Rebel Pilot Legacy - TLC - Evolutions

The legacy of Rebel pilots is one of uncompromising independence and gritty determination. These are the pilots who crushed the Empire and became the architects of the elite squadrons to come. Dorovio Bold flies an X-wing against Imperial forces, going cannon-to-cannon against Imperial fighters. Wes Janson topples an AT-AT walker with a skillfully unorthodox maneuver. Ten Numb helped achieve victory flying a weapons-packed B-wing. From hotshots to heroes, Alliance pilots built a legacy that has given birth to countless tales of glory throughout the galaxy.

Despite 2007 being the official 30th anniversary of the Star Wars saga, 2008 may have been a little more focused with celebrating the saga’s indelible legacy on collectors. If you’re not willing to concede that 2008 was more celebratory, at worst you can probably agree that The Legacy Collection continued the celebration very strongly. Evolutions made a return in early 2008 with four sets under the 30 (77-07) line look banner, but those new sets were also carried forward into The Legacy Collection along with four other new sets. Overall, the Evolutions sets are some of the best multiple figure packs we have ever seen in collecting. Hasbro knows how to cull together these three-packs with characters from across the Star Wars universe while still managing to keep a relevant theme together. While you may not know or like all of the characters contained within them, there is no denying that it is an awesome platform to introduce three super-articulated (for the most part, there are exceptions) all together and for a reasonable price (especially for the quality of the figures). The Rebel Pilot Legacy was one of the more eagerly anticipated sets because it was home for a fan favorite character (that never appeared in the film in this particular outfit), the white-suited Ten Numb. And then for the first time ever, this Evolutions set also introduced a super-articulated snowspeeder pilot figure. Collectors started drooling over the possibilities that could be brought forth if Hasbro were to reuse this sculpt over and over again. It also introduced us to the first female X-wing pilot, a character that is arguably in Return Of The Jedi (for us she is indeed in the film), but speculation still exists as whether her image was cut from the final version of the film altogether. The Evolutions medium has been going strong since 2005 and Hasbro has steadily released the sets to fans (with one small break in 2006) and we can’t seem to get enough of them. If they continue to make them this well then we’re all in for one treat after another for years to come. Thankfully, Hasbro came back with a vengeance of phenomenal quality and great character choices. These sets will bring smiles to collectors faces.

Arguably, Ten Numb is the standout figure in the set. A Sullustan appearing in a red version of the B-wing pilot uniform appears in Return Of The Jedi and fans will likely forever argue if this is Nien Nunb or Ten Numb. But we do know that the version included in this set is definitely Ten Numb. The figure sports 23 points of articulation and has removable helmet with removable breathing tubes that don’t seem to interact with the figure perfectly. Loaded with a ton of ball-joints, this Ten Numb will be able to attain most poses and some of the joints almost seem unnecessary. That’s how well this figure can articulate. The hands have been sculpted particularly well and he can hold his unique blaster pistol very well in his hand. We think Ten Numb’s coloring is a little bit too tan and many packaged samples show him with a chipped nose. We encourage you to check out his nose if you are a paint perfectionist. His black eyes are of course simple but beautifully painted and they each have two tiny white dots to give the illusion of a reflection of light. The figure is beautifully completed. Collectors are going to fall for him. Wes Janson will undoubtedly excite fans of The Empire Strikes Back. We heard his name called out in the film in addition to seeing him briefly during the Battle of Hoth sequence. An all new sculpt, Wes Janson is a snowspeeder pilot fan’s answer to prayer. He is beautifully colored and his helmet is nearly perfect to the onscreen prop. Hasbro has gone out of their way to create an awesome snowspeeder pilot body and they have succeeded unbelievably here. The head sculpt s excellent too and captures the expression of the character well. Dorovio Bold is the enigma in the set. Stills exist of her in the cockpit of an X-wing which were deleted scenes from Return Of The Jedi, but there are arguments which state that she can be seen in the film during the planning of the assault on Death Star II. We haven’t had a few free minutes to confirm this, so we will agree with Wookieepedia here (although they appear not too sure either). She has a unique female body and we expect that more female pilots will be on the way. Her likeness is not that great to the still in the film. It seems as if the actress looked a lot more like Carrie Fisher than some young boy (which is exactly what the action figure looks like to us. Perhaps a modified Princess Leia head would have worked better here.

Hindsight is always 20/20, but it seems like multipacks of pilots should have been a no-brainer years ago. But for years Hasbro just gave us trooper multipacks. Now we hope they’re on a different mission to bring collectors a little more variety with pilots instead. Many feel that Hasbro was always good about giving us army builders and even though we did get a Rebel Pilots Cinema Scenes set in 1999 from The Power Of The Force [CommTech/FlashBack] collection, it seems too many years went by to revisit this concept again. One thing is for sure however. The Rebel Pilot Legacy Evolutions sets makes us extremely happy. We love its diversity and how it touches three unique parts of the Star Wars timeline in one fell swoop. Hasbro seemingly has made it all OK with the release of the Evolutions line. They even made things “alright” by setting the MSRP to a fair $19.99 for three super-articulated action figures. That’s a steal in our books. If this helps you put things into better perspective, remember that Cinema Scenes were $19.99 for three figures with only six points of articulation average likenesses. Evolutions are about a dollar or two more than this and bring a wealth of better things to the table. As a side note, while we are extremely happy to get three pilots at once, we don’t think the Rebel Pilots Legacy necessarily fits in that well with the line of thought for Evolutions. Evolutions should represent a metamorphosis or development of a character or character(s). By its very definition, it should showcase a growth of a soldier or the aging of an individual character from one film to the next. Many of the Evolutions sets do this, but others like this one are really just a collection of various pilot uniforms. Again, this isn’t a complaint. It is just an observation. Evolutions has the potential of really bringing us some exciting characters all at once that may not have the same success were they introduced as individual basic figures. For example, The Padmé Amidala Legacy is a perfect example of and Evolutions set that serves collectors best as a set and not as three separate figures. Your opinions may vary, but almost every Padmé Amidala basic figure has been a peg warmer. The Evolutions line has resolved this issue to a certain degree. The Rebel Pilot Legacy is one of the better Evolutions sets that we have received and we must give Hasbro the credit they deserve for bringing such a wonderful set to collectors. And we hope more Rebel pilots are on the way to us.