Savage Opress - SW [Y/AOTC] - The Clone Wars (CW02)

Savage Opress brings his lost brother Darth Maul to Dathomir to be healed. (European packaging)

Savage Opress brings his lost brother Darth Maul to Dathomir to be healed. The evil Opress helps Maul lure Obi-Wan Kenobi into a trap, and eagerly fights side by side with his brother against the Jedi in a ferocious lightsaber duel. (North American packaging)

We recently thumbed through some of the 2008/2009 TLC Comic Packs pack-in comic books. In it were adds for the 30 (77-07) Saga Legends Fans’ Choice figures. Not only does this ad prove how far delayed the Comic Packs line was, there was a tagline on it that made us remember happier times. The tagline reads “When you talk, we listen.” That was exactly the case then, but goodness gracious how times changed for the worse in this day and age. Hasbro does anything but listen to us it seems. Despite so many figure from The Clone Wars line being some of the most difficult to find, Hasbro rarely includes them as carry-forward figures in updated line looks. To be fair, there are many times they got “rare” figures out to us again. C-3PO (No. 16), Jar Jar Binks (No. 24), Aayla Secura (CW40), Commander Gree (CW09), Hondo Ohnaka (CW41) among others are all great examples of Hasbro reissuing them in different formats to help meet demand. But then there are some characters that they either bury their heads in the sands over or they just choose not to listen to collectors anymore.

MagnaGuard (CW49), Clone Commander Stone (CW44), Darth Sidious (CW45), Commander TX-20 (CW46), Ahsoka (CW44), Commander Bly (CW39), Clone Trooper Draa (CW35), among many others just don’t seem to be on Hasbro’s radar despite our constant begging. Now that the animated The Clone Wars line is finished, the chances of seeing these figures again is no longer a possibility. Another figure which did receive additional releases is Savage Opress in his armored appearance. Despite a rerelease in 2012’s SW [TPM 3D] Darth Maul Returns Battle Packs set, Hasbro neglected to include his signature lightsaber, much to the chagrin of all collectors. How could they forgo such a key accessory for a much awaited rerelease? This kept the basic figure from 2011 commanding a premium since it was the only way to get this version of Savage Opress (CW59) complete. Then Hasbro announced this version of Savage would see release again (complete) in the 2013 Star Wars [Yoda/Attack Of The Clones] line look. And he did, but not for American collectors. Collectors in America couldn’t catch a break.

The good news here (if you can call it good news) is that Savage Opress is a straight repack of 2011’s TCW [SOTDS] Savage Opress (CW59) figure. And the better news is that the lightsaber is included this time as well. There are literally no paint variations unbelievably this time around and aside from an inscribed date stamp on the back of the right leg, there are no differences between the 2013 version of Savage Opress and his 2011 and 2012 counterparts. What a shame how all of the 2013 basic figures lines have been canceled for America. The 2013 phase of the Legacy Collection (with Build A Droid figures) was canceled for everyone, but the Movie Heroes and The Clone Wars lines only made it out to select foreign markets, namely Canada, the UK, other European countries like Ireland and the Philippines. Star Wars is experiencing one transition of another. It was also timely of Hasbro to cancel The Clone Wars line since Lucasfilm Ltd. has canceled the television show. It’s a shame and we’re all upset about it, but at least Hasbro was able to give us some really good products before throwing in the towel completely.