Imperial Scanning Crew - LC - Basic (BD32)

An Imperial scanning crew checks the Millennium Falcon to make sure no one is on board. The two-man crew brings the scanner onto the ship and quickly discovers the vessel is not as empty as it first appeared to be.

The Imperial Scanning Crew member has had quite a history within the modern Star Wars action figure line. Originally starting life in 1998 as a carrying case pack-in as Imperial Scanning Crew Trooper (and it was actually only a retool of the 1997 POTF2 [FF/TKC] AT-ST Driver), the set was nearly impossible to find but ended up making rather frequent but elusive appearances at KB Toys and Toys R Us stores throughout its very short shelf life. Fast forward six year ahead to 2004's Original Trilogy Collection, the figure was renamed to a much-shortened Imperial Trooper then repainted and given blond hair, green eyes and a sparkling new paint job. It was finished off with a pretty nice dirty wash too. It actually did a lot to pick up the original details of the rather blandly painted original version. He was the winner of an unofficial fans' choice figure orchestrated by Hasbro and won the coveted 38th place in the collector-focused and fan favorite OTC line (beating out a few figures that we were sure would beat him but didn't). Of course a lot was left to be desired since it was a POTF2 sculpt, but it was all about the packaging back then and we all pretty much looked the other way....until now. Hasbro finally revisits the Imperial Scanning Crew in a new and fantastic way half a decade later, updating it beyond what words can probably express and by what collectors would ever expect from a simply outfitted Imperial officer/technician/trooper. Imperial Scanning Crew is indeed an awesome action figure and wholly outdates any previous Scanning Crew member you may have in your collection to this point. And we believe that this character will also satisfy anyone who is waiting for an Imperial technician figure. This character is rather generic and can be seen in a multitude of scenes throughout the Original Trilogy. So Hasbro has cleverly killed multiple birds with this stone. Imperial Scanning Crew is likely to be one of the hottest army building figures for 2009 and by the looks of it, it seems that everyone is indeed buying him in multiples.

Basically a guarantee, if Hasbro builds an action figure [of a previously attempted character] from the ground up that the new figure is going to be of the contemporary standards we have for our action figures. Of course there are some exceptions to this. But it is certainly true in the case of the Imperial Scanning Crew. Hasbro nailed it to perfection complete with intricate details and we now have our absolute definitive version. What's more, as of this posting and barring any potential factory screw-ups, Hasbro is releasing a second running change on him in early 2010 with a new portrait and scanning accessory. (But we know how Hasbro treats us in this area.) All kidding aside, we are tickled by a second running change and we cannot wait to add both to our collections and recreate that memorable scene with them and our newly tooled big Millennium Falcon. A figure like this reminds us how far the line has come and what expectations we have on our figures. And it is a distinct pleasure that so many of our expectations are met with this release. The Imperial Scanning Crew figure is not to be taken lightly. It is a beautiful figure that is thoroughly accurate and without a dramatic pose. He is lean and a very well proportioned Imperial, perhaps in better shape than the live action characters that we saw on screen in Episode IV. There is really only one complaint and that would be the color of the ankle joint used. It is gray like the rest of his uniform but instead should have been cast in black to match his boots. We still are waiting patiently for Hasbro to consistently get this chronic error right once and for all. Mismatched ankle joints are becoming quite a dilemma.As you may has already surmised, Imperial Scanning Crew comes with 22 points of articulation. A newly created Imperial logo has been placed on each side of the shoulders and it just looks awesome. The new labeling is pretty cool.

His torso has an interesting curvature at the shoulders, so movement is actually inhibited quite a bit since the ball-joints don't have entire freedom to move about as needed. We appreciate the new endeavor and it does give the figure a nice silhouette unique for an Imperial, but we were disappointed to find out just how little his arms can move from where it attached at the shoulder. But there isn’t any need for worries, the rest of the figure more than makes up for this little hiccup. Little details that exist on his forearms and the excellently executed wrinkles on his uniform make this figure a worthy purchase! He has a functioning holster and his standard Imperial issue blaster fits perfectly inside and his hands have been molded with great care so that the gun also fits inside both of them with great ease too. The scanning device is a very impressive accessory. Colored in primary colors for the most part, it is in scale with the figure and has been given rollers to make it move along pretty much any surface quite well. With all of Hasbro's tooling cost woes, we are extremely thrilled that we got this rather large accessory coupled with a super-articulated figure. Yes it is hollow, but it doesn't matter because is it so very well done! It is truly nice to know that no shortcuts or omissions were made to this spectacular set! You may think it might sound a little pathetic that we get so excited over "big" things not getting cut from our action figures, but we suppose that we have been so battered by so many other items being cut by Hasbro that this makes us feel over-fortunate. But no matter the level of thankfulness or regret (which we have none), Hasbro has delivered a stellar action figure in the form of the Imperial Scanning Crew. We look forward to the possible multiple uses this sculpt can serve the future of the action figure line because this is a figure that succeeds at every level.