Rebel Pilot Legacy (Series III) - LC - Evolutions (Exclusive)

Rebel Alliance fighter pilots have a legacy of bravery that ultimately carries them to victory against the Imperial forces of the Galactic Empire. John D. Branon ("Red Four") flies in Red Squadron at the Battle of Yavin, losing his life in the attack on the Death Star. Shira Brie joins Rogue Squadron after the Battle of Hoth and gains the trust of her fellow pilots. Jake Farrell pilots an A-wing at the Battle of Endor and celebrates the end of the evil empire.

Wow, have we really hit our third Rebel pilots Evolutions set already? That is fairly amazing, although it is likely our last for an indefinite amount of time. When we initially saw this product on the shelf, we didn’t immediately realize that two-thirds of the set are based from characters seen in the original trilogy with pilots that were actually fighting onscreen. Needless to say, we are very impressed with the Rebel Pilot Legacy (Series III) Evolutions set. When it comes down to nuts and bolts, there is not much that differs from one Rebel Alliance pilot to another. Certainly there is something enough to warrant Hasbro popping them out one by one and so frequently. And even though the differences are small, the individuality of their helmets is awesome in and of itself. Once the helmet is removed off the figure, there is even more distinction with the portraits. And these small differences make buying the same pilot body over and over again extremely worthwhile. We love building our Rebel pilot army. And from what we hear from you, the same is true! If you have purchased the previous Evolutions Rebel Pilot Legacy sets, you will know what to expect from this particular Walmart exclusive one. Hasbro didn’t think much outside of that box here, but it doesn’t matter and we didn’t expect them too either. There is no reason for them to reinvent the wheel because they have an excellent male and female pilot body for a template in addition to wonderful A-wing/B-wing pilot template. And the molds are perfect. We actually expect Hasbro to keep using them over and over. To reiterate, little "insignificant" differences like new helmet designs and head sculpts come across much more amplified than you'd think. What’s more, this is a great way to get background pilots into our collections that would most likely never find their way into a basic line of figures. But we also will claim “never say never” so how is “unlikely”?

John Branon (is this our first action figure simply named “John” ever?) is a pilot that was seen during the Battle of Yavin in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. He comes with a distinctly unique maroon red helmet with a tiger pattern on it. John Branon (known as John D in about every other EU source) has the distinction of being one of two Rebel pilots (the other being Theron Nett) actually hit and destroyed by Imperial TIE Fighter Pilots in the film. All the other casualties were initiated by turbo laser fire or by Darth Vader. John Branon has a very thin and chiseled frame and was accurately sculpted by Hasbro. The other original trilogy character in this set is Jake Farrell, an A-wing Pilot who fought in the Battle of Endor. Jake Farrell was the pilot who was instructed by Lando Calrissian to “Split up and head back to the surface.” Calrissian further begged, “And see if you can get a few of those TIE fighters to follow you.” We love getting scene specific pilot even if they only appear on screen for a little while. Although Jake Farrell doesn’t look completely like the actor we saw in the film, he looks fine enough once his helmet is worn and clearly can pilot one of your current A-wing fighters with no issues at all. Interestingly, the action figure, the movie still of the actor, and the sketch on the packaging look like three different A-wing pilots. We don’t know where Hasbro gets their source material, that’s about all we can say. Shira Brie, the only comic based action figure in the set, is also a very good action figure. She unfortunately has too much of a bob “going on” and her beauty from the comics didn’t translate well into her action figure form, but she isn’t the worst female likeness we have received from Hasbro. She too comes with her own helmet and two weapons, the standard Rebel blaster pistol and some sort of hold-out pistol.

All the pilots come super-articulated, a standard we have come to expect for our pilots. They all have been excellently retooled and made unique, which is plain gravy for collectors. The orange flight suits seem crisper and cleaner and we still smile every time we see Hasbro reuse the wonderful Tycho Celchu A-wing pilot body. As we say goodbye to these beloved multipacks, we also reflect back on how many have been released. We have received some incredible action figures and many should have been released as single-carded basic figures because they probably would have sold better in that format. And indeed, some Evolutions sets were canceled so the figures could see release in the basic figure line. And we suspect that we will see others make their way into “greatest hits” type collections soon. After all, these are great figures and worthy of additional releases. While Hasbro has taken some wrong turns with Evolutions, we feel for the most part they nailed what figures they did decide to include in them perfectly. As collector demand becomes more fastidious for excellently sculpted figures, we have to sometimes expect the price will go up a bit. But sometimes no matter what, collectors just won't shell out premium prices for “rehashed” figures. We don’t consider these rehashes, but some of you out there do. Had these Evolutions sets come with completely new figures, this $24.96 price tag would have been a lot easier to swallow. But since every other piece of merchandise in the Star Wars world is going up, we suppose it is only a natural progression for exclusives to be every expensive. Hasbro has strong potential to keep bringing us great products like the Evolutions sets. So we hope they will remain steadfast, do away with the garbage, and keep focusing on the expertly crafted and finely detailed action figures.