JD Review-A-Thon: VOTC Empire Strikes Back Wave

[Jesse James]

Hey guys, sorry for the late forum post on it, it completely slipped my mind last night when I did the newspost on our front page...  It's traveled pretty far to the bottom by now too thanks to our smokin' newsteam here...  THanks guys.   

Anywho, this week there's a mini-Review-A-Thon for your reading pleasure...  Four figures from the VOTC line.  We're looking in particular at the Empire Strikes Back wave of VOTC actually.

Clicky the button, ready the review:



C-3PO represented everything Hasbro could do wrong with even the cheapest of figures, and yet they managed to do it wrong with their overpriced VOTC "Premium" figure line...  Yes, we're basically blowing our rant load early by showing the worst of the entire Vintage assortment first (well, first for this wave anyway, but still I'll say right now he's the worst figure of the VOTC and easily the worst C-3PO ever...  Even compared to the POTF2 figure IMO).

Lacking articulation is only the beginning of this turd's problems.  The irony though?  He's probably still the hardest figure of the VOTC to find...  Priceless.



Darth Vader took fans really close to perfection on a character that had been long overdue for an "ultimate" version.  The iconic villain of the classic trilogy had never looked better than in 2004.  While he has his flaws, at the time he was really great and still is a figure worthy of recarding.  The Evolutions Vader has replaced him as my favorite, but my VOTC still holds a spot on my shelf kneeling before his master, Palpatine.



Lando is the true intergalactic Pimp, and VOTC's Lando put all previous attempts to shame.  It's probably the single best figure in the ESB Wave of these premium figures, but again he's not flawless.  Hasbro saw fit to cut a couple articulation corners and how hard is it to make a removable cape on a figure who was seen with and without his stylin' space fashion?  Lando could've used some tweaking but he's still one of my 2004 favorites and one everyone should have.

Good thing he's still widely available at many TRU stores. 



Everyone's "little green friend" gets two incarnations in 2004, making him probably the biggest paradox for fans...  Do you buy one, or the other?  They're both good figures, and one's half the price, but the Vintage OTC Yoda sported tons of accessories and poseability unmatched in any Yoda figure (even the prequals where he goes ape**** and needs articulation the most).

Like plastic robes, you have the basic figure, like a vintage-esque poseable Yoda with cloth gear and you have the VOTC figure?  He may not be everyone's cup of tea but I'm a cloth fan so VOTC Yoda gets some praise (and a couple complaints) from me.

Check out all the reviews...  Share your thoughts with us too, by all means.  It's nice to take a look back while I'm in the middle of reviewing the 2006 Vintage Saga COllection of figures, and in detail look at how the VOTC line of 2004 stacked up by comparison...  It's also interesting to see that Hasbro made a number of changes in overall quality in 2006, making sure not to cut TOO many corners.  Could it be they heard the cries of the fans during VOTC's run?  I wouldn't doubt it myself.

Enjoy!

[Mitsukara]

Wow! Glad to see these reviewed here, and the reviews are excellent as usual. Truth be told I've only sat and read Lando and C3PO so far, but I'll get back to the others soon.

I need to get one of those Landos at least- he's totally awesome, and this review just reminds me again. Too bad I've never seen any VOTC or VTSC figures besides two of the VTSC hanging in Target once so far... that's what I get for having to go out of town to shop anywhere better than Wal Mart, but also my Toys R Us is sadly bereft of this "pegwarmer" I hear everybody for some reason grumbling about.

I love the level of detail in the review of the, well, details- it brought out some points I wasn't noticing, like the way you get a sense of the texture in the shirt's sculpt and the gloss on the eyes.

Now, C3PO- there's a great figure. I actually laughed at the joke- "Go buy one now, it’s great!" Fortunately Hasbro made the ROTS "Apology C3PO" the next year, and are actually furthering the innovations some with a shiny new Endor C3PO with knee joints and good sculpting. Yes, the casual collector can forget VOTC C3PO as quickly as possible, now.

I agree that the POTF2 is better- he's lame but he at least was average in his lameness. What's really funny to contemplate is that the vintage C3PO might've had a better headsculpt, and definately better leg posture, than this dude.

BTW, have you considered displaying 3PO next to a buff Rebel Fleet Trooper? All you need is a buff or Saga ROTJ Death Star Duel Vader, some buff stormtroopers, and, I dunno, firing-ignited-lightsaber R2D2, and you can have one happenin' Tantive IV display.

