General Veers - Mini Busts

Ordered by Darth Vader to personally command the ground assault of the Rebel base on Hoth, General Maximillian Veers led the Imperial attack with AT-AT walkers and large waves of Imperial snowtroopers. Destroying a shield generator, Veers forced the Rebels to flee, allowing the Empire to capture Echo Base.

It was a day that would not be forgotten any time soon when Gentle Giant Ltd. announced a terrible error with the general release General Veers Mini Bust. In fact, it could be interpreted as one of their biggest mistakes in their entire history. They explained in a note on their Facebook page that the concept for the regular edition General Veers Mini Bust changed in development. Originally he was intended to come with non-removable AT-AT Commander gear, but they instead decided to display him in his officer’s uniform. The problem? They didn’t tell anyone until the product was released and all publicity photos that online shops used to market the piece showed the incorrect photo (of him as an AT-AT Commander). The interchangeable AT-AT Commander parts were exclusive to the PGM release and you could switch him back from officer to commander by switching out the necessary parts. PGMs exhaled a big sigh of relief, but those not part of the PGM were immediately deflated and felt they had been deceived from the get-go when they pre-ordered it.

Gentle Giant Ltd. claimed that they new about this sudden (and very drastic update/change) but just that they failed to communicate it to the public. But in all seriousness, what damage control could they have done to make every aware when the promo/media images had already been dispersed? We suppose some retailers and e-tailers could have helped mend broken fences in this regard, but it’s likely that very little could have been remedied to make everyone happy. And with the tiny edition size of the PGM version (less than 500 pieces), there just weren’t enough units around of it to give as replacements to those who had been let down. To be fair, Gentle Giant Ltd. offered to accept returns of the piece and they would refund your money, but disappointment is a hard emotion to make go away, and unless Gentle Giant Ltd. had plans to manufacture another whole run of the General Veers [2012 PGM Exclusive], there wasn’t much that was going to quench that disappointment. Hopefully if you were one of the victims who was had the General Veers Mini Bust falsely advertised to you that you discovered it is still a nice piece, because it is.

Collectors are on the fence about General Veers’ likeness. We think it’s an admirable effort at worst and good at best. We have to admit that the regular edition General Veers is not nearly as exciting as the PGM General Veers. The AT-AT Commander armor is helpful in making his likeness look better than it is. But with the regular edition, nothing (as in a helmet) is obscuring his face and the light illuminates all of the imperfections. Also, quite frankly an officer’s uniform is a little bit boring by nature. If you seen one you have technically seen them all, albeit in a different color probably. Still, we have great affection for General Veers and we love the work Gentle Giant Ltd. has done to him for the Mini Bust line. It may have been better to have designed two completely unique Mini Busts: one of General Veers as an officer and one of General Veers as an AT-AT Commander. The latter should have been the general release Mini Bust and the former should have been the PGM exclusive. More collectors are interested in General Veers as an AT-AT Commander anyway. If you don’t mind the mix-up then you should be able to appreciate General Veers very much.