Republic Commando - Mini Busts

Equipped with specialized weaponry like the DC-17m rifle, special tactical visors, and Katarn-class body armor, the Republic Commandos can infiltrate the deepest, darkest reaches of the Separatist strongholds. The Clone Wars were won or lost, more often than not, due to the efforts of small, anonymous squads of Republic Commandos, working behind the scenes and deep behind enemy lines to do what larger armies could not.

Gentle Giant Ltd. has been timely with their PGM exclusives for the last couple of years. But maybe there were justified reasons for all of the delays. They went above and beyond for PGMs, especially in 2012, to bring truly unique collectibles only to them and create them with extreme quality and low edition sizes. One character, the all-white Republic Commando with light-up visor, may be one of the most anticipated exclusives of them all. You see, Hasbro made all four Delta Squad members in extremely low numbers and only a fraction of collectors who wanted them were actually able to secure them. In an effort to make up for that a bit, they designed an all-new sculpt (instead of repainting one of the four existing ones) and added a twist to make it even a more special collectible than the ones before it. Republic Commando in the white armor has paid off because is compact by comparison yet dynamically positioned.

As mentioned earlier, the bonus feature included for the 2012 PGM exclusive release is the light-up visor. Two triple A batteries come included and nicely light-up the piece to look believable and not just like some random glowing attraction. When not lit, the visor is a grayish blue. But when turned on with a flick of a switch it illuminates to a bright textured blue color. One thing that we didn’t care for that much with the first four including Republic Commando Boss, Republic Commando Fixer, Republic Commando Scorch and Republic Commando Sev was that some, not all, of their poses were very outstretched and obtrusive. Yes, they looked awesome, but it was hard to situate them near each other because they didn’t really fit together naturally on a shelf somewhere. That issue isn’t present with the all-white Republic Commando. He is holding is gun close to the body with both hands on the stock. It looks fantastic.

Gentle Giant Ltd. has received quite a bit of flack from members of the PGM throughout the years. And they unfortunately still get unnecessary grief. (Just read the comments on their website.) But we feel very strongly that they’ve gone above and beyond the call of duty to attempt to make their PGMs satisfied like never before for the 2012 calendar year. Yes, the products arrived late, but there has been a bottleneck problem at the various factory levels companies like Gentle Giant Ltd. uses. Multiple licensees are in direct competition with each other to fulfill their orders. Things just aren’t as simple as they used to be anymore. The good news however is that the PGM exclusive Republic Commando is now available and comes with a really neat light-up feature. If you don’t collect the Mini Bust line, you may be persuaded with a great piece like this. We hope Gentle Giant Ltd. continues to bring awesome collectibles like this in the future to those in the PGM Collectors’ Club.