General Madine (Imperial Shuttle Capture) - SW [S - P3] - Basic (’04 #20)

A strict military disciplinarian, General Crix Madine was an important Alliance officer and advisor to Mon Mothma. It was Madine who masterminded a number of crucial Alliance operations that paved the way for victory at the Battle of Endor. Madine was tasked with finding a way to destroy the shield generator protecting the second Death Star. His personally trained soldiers captured the Imperial Shuttle, Tyderium. With this shuttle, Madine's troops, under the command of General Han Solo, infiltrated Imperial territory on the Sanctuary Moon.

Hasbro took advantage of the tail end of the Star Wars “Saga” line to get a little bit experimental. The utilization of ball-jointed articulation was never the center of focus with them, but we began seeing a little bit more of it become instrumental in the way all-new figures were being approached. The 2003 Clone Wars Clone Trooper (‘03 #50) figure broke the mold and now collectors have hoped that this would open new doors for collector-based figures. And it has. Hasbro is slowly but surely getting new figure into the market that have enhanced articulation, better sculpts and an overall improved quality. General Madine (Imperial Shuttle Capture) is the very first modern update to the classic 1983 Kenner figure and he comes just slightly improved when compared to his contemporaries of the same era. The added ball-jointed elbows are somewhat perplexing, but they are a marked improvement (actually incomparable improvement) from other figures that just have what we refer to as “horrid” swivel elbows. For that reason alone we feel General Madine (Imperial Shuttle Capture) is a figure worth taking a second look at for your collection.

General Madine (Imperial Shuttle Capture) comes with ten points of articulation. The combination of swivel shoulders and ball-jointed elbows is very confusing. Imagine if you couldn’t pull your arms away from your torso but could bend your elbows any which way. It’s silly to even consider the rage of movement and overall immobility you’d possess from that arrangement, but that’s exactly how General Madine (Imperial Shuttle Capture) has been manufactured. Admittedly, the elbows work fantastically when you recreate the pose of him holding his arms behind his back. We have even photographed an image for you to see how naturally this looks. But the rest of him is simple swivel articulation and he has no movement below the belt except for swivel hips, so you’re not going to get a lot of motion out of him. He comes with a baton which is totally reminiscent of the accessory that he came with in the vintage Kenner line. And the color scheme on this action figure proves just how incorrectly the Kenner figure’s paint job was in 1983. Who really cares though, right? We weren’t discriminating collectors in 1983. We were kids who loved these action figures.

General Madine (Imperial Shuttle Capture) has a fantastic sculpt if you overlook the limitations of the articulation. The deco is a little bit rough, but the portrait in particular is quite impressive. He has a handsome a serene appearance and the expression captured in his face represents the somber, yet assertive demeanor of the character we saw in Star Wars Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi. His dramatic part is correctly situated towards the left and other features like his eyes and facial hair have been generously replicated with precision. This is a definitive version of the Rebel Alliance leader, but General Madine (Imperial Shuttle Capture) is a far cry away from most of the other action figures released in the entire Star Wars “Saga” from 2002 to 2004. Besides, hardcore collectors always love when Hasbro creates one of the original Kenner figures in the modern line, and this one is a great first start. As part of the final wave of three figures from the Star Wars “Saga” line, General Madine (Imperial Shuttle Capture) was impossible to find, but it has been carried forward in The Original Trilogy Collection so it should meet demand easily.