Major Panno - LC - Basic (BD20)

Major Panno is a Dressellian tactician who works with General Crix Madine to plan commando strikes for the Rebel Alliance. He assists Madine in planning the shield generator strike on Endor that helps destroy the second Death Star.

When we look at a figure like Major Panno, it really brings to light two things. First, it makes us realize how Hasbro is going beyond their due diligence by reaching deeper than ever into the films to cull characters into action figure form that we never thought would see the light of day….ever. Second, it confirms just how amazing technology has come to the action figure line and how the artisans at Hasbro have used this technology to bring forth brilliant action figures. Major Panno, while obviously not one of the most popular characters (possibly falling into tertiary or even quaternary status), is a beautifully sculpted work of art. He was seen in two sequences in the film and interestingly enough, he appears in the same two sequences that Nien Nunb (B-wing Pilot) (BD19) was also shown. Described as a Rebel tactician, he obviously was responsible for planning the best lines or paths of attack to defeat the Imperials. Major Panno’s species has some impressive long term history in the action figure line too. Stepping back a bit in history, we always have thought that the action figure renderings of the Dressellian species have always been incredible. And since there have been only two before Major Panno, there are not a lot of others by which to compare. (The original vintage figure was actually quite fantastic for its time. It was updated 15 years later in 1998’s POTF2 line as Orrimaarko.) By ogling Major Panno, you will recognize immediately the familiar Dressellian body and discover just how well Kenner and Hasbro nailed the design in the earlier days to render this species perfectly as they could for the time. And Major Panno is full of positive surprises too. Major Panno has very dark skin color. And if you glance at his quickly then turn away, you will likely think you caught a glimpse of E.T. for a split second. This isn’t a cut-down, because we think his head sculpt is phenomenal. (But he does honestly have that brief/momentary “feel” to him.)

An interesting trait to the Dressellian species is their golden eyes with black pupils (with an almost cross-eyed effect). Hasbro has indeed gotten the gold right this time and this is such a beautiful touch to this figure since previous Dressellian action figures have had yellow “whites” of their eyes. His eyes pop out at the viewer and seem to follow you around the room, most likely due to the uneven placement of his pupils. This Mona Lisa like glare (or “looking through you” glance) is particularly eerie and we are so impressed that the final product has turned out this way (whether it was intended by Hasbro or not). Of interesting note, we have seen varying placements of pupils on different samples, so you may not experience this “stare back at you” on all figures. His costume has been orchestrated perfectly to the character in the film. He has a light gray shirt, white vest (which looks to have been used by multiple Rebels before), and a beautiful dark gray poncho. He has an extraordinarily large/long cranium and the poncho has been designed to cover it all. There are two elastic military straps on the front of the poncho that can hold his commlink and we suppose any other accessory you give him that fits. While he doesn’t have the same rifle like Prune Face had, he does have a cool new blaster pistol that is very well designed and very realistic. Major Panno also comes with goggles, although we have to say that they do not fit him authentically. They look fairly bizarre on his head and we would say that they almost were not needed for this figure. His pants are camouflaged and look absolutely stunning. The 1998 POTF2 Prune Face has more varying color in his pants, but the treatment given to Major Panno is just fine. We hope this does not get interpreted as blasphemous, but we are more excited about getting Major Panno (BD20) and Giran (BD21) in the basic figure line more than we are about a new Princess Leia (BD17) or Luke Skywalker (BD16) figure. (Don't get us wrong, they are excellent action figures.) While we understand the need for core action figures, we love the obscurity and prowess these background characters bring.

And while probably unrealistic, we would like to see every noticeable character in the films completed one day before the Hasbro line finishes and comes to an end. Consider for a moment the second vintage wave of figures. Snaggletooth, Hammerhead, Power Droid, Death Star Droid and R5-D4 never uttered a word. Yes they may have had a bit more screen time than Major Panno, but Star Wars is about everything that appears in that 16x9 widescreen. So Major Panno is as quintessentially relevant as all of those characters. The diversity of the Star Wars universe is important to us and figures like Major Panno remind us that there is so much more to love and respect about Star Wars. And when this spirit is backed behind a masterfully crafted action figure, it makes it that much more special. We realize that Major Panno is obviously a collector-focused action figure, but we hope you don’t get jaded by this and will at least consider what strengths he brings to the line and give this figure a chance. And we hope that he does well on the pegs. Because we would really like to get a whole bunch more figures from the Rebel Briefing scene in Episode VI. On top of being a never before offered figure, Major Panno also indirectly pays homage to the vintage line with the soft-goods outer poncho and multiple relevant accessories. In our opinion he was very long overdue. And we hope we will not have to wait as long for another Dressellian Rebel. For a figure that just sits or walks in the background of Return Of The Jedi, he is special enough to add him into our collections. We hope you will give him the same consideration too. Likely to be one of the top underrated figures of 2009, we hope he will not go unnoticed. That would be a crime because he is another perfect action figure from our beloved Return Of The Jedi film.