Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith - TAC - Commemorative Tin Collection (3 of 6)

What better way to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Star Wars as a property than with a unique collectible format never attempted until now? Hasbro may have not had the appropriate multimedia support for the 2007 product year, but they probably didn’t need it. For the landmark anniversary of Star Wars was enough buzz to engage Star Wars fans from across the globe. As Hasbro put The Saga Collection to rest, they wowed collectors with an incredible new line look to help commemorate this once in a lifetime celebration. But they did more as well. They introduced collectors to the Commemorative Tin Collection sets. A total of six were created, one for each film, and additional sets were also created in an exclusive fashion as well. They took four main characters from each film, picked out as best they could the nicest sculpts of those figures available at the time, retooled some if warranted and put together a very nice package in packaging that harkened back to the vintage Kenner era. When all was said and done collectors were left with a unique collectible set that looked great, felt great and reminded us how wonderful it was to be a Star Wars collector at the time. Never afraid to experiment, even the Prequel Trilogy figures looked fantastic in this packaging scheme. And there was enough newness to make the $24.99 price point palatable.

Mace Windu, Yoda, Anakin Skywalker and AT-RT Driver are the four figures that make up the Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith (3 of 6) Commemorative Tin Collection multipack. Granted, there are some missed opportunities here. We don’t think any collectors out there needed the included Mace Windu or Yoda figures again. But it’s important to note here that with a few exceptions, Hasbro did what they could to make each figure as unique as possible. And that is key to making collectors happy. Just give us something remotely different enough and we’re sold hook, line and sinker. Mace Windu is definitely the dud of the set. He is a straight repack of 2005’s ROTS Mace Windu (III 10) figure, but he comes with less accessories this time. He does still come with his signature purple lightsaber, but the articulation and posture on this figure are still so wonky because of the action feature. Consider this a filler figure. Yoda is also a straight repack of 2005's Yoda (III 3) figure. But he comes with a few more things that makes him more interesting. This time Hasbro took the cloak and cane accessories from the 2004 VOTC Yoda figure and gave them to this Yoda. The cloak looks a little too worn for a Prequel Trilogy Yoda, but there is no denying that it’s dressed him up a bit more. He also comes with a lightsaber and you probably have more display options for Yoda than you need because of all the accessories here.

Anakin Skywalker is a repaint of the Anakin Skywalker (Clone Wars Hero) figure from 2005’s ROTS Anakin Skywalker To Darth Vader Evolutions set. We are surprised by how much lighter his paint operations are across the board. His hair is lighter brown and his outfit contains different shades of color used on the Evolutions figure. But for this release he come without most of the accessories that the Evolutions figure did. He comes with a soft-goods cloak and a lightsaber. But that’s it. While this figure definitely isn’t perfect, it still is a great figure. All he is really missing are ball-jointed elbows. The most exciting figure in this set however is the AT-RT Driver. While not seen in Revenge Of The Sith, this figure represents concept art of a clone idea that was utilized during the making of Revenge Of The Sith. Concept art figures are rare in general, and if Hasbro does attempt them they usually are based on Ralph McQuarrie’s concept art (not ignoring the Episode I concept art figures seen in the Power Of The Jedi line). But it’s nice to see a figure based on concept art from the Prequel Trilogy again. Hasbro took 2005’s ROTS AT-RT Driver (III 54) figure and gave him an all-white paint job and some dirt marks here and there. They included the removable chest plate and the strapped blaster rifle, but that’s it. And honestly it’s all you really need for this figure. The Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith (3 of 6) is a great release, and the “new” AT-RT Driver is so cool you just have to get it.