Bounty Hunters From Hostage Crisis Animated Series Episode - TCW [SOTDS] - Exclusives

Bounty hunters and droids take senators on Coruscant. Robonino, Shahan Alama, assassin droids and commando droids help Cad Bane force the release of Ziro the Hutt. The villainous posse infiltrates the Republic Senate, captures a small group of senators, and frees the imprisoned crime lord. Cunning and ruthless, the criminal gang gets the best of clone troopers, Senate commando guards and even Anakin Skywalker before fleeing the planet.

The Bounty Hunter From Hostage Crisis Animated Series Episode set looks exactly like a Battle Packs set but it technically isn't. The words "Battle Packs" cannot be found anywhere on the package and Hasbro has included a DVD which is atypical (read nonexistent) for a Battle Packs release. But while we may be overanalyzing what constitutes a Battle Packs set or not, we can tell you that this TARGET exclusive is one fine product and one of TARGET's best Fall 2010 exclusives. It offers collectors four figures total. Two we have seen before (in a different light of course) and the other two are all-new and will likely be eager additions for most collectors. Inspired from the Season 1 finale Hostage Crisis, this multipack is sure to make fans of the television series extremely happy as well as bounty hunter lovers in general. Bounty hunters are always popular with pretty much all audiences and this set offers two new ones and they are just done incredibly well and have detail that will leave you speechless. We hope we can successfully get our points across to you through this review and our photo gallery. There are some fine action figures in this set and the new decorated Commando Droids are just so cool that we almost like them as much as the all-new bounty hunters! The Commando Droids are repaints of the totally incredible 2009 TCW Commando Droid (CW16) which was also later reissued with a new paint job and included in the 2009 TCW Rishi Moon Outpost Attack Battle Packs set. This time around, the droids are colored in purple and dark gray. The two droids look a lot like each other but they have some definite differences that make them two unique figures in this set. (Check our photo gallery for a side by side comparison.) Just like their base figure, the Commando Droids can be posed in an infinite array of ways thanks to super-articulation and great range of movement. Hasbro is just so good to us, aren’t they? The goodness doesn't stop here by a landslide!

Shahan Alama is the first all-new figure in this set and he is reason to start to really get excited about this multipack. Excellence is found in him and not only is he well articulated but he has a paint job that seems as if Hasbro has raised the bar going forward in the line. The character of Shahan Alama can be described as he was a former Weequay pirate who was recruited by Aurra Sing during the Clone Wars and quickly established himself in the new role of bounty hunter. He is a beautifully crafted action figure. He comes to us articulated with 12 points and has an perfect center of gravity and can stand unassisted with no problems of any kind. His outfit is immediately familiar and looks pretty much exactly like Barada's outfit from Star Wars Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi. The deco is flawless from head to toe and we couldn't be more impressed with the direction Hasbro has taken to get this figure to look exactly like how he appears in The Clone Wars. From his shoulder armor to his cummerbund, Shahan Alama is striking is his appearance and his colorful outfit is right on par with his colorful personality as we witnessed in the TV series. He comes with a very sharp knife and the same blaster pistol we saw in Hostage Crisis. And while he has a most impressive outfit and awesome accessories, perhaps his greatest asset is the paint job Hasbro gave his portrait. This guy has some amazing detail in the face and it totally impresses us that Hasbro has given a figure this much attention to detail in the portrait's paint job for a kid-targeted collection. Kudos to Hasbro for making this far-too-splendid set for us! We hope all the collectors out there appreciate this workmanship!

Robonino! Goodness, gracious do we love Robonino! He looks a lot like the Aleena species with a fish for a head. He is actually a Patrolian and Prequel Trilogy fans will be thrilled to know that his species was utilized from unused concept art from Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. His design is stunning, but the action figure isn't perfect. It's important to note however that Robonino clearly was designed in the blueprint stages carefully and with a lot of details in mind! But unfortunately he fails a little bit because of the soft plastics Hasbro used to cast him. This is a great shame in his case, because this is an action figure that is flawless in theory, but the method of production has really hurt him. We're only going to say this once here, but Hasbro has got to move away from the rubbery plastics they're using on action figures. It affects the smaller figures just as much as the larger figures. Due to the materials he is cast from, Robonino's legs bow out and it becomes difficult to pose him unassisted. This of course doesn’t make us too happy. But all that set aside, Robonino is sure to put a smile on your face. His backpack alone is enough to set you off rejoicing. It has a movable lid where you can store stuff and the four items (explosive devices?) that slide into different levels of the backpack are removable and can be stored there if you want. The text on his backpack reads PATSFAN-01 in Aurebesh, in case you're interested. It is so tiny but clearly inscribed there. As a whole, this set is awesome. We love it from head to toe and you can quickly build up your bounty hunters by getting this set. It's our contention that this is a set not to miss, so at least check it out and see if it's worth your while. It's totally worth ours!