IG-86 Assassin Droid - TCW [B] - Basic (No. 18)

An IG-86 Assassin Droid lies deactivated in a Trandoshan trader's cargo hold until a buyer can be found for the dangerous droid. But he is accidentally reactivated by a clumsy astromech droid, and the lives of everyone on board the ship are in peril.

We love our action figures with a bare minimum of 14 points of articulation, don't we? For the most part, it allows for optimum mobility and the best poses possible and while we think that ball-jointed hips should be a minimum standard, some figures get away well without them. But if an action figure has more than 14 points, well, that is just splendid gravy. The excellent IG-86 Assassin Droid has a whopping 20 points and it makes the droid extra special. And he is loaded with some of the best joints money can buy. The bonus is that they all work incredibly well on this figure. The best part is that IG-86 Assassin Droid has ball-jointed hips that allow him to do anything you want with him. In almost every way, they are a step up (in every sense of the word) from the swivel joints we get ad infinitum from Hasbro. Almost an animated version of IG-88, IG-86 certainly has some unique traits that set him apart from the bounty hunter we grew up with in the films, but we think you may see more similarities than differences. But IG-86 takes the idea of a droid action figure to a whole new level because he can be posed in ways we never thought this model could ever do. Capable of rolling into a ball just like a droideka, IG-86 is probably the coolest droid action figure in the blue phase of The Clone Wars line.

Not only is the droid loaded in the articulation department, he is colored in a way that leaves us nearly speechless. Weathered and battle-worn, shiny and at the same time dull, IG-86 is the droid you're looking for to add into your ever expanding The Clone Wars collection. Having a finishing wash that we have never really seen before, it is a style that we hope Hasbro returns to in the very near future (although we suspect that this may be the last time we see it with all of their tooling cost containment rules of late). Looking like he jumped right out of the television series and into your hands, IG-86 is definitely one of the most impressive action figures of the year and from what we see already the kids love him. Interestingly, he has been a bit of a peg warmer and while fro the most part the blue packaging has come and gone, if you do find any on the retails shelves, it will likely be this figure. This puzzles us a bit because IG-86 is certainly more intriguing to kids than 2008's TCW Count Dooku (No. 13) and Asajj Ventress (No. 15) . And since the droid is an army builder, this further confuses us as to why he is still hanging around.

IG-88 has the distinction of being one of a few figures with a very noticeable variation. He was first packaged with two guns colored in gray, matching the color of his body almost perfectly. The guns were quickly changed to a metallic dark blue making the entire droid very reminiscent to the vintage IG-88 figure. We think the blue guns look worlds better on him than the gray ones, but your opinions may vary. It serves to give the droid the necessary contrast he needs so the guns don't blend in against his body. Either one looks great though, just as long you add at least on into your collections. He is a great figure and we encourage you to give him a second whirl of consideration. IG-86 to date will not be released in the red phase of The Clone Wars line, but do expect this sculpt to be reused in multiple Battle Packs assortments and exclusives. It is a worthy candidate of multiple appearances because he has it all where it counts. A beautiful paint job, a stunning sculpt and the perfect accessories are not too much to ask for in an action figure. Hasbro excelled on all of these areas and released a wonderful masterpiece. It is our desire that Hasbro continues with a trend of great droids like they initiated with IG-86 Assassin Droid. It is the way to go and it makes us hanker for more of them.