Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace - TAC - Commemorative Tin Collection (1 of 6)

Hasbro certainly isn’t dumb. Even is an exclusive or multipack contains 75% straight repacks, they know by including one long sought after “new” character into the mix that we’ll all fall for and ultimately buy it, repacks and all. That’s about exactly what the collecting community did when it came to the Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1 of 6) Commemorative Tin Collection set. Released in late 2006, these sets were designed to whet collectors’ appetites for the 30 (77-07) basic figure line which was bumped to March 2007 from January to allow for more sell through time for remaining The Saga Collection products still yet unsold. (Some The Saga Collection stuff was delayed getting out as well.) Although technically one of the more lackluster Commemorative Tin Collection sets released, it contained one figure (which was a simple repaint of earlier released figure) that collectors were ecstatic to see updated in a better astromech sculpt. But the rest of the figures, while they seem like straight repacks, have more newness than you might suspect. Let’s get to each and iron out exact what makes them unique from their original releases.

Darth Maul is a repaint of the figure from 2005’s ROTS The Sith Evolutions set. It appears that Hasbro attempted to recreate the same paint operations this time around as they did on the Evolutions release, but likely because they were produced at two different times, differences in the colors exist. The Commemorative Tin Collection Darth Maul is strikingly darker this time around, especially on the head sculpt. This time he only comes with his lightsaber accessory. Obi-Wan Kenobi is based on 2000’s POTJ Obi-Wan Kenobi (Jedi) figure, but this time Hasbro revised his belt and added a peg to it. He also comes with a much better looking soft-goods robe to complete his outfit. Likewise, Qui-Gon Jinn is based on 2000’s EI Qui-Gon Jinn (Jedi Master) figure. He too has been revised and now sports an all-new skirt. And he also comes with a soft-goods robe as well. It’s amazing how much better the soft-goods make these figures look. Sure, the articulation has a long way to go, and Qui-Gon Jinn doesn’t seem nearly tall enough when standing next to Darth Maul or Obi-Wan Kenobi, so there is certainly room for growth.

But the reason to get this set is for the updated R2-R9 figure. Last released in the Episode I line with the Naboo Royal Starship and simply called “Red R2 Unit” it’s great to have this droid updated in a modern sculpt. Hasbro took the R2-D2 (Artoo-Detoo) figure from the 2006 TSC Early Bird Figures set and cast it in blood red plastic to recreate the droid we only saw for moments attempting to repair the Naboo Royal Starship’s hyperdrive until it was “blasted to infinity” in Episode I. We have to admit it. R2-R9 look pretty darn fine. It’s nice to see this droid with real wires at the base of the feet, a well-proportioned trunk and articulation every where you want it including the dome, “shoulders” and “feet”. Sadly, the main “eye” still takes advantage of that archaic light port technology and we wish that Hasbro would just completely abandon it altogether. After all, this eye port is not colored. It’s black (on almost every astromech we have encountered) and we don’t understand what this is a detail Hasbro continually misses. Still, R2-R9 is a tremendous upgrade and has been painted quite well. If R2-R9 is the only figure you want, well then, $24.99 is a lot to pay. But it’s hard to refuse such a great update.