EE came through with the Battle of Endor wave today, so I ran down and did a will call. Their track record has been excellent these last few months with timely arrivals. Here's my thoughts on the wave:
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Madine:
Some people think he’s boring. I think he’s the man.
The headsculpt is a dead-on likeness. Paint apps are well done and the best of the wave. Eyes are detailed and accurately placed on mine. The hair is a two tone application similar to Jedi Luke’s, with an almost drybrushed appearance. The head is also a standard head & neck assembly, not the ball socket new type Hasbro has been using lately.
He has standard head, shoulder, waist, and leg articulation, with the unique engineering going into the ball-socket elbow and wrist articulation combination. This allows posing in a neutral stance at his sides, drawn to hold a blaster, a wide two-handed grip on his pointer, and a forward two-handed lightsaber-like grip. This design should be the standard for all Jedi/Lightsaber wielding characters from here on out. It works well and is cleverly hidden in the folds of his sleeves. Outstanding execution.
There are two issues, both paint related. His hair appears quite a bit darker than the blonde it should be. The blue color of his undershirt is also too dark.
(Both Madines in the case are the original version with the pointer in the tray, not in his hands).
Han AT-ST Disguise:
Here’s a mixed bag if there ever was one, but I was pleasantly surprised. This is a better generic AT-ST Driver than a Han figure.
The headsculpt is probably the best ROTJ Han yet. However, it is ruined by poor paint application and plastic that seems to be both of inferior quality and flesh tone than Gen. Madine. He’s awfully pale. The hair is the highlight with another two-tone paint application. On the eyebrows paint is almost nonexistent and too light, very similar to the problem with Ozzel in the previous wave. Eye detail is also sloppily applied and blurry. The problems in this area are consistent on both Hans in the case, and previous pictures seen online.
The figure has standard head, shoulder, waist, and leg articulation, with the swivel joint at the elbow and wrist of the right arm. This is obviously the Imperial Officer body, which isn’t a surprise. But, the left arm is actually different. The elbow articulation is more like Antilles and Dodonna’s style. I don’t have Ozzel in front of me to confirm if it’s a shared part from him. The left glove is unique, as it holds a molded communicator within it.
The best part of the figure, which forgives the dodgy head paintjob and rehashed parts, is the helmet. The fact that this is removable and has a chinstrap makes this the most complete AT-ST Driver made so far, and screams for multiples to be purchases and head-swapped for a new Driver army.
General Lando:
This is an obvious improvement over the POTF2 version, but not the definitive figure I had hoped for.
The headsculpt appears to be a reiteration of the new Lando Skiff sculpt, except the ballsocket head has been abandoned for a standard head & neck design. Paint apps are sufficient, if not quite as precise as Madine. His head is angled upwards just slightly, which looks a little odd.
His cape is much less superhero looking this time. It hangs very naturally and removes easily. Doing so brings out another fault in the figure, however. Without the cape, Lando’s neck is noticeably lengthy, almost awkwardly so.
A cool feature is his pistol holster, which is actually an entirely separate piece of plastic. It isn’t molded to the torso piece. It may come off with a bit of finagling if you raise if left arm and apply some pressure. The gun fits nicely into the holster.
The figure has standard head, shoulder, waist, and leg articulation, and his right arm share the same design as Madine’s. It is not, though, reusing any of that figures parts. His left arm does not have any articulation other than at the shoulder.
Paint apps appear to be fairly accurate to the movie costume.
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Overall, a nice, if slightly boring wave. Madine is the highlight, and the other two are acceptable, if not stellar.
A note on the case assortment - the new figures are 2 per case, with 1 each of the previous wave, and 1 Lando Skiff, 1 Hoth Luke, and 1... Hoth Soldier.
With the next major wave being the switch to OTC cards, I'm rather worried about the availability of most of the Jabba's Palace denizens.
-J
