Dengar - TVC - Basic (VC01)

Oh boy were we wrong when we thought that the 2004 SW Dengar (Executor Meeting) ('04 #18) would be the definitive version of Dengar and that we wouldn’t likely need a revisit of him ever again. We are almost ashamed that we once believed that. But with the release of the completely brand new Dengar in The Vintage Collection, collectors will be treated to one of the best figures (if not the best figure) in the very first wave of this new collection. But more importantly, this figure will also immediately become one of the best Star Wars action figures in your entire collection period. You may ask how this is possible and we will do our best to prove it to you in this review, but it may have to take you purchasing it and holding it in your hands before you’ll be able to appreciate the magnitude of what this figure brings to a collector. Dengar may not have the fan base of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo or Princess Leia, but when it comes to stunningly sculpted action figures, popularity just isn’t part of the equation. You won’t find a more authentic 3.75” scale Dengar action figure then this Hasbro figure. And this action figure of him was blessed to be created by someone who paid attention to every detail of the character in The Empire Strikes Back. Not only is every detail flawlessly captured, but the sculpting (especially in the portrait) is absolutely 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 you can find on this obscure bounty hunter. Hasbro must have saved their pennies on their decoration budget over the last few years by making tons of the clone trooper action figures bright white because this first wave of The Vintage Collection time and again makes us pick up our jaws off of the floor with how well these figures (especially Dengar) are painted. And what surprises us most is that a figure that has traditionally been a peg warmer (even in the vintage line) becomes one of our favorite figures of all time because of the awesome way in which he was designed from head to toe.

Dengar is everything a collector would want in a figure. While he didn’t speak a line in The Empire Strikes Back (or Return Of The Jedi for that matter), that didn’t inhibit Hasbro from giving him the best treatment possible for this latest upgrade. Complete with 14 points of great articulation, Dengar has the standard shoulder, elbow, knee and ankle ball joints in addition to a ball-jointed torso and ball socket head. He only has swivel wrists and hips. This is not too shabby for a bounty hunter that just stood around with his head cocked on the Executor after being summoned by Darth Vader to locate the Millennium Falcon and crew. The tooling of Dengar’s armor is just stunning and the intricate details have all been included as well. To top it off, Hasbro matched the metallic brown color of his arm perfect as well. New for this release is a functioning pistol holster which lies toward the back of his right leg. Not only does it fit in place there, but Dengar can also hold it without issue. His stance may be the slightest bit too wide, but we honestly don’t care. The accuracy of the detailed armor and backpack make Dengar perfect in every way. And speaking of the backpack, Hasbro has managed to decorate it in four colors wtith expertise and believability. It has been painted so beautifully we are lost for words. We are so fortunate to get so much detail on the various parts of Dengar and to take this figure lightly would be a huge mistake. This action figure was clearly planned very well and we are wondering why he was a candidate to receive this incredible treatment. But wondering why doesn’t mean he didn’t deserve it. As an added bonus, Dengar’s codpiece is removable. While this technically wasn’t needed, it adds a whole new level of versatility to this action figure. When you remove the codpiece, Dengar is wearing a standard flight suit very similar to what you would see Bossk wear but obviously in different colors. This opens up a new arena of thought about this character that normally otherwise wouldn’t be considered. Again, this just adds so much extra to the action figure that it really didn’t need. But it is quite incredible to have these flexible options.

But perhaps the crowning joy of Dengar is his portrait. Rendering us completely speechless (again), we don’t know how Hasbro has managed (especially on a production level) to capture an amazingly perfect and stunningly gorgeous likeness on this action figure. Besides the very small scale, Hasbro gave the face an explicit paint job that captures light, shadow, expression and attitude in a way we have never seen before in the Hasbro line. Just look at the photo gallery above. And then look at the pictures of his face again. How did they do this? This looks like a hand painted prototype. Never has a painted face looked this good in the basic figure line. We hope that this is a new bar Hasbro raised for themselves in the quality control department. There is even an outline in a different color around his face which just completes the whole head. We could use the same words over and over: beautiful, perfect, flawless, amazing. But you’ll have to just buy this figure to know what we mean. If we had to nitpick, we did notice that Hasbro forgot to paint grommets on the bottom of his head coverings. Just look at the reference photo to see what we mean. And this is barely a setback at all. This is how our action figures should have looked for years. But late is better than never and we are thrilled if this is the way Hasbro is planning to decorate portraits in the basic figure line. Completing the figure is various markings or battle-damage. 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 has managed to make this action figure as perfectly as they did. Hasbro may have opened a can of worms here. Fans and collectors will be holding Hasbro to this high level of production quality going forward and we should. This action figure of Dengar is clearly the definitive version of him, but he also should serve as the basis by which we should hold all other action figures accountable. We need to make this known to Hasbro. (But we think they already know it. It’s just a matter of making them follow through for future action figures.) But if you pass on Dengar, it will be the biggest mistake in your collecting life. Dengar is truly a figure that should amaze you and make you realize that he is the standard by which you should judge all other Hasbro action figures.