Endor Rebel Soldier [Version 2] - SW [S - P1] - Basic (’02 #33)

If you haven't collected the figures in the Star Wars "Saga" line, you may want to know a few things about some of them before you do. Hasbro has made it a mission to reuse their tooling in this line effectively. We mean that collectors will often find "pairs" of action figures that share similar parts save for a few changes here and there. Some retooling is more aggressive, while others may utilize an all-new portrait to create a "new" figure. Some of these "pairs" share the same sequence number and function as running changes, while Hasbro gave others two unique names and sequence numbers (for evident and other reasons). One of the earliest "pairs" are the two Endor Rebel Soldier figures. Hasbro released the first version, a dark-haired bearded fellow, and then a few waves later, they added a blonder-haired trooper portrait to the existing body sculpt. These actions help collectors create some diversity in their Battle of Endor dioramas. In this case, Hasbro's inspiration for the likeness came from a real-world person, not from the Star Wars films. This figure's likeness is Hasbro employee Mark Boudreaux, a designer for the Star Wars line. Both versions of the Endor Rebel Soldier look pretty good, but the figures' articulation also has limitations. And when it comes to army builders, very few collectors tolerate restrictions on a figure's movement.

The Endor Rebel Soldier is statuesque from the waist down. But you may also feel it is statuesque from the core up despite possessing more articulation in the upper body. The appreciated but restricting removable jacket that has been designed functions more like a straightjacket than an excellent removable accessory. It essentially "cocoons" the Endor Rebel Soldier and stops any freeform movement in its tracks. It's aggravating, saying the very least. Both Endor Rebel Soldier action figures appear to be nicely designed action figures at face value. They each come with a decent amount of accessories that interact with them beautifully. They're multilayered and give the figure an excessive amount of realism. The removable "soft" backpack is a nice feature that we haven't seen in the line until now (well, excluding the 1983's ROTJ Rebel Commando figure by Kenner). Although it leaves a big nasty hole if you remove it from the figure, it's still nice to see it as a separately tooled addition here. The strapped blaster rifle and attachable blast effect are nice touches, but the Endor Rebel Soldier is limited in how the figure can position it in the hands.Regarless, the figure looks cool holding it. Lastly, a perfectly fitted helmet finishes off the figure beautifully. It has an excellent paint job and incredible detail.

As we've already mentioned, Hasbro sculpted quite a bit of upper body swivel articulation into this figure. Still, the gesture is nearly moot as you cannot get any reasonable movement when the jacket is on the figure. Removing the jacket is possible, but you're going to be left with an unfinished-looking Rebel if you choose to do that. It's not that the figure looks terrible without the outerwear, and it's just that the jacket does a great deal to hide the mechanics of the figure, i.e., the backpack. Swivel shoulders, swivel elbows, and two swivel gloves are available to you, but you'll soon realize after one time in your hand just how unessential they are to this figure, save for maybe the elbow joints. It is possible to swing open both arms without interference from the jacket, but how many shoulders do you know that wage war in this position? This figure has set limitations with looking aesthetically pleasing to the eye. We're also not big fans of the lower body leaning in an action stance, but that's how Hasbro decided to approach this action figure, and we'll have to wait for definitive updates to come. Both versions of the Endor Rebel Soldier action figures look great, but you'll want more value than what they offer. This figure looks amazing in a display, butit's not functional as an action figure you freely pose.