Dengar - TVC - Basic (VC01)

Celebrate the legendary Star Wars saga that changed the universe forever! This collection brings to life the incredible story of good versus evil that captured our imagination and took us to a galaxy far, far away. Iconic Star Wars heroes and villains are captured with incredible detail and premium features to commemorate each epic tale in the Star Wars saga. May the Force be with you!

Oh boy, were we wrong when we thought that the 2004 SW [S - P3] Dengar (Executor Meeting) (’04 #17) figure would be the definitive version of the character. We believed that we wouldn’t need a revisit of the bounty hunter again from Hasbro. However, hindsight is always 20/20, and time reveals how things become obsolete. The release of Dengar in The Vintage Collection proves to collectors that we have been treated to one of the best figures (if not the best figure) in the first wave of this new collection of premium action figures. More importantly, the figure will become one of your collection’s focal Star Wars action figures. You may have reservations about this assessment, but we will prove it to you. Doubters may need to purchase the figure and hold it before they can appreciate the magnitude of what this figure represents. Dengar may not have the fan base of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Darth Vader, Boba Fett, or Princess Leia, but popularity isn’t part of the equation for stunningly sculpted action figures. You won’t want a more authentic 3.75-inch scaled Dengar action figure than this one. This action figure was blessed to be created by someone who paid attention to every detail of the on-screen character from The Empire Strikes Back. Not only is every detail flawlessly captured, but the sculpting (especially in the portrait) is one of the best we have ever seen. The likeness will floor you, and the costume is exactly as it is in any source material produced on this obscure bounty hunter. Hasbro must have exhausted its budget on this figure’s deco. This first wave of The Vintage Collection is overwhelmingly sound, and makes us pick up our jaws off the floor. Hasbro paints these figures extremely well. And what surprises us most is that a figure that has traditionally been a peg warmer every time it is released rises to the top of our “favorites” list. Dengar is everything a collector would want in this collector-focused lineup. At the same time, the character didn’t have a single blessed line in The Empire Strikes Back (or Return Of The Jedi, for that matter). That didn’t stop Hasbro from giving the figure the best treatment possible for this latest upgrade.

With 23 points of excellent articulation, Dengar has the standard shoulder, elbow, knee, and ankle ball joints and a ball-jointed torso, and is finished off with a ball-socket head. The figure only has swivel wrists and hips. This articulation system is not too shabby for a bounty hunter who stood around on the Executor after being summoned by Darth Vader to locate the Millennium Falcon and crew. The tooling of Dengar is remarkable, and Hasbro included intricate detailing. To top it off, Hasbro also matched the metallic brown color of the arms perfectly. A new feature for this release is a functioning pistol holster positioned toward the back of the right leg. Not only does it fit in place there, but Dengar can also hold it without issue. The stance may be too wide, but it works well in this context. The accuracy of the detailed armor and backpack makes Dengar almost perfect. And speaking of the backpack, Hasbro painted it in four colors with expertise and accuracy. It offers believability to the action figure. Hasbro painted the figure so beautifully that we are speechless. We are fortunate to have gotten so much detail on the various parts of Dengar, and bypassing this figure would be a huge mistake. Hasbro planned this action figure out very well, and we are curious why it received this incredible treatment. As a bonus feature, Dengar’s cod plate is removable. While this technically wasn’t screen accurate, it adds a new level of versatility to this action figure. When you remove the codpiece, Dengar is wearing a standard flight suit, similar to what other characters from The Empire Strikes Back wear, but obviously in different colors. This detail opens up a new realm of thought about this character that fans might not have considered otherwise. Again, this adds a lot of extra detail to the action figure that we didn’t know existed, making it more interesting. However, it is quite remarkable to have these flexible options. But perhaps Dengar’s crowning joy is the portrait. Rendering us completely speechless (again), we don’t know how Hasbro captured an amazingly perfect and stunningly gorgeous likeness on this action figure, especially at the production level.

Besides the small scale, Hasbro gave the face an explicit paint job that captures light, shadow, expression, and attitude, unlike previous action figures. Look at the Photo Gallery above. And then look at the pictures of his face again. How did they do this? This sample looks like a hand-painted prototype. Never has a painted face looked this good in the basic figure line. We hope this marks a new standard that Hasbro has set for itself in the quality control department. There is an outline in a different color around his face, which completes the head’s perimeter. We could use the exact words repeatedly: beautiful, perfect, flawless. But you must purchase this figure to understand what we mean. If we had to nitpick, we did notice that Hasbro forgot to paint grommets on the bottom of his head coverings. Please refer to the reference photo to see what we mean. And this is barely a setback at all. This particular release exemplifies how our action figures should have looked for years to come. But late is better than never, and we are thrilled if this is how Hasbro plans to decorate portraits in the basic figure line. Various markings or battle damage complete the figure. The brown armor pieces have multiple layers of coloring to simulate the years of use, and the results are perplexing. Again, we wonder how Hasbro managed to make this action figure as perfectly as they did. Hasbro may have opened a can of worms here. Fans and collectors will hold Hasbro to this high level of production quality in the future, and we should. This action figure of Dengar is his definitive version, but it should also serve as the basis by which we hold all other action figures accountable. We need to inform Hasbro of this. Making them follow through on future action figures is a matter of ensuring they follow through. If you pass on Dengar, it will be the biggest mistake for your collection. Dengar is truly a figure that amazes and makes you realize that it is the standard by which collectors should judge all other Hasbro action figures.

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