Rebel Pilot Legacy (Series II) - TLC - Evolutions

The legacy of the Rebel Alliance pilots is one of outstanding courage and noble commitment in the face of overwhelming odds and powerful enemies. They emerged from a darkened galaxy to reawaken hope -- from the formation of the gallant Rogue Squadron that included doomed Cesi "Doc" Eirriss, to the Battle of Hoth in which Kesin Ommis took aim as a snowspeeder pilot in defense of Echo Base, and at the Battle of Endor, where veteran pilot Keyan Farlander harried enemy fighters and helped bring down an Empire.

The Rebel Pilot Legacy (Series II) Evolutions set didn't quite deliver the same level of excitement as the first one. But it still provided collectors with a movie-specific character Kesin Ommis from The Empire Strikes Back. Another Expanded Universe character, Cesi Eirriss gave us our first Twi'lek X-wing pilot. But perhaps the weirdest addition to the set was the B-wing pilot outfitted Keyan Farlander. Hasbro is notorious for giving us action figures periodically that come out of left field and have no researchable source. Just look at the order 66 sets for example. Sure some are from the Expanded Universe, but many others come from the films as well, even if they have been retconned into the lore from previous concepts or ideas. Well, the same happens to be true for Keyan Farlander. While his character can be seen in Episode IV, he has now been retroactively connected into Return Of The Jedi and he's one of the B-wing pilots you can clearly see at the meeting that preceded the Battle of Endor. As a result, we consider the modern update to the classic B-wing Pilot Kenner action figure. So it's also nice to think of him as a plain/generic B-wing pilot. It is inevitable that Hasbro will continue to pull action figure ideas out of the air: from clone trooper deco concepts, to familiar characters in new pilot gear. (Editor's Note: cough, cough – the Nien Nunb (B-wing Pilot) controversy.) But it's even nicer to get characters that actually appeared in the films.

The figure likely to make most fans happy is Kesin Ommis. He can be seen a few times in The Empire Strikes Back during the preliminary events of the Battle of Hoth. We have to admit that the figure looks nothing like the onscreen character. They seem to differ in age by quite a few years and the action figure has a full grown mustache that looks nothing more than a five o’clock shadow on the actor. Even so, we are happy to get another unique Rebel snowspeeder pilot. If you own Wes Janson, then you really shouldn’t expect too much more here. It is important to note however that Kesin Ommis has black gloves and this may allude to many that he is in partial X-wing fighter pilot gear. We would need to refer back to the film to see if this detail is accurate, but in the very least, it provides differentiation to the ever-growing Rebel Alliance snowspeeder army. We must admit that the skull caps are particularly neat on the snowspeeder pilots. Just from the skull caps alone, you know these pilots are indeed from Hoth. And it does make them stand out from the more traditional X-wing pilots since the uniforms borrow many of the same parts. Kesin Ommis has been designed with an orange flight coat that hits just below the waist. It is aptly designed and helps the action figure to look extra sharp. One negative to this figure would be the fit of his helmet. It seems Hasbro went overboard to ensure that the head would fit into the helmet and the helmet doesn’t stay firmly in place. In fact, it is so loose it can nearly spin all the way around. This is a shame and you may want to stuff his helmet with something to prevent this from happening. Still, in all, this figure is something to chime about and we believe most collectors will be thrilled with the execution of these figures.

Cesi Eirriss is a standout figure too. Don't look for her in the films because you won't find her. She has the distinction of being our first Twi'lek X-wing pilot. A new helmet has been designed to fit over her head tentacles and it is a great fit. One small complaint we have about her is that her action figure did not turn out as "pretty" as her comic book character. Hasbro sometimes cannot get female eyes right lately. They are either "deer in headlights" or way too "squinty" expressions that do work towards a beneficial aesthetic of the character. While this is perfectionism at its finest, we do wish a little bit more time was concentrated on painting the eyes well. It can be done. If you recall the 2004 OTC #18 Princess Leia (Bespin Gown) figure, its paint job was perfected for 2007's TAC Betrayal On Bespin Battle Packs set. So it's not like Hasbro doesn't have the capabilities in place to make the eyes on their figures as ideal as possible. All of the figures in this set borrow parts from the figures in the first Rebel Pilot Legacy Evolutions set. This was the most logical approach to take for a "rehash" but to be honest, the set is so much better than a rehash. The figures have been designed in new and fresh ways and it is a perfect way to build your pilot squadrons. We recommend picking up both Evolutions sets based on Rebel Alliance pilots. It is really the first time we are getting so many super-articulated pilots ant once and as a group, they are very impressive.