New JD Review: Death Star Gunner

[Imperialscum]

Iīm absolutely agree with this one...
I already have six gunners and they look great together, especially if you pose them in action!

I think the gunner is in the top 5 figures of this year. Itīs even  a better figure tha Commander Cody himself.

Thanks for the review Mr. J, itīs really good

P.S. THEY DONīT HAVE EYEBROWS!!!!
...perhaps the reactor exploded accidentally

[Jesse James]

Yup, another week and a new review...  Despite a delay last week we should be on track here at least for a couple figures.  Time constraints have just cut into the reviews a bit lately.

This week's is indeed the new Death Star Gunner.

Clicky button to read...

Let's face it, most of you probably knew I'd be happy with this figure...  The stance is neutral, the sculpt is amazing, the articulation is good "standard setting" type articulation, the features like a working holster and removable helmet are great...  It is just a really nice figure.

For the basic line, it's definitely up there in the top handful for the year I'm thinking...  It's one of those resculpts you really couldn't imagine till you saw it and how great it turned out.  Hasbro's decision to not only include removable helmet and working holster features, but also a rockin' removable armor so you can have an A New HOpe and Return of the Jedi Gunners is just icing on the cake.

The big gripe I have is the facial likeness under the hood...  The good news is, should you want to, some paint would make the clone face underneath look like any old schmuck.  A lighter skintone for instance, with brown hair...  Voila!  Instant nobody.  Or other skintones and hair colors...  It's a fairly "generic" face really despite the obvious Clone look to it.  I blame that mostly on paintjob.

Anyway though, my thoughts on the figure are pretty clear in the review...  It's just a good action figure.  It's what Hasbro should give us EVERY time for $7, not just here and there.

If Jerjerrod was this cool?  Count me in for dozens of him.  If Derlin were this cool?  Again, I'm buying a pile and changing up rank badges and doing headswaps...  Even at $7, which is pricey at this scale (I get 1:18 military figures, with more **** usually, and substantially better articulation, for about $5 each...  So obviously there is a price issue here with SW), I'd be inclined to buy more of any given figure due to the bump in quality...

Anyway, Hasbro has a gem with the DSG, and he's become fairly common, at least around me.  The repacking of him in the pre-packaged display stands for WM stores really got him out in quantity.  I'm almost to a 20 figure quota myself...  So pick up a couple Gunners.  They look great together.

[Darth_Anton]

Itīs even  a better figure tha Commander Cody himself.

I'd actually rank Cody as one of the worst.

As for the Gunner, yeah, excellent standard to rate all other figures against. My only gripe, and it's minor, is that the helmet keeps falling off. I have been giving serious consideration to gluing it. The neck "ruffle" isn't so hot either, but it is movie accurate.

[Jesse James]

That's weird, all my figure's helmets stay on fine...  Kind of tight actually.

Yeah though, I gotta agree with you that I'd rate Cody down on the list pretty far.  Hasbro took the most wanted Clone of all time and made a figure in a pre-posed goofy stance that lacked articulation...  That's a pretty big bomb on their part IMO.  Cody's done well at retail, but the figure turned out like bantha poodoo.

[CorranHorn]

JJ,

Another great review man - you brought out all the highlights of this figure. The DSG is my personal vote for best TSC Basic figure of 2006. There are a couple points I wanted to mention:

* Of the 6 figures I have (5 really since one got cannibalized for a custom), none have eyebrows. Looks like Hasbro missed it, but not the end of the world as I personally don't like the Clone head idea either and I leave their buckets on.

* The holster - I'm curious how you're getting the blaster to stay in the holster. When I attempt to insert the blaster the way it should be (based on how the holster is sculpted and the fact that the handle grip should always be pointing towards the back) the blaster will not rest smoothly in the holster as the side cartridge butts in on the holster. I can only get the blaster to rest smoothly if I flip the blaster around.

Again another great review, always the best on the net!

[Artoo]

He's beginning to warm here too. Good for me! Since I've never seen him before! Cody looks Ok at best (still have not come across one), but not what I want. They could of re-hashed the SA clone whuch would of be perfect, & have a new Grievous but noooooo.
It's amazing that the Holo version looks much better than the regular one.

[Jesse James]

Jason, I'm just on briefly here but the holster's a bit of a misnomer...

The style holster used by the Empire a lot is a pretty "generic" and cheap item...  Some officers are seen with a holster higher on the hip with clear ways in which the handle of their sidearm is to be pointed outward from it, but these long dangling holsters for the E-11's worn by all types of Imperials are less "structured" in the films.  Just cheap basic ways to carry a gun without physically holding onto it...  They have no clear way of putting the weapon in.

