Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones - TAC - Commemorative Tin Collection (Exclusive)

If there is one Commemorative Tin Collection set that just doesn’t make sense to us, it would have the be the Kmart exclusive Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones set. Talk about a hodgepodge motley crew of characters thrown together in one four-pack! This conglomeration of action figures makes us scratch our heads in confusion when we think about it, but interestingly enough it offers something to new collectors. Two interesting background Jedi, a major Jedi Master and an alien bounty hunter make up this interesting array of Star Wars characters, but in our opinion there is very little here to “commemorate” the Attack Of The Clones film. Typically these sets are intended to bring together the most important characters from the Star Wars films, but in this instance it feels more like Hasbro was going for the obscure, or perhaps looking to release a few of the harder to find action figures that were either released in shorter supply, or were part of multipacks and could stand another chance at retail. One thing is for sure however, there is little denying that the figures that make up this set are pretty cool Star Wars figures, even if you’re not into the Prequel Trilogy all that much. Mace Windu, Sora Bulq, Oppo Rancisis and Zam Wesell are the four characters that are part of this set. And would you believe that Hasbro updated some of these, albeit subtly, making them “new enough to make you mad”?

Mace Windu is one of the disappointments of this set. Hasbro took the Mace Windu from the 2003 Star Wars “Saga” Jedi High Council (Featuring Mace Windu, Oppo Rancisis & Even Piell) (1 of 2) Scene Packs set and gave him an all-new soft-goods robe. This figure was also released in the 2006 TSC Jedi Vs. Darth Sidious Battle Packs set but came with a different soft-goods robe of an inferior quality: it was super shiny. Interestingly, another cast member from this Star Wars “Saga” multipack has also been included in this Commemorative Tin Collection set as well. Hasbro took Oppo Rancisis from the set, repainted him and gave him a lightsaber. While we didn’t see this Jedi Master duel with a lightsaber, it makes this release of him unique, especially since he has been given a new paint job as well. This well-articulated figure from 2003 has held up well and we totally understand why Hasbro thought he was a viable candidate for re-release in 2007 as well. The bendy tail, a feature we typically do not like in action figures, works incredible well and adds something special to this action figure that doesn’t happen all that often. As you can see, while not the worst action figures to include in a more modern set, 50% of this multipack is based on sculpts from 2003. In an era where articulation is king, it may be hard for collectors to accept that this should be the norm to release figures like this in the current market.

The best figure in this set is Sora Bulq. Sora Bulq is a slight repaint of 2006’s TSC Sora Bulq (SAGA 015) figure. There are some differences in the face as well as the browns used to decorate his belt and boots. And you’ll notice some variances in the color of the wash used to give his outfit some texture. But for those that don’t care about such variances, you’ll probably just consider Sora Bulq another straight repack. With plenty of ball-jointed articulation, Sora Bulq has incredible range of motion and was indeed one of the highlights of The Saga Collection in 2006. It is actually very nice to see him re-released in a multipack like this one. And even though he is a very obscure character in Attack Of The Clones, it makes us want to encourage Hasbro to keep making these background alien creatures because they do them so incredibly well. The last figure, Zam Wesell, is a straight repack of 2002’s SW [S - P1] Zam Wesell (Bounty Hunter) (’02 #18) figure. It is not without merit, but the figure has sadly aged to the point of being obsolete after only five years. We believe that Hasbro would have been better off re-releasing 2002’s POTJ Zam Wesell (Sneal Preview) figure because honestly that is the superior version of Zam Wesell by a landslide. (Editor’s Note: 2011’s TVC Zam Wesell (VC30) is now the definitive version of Zam Wesell.) The Kmart exclusive Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones Commemorative Tin Collection set isn’t a total waste, but we bet you’ll be more confused by it than anything else.