Imperial Dignitary Kren Blista-Vanee (Death Star Procession) - SW [S - P3] - Basic (’03 #41)

Emperor Palpatine surrounded himself with coterie of dignitaries, chosen by the Emperor for their complete subservience to him and their willingness to betray anyone who questioned the Emperor's authority. The Imperial dignitaries were with the Emperor as he arrived on the Death Star II as the Battle of Endor was about to commence.

While we didn’t get a modern update to Sim Aloo in the Star Wars “Saga” line, we did get two new and previously unmade Imperial Dignitary action figures instead. Maybe not the first choice for all collectors, they have been warmly welcomed by many and in general Hasbro did a fantastic job with both of them. Hasbro cleverly killed two birds with one stone making them.... almost. Imperial Dignitary Kren Blista-Vanee (Death Star Procession) comes shortly after the release of Imperial Dignitary Janus Greejatus (Death Star Procession) (’03 #35), literally a month after the fact, and the figure is a kit-bash of the latter. Hasbro took Imperial Dignitary Janus Greejatus (Death Star Procession) (’03 #35), gave it a new head sculpt and arms and made it into Imperial Dignitary Kren Blista-Vanee (Death Star Procession). Obviously the figures look very similar to each other, but there are enough differences to set them apart as well.

We honestly don’t believe that Imperial Dignitary Kren Blista-Vanee (Death Star Procession) came out as well as Janus Greejatus. Actually, not nearly as well. The paint job on the face is contrived and the coloring just didn’t work. These characters are old, aged and possibly all evil. So the gray ashen paint job given to Janus Greejatus is much more effective than the colorful and vibrant coloring given to Kren Blista-Vanee. Imperial Dignitary Kren Blista-Vanee (Death Star Procession) has been cast in a deep and dark purple colored plastic and has red accents. His costume is quite reminiscent of the 1985 Kenner Imperial Dignitary action figure. The sculpt is simple, but Hasbro gets the point across well with its basic approach. Seven points of articulation are more than enough for the purpose this character serves in Return Of The Jedi. And he has a great likeness in spite of an imperfect paint job.

The Star Wars “Saga” line has given collectors one surprise after another. Characters that we never expected to see have been forever immortalized in plastic. With a reasonable price point and great sculpts, this will probably rank as one having the greatest value for the buying public. Just like the previous Imperial Dignitary, Imperial Dignitary Kren Blista-Vanee (Death Star Procession) comes without any official accessories, but he does come with the same environmental display stand as Imperial Dignitary Janus Greejatus (Death Star Procession): a portion of Death Star II. Overall, both of the Imperial Dignitary action figures are done very well and will age nicely in the basic figure line. Unless Hasbro attempts to revisit these with soft-goods, we probably won’t see a marked improvement with how these characters are approached. Overall, Imperial Dignitary Kren Blista-Vanee (Death Star Procession) is another great addition to the line. He just isn’t as great as Janus Greejatus.