Passel Argente - ROTS - Basic (III 61)

This humanoid senator once served the Galactic Republic. Argente later committed the forces of the Corporate Alliance to aid the Separatists in battle. He is instructed to go to Mustafar and await the arrival of Darth Sidious’ new apprentice, Darth Vader.

Passel Argente has a much bigger role in the Expanded Universe than he did in either Episode II or Episode III. That could be the reason that Hasbro felt compelled to repaint the figure from 2003’s SW Geonosian War Room (2 of 2) Screen Scenes set and released it in his Episode III outfit, you know, to make those EU lovers happy. Passel Argente has a cool name, but he looks more like a male Medussa than a Separatist leader in our eyes. That shouldn't allow you to imply we think his release is a waste. The action figure isn't anything to rave over, but certainly Hasbro has done better for us. Argente's facial appearance is quite identical from Episode II to Episode III, but one thing that changes significantly is the color (not really the style so much) of the outfit he is wearing. He got a little flashy for Revenge Of The Sith and is wearing bright orange-colored robes. Hasbro got a little bit lazy for Passel Argente and simply repainted the 2003 figure in colors to match what was seen in Episode III. But the figure is actually quite inaccurate now. In Revenge Of The Sith, Passel Argente’s robes has a very ornate pattern and there is an obvious texture. These details weren’t transferred from the 2003 figure to this one clearly because noi additional tooloing was added. Hasbro was looking for a quick figure to make and this is it. So while the color works and in fact looks fantastic, the overall aesthetics sadly fail.

Just like case mate Cat Miin, Passel Argente also comes with “lightsaber damage” across the chest from Darth Vader. And just like Cat Miin, it makes this version of Passel Argente “dead” and extremely scene specific. We really wish Hasbro would have overlooked the lightsaber damage details altogether because it really limits how often you can use this figure in your Separatist dioramas. But this is what Hasbro decided to do and we have to accept if we want an Episode III version of Passel Argente in our collections. We've learned to never say never in Star Wars collecting, but it’s very likely that Hasbro won’t be updating another version of Passel Argente in the basic figure line again. (At least this is true for the immediate future.) The figure just isn’t engaging enough and we suppose that we’re even fortunate enough to see Hasbro dust off the 2003 figure again just to repaint it in new colors to make it specific to Revenge Of The Sith. Not only does the character dangerously hover over the “boring” category, the action figure is essentially a statue and leaves the collector feeling flat. And the movement it does have is so silly they might as well left it out of the mix here altogether. (Think 360 degree rotating forearms. It's ridiculous.)

Passel Argente comes with a measly four points of articulation. The included articulation is all contained in his arms. Sadly, half of this movement is totally useless and actually the other two points aren't any better. Passel Argente is a statue and that is how you’ll have to accept him if you choose to include him in your collection. He’s diorama fodder: nothing more and nothing less than that. Still, we suppose it’s cool to get one of Darth Vader’s first victims in the basic figure line, even if he is a background character. But let's face it folks. You may start yawning just looking at this figure. (We want to make it clear that we still enjoy the fact that Hasbro updated him for Episode III – it's just a boring figure.) Just like Cat Miin, Passel Argente also comes with a Mustafar environmental action figure stand. The fire on the base nicely complements the figure. And in a weird way it seems to foreshadow his doom on Mustafar. We think that is quite a clever coincidence, even if it wasn’t a conscious move on Hasbro’s part. Passel Argente is a figure that’s hard to say you like because he really is just what he is, but it was an appreciated gesture of Hasbro to include him into the Revenge Of The Sith line. Next time we just hope they don’t pre-battle-damage their figures in advance.