Author Topic: Vintage Collection Senate Guard Review  (Read 8551 times)

Offline pedro1138

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Vintage Collection Senate Guard Review
« on: January 20, 2011, 01:34:02 AM »
The Phantom Menace brought many new characters both pivotal and back ground. One of the more interesting of these was the Senate Guard. Originally they were intended to be the predecessors of the Imperial Royal Guard. By the time Episode two came around this idea had been rejected and they were established as two separate organisations. Unlike some other popular background characters the Senate guards staid very much in the background until their reinvention for the Clone Wars.

History
The Senate guard’s uniforms changed many times over the years and each of these has had it’s own plastic incarnation. Despite the massive number of figures released in the Episode one collection, the Senate guard had to wait until the Power of the Jedi collection. Subsequent releases have all been of the different versions of the Guard uniforms. Up until now the Senate guard’s original Episode one appearance has not been recreated. So is this the ultimate version or does it fall short of the honourable protectors it represents? Read on for the answer.

Offline pedro1138

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Re: Vintage Collection Senate Guard Review
« Reply #1 on: January 20, 2011, 01:40:03 AM »
Sculpt
As with many figures in the Vintage collection the Senate guard is not a totally new sculpt. The body is the same as the Senate and Red Guard from the Revenge of the Sith line. Like most of the TVC line he has been upgraded from previous releases, in this case a totally new head. Hasbro has stated that the head sculpt is as expensive to create as the whole rest of the figure. Looking at this head sculpt I can believe it. The new head looks as if it has been sculpted separate to the helmet but the two fit together so snugly that they might as well be one. The likeness captures the on screen appearance exactly, and yes the huge black crests are back. I think it’s an excellent sculpt and the new head rounds it out nicely.

Offline pedro1138

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Re: Vintage Collection Senate Guard Review
« Reply #2 on: January 20, 2011, 01:41:05 AM »
Articulation
The body is super articulated and has a good range of movement in all joints. Unlike most of the figures with this helmet, the Senate guard has a functioning ball jointed head. Because of the neck part of the helmet the joint is a bit restricted but it certainly gives more movement than you would otherwise expect. He does have a little trouble holding his rifle in a double handed grip. It’s hard to tell if this is because of the shoulder joints or because of the large amount of soft goods this figure is swathed in. (More about that later) Overall this figure has excellent articulation and should have no trouble with most poses.

Offline pedro1138

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Re: Vintage Collection Senate Guard Review
« Reply #3 on: January 20, 2011, 01:42:03 AM »
Paint
Paint apps, well it’s blue. Literally. The Senate Guard has armour that is all painted in two shades of blue with the occasional other colour thrown in for detail. It’s actually very well done and looks clean and neat. The helmet and face are very nicely painted and match the reference photos well. The most unfortunate thing about the paint apps for this figure is that they are almost completely covered by the soft goods robe. The rifle and pike he comes with are also painted to match the movie props.

Offline pedro1138

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Re: Vintage Collection Senate Guard Review
« Reply #4 on: January 20, 2011, 01:43:45 AM »
Accessories
The last release of this figure in the Revenge of the Sith line came with a rifle and a pistol, the Red Guard variant came with the same accessories but not the pike that the Red Guards actually use in the movie. This time around the figure comes with the same rifle and pistol, but he also comes with a pike. As these are not used by the Senate Guards in any of the reference material I’ve seen and there is no Red Guard variant of this figure, it seems an odd choice of accessory. That said it is a nice inclusion and the figure holds it best of all his weapons. Overall I think the accessories match the figure nicely and provide a lot of fun opportunities for poses.

Offline pedro1138

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Re: Vintage Collection Senate Guard Review
« Reply #5 on: January 20, 2011, 01:44:34 AM »
Packaging
The packaging for this figure is the same as the rest of the Vintage collection. There is a nice photo I hadn’t previously seen of the Senate Guard on the front of the card. The picture says it all.
(For a more in depth review of the packaging see my previous reviews)

Offline pedro1138

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Re: Vintage Collection Senate Guard Review
« Reply #6 on: January 20, 2011, 01:45:45 AM »
Verdict
Now it’s time for my two cents worth. The sculpt is nice, the paint is good, the accessories work but I found this figure a disappointment. For one important reason, the soft goods. This figure has not one but two soft goods robes. While this looks really nice in the blister it seriously works against it when out of the package. The length of the robe makes it hard for the figure to stand, even if you do due to the length of the robe it bunches up making him look like he’s wearing a blue tent. In my opinion this takes a figure that is a seven out of ten and brings it down to a five. As I mentioned earlier he also has trouble holding his rifle two handed which for me makes the whole figure much less pleasing. Despite all this I’m still going to recommend the figure. It is a nice figure particularly if you don’t open it. Even if you do, you can still have a lot of fun with this figure.

Offline Clonehead

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Re: Vintage Collection Senate Guard Review
« Reply #7 on: January 20, 2011, 05:27:30 AM »
A solid and well penned review. I might think twice before picking this one up now.

Offline DocOutlands

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Re: Vintage Collection Senate Guard Review
« Reply #8 on: January 20, 2011, 08:10:27 AM »
Is he wearing armor under the robes?  Can the robes be removed?

Offline CloneCommander Buy

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Re: Vintage Collection Senate Guard Review
« Reply #9 on: January 20, 2011, 08:44:04 AM »
Great reveiw!  Are these out now, I have not seen them. I think I want two for display.

Offline pedro1138

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Re: Vintage Collection Senate Guard Review
« Reply #10 on: January 20, 2011, 08:38:26 PM »
Until now I hadn't tried removing the robes, turns out it is easy as. Just pop off his head slip them off. Underneath he looks awesome! After seeing that it really changes my opinion of the figure.

Offline DocOutlands

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Re: Vintage Collection Senate Guard Review
« Reply #11 on: January 24, 2011, 07:47:57 AM »
oooooh - fodder potential!!  Thanks for the pic!

Offline Tamer

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Re: Vintage Collection Senate Guard Review
« Reply #12 on: January 28, 2011, 08:20:44 AM »
Thank you for your review. I did get an image made of this one today too and am about ready to load them up to the front page. I really agree with you about the soft goods, but see that it does have potential.

Offline DocOutlands

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Re: Vintage Collection Senate Guard Review
« Reply #13 on: January 28, 2011, 11:52:06 AM »
Your review made sure I bought him when I found him Wednesday.  ;)

Offline B.R. Steel

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Re: Vintage Collection Senate Guard Review
« Reply #14 on: January 28, 2011, 08:14:04 PM »
Great review.  As for me, I'll be waiting for the Royal Guard version from Return of the Jedi.  I'll be interested to see how much of this figure is used for that one.

I'm curious about your statement:

"One of the more interesting of these was the Senate Guard. Originally they were intended to be the predecessors of the Imperial Royal Guard. By the time Episode two came around this idea had been rejected and they were established as two separate organizations."

What is your source for this information?  EU sources?  Did Lucas have another change of heart and retcon this?