably never see plastic, but could have been included in this set.

Finally, as an exclusive item, Hasbro typically (but not always) skimps on the packaging art.  Sure enough, the insert is just plain blue, making this a weak packaged display.  If it was designed more like a battle pack, with the figures positioned around a mock-up of “The Squall” training area on Yinchorr, that might be pretty damned cool to look out.  Instead, it’s weak.

Anyway, if you’re into EU, and you really liked the Crimson Empire story line, you’ll probably want to have this.  If you REALLY like the Training Clone sculpt, you HAVE to buy this.

For the rest of you, I’d say you can probably safely skip this set, and save your money for another day.