Review: ten yards shy of greatness



Oh, Hasbro and Star Wars. I love buying Star Wars toys, even after 13 years of the modern line. Hasbro consistently finds ways to offer characters I've already bought figures of, and yet make it different enough that I don't feel the fool. This brand-new General Grievous is a great example.

I'd have to check to be sure, but I'm fairly certain I own every Grievous figure Hasbro has made. They all shared a common flaw- they were too short. Grievous is about as tall (maybe taller) than Chewbacca, but his figures were about the same height as a Han Solo action figure. (Discounting both 2D and 3D animated figures.)
I found this new Grievous last night, part of Legacy wave 4, and bought it with a smile, as long as you consider sticking the package in the sack as quickly as possible and hoping the cute college girls behind you in line didn't notice a 27 year old man buying three Star Wars toys and the new issue of Star Wars Insider a smile.

Well, firstly, here's what this figure does right. Arms that can bifurcate? Check. Lightsabers and blaster? Check. And the big one- correct height? Check. It's all good until you pose the legs or try to connect the arms- Hasbro used a very, very gummy plastic, and at least on my sample, the arms refuse to stay together and the figure is difficult to stand up. And Hasbro did NOT put pegholes in the bottom of the figure's feet. There's the lack of a cape too, but I think this is supposed to represent the General during the chase on Utapau, after he loses the cape. But if that were so, he'd be missing two hands. Curious.

I know it's easier to use baseball references when talking about toys, but we'll use a football analogy instead. Say a character starts at the 50-yard line. Most figures get the character closer to the end zone, and this figure is no exception. Unfortunately, this upgrade only goes to the ten yard line. It might have gone all the way with sturdier plastic being used in at least the arms, but this has been Hasbro's m.o. with Star Wars since the late 90s- something new or different with each release, yet not enough to make it the ultimate figure of that character.

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