If you look closely, Hasbro actually sculpted the holster to hold the gun with the handle facing FORWARD though, quite intentional...  In the film it seems some troops have their guns this way, some the other way, some have holsters on the left, some on the right, etc... 

The cheapness of the Impy holster though ultimately lets it store the weapon any way the trooper in question would've wanted but Hasbro sculpted this holster specifically to have the handle facing forward...  The VOTC Trooper's holster is on the left hip though and is clearly meant to hold the blaster with its handle facing backward...  which it does very poorly at anyway.

I believe Ryan took the photos in our archives with the gun facing backward in the holster like I've seen a lot of folks doing.  I like them to rest flat and as hidden as possible though so I display mine the way they were sort of pre-designed by Hasbro to fit.

The E-11's not much of a weapon for quick-drawing being a bit bulky compared to a pistol and all, so I easily buy into these big cheesey Imp holsters being just generic carry-alls for Imperial pee-ons to stuff whatever gun in there whatever way they feel comfortable.

[Jediknight760071]

Just wanted to drop in and say that was an excellent review guys. Even though I've already gotten the figure, I took the time to read through your review. Great work.

[Nirvana]

Nice review as always Jesse. The way I got the holster to look normal is to cut it off with an X-Acto and glue it on the other side of his belt. That way, it fits with the handle facing normal.

[Jesse James]

I wanted to thank you all for the comments, they were greatly appreciated...

The figure turned out to be just fantastic and easy enough to track down (thanks to Hasbro repacking it in the Wal-Mart pre-packed mixes) for those of us wanting a lot of this figure.  I realized the other night I've almost hit my quota too...  I'm 2 shy of having 20 troopers to line up.  I'll probably nab some more if I've got extra cash burning a hole in my pocket but after the next two I'm gonna pretty much call it quits on this one I think.

It's definitely a fantastic figure...  I hate the Jango Head on there, but I can't really gripe much about a removable helmet...  The head, with the right paintjob, is quite generic enough to look like any Joe Schmoe too... 

I'm glad you guys enjoyed the review since I suppose we all knew it was gonna be a love-fest...  Personally I find too many reviews to be that way on Hasbro's wares...  On this one it's deserved though I believe.  Kudos to Hasbro too for a fine figure.  If they were all this good I'd need to find some form of extra income, haha.

[Billy Ray]

Hands down one of (if not THE) best figures of the past year!  I really love this one.  Also, he makes a pretty good stand in for the Death Star Trooper as the POTF2 Death Star Trooper's helemt fits pretty nicely on him.

[Daigo-Bah]

Yeah, the figure is excellent, and JJ's review as always is terrific!  I too don't like Jango's face under there (I'm OT-only) but when they're helmeted I don't even remember he's under there.  The armor has a great stormtrooper-like sculpt, but it's too bad they did not sculpt the film-accurate sideways-pauldron from the sandtrooper as the chest armor.  Again, minor gripe though.  Here is a pic during my making of the DS cannon diorama with the guys sitting in place, ready to fire:

[Jesse James]

Thanks again guys...  Yeah I'd have actually dug a running change (since so many DSG's seem to have been made) that actually gave the Gunner a grey jumpsuit ala the 12" Death Star Gunner figure...  He and his leather-ish uniform were pretty cool and it seems they're accurate too, to some extent.  Something to change up the figure to be more ANH-ish would've been cool though since you see them more there really.

Still, this is easily one of the best army builders of 2006...  Definitely the best all-new one short of getting into the Vintage line I believe.  Hasbro has a home run with him and easy to find too.  They're still shipping near as I can tell...  Saw another tonight and passed due to simply lack of money, haha. 

[David]

Yeah, the figure is excellent, and JJ's review as always is terrific!  I too don't like Jango's face under there (I'm OT-only) but when they're helmeted I don't even remember he's under there.  The armor has a great stormtrooper-like sculpt, but it's too bad they did not sculpt the film-accurate sideways-pauldron from the sandtrooper as the chest armor.  Again, minor gripe though.  Here is a pic during my making of the DS cannon diorama with the guys sitting in place, ready to fire:

wow! great diorama!

[Amanaman]

The separate helmet is great for customizers, but I would've liked this figure better with a large ball joint neck and no oversize holster.

I don't care much for Hasbro troopers anyways, once Sideshow makes their own I'll be happy.