Just curious...

This is a yearly thing for me.  I never miss Charlie Brown, though one time I unfortunately missed out because I couldn't find the night it was on and I felt like a big Block Head all Christmas long.  ARRRRGHHH!!!

Happy Thanksgiving from JediDefender.com, and for the holiday (and thanks in much part to Jared and Jeff for the extensive work they do to help me complete the reviews), we here are happy to dish out another of our Review-A-Thon specials!


I'm taking you, the reader, on a trip around the Vintage Original Trilogy Collection's A New Hope Wave of figures.

All 4 figures in the wave represent a real broad range of quality.  From really poor overall efforts to some of Hasbro's best work in the modern line, the VOTC kicked off with mixed messages from the Big H overall.  Check out the links for each figure and feel free to chime in here with thoughts/opinions you may have. 

The VOTC line overall was a success, and I'd say it's got far more hits than misses.  the ANH wave was the biggest let down overall though unfortunately, so we'll still be waiting for that ultimate Luke or Ben for a while it seems...  Leia and Han may be pretty well covered at this point, and I'd like to see Hasbro re-use those sculpts in the future as either straight re-releases or even little tweaks to the sculpt to add a costume change here or an accessory there. 

Enjoy the reviews, and enjoy the holiday!


Obi-Wan Kenobi


Han Solo


Princess Leia Organa


Luke Skywalker

Watching a lot of Vet's Day things on TV, and just thinking about other military history instances, and then seeing the cover of the latest "Empire" Comic...  I had a thought.

Does anyone think there could be "Home Guard" Divisions of Imperial Troops comprised of the species native to any specific planet?

Perhaps not decked out in Stormtrooper armor like the character on the comic's cover, but perhaps in the Army Regular uniform like the AT-ST Driver's, or some such?

The German army utilized special divisions made up of foreign soldiers during World War II.  Actually many of the troops defending the Atlantic Wall at Normandy were not German or Axis power nationals but were rather people drafted from countries taken by Germany/Italy.

This trend is common in warfare though...  A series I love on the Military Channel is on Tuesdays and it's simply about World War I.  It's amazing to see the diversity of troops "drafted" by other countries.  Africans in German uniforms were something I considered, or there was an African French division that actually fought IN France during World War I, drafted from French colonies in Africa.

It made me wonder if the Empire would resort to a Neimoidian division...  Or other species that aren't declared "hostile" maybe, like I couldn't see a Wookiee division (based on my own opinion of Wookiee's during the Classic Trilogy Era being almost like Jews under the thumb of the Axis powers), but like I could see species that are either indifferent to the Empire or who serve the Empire in some capacity being assimilated into the Imperial military, but still being kept separate entirely of what the Empire considers its main military body.

Any opinions on this?  For customizers, that could make some REALLY cool custom options...  Like a Neimoidian in an Imperial uniform...  Maybe even a Neimoidian Liason Officer...  I could even see them being given "human" CO's as a means of watching them...  akin to the black regiments during the American Civil War who were commanded by white Officers.

Maybe it's just late and I'm thinking way too hard. 

I have 3 of the POTJ Rebel Fleet Trooper hanging around here that I'd like to trade away for some of what I'm in search of.

I'd trade them for any of the following:

-Shocktroopers (Red #6 Clone repaint)
-Any figure from the Clone Evolutions set (especially Sandtrooper)
-Tactical Ops Trooper
-Holographic Plo Koon
-Holographic Ayla Secura
-Clone Wars SA Clonetrooper
-Entertainment Earth 4-pack Clonetrooper (any variant)
-POTJ or Saga "Imperial Officer"
-Amidala w/Ascension Gun
-VOTC Stormtrooper (would trade 2 RFT's for one VOTC Stormie)

This is about all I'm really in search of heavily at the moment...  If there's no offers I'd consider selling the Fleet Troopers as well but I'd rather trade for something I need with these.  Pleas help these guys (they still suck) find a home.

Gonna take a look at one of the April 2nd launch figures this week as we dissect Tarfful (Firing Bowcaster) from the Revenge of the Sith line.


He's not Hasbro's prettiest effort from ROTS unfortunately, and given the child-factor in the Wookiee figure's popularity, I'd think it would've been in Hasbro's better interests to have made these higher quality figures.  For instance the #43 falls over rather easily and lacks articulation some.  Tarfful lacks even MORE articulation than the #43 and that's just a shame given that the figure's legs (both of these figure's legs actually) twist but don't bend.  If you're gonna make the joint/separate molds, do it right ya know?

Irregardless he suits and likely isn't one I could see Hasbro redoing anytime soon.  He'll make most collectors content to just stand there, but I envisioin him doing a little battling and pulling of people's arms from their sockets and all that.  A nicer toy simply could've come of this figure but Hasbro chose to cheap-out on this one so just check out the full review to see what makes him a nice enough statue and what makes him a less-than-fun figure to play (pose) with.

I love freakish aliens, so the Senators wave of figures in the ROTS line was nice.  A bit of a bitch to find, but nicely done all around.  That makes this review's focus a fun one to own and pick apart for what's good and what failed.  This week we're looking at Ask Aak (Republic Senator).  Not only do I love the figure, but I even liked the character in the prequals and felt he should've had a figure back in 2002 even.

Hasbro did a pretty bang-up job though on this one, and took the usually duller "Senator" figure and turned it into something special.  There's a number of ball/socket joints, the sculpt rivals the best work Hasbro's done such as Ephant Mon, and the figure's a weighty mofo to boot.  The fact Hasbro did a nice little extra by including a blaster accessory is greatly appreciated.

The lack of accessories with these types of figures is where it can usually be critiqued but all 3 figures in the wave Aak came out in had a gun and a base.  That's pretty nice work.

So check out the review at the link provided and enjoy...  And if you're lucky enough to find the figure, pick up Ask Aak without hesitating because he's a winner to me.  A pegwarmer if he shipped in huge numbers, but he's still a winner for a figure.

What can I say about this guy that's negative?  Not a whole hell of a lot really.

I like it when Hasbro really wow's me, especially when they're able to do it overall with a single line they put out.  ROTS really is that line to me, as it's been more solid in quality than any other individual line within the modern Star Wars brand.

The AT-RT Driver (Missle Firing Rifle) is just another notch on Hasbro's belt as far as what they dished out in quality this year.  The figure was wrongly labeled as the Turbo Tank Driver for a while, then changed to the AT-RT Driver for whatever reason.  Not sure if this was Hasbro's faux pau, or if this is what the Juggernaught crews wore on Kashyyyk as well as the walker drivers.

Either way though we get what ammounts to a near-super articulated Clone again, and that's nothing to turn your nose at.  Good articulation, great accessories, nice paint, great sculpt...  He's everything an army builder should be in my opinion.

Read the review to seemy opinions on this one overall...  Very little negative I could muster about him.  Just got two more for a nice 4-man team tonight.  Still on the prowl to expand that to a minimum of 12 I think (squad sized I figure).  And congrats to Hasbro for another quality figure.

As always give me your thoughts and feelings on this one too, and stay tuned for more reviews as my review feature, "The Good...  The Bad...  & The Ugly" dishes out all the dirt.  This one though is definitely part of "The Good" though.