Some time back Lucasarts released The Force Unleashed and with it a line of figures that has since become rather high demand but also hard to find. Cashing in on the popularity nearly two years too late, Hasbro has released two boxed sets that support the first Force Unleashed game, just before the sequel is released, which isn’t bad timing necessarily but since it appears no new figures will be out for the new game, it does make a person scratch their heads at Hasbro’s marketing strategies.  

Set 1 had another Galen Marek, A cool Juno Eclipse (more accurate to her regular appearance in the majority of the game), Rham Kota’s Elite Troopers, and Evo Trooper with some sort of funked up camouflage pattern and a Transparent Stormtrooper. The first set was very weak with the exception of Juno Eclipse and thus I didn’t grab it but some gems were in the second set which is the subject of this review.  

Felucian Warrior kicks this review off and I have to say I really don’t like this figure. In the game these plant creatures from the same planet Aalya Secura was killed are the natives (apparently along with the Rancor creatures as well). I really never liked them in the game and I don’t much like them here. The figure is odd and honestly just seems out of place in the Star Wars universe.  

It is a good likeness from the game though, so I suppose from that level the figure has merits. But my knocks on the figure are primarily in the department of looks and function. This figure begs back to some of the lamer aspects of the prequels of Star Wars. As such he really does nothing for me.  

He is a simple repaint of the same figure included with the Target Exclusive TFU Rancor. The design of the Rancor was kind of lame to me with the ultra bright highlights. In other words the figure being an exclusive is not an incentive to me. The one good thing is he might be good for a couple of celery jokes in my Scale Wars comic, but that is about it. But that potential gives him the two stars I have given him.  

Galen Marak makes an appearance in this set as well in his bounty hunter outfit. I know Starkiller is not generally the name used with Galen, but I think it fits better and is more striking than Galen Marek. Thus I am using it still.  

Starkiller’s Bounty Hunter outfit was my favorite in the game, somewhat reminiscent of Boba Fett but still original enough to be his own. The chest plate is the big part of the design that is from Boba Fett. The wrappings make the figure original enough as to make him distinct and the design is not lost on the figure.  

Oddly he also comes with a Boba Fett helmet. Unless I was sleeping while playing the game or there is some huge differences to TFU across platforms (besides different levels which is true of different platforms) I never saw this in the game. It’s an odd choice to add and when added makes it look like Boba Fett has become a Sith apprentice (OK maybe Jango Fett, who is a Boba Fett clone anyway, he since Boba is a clone of Jango that becomes really weird on a literary level, WOW talk about going off on a tangent). Another point I will give Hasbro credit on is the fact they could have gotten away with a remold of the previous heads of Starkiller, but instead gave us a new sculpt (Not sure if it’s the same as the one with the other set though). I think another color lightsaber would have enhanced this figure slightly (in the game there are options for orange and purple sabers which could have been divided between the sets). It wouldn’t have been necessary but still kind of nice to have included with the sets.  

Anyway I still dig the figure if only because it’s probably my favorite Starkiller outfit.  

Next up Proxy, so really as a character Proxy is kind of weak. He really just changes form and occasionally complains about Vader broadcasting through him. The sequence where he disguises himself as Obi-Wan was really the only character moment for him and I’m not sure what it’s supposed to say about him. Still his concept was kind of cool, a robot who could put holograms around himself and essentially be anyone.  

When I first pulled him out I thought he had almost no articulation but as it turns out his articulation is very well hidden. He defiantly wins some points from me on that regard. It’s also nice to have a humanoid droid not based on the Protocol models (Both C-3P0 or the Death Star Droid). While there are a few others floating around every time a humanoid droid not based on those models pops up I get a little happy for a bit of variety.  

Being so thin and having articulation does not make Proxy feel fragile surprisingly. While I wouldn’t try to hold up a truck with his knee joint I still am not worried about accidentally breaking it. Details are good and the likeness is great, not much more I can say besides I love it.  

Now for the repaint of the Jump trooper. The first release of the Jump trooper was missing a very important piece of the puzzle, a Jet pack. This time Hasbro gets it right and includes one. However this does beg the question, why can’t they get it right the first time? Who knows.  

The figure feels like an unnecessary re-release because of this. It is as if the figure destroyed a mythical slot that could have been used for another, newer figure from the game (perhaps one of the Sith lords from the training in the Jedi Temple or something). It’s funny to because I really, really like this figure just like I liked it the first time around and at the same time I feel as if it’s inclusion is unnecessary.  

Just in case anyone has any delusions about using the jet pack with the original Jump trooper, you need to know up front that the backs are not compatible. The peg in the jet pack doesn’t match up with the original’s back. Would have been nice if there was a way to simply match them up as well.  

Next up is the Shadow Stormtrooper or as some have called it Phasing Stormtrooper. Basically this is supposed to represent the Shadow Stormtrooper when they use their invisibility. He is a nifty alteration from the normal Stormtrooper and nice to have. My major beef with him is that he is in both sets of TFU. While he is nice to have around he actually stops me from grabbing the other set. As I said he is a nifty variation but it seems pointless to have two of him. While I understand army building I just don’t think this variation is worth having multiples of.  

Another factor is the presence of the Phasing trooper actually cheapens the set. It is already loaded with repaints (Jump trooper and Felusian) and without more new figures the set feels cheapened. Unfortunately that seems to be Hasbro’s major kick of the past few years, releasing sets that feel overpriced because they are made of mostly simple repaints and very few original molds. This is something that is across the lines like Marvel Universe and GI Joe. While some call this a “Cost saving” measure I think it might have been more productive to have smaller packs with maybe one repaint. Perhaps Starkiller bounty hunter, Proxy and Shadow Stormtrooper with another 3 pack of Juno, Kota’s soldier and Jump trooper. The costs would still be saved and I am willing to bet the lowered price would have moved more sets.  

I feel the same way when I look at the Target Iron Man 2 3-pack that includes Whiplash and Mark V Iron man, what’s the point of grabbing two figures I already have to get one drone I want regardless of how cool it is. Yes the Mark V is different, but really do I want another slight variation? Thus I am left without a drone rather than hand money over for a cheap set.  

That is why I got one TFU set since I liked four of the five figures included verses the other set where I only liked one figure. It’s moments like this I understand the figure swapper perspective, not saying I condone such actions, but rather I understand where they come from and I think it’s kind of sad that it is so easy for me to understand such actions I do not approve of.  

So what does all this mean, I guess in this case the whole is much less than the sum of the parts.