Baron Soontir Fel/Ysanne Isard - LC - Comic Packs (17) (Exclusive)

General Weir launches a counter-rebellion after the Battle of Endor to undermine the Rebel Alliance. The Imperial general discovers that Luke Skywalker is in the city of Coronet and, with his stormtroopers and storm commandos, goes after the Rebel hero.

The “final” wave of Comic Packs has absolutely provided some of the best crafted EU Star Wars and it’s literally depressing that Hasbro didn’t get these sets out from the start instead of rehashing the “garbage” of previous years. It still bothers us tremendously that Hasbro tried to sell us a bridge by including the Darth Vader/Rebel Officer and Han Solo/Chewbacca Marvel Comic Packs into the revitalized red line look of the Legacy Collection. Three of the final blue phase Comic Packs were also part of this repackaging nightmare and they clogged shelves preventing marvelous sets like the Baron Soontir Fel/Ysanne Isard from making a splash at retail. And now the Comics Packs line is finished. We are extremely thankful that Hasbro and Entertainment Earth worked together to have these sets come to fruition and we hope that sales prove to them both that there is still a burning desire to get Expanded Universe characters out to us. Heck, we want both the Noghri Warrior and Ralrracheen (Wookiee Warrior) that Hasbro has already developed too. (A small picture of this set was shown on the back of the canceled Luke Skywalker/R2-D2 Marvel repack which was first reported by Galactic Hunter.) And we now want the awesome Luke Skywalker (in white snowspeeder gear) as well as that kit-bashed Han Solo in Bespin outfit (even though he is part of The Vintage Collection). These are four awesome action figures that deserve release for sure! We hope all of these will see the light of day in the future. But it really looks grim now.

While we are not zealots of everything Expanded Universe (we do like a lot however), the X-wing Rogue Squadron series is one that seems to be appreciated by many collectors. But we are just tired of Baron Fel at this point. It’s a shame because the best version of him yet is included in the salvaged Entertainment Earth exclusive Legacy Collection Comic Packs. So back to Star Wars: X-wing Rogue Squadron #29. The set is actually fantastic. Baron Soontir Fel is a retool of 2009’s TLC Captain Needa (BD 40) with a few new parts (and also has ancestry to 2007's TAC Death Star Trooper (30 13) figure as well). The black and red stripes along his uniform are particularly striking and we love how they look on the uniform. It isn’t too often we get excited about the altering of classic uniforms we’ve come to love from the films. But is certainly works well on Fel. The bonus with this figure is that his cap is removable and it fits like a glove. And once you remove it you'll notice he has a striking resemblance to Leonard Nimoy. He also comes with an X-wing pilot’s helmet painted in shiny black with a red Rebel Alliance symbol on it. It is then finished with dotted lines also in red going down the crown (or spine) of the helmet. He’s super-articulated in the purest sense of the word. And we have to make a point that we are so happy to see ball-jointed elbows instead of those awful swivel joints on an Imperial officer body. It’s refreshing to say the least. Baron Soontir Fel is reasonably balanced although we did at times have trouble getting hi to stand. He is a little top heavy.

Ysanne Isard is a clever retool of the popular 2008 TAC Juno Eclipse (08 15) figure. Hasbro has colored the uniform in red for her and given her a “more than fair” head sculpt which does favor some of her traits even if the sculpt isn’t perfect. Her eyes have heterochromia and it’s quite amazing how Hasbro has made this so obvious and realistic in such a tiny scale. Her hair is also dual colored as she has a Bride of Frankenstein/Bride of Dracula quality to her hair. She is proportionate to her costar in this Comic Packs set. And she can hold her gun very well thanks to wells sculpted hands. Since the story of X-wing Rogue Squadron takes place right after the Battle of Endor, many fans became quickly engaged in the plot. And with character like those included in this Comic Packs set as well as the many other Comic Packs set based on this story, the following seems to get stronger and stronger. We don’t think that the Baron Soontir/Fel/Ysanne Isard set is the strongest Comic Packs in the Entertainment Earth exclusive wave, but it isn’t half bad either. You get two super-articulated action figures that are essentially new even if they are retools or reworks of other figures. And they come simply but perfectly accessorized too. There isn’t much to complain about here other than that these may be the last ones ever. We hope that Hasbro will at the very least squeeze out the last two that haven’t seen release. That will be a day long remembered!