Garazeb "Zeb" Orrelios - R - 12-Inch Figures

"Zeb" is a big, burly brawler and one of the last Lasats in the galaxy. He is loud, cantankerous and has a zeal for grappling with stormtroopers.

It’s difficult writing an objective review on a product when you know the way it was approached completely contradicts how you feel the toy should have been made. But we’re going to try. With the release of Star Wars: Rebels, the various Star Wars toy lines have been produced in various scale, but most notably they’ve been produced in a “larger” format. This hasn’t translated into quality toys for kids or collectors sadly. Some argue this point and see the need for budget toys for kids and gift-giving parents, but for the most part this goal hasn’t been well-received or too successful at the retail level. Big box stores are swimming in unwanted Star Wars merchandise and as the pattern has been for years, new products that collectors do want inevitably never make there way to store shelves. It’s a vicious cycle and we really don’t know how Hasbro will ever be able to remedy this never-ending unpleasant circle. While we’re not completely sold on the new 12-Inch Figure assortment that was first introduced in 2013, Hasbro has made it better and characters from Rebels are looking quite nicely in this format. This is especially true for Garazeb “Zeb” Orrelios. This scale is definitely cheap. The figures are hollow, but they have great sculpt and lots of detail. Because of this, it’s hard to fault their simplicity.

What’s neat about the Hero Series (12-Inch Figures) assortment is that Hasbro has technically created a sub-line with the main 12-Inch Figure line that are more “deluxe” in nature. Garazeb “Zeb” Orrelios for example comes with extra accessories that weren’t seen in the television show (to date), yet befit the character wonderfully. Kids can have the character as seen in Rebels, or utilize the extra included accessories for them to create their own battle and whatever else they desire to do with the figure. Garazeb "Zeb" Orrelios is already one of our most favorite figures in the Rebels lineup, so getting him larger is just fine by us. Colorful, well-designed and large are all perfectly chosen adjectives to describe this very likeable 12-Inch Figure. As you know, the Hasbro line has been plagued with bad paint operations but we’re happy to report that for the most part Zeb is beautifully decorated albeit missing some important paint operations, like his left shoulder white details. Generally speaking, we approve of the paint operations. His base skin color is purple, but the alternating “zebra styled” pattern of his skin hasn’t been transferred to this larger figure. It’s disappointing, but the point of this figure is that it’s meant to be played with and not a screen accurate collectible exactly. His head sculpt is awesome and it looks as if Hasbro found a better color to paint his eyes.

Garazeb "Zeb" Orrelios comes with an armored helmet and something called a bo-rifle. Like the other figures in this line, the large accessories fits into a hole on the figure’s back, while the armored helmet snaps into place like a glove. The weapon obviously can only be held with one hand at a time. The restricted movement caused by the simple articulation doesn’t allow these figures to be posed with their weapons in believable ways. It’s unfortunate, but it is what it is. But when outfitted with the extras included here, it truly gives Garazeb "Zeb" Orrelios a totally different and unique appearance. There is no way young fans of the show won’t have fun with this figure. The nice thing is that Garazeb "Zeb" Orrelios has plenty of other characters in the Hero Series scale to interact with so that collectors of all ages can display a pretty wide collection. It’s unknown how well this scale is performing at retail. It seems to be stagnant if you look at what’s still hanging on the shelves. The Rebels toy line had one disadvantage after another. It suffered total upstream battle and fans and collectors of the television show became increasingly impatient and aggravated by the inability to find anything Rebels related while the show was being introduced. It’s also unknown how widespread the following waves of Rebels product will make its way out. And because this stuff could be victim to “last wave syndrome” status, Garazeb "Zeb" Orrelios may never have the chance to be the awesome toy it is for the kids it was designed.