Yes, I mean to inflict nightmares.

[Clone Hunter]

Yes, Galactic pimp Lando is A-1 indeed. There are still 6 sitting in my local TRU.

[Jesse James]

Thanks Mitsu and Clone...

I've noticed a couple Lando's at every TRU I visit...  It's ugly but the figure's fantastic so it's disappointing that it's so underrated by fans on some level I guess.  It also says to me that Lando's a kiss of death on the pegs...  I know Lando General wasn't hard to find in the OTC line, so hopefully Hasbro doesn't go too crazy with Lando's in the future.  I'd like a more articulated pilot Lando but beyond that I don't have too many wants on that one.

One of my favorites in the VOTC Review-A-Thon is Yoda...  A lot of people didn't like him much especially with the OTC Yoda out alongside him, but VOTC Yoda's got the top Yoda spot on my shelf.

Check out in particular what I said about his utility belt...  An important part of the figure missed by Hasbro and one that helps the figure look a lot more appealing despite the puffy coat.

Still, that's my favorite Yoda irregardless.  I need a blue cloth pack for him now to ride on a SA Dagobah Luke's back.

[Brian]

Great reviews as always Jesse, very detailed.  I agree with you on the Lando, I thought it was actually one of the better figures in the line - even though he continues to pegwarm in some areas.  If anyone is still looking, I've noticed he is on "clearance" on Amazon.com for around $5.29.  I've thought about ordering an extra if I place an order for something else in the future.  I only have the one, and I wouldn't mind getting another one.  Nice work Jesse.

[ruiner]

I'm sorry, but the head sculpt on the VOTC Yoda leaves a lot to be desired.

I'm still waiting for a figure that looks like this:



Not even close to this:

[Reid]

That headsculpt looks like he's taking a **** or something.

 

[Jesse James]

I don't mind it myself...  It's not perfect, but it's not too bad either.  It's better than POTF2's and I think comparable to the OTC Yoda...  I think they could've certainly done worse...  It's like Lando.  Not their best work, that goes to Skiff Lando I think, but not shabby either...  I'm keeping VOTC Yoda as my favorite for now...  He seems to be like Han in that nobody can agree what the best is for him.    Some like Cantina, some VOTC, etc...  Han's had a lot of debate over his sculpt in  the past.

[Mitsukara]

Don't forget TSC Carbonite Han With a good paintjob he's a dead ringer in some opinions.

But yes, Yoda seems to be tough to get down exactly. One problem is that he never really looks "smiley" enough in most figures... he's usually got this tense look on his face instead of that goofy crazy hermit look he's known for in ESB.

Personally I'm kinda dissapointed with the lack of Lando figures over the years... I don't know why but I really kinda like the character, and he's a weak spot in my collection I'm trying to improve. Besides collecting some of the cool ones I've missed- new General Lando and VOTC Lando especially- I'm actually planning like 4 Lando customs long-term (young Lando, Nkllon Lando, DFR Lando, ESB Smuggler Gear Lando). So if Hasbro makes another Lando anytime soon you can bet he won't pegwarm in my area Of course, you can also bet he won't even show up in my area... alas...

[Jesse James]

The thing with Lando is costume changes weren't often, or at least they weren't important.  The "smuggler" duds at the end of ESB, and his celebration smuggler outfit at the end of Jedi are probably the only outfits he needs done at this point...

A SA Pilot version would be nice first though IMO, and then Skiff version...  I could handle a re-release of the VOTC Lando w/out the cape too in the basic line, so they have a Cloud City Escape Lando that's dead-on as it should be.

About TSC Han, yeah the ROTJ Han head has been done to perfection at this point I think...  Unofrtunately the VTSC isn't the best, compared to AT-ST or Carbo Han, those are better by far, and probably the single best headsculpts of that character from ANY film...

[Darth Depressis]

i used to love this vader until the 500th figure one came out, i would say evolutions but it also falls short of the 500th one for me.

aside from vader this entire wave was a waste, threepio looks like he got melted down FINNALLY!

Lando looks like Crap! bottom line. hes the only votc figure that i saw peg warming.

that Yoda falls extremely short but i'd pick one up nowadays if i saw it to customize.