Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith: General Grievous action figure by Hasbro, review by Andrew Lenahan
Series Overview:
Well before the release of the Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith movie (AKA Episode III), Hasbro released a series of four figures as a preview of what to expect, both from the film and the inevitable toy line. The results are good, with all four figures presenting a solid addition to recent Star Wars toy lines, though not a spectacular improvement upon them.
Character Overview:
Described on the packaging as a commander of droid armies and trained by Sith Lord Darth Tyranus, Grievous is unquestionably a bad guy. Unfortunately, based on this figure, he just isn't a very original bad guy. He looks like the product of an illicit love affair between a battle droid and one of the Skeleton Warriors. Also, isn't the name "Grievous" just a little obvious? The name "Darth Vader" is menacing but subtle, "Grievous" is just too much. I wonder if Episode III will also feature characters with names like "Evil Naughtybad" and "Hero Goodguy". Grievous, grievous, grievous.... while there's nothing really awful about him, but I hope he's cooler in the movie.
Action Figure Sculpt and Paint: 8
Although I can't comment how movie-accurate he is, but he's up in the higher ranks of detail as far as Star Wars figures go. He's an unusual-looking character, with lots of little details all over his body, and the sculptor did a fine job of bringing this out. The paint is similarly consistent, but with a few minor trouble spots. Particularly impressive is the weathered, dirty look on his tan parts, and particularly the head. One major quibble, at least with the reviewed figure, is that the eyes have dark pupils toward the center of the face, making him look cross-eyed and somewhat gooft.
Articulation: 8
Star Wars figures hit the sweet spot of bing popular both with kids for playing and collectors for, uh, collecting. So articulation is important. Grievous articulates at the neck, shoulders, hips, and knees, plus a mid-chest pivot for good posability. All joints work well. Getting Grievous to stand isn't impossible, but it's a little harder than it should have been.
Accessories: 7
With some of the truly fantasic accessories we've seen in the course of the Star Wars line, Grievous comes up a bit short but is still slightly above average. He has a blaster and a blue lightsaber. His main accessory, though, is a large removable rubber cape. The cape is nicely sculpted, with lots of dramatic folding and billowing, and a symbol painted on the back. Neither capes, blasters, or lightsabers are rare sights among Star Wars toys, of course, but getting all three on one figure is unusual.
Packaging: Above Average
All the Revenge of the Sith preview figures are packaged in very cool oval-shaped bubble, with a menacing Darth Vader-above-molten-lava background. The packaging is slightly hard to open, but gone are the annoying twist-ties which have plagued Star Wars figures since the late 90s. There's also a little colour pamphlet with ads for more Star Wars toys. Overall, the packing is well above average for an action figure.
Overall score: 8
Lackluster accessories aside, this is a solid figure, which Star Wars diehards will undoubtedly need to get. I'm sure that we haven't seen the last of Grievous in action-figure form, though, so casual fans might want to wait until he comes with cooler stuff.
Availability:
Should be easy to find in the USA. As of this review, they're a common sight at both Toys R Us and Wal-Mart. They're also on Amazon.
Well before the release of the Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith movie (AKA Episode III), Hasbro released a series of four figures as a preview of what to expect, both from the film and the inevitable toy line. The results are good, with all four figures presenting a solid addition to recent Star Wars toy lines, though not a spectacular improvement upon them.
Character Overview:
Described on the packaging as a commander of droid armies and trained by Sith Lord Darth Tyranus, Grievous is unquestionably a bad guy. Unfortunately, based on this figure, he just isn't a very original bad guy. He looks like the product of an illicit love affair between a battle droid and one of the Skeleton Warriors. Also, isn't the name "Grievous" just a little obvious? The name "Darth Vader" is menacing but subtle, "Grievous" is just too much. I wonder if Episode III will also feature characters with names like "Evil Naughtybad" and "Hero Goodguy". Grievous, grievous, grievous.... while there's nothing really awful about him, but I hope he's cooler in the movie.
Action Figure Sculpt and Paint: 8
Although I can't comment how movie-accurate he is, but he's up in the higher ranks of detail as far as Star Wars figures go. He's an unusual-looking character, with lots of little details all over his body, and the sculptor did a fine job of bringing this out. The paint is similarly consistent, but with a few minor trouble spots. Particularly impressive is the weathered, dirty look on his tan parts, and particularly the head. One major quibble, at least with the reviewed figure, is that the eyes have dark pupils toward the center of the face, making him look cross-eyed and somewhat gooft.
Articulation: 8
Star Wars figures hit the sweet spot of bing popular both with kids for playing and collectors for, uh, collecting. So articulation is important. Grievous articulates at the neck, shoulders, hips, and knees, plus a mid-chest pivot for good posability. All joints work well. Getting Grievous to stand isn't impossible, but it's a little harder than it should have been.
Accessories: 7
With some of the truly fantasic accessories we've seen in the course of the Star Wars line, Grievous comes up a bit short but is still slightly above average. He has a blaster and a blue lightsaber. His main accessory, though, is a large removable rubber cape. The cape is nicely sculpted, with lots of dramatic folding and billowing, and a symbol painted on the back. Neither capes, blasters, or lightsabers are rare sights among Star Wars toys, of course, but getting all three on one figure is unusual.
Packaging: Above Average
All the Revenge of the Sith preview figures are packaged in very cool oval-shaped bubble, with a menacing Darth Vader-above-molten-lava background. The packaging is slightly hard to open, but gone are the annoying twist-ties which have plagued Star Wars figures since the late 90s. There's also a little colour pamphlet with ads for more Star Wars toys. Overall, the packing is well above average for an action figure.
Overall score: 8
Lackluster accessories aside, this is a solid figure, which Star Wars diehards will undoubtedly need to get. I'm sure that we haven't seen the last of Grievous in action-figure form, though, so casual fans might want to wait until he comes with cooler stuff.
Availability:
Should be easy to find in the USA. As of this review, they're a common sight at both Toys R Us and Wal-Mart. They're also on Amazon.
posted by Andrew Lenahan at 9:42 AM
1 Comments:
I concur...yet some of the details you mentioned...I don't really value on a strictly 'play toy' level...Since I am not much of a collector...I would rate this one about 6 or a 7...and thats mainly because I love Star Wars....but my ratings are purely based on attractiveness of the toy in the realm of playability. Grievous is slightly boring to me. If I had a choice to choose a bad guy....Boba Fett all the way!
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