Grand Admiral Thrawn (Commander Of The Imperial Fleet) - Militaries Of Star Wars - 1:6 Scale Figures

A consummate strategist, Grand Admiral Thrawn likened combat to art and was an aficionado of both. Recognized long ago by his people, the Chiss, Thrawn's greatest weapon was his mind. His tactics were controversial in their boldness, and his activities within the Chiss Expansionary Defense Fleet drew many a concerned, glowing red eye.

The rest of the galaxy made first contact with the Chiss when a taskforce dispatched by Palpatine stumbled upon Thrawn's fleet. The young blue-skinned commander was able to decimate the intruders despite inferior weapons and numbers. The taskforce's commander, Kinman Doriana, asked Thrawn for a parley. The two conversed, and Doriana was able to appeal to Thrawn's cool sense of logic and order. He outlined his mission – to destroy the incoming Outbound Flight vessel – to Thrawn, spelling out the threat that this vessel filled with Jedi Masters posed to the Chiss people. Thrawn completed the mission that Doriana failed and destroyed the Outbound Flight project. Returning to Csilla, Thrawn was reprimanded for his hostilities, and eventually, his activities caused him to be altogether banished from the Chiss.

The Chiss's loss became Palpatine's gain, and despite a strong policy against non-human officers in the Imperial Navy, Thrawn ascended the Imperial ranks. Before long, Thrawn attained command of an Imperial Star Destroyer, the Vengeance. His star continued to rise unabated, and he achieved the rank of Vice Admiral and earned Vader's respect and access to his secret Noghri army. After helping dispose of the traitorous Grand Admiral Zaarin, Thrawn ascended to Grand Admiral rank himself.

Thrawn's genius manifested itself best in constructing strategies from mere fragments of information. Thrawn was able to locate one of Palpatine's fabled storehouses, and there, found the technology necessary to begin growing a clone army. He found vessels for this army by discovering the long lost Katana Fleet. He recruited the maddened dark Jedi Joruus C'baoth and used his Force talents to better coordinate his scattered strikes. He also began to secure secret caches of cloned agents throughout the galaxy, ready to answer his call.

Grand Admiral Thrawn became one of our very first Expanded Universe characters (in general) that grew an amazing following and has today become one of the most popular Star Wars characters overall, period. It is quite interesting how fans gravitate to EU characters and Grand Admiral Thrawn was certainly one that struck a chord with more than a few! We first received him as a 1998 Expanded Universe Hasbro figure which was both very hard to find and an incredible seller. 2008 brought us an update to the original POTF2 figure and that is pretty much all we got. But probably nothing prepared us for Sideshow’s interpretation of the character in 1:6 Scale Figure form. We are so thankful that Sideshow attempted him in the 1:6 Scale Figure scale then say a Premium Format Figure, because we think the 1:6 Scale Figure line is their best offering [ever] and is really just a large sized action figure (for you vintage collectors out there). We are huge fans of 1:6 Scale Figure lines and we tend to be of the opinion that bigger is indeed better. And if so many more points of articulation can be added to a 1:6 Scale Figure (as well as a light year’s worth of better detail), why wouldn’t everyone just want to get the 1:6 Scale Figure versions of the characters. (We know the answer: price.) But there is really no denying just how awesome Sideshow’s 1:6 Scale Figure is and where it’s going excites us more than you could possibly imagine. But the 1:6 Scale Figure line is not for everybody. We still think that figures of this quality and caliber will no doubt intrigue many to start collecting this scale because these figures for the most part are just too good to pass up.

Sideshow decided to take a big risk and not only create a 1:6 Scale Figure of Grand Admiral Thrawn, but also released an impressive command chair to boot (which is the exclusive “accessory” for this figure). We think in general the risk paid off tenfold. We know that there will be criticisms about the figure and chair, but we think it shines gloriously. It not only is a stunning work of art, but it is huge and dwarfs the size of this 1:6 Scale Figure. Just look at the photos to see this! The presentation of the piece is absolutely astounding and we really don’t want to take away from it by complaining in any way, but we do want to express that the polystone command chair did not meet our fullest expectations. While designed magnificently and looking completely amazing, it is hollow and way too light for the price tag is “commands”. In other words, if you don’t handle it, you will be thoroughly impressed. Only by picking it up and tinkering with it will you realize that it’s not entirely worth it weight in collectible gold. We think this is a shame because we have witnessed other polystone accessories that have quite some mass to them. The command screen that attaches via a post is truly beautiful as well and the “digital screen” is simply a heavyweight decal that is very bright and vibrant. Don’t worry, it isn’t cheesy, it looks fantastic. And Grand Admiral Thrawn sits in the chair very well. Because he is designed from the Prometheus body type, Thrawn is basically unlimited in mobility and can be posed to sit just like a real person. When fully assembled, you will be astounded by how breathtakingly beautiful this set is.

Grand Admiral Thrawn himself is a beautiful 1:6 Scale Figure. While the look of his species is quite simplistic and colored in baby blue skin with red eyes and black hair, Sideshow has added some extra texture and quality of their own and gave the paint operations a little extra “pop” and the final product is beautiful. Thrawn’s portrait is remarkable and his widow’s peak makes him stand out from all the other 1:6 Scale Figures we have received. He has the perfect incredulous expression on his face that is complete with a stoic smile and we think it is one of Sideshow’ crowning achievements in this scale of their figures. The early production photos showed Grand Admiral Thrawn in a lily white Imperial uniform. The final product has a slightly off-white uniform that has a linen look to it which we think looks a little bit better and not so antiseptic. The uniform lies close to his body and this fitted look just makes the figure appear extra sharp. The complete uniform gives the figure a nice silhouette. His badge utilizes all three primary colors to show his rank and it is one of the more eye-catching details on the figure. His boots are ultra shiny and pulls the whole outfit together. Grand Admiral Thrawn just wouldn’t be complete without his yasalamir would he? Sideshow sculpted an beautiful one that functions as one of the best accessories a Sideshow 1:6 Scale Figure has ever come with to date. The yasalamir is sculpted perfectly and painted even better. We are thoroughly impressed! Thrawn also comes with interchangeable hands as well as a new gun that we haven’t seen yet in the 1:6 Scale Figure line. It looks fantastic! Sideshow doesn’t visit the EU too often for their 1:6 Scale Figure collection. If Grand Admiral Thrawn is any indication of how successful they can be with it, we hope they keep bringing us character after character.