Hunt For Grievous, The - TCW [SOTDS] - Battle Packs

Clone troopers are on a mission to capture General Grievous. The leader of the droid army is on the run from Captain Rex and clone trooper Kix. Grievous is an expert fighter who easily deflects the troopers' blaster fire with his lightsabers.

The Hunt For Grievous? Wait, didn’t we get this Battle Packs set in 2006 during The Saga Collection as a Toys R Us exclusive? Well that set was also called The Hunt For Grievous, but that one and the new one from The Clone Wars line are from two totally different story arcs from two different sources (obviously). And with the changing times we get three included action figures instead of the wonderful five from a half of a decade ago. In all honesty, there really isn’t much to complain about here. Hasbro in a very mild way has reinvented the Battle Packs line to, yes, include only three figures, but they have revisited some of their previous approaches that should make collectors very happy in the end. The good news is that the MSRP is back down to $19.99 (for now) and instead of just repackaging all previously released figures like Hasbro did in sets like 2010's TCW [S2] Holocron Heist and 2010's TCW [S2] Jedi Showdown, they instead capture the attention of collectors (and we’re sure the kids) by introducing some new never-before-made characters and just repacked only a few of their most popular action figures. And even some of the repacks have all-new paint jobs. Trust us when we inform you that we had a majorly bad attitude that Battle Packs were being reduced to three action figures. Surprisingly, it’s not as bad as you think. (The reduced price tag is the most significant cushion to the blow.) But we bet that you’ll be happier with the box’s contents because Hasbro has revisited their protocol for Battle Packs and are starting to include things thbat are exclusive to them. Battle Packs were approaching a dangerous cliff of disaster. We think Hasbro has successfully pulled the line back to safety.

Hasbro gives us our first General Grievous figure with a soft-goods cape in The Clone Wars line in this set. And it looks gorgeous on him. It’s dual-layered and the stitching in the seams is flawlessly executed. It’s actually quite amazing to see the perfection in how his cape was assembled for a plastic action figure. It flows beautifully and is soft and silky to the touch. Hasbro reused the General Grievous action figure from the recently released 2011 TCW [SOTDS] Attack Cycle With General Grievous Deluxe set. (Or if you prefer the Class 1 designation – you decide to call them whatever you want to now!) This General Grievous figure is superior to the 2010 TCW [SOTDS] General Grievous (CW10) figure because the armor stays in place and the points of articulation hold their places much better. The proportions of this cyborg also look better as well. The paint job on General Grievous is simple but excellent and because of the reinforced parts and the way this figure was assembled, we can truly say we have a more than definitive General Grievous action figure now. It would be wonderful one day if Hasbro could get this version of Grievous, cape and all, into the basic figure line at some point soon. He comes with two lightsabers, one green and one blue, and can hold them without any issues. And he towers over fellow package mates Clone Trooper Kix and Captain Rex. Captain Rex is the same version that came in 2010’s TCW [SOTDS] ARC Troopers Battle Packs set, but this time with a new paint job. And Kix is a rework of the popular 2010 TCW [SOTDS] Clone Trooper Draa (CW35) figure which is based on the 2010 TCW [S2] Clone Commander Stone (CW44) mold. Kix really should have come with a removable helmet, but alas, he doesn't.

So again, all three figures included in this set are new or at worst “newish”. Admittedly, the General Grievous figure based on his appearance in The Clone Wars is quite compelling. To say his cape is perfection would be an understatement. And the updated (and much better) body from the Deluxe set makes this the consummate Separatist leader as far as we’re concerned. No more armor pieces falling off and no more falling over are things no longer of concern with General Grievous. And if you like your random obligatory clone, then Clone Trooper Kix is really a perfect reason to pick up this set. And now you have Jesse's buddy (which came in the the 2011 TCW [SOTDS] BARC Speeder Bike With Clone Trooper Jesse Deluxe/Class I set). Base on his appearance in season 2 The Deserter episode (the second half of the Grievous Intrigue story arc), Kix is rumored to have additional appearances in season 4. We'll have to wait and see for that to happen, but it's awesome to have him in action figure form. In The Clone Wars TV episode, he has the words “A good droid is a dead one” emblazoned on his head. While it didn’t make it to the action figure (he doesn’t have a removable helmet), it’s surprising that Dave Filoni would choose such a controversial, albeit historical, reference to Civil War uni0n general Philip Sheridan’s off color remark about American Indians (although to be fair, there are differing opinions about its context - besides, we're dangerously heading off topic here). We completely digress. Sensitivity issues aside, The Hunt For Grievous Battle Packs set may not have the wow factor of the sets that contained four or five figures, but there is certainly enough new here to appreciate. That coupled with a reduction in the MSRP really does make it a winning multipack for collectors. Keep in mind that $6.67 per figure is nicer than $7.99 per figure. Multipack figures are a deal again, hallelujah! And this set is pretty darn cool.