Republic Elite Forces (Mandalorians & Omega Squad) - TAC - Exclusives

A secret army of clone troopers is being engineered on Kamino, created from the genes of Jango Fett, a Mandalorian whose combat skills are exceptional even among the great Mandalorian warrior society. Special clones are created to command these soldiers, but they must be trained to become leaders. Fett seeks out the very best Mandalorian warriors from every corner of the galaxy. These sergeants will train the commandos to fight and lead, and instill in them the Mandalorian values of iron discipline and loyalty.

The Republic Elite Forces multipacks were arguably the biggest waste of time and money for collectors. While the Expanded Universe jumped into the limelight from hiding on the back burner for so long, it seems that Hasbro let their personal interests take over and create a set of Boba Fett wannabes based on the likenesses of various Hasbro employees. Neither set is great, but the Republic Elite Forces (Mandalorians & Omega Squad) is perhaps the better of the two sets. For starters, you get a “shadow” interpretation of the Delta Squad (but called Omega Squad here instead). Admittedly, the Republic Commandos look fantastic in black armor with minimal silver highlights. They unfortunately still suffer from limited articulation below the waste, but you can stand them in some cool “at attention” poses and that’s really all you need to worry about here. And then the rest of the set (the three Mandalorians) are really nothing exceptionally new. Interestingly, each Republic Elite Forces set utilizes the same Mandalorian sculpt twice to make two unique characters (with a few differences of course). As a result, you get these pairs of identical Mandalorians forming. Thankfully the distinct paint jobs (amongst other things) set them apart from each other. If you’re not a big fan of the Expanded Universe, then this is definitely a set to pass by because it can’t even really be considered part of the Expanded Universe. These sets are more part of the Hasbro Universe and over time have been worked into the true Expanded Universe.

Although there were no reference materials for this sets at the time of announcement, Entertainment Earth did provide an image of colorful Mandalorians and dark clones to give collectors an idea of what these characters looked like. Llats Ward is reminiscent of Jodo Kast. He has a big and bold Jaing skull symbol on his chest armor, nearly identical to what the Clone Troopers have on them from the other set. But the green helmet with yellow and black details show that Hasbro directly or indirectly copied the already established Boba Fett copycat from the Expanded Universe. At least Llats Ward has dark hair where Jodo Kast has light hair. Very similar in structure and composition as the Dred Priest figure from the Republic Elite Forces (Mandalorians & Clone Troopers) set, Llats Ward is based on the 2004 VOTC Boba Fett figure by utilizing its arms and legs and comes with an all-new torso, belt and portrait. B’arin Apma (does anyone else have great difficulty pronouncing all these silly names?) shares the overall structure and composition of the Mij Gilamar figure which happens to be a kit-bashed figure of 2002’s SW Jango Fett (Kamino Escape) ('02 #13) and the legs from 2008’s TAC The Fett Legacy Evolutions Jango Fett figure. Rav Bralor is too an all-new figure like Isabet Reau, but keep in mind that these two figures share the same body except for the head and few other small details. So it’s sort of like which came first, the chicken or the egg? One is essentially a rework and repaint of the other. We just don’t happen to know which is which. Rav Bralor has a very feminine head sculpt and she has two streaks of gray in her hair which is something we rarely see on Star Wars action figures.

As we’ve mentioned previously, the all-black Omega Squad isn’t that bad at all. They are all unique thanks to their backpacks and there is something about this sculpt cast in all black that is quite striking. But the Omega Squad makes up for where the Mandalorian action figures lack. Let’s be honest. Do you really want Hasbro employees in Boba Fett-esque armor? If you do then more power to you! But we still feel that these Entertainment Earth exclusives sets are the worst exclusives released to date. As we have mentioned in the Republic Elite Forces (Mandalorians & Clone Troopers) set review, they command a hefty premium on eBay. But this of course is because they have all but disappeared from retail. We purchased ours for a song at StarWarsShop.com and couldn’t imagine paying any more than we did for them. (Editor's Note: But if you did buy them when they were new in 2007), you only paid four dollars and seventy-eight and a half cents each for them. ($4.785) This is quite a steal by modern standards and probably less than the wholesale cost of action figures today.) It is our hope that the next bulk multipack is movie-specific and contains characters that don’t often get visited enough in the basic figure line. A Jabba’s Palace multipack, a Chalmun’s Cantina multipack or even an Ewok multipack would much better appeal to collectors and satisfy the need to get these great characters out in bulk for us. But we are sure there would be differing opinions on this as well. That’s the problem with satisfying the masses. Not all of us agree. And while there is nothing wrong with that, we think it’s safe to assume that Hasbro could have brought us better exclusives than the Republic Elite Forces sets. Anything would have been better. (Editor's Note: Again, despite our harsh review, these sets command an unbelievable premium on eBay!)