2008/2009 Evolutions Sets

[Daigo-Bah]

Still no sign of any Evolutions sets at 3 Wal-Marts within my work driving area.  My closest Target had several Rebel Pilot 1 sets for at least a few days in a row, so it's clear there never was a set 2 there.  Matter of time, I guess...
As for set 1, I love it.  I didn't realize Dorovio was a unique sculpt; she is considerably thinner and smaller than the VTSC Luke pilot (which is where I thought the sculpt came from), and the holster looks surprisingly cool and not really out of place.  Janson is a great sculpt overall, though the stance is pretty wide and he has a simple and goofy face sculpt.  An interesting note is that Snowspeeder pilots may not have the wrapped snow boots at all, like what we see Luke wear.  In the briefing scene in the hangar when Leia instructs them, they're all wearing black X-Wing boots.  As for Ten Nunb, great B-Winger sculpt, but he is super tall compared to the old POTF2 cinema scene version.  I'll be painting him red soon too.

[Darth_Anton]

I'll be curious as to which red paint matches the best. I'll be wanting to do a red Nein Numb myself.

[JACKOFTRADZE]

Why not just swap with the V2 Red body when you get it, not painting involved......and no flaking. It's the same body.

[Jeff]

Same body... different neck posts though.  The "head ball" on Ten's white suit is bigger then the ball on Keyan's red suit.

It's still do-able if you use some sculpty or something to build up the red suit's neck post to fit Ten's head, but it's not just a simple head swap...

[Matt_Fury]

An interesting note is that Snowspeeder pilots may not have the wrapped snow boots at all, like what we see Luke wear.  In the briefing scene in the hangar when Leia instructs them, they're all wearing black X-Wing boots. 

I always thought those guys were not part of Rouge Squadron so they just went to their X-wings and escorted the transports.

[Siths Herald]

On the Padme set, what are the head wrap and white gown that come as extra gear from?  Are they from some scene I don't remember?  The only head of the three that the head wrap fits on is the Geonosis one.  The gown looks like it is from Sentorial Leia.

[Daigo-Bah]

An interesting note is that Snowspeeder pilots may not have the wrapped snow boots at all, like what we see Luke wear.  In the briefing scene in the hangar when Leia instructs them, they're all wearing black X-Wing boots. 

I always thought those guys were not part of Rouge Squadron so they just went to their X-wings and escorted the transports.

Hmmm, I never thought of that!  Although, Hobbie's in that briefing (and Kesin Ommis too) and Luke calls to Hobbie after he's been hit...

[Nicklab]

On the Padme set, what are the head wrap and white gown that come as extra gear from?  Are they from some scene I don't remember?  The only head of the three that the head wrap fits on is the Geonosis one.  The gown looks like it is from Sentorial Leia.

The headwrap is definitely for Geonosis Padme.  And if you've seen some footage from Clone Wars there are some shots of Padme where she's wearing some kind of a headwrap.

As for the white gown?  My guess is that it's supposed to be the birthing gown for Padme in ROTS.

[commandernarra]

I've always asumed it was the rogues at the meeting, and have always thought that the 'latecommers' to it were Wedge and Janson. We know Hobbie's there, and in an old interview with Denis Lawson he said the biggest film set he had worked on was the echo base hanger, so could be. Empire's filled with little details and the black haired pilot certainly looks like Lawson? Anyone else thought this? Its always bugged me.
About the snowspeeder pilots, the figures are great but lack accuracy with the leg straps. They should come out from under the flight jacket and not from the chestbox. Small nitpick

[Jayson]

On the Padme set, what are the head wrap and white gown that come as extra gear from?  Are they from some scene I don't remember?  The only head of the three that the head wrap fits on is the Geonosis one.  The gown looks like it is from Sentorial Leia.

The headwrap is definitely for Geonosis Padme.  And if you've seen some footage from Clone Wars there are some shots of Padme where she's wearing some kind of a headwrap.

[Darth_Anton]

As for the white gown?  My guess is that it's supposed to be the birthing gown for Padme in ROTS.

Yes, it is. Takes a little work, but it does fit.

[Brian]

I noticed that HTS appears to have the Rebel Pilots 2 set in stock right now, for those interested.  I know those haven't made it to retail around here yet anyways.

[Diddly]

Ok, I picked up the First version of the Rebel Evolutions set today (the one with Wes Jansen, Sullustian B-Wing pilot and the human female pilot) and the Imperial Pilots evolution set. Here are my thoughts:

AOTC/CW Clone - Same as before, except more EU. I'll put it with my 06 Clone Wars Gunship since the blues match.

ROTS Clone - Overall letdown. The legs are the same as the 05 ROTS Clone Pilot (which I don't own but I noticed it still had the 2004 copyright, lame!) and it still has the oversized crotch. Upper body is good, but the helmet is too small and to get the visor to cover the eyes you have to pull the helmet down way too far.

Biggs - The main reason for me buying the set. Lower body is rehashed from the 2004 TIE pilot, which is good but still lacks ankle articulation. Upper body is great though. I don't mind the open helmet, as it's actually to scale and reminds me of "real life" jet fighter pilot helmets. We now have a PERFECT TIE Pilot sculpt and I expect a rerelease soon with a new head and closed helmet. The winner of the set.

Imperial Overall Thoughts - LAME. Pretty much everything is a rehash, with the only new sculpts being the upper bodies of Biggs and the ROTS Pilot. Must have been pretty cheap for Hasbro to produce, but I could have easily done without it, even though I like the Biggs figure. Thumbs down, if you want it bad enough, get the Biggs off eBay and wait for the eventual rerelease of the ROTS pilot.

Female Pilot (Dorivio Bold) - Eh, she's alright, basically reuses a bunch of VTSC Pilot Luke parts. Like the Imp set her lower body is a rehash but the upper body is all new. They sculpted small boobs and smaller arms but from far away I can't tell the difference from the VTSC Luke. I also would have preferred her to have a ponytail or something. Do all pilots have to have short hair?

Wes Jansen - Awesome, we finally have a SA Hoth pilot sculpt! The height seems average too, as he's slightly taller than Bold. So pump out those repaints Hasbro! Figure is just about perfect, as they even sculpted Jansen's grin from when he harpooned the AT-AT. My only gripe is that the head looks too big but that's minor.

Ten Numb - My favorite from the Rebel pilot set, barely beating out Jansen. They can even salvage the arms/legs and use them to create a perfect non-Hoth Rebel Pilot. My one complaint is that the tubes are hard to connect and I can't tell which ones go where.

Rebel Overall Thoughts - A much better buy than the Imperial set, with the female pilot being the only dud of the set. Jansen and Numb alone are worth the $20. I can't wait to find Version 2. This set gets my full recommendation, whatever that's worth to you.

[Daigo-Bah]

I've always asumed it was the rogues at the meeting

I had another look at the film, and there's one scene where you can see the boots of the Snowspeeder pilots: right when Luke is climbing in and Dack asks him if he's feeling alright, you can see 2 rebels climbing into another Snowspeeder with black boots, not snow shoes.

[Jesse James]

I still have yet to find the Imperial Pilot set or the Rebel Pilot set #2.

I hate distribution on Evolutions because all the repacked crap clogs the shelves up at this point while the new items are just a bitch to track down.  I've yet to find Evolutions sets as anything more than frustrating to look for.  Out here they've yet to restock them too, making this all the worse, mostly because the old repacks are still lingering (as is Padme's set here and there)...

And the kicker is these pilots sets are maybe going to be my favorite items this year.  God this is annoying.

Then again they're hardly restocking basic figures here either and I'm still without Sae Sae Tinn and the Ewok pack.