General Hera Syndulla - TVC - Basic (VC300)

Since 2010, The Vintage Collection has paid homage to the iconic Kenner toy era of Star Wars history. VC300 celebrates the line with General Hera Syndulla – for the first time on a TVC cardback!

The Vintage Collection hits a landmark of 300 basic figures, and Hasbro thinks the character worthy of this designation is General Hera Syndulla, not Ahsoka Tano, who is the star of the Star Wars: Ahsoka series. We're not slamming the action figure because it's a lovely addition to the line. We're mocking Hasbro's inability to know its TVC market after over a decade. If we must have Disney Star Wars characters in the premium collector-focused line, make it an Original Trilogy character, for heaven's sake. Sim Aloo is a wiser decision than General Hera Syndulla for this designation. Over two decades ago, Hasbro celebrated the 300th basic figure in the modern Hasbro Star Wars line with 2001's POTJ Boba Fett figure. We're reliving that as, once again, there is seemingly little fanfare, and everyone's list lands on a different count. Just as Boba Fett wasn't the 300th action figure in the modern Star Wars lineup, General Hera Syndulla isn't the 300th action figure in The Vintage Collection. Think about the unnumbered figures, those packaged but not on basic cards. The actual number is much higher. We're celebrating nothing more than Hasbro exceeding 300 action figures in The Vintage Collection. Regardless, that's a good reason to celebrate, if not anything else.

General Hera Syndulla is a remarkable action figure. Hasbro perfectly translated the live-action character into a realistic 3.75-inch super-articulated scale. The figure follows in the footsteps of The Black Series 6-inch General Hera Syndulla. We're confident that Hasbro utilized duplicate digital files to bring this action figure to life in the smaller range. The design of General Hera Syndulla is exquisite. The action figure has a shapely body and an athletic stature. Syndulla will look excellent among the other characters produced for Star Wars: Ahsoka and Star Wars: Rebels. Hasbro has been making The Vintage Collection figures standard regarding articulation recently. They come with 27 points of articulation across 17 areas. And with the addition of ball-socket hips, they've reached a new plateau in action figure excellence. It makes us wish they'd go back and revisit many of the old characters already produced for the line and enhance them with premium articulation. General Hera Syndulla achieves any pose you wish. There is enough movement that allows the figure to maintain action-oriented poses despite the smaller and narrower feet the figure has. Additionally, neither the functioning holster nor the jacket encumbers any movement in the lower body, and we're happy to see this, too.

Regarding accessories, Hasbro went too light on them here. General Hera Syndulla has a blaster pistol; you can house it in a functioning holster when unused. Then, they designed the bomber jacket as a removable shell if you're inclined to pose your figure in this alternate way. However, the figure looks silly with the shell removed because the arms are still the leather jacket. We wish Hasbro would design these figures with permanent jackets like how they approached Han Solo (Bespin [Bespin Outfit]) (VC50) or Ponda Baba (Walrus Man) (VC70) because that aesthetic is natural-looking and gives a less bulky appearance in the body of the action figure. Again, the Photo Real on General Hera Syndulla is stunning, as are the rest of the paint operations here. If you like this character, you will be pleased with Hasbro's accomplishments here. There is a magnificent amount of detail, and seeing how realistic 3.75-inch action figures look these days is impressive. We would have preferred a Star Wars: Rebels version of General Hera Symdulla instead. But it seems like Hasbro will only go back in time if there is new Star Wars entertainment to support as a priority. And that saddens us because Disney Star Wars has a different spirit and interest than the original stuff.