Commander Gree - ROTS - Basic (III 59)

On the planet of Kashyyyk, Commander Gree serves Jedi Master Yoda and helps the Wookiees fight the invading Separatists. When the secret Order 66 is issued, Commander Gree suddenly turns on the Jedi, but Yoda senses his betrayal and quickly eliminates him.

How can a figure so wrong be so right? We jokingly say this to refer to 2005’s Revenge Of The Sith Commander Gree (III 59) figure because we feel it sums up the figure quite well. On paper the figure is inaccurate in many ways. But in spirit, it seems that Hasbro tried so hard with this one to make it a good figure, that we’re giving them a free pass on all that is actually wrong with it. The “Repack & Repaint” wave at the end included some of the best figures of the entire Revenge Of The Sith line. And what’s so interesting about this is that so many of the base sculpts looked better in this wave than they did originally in the earlier part of the line. Perhaps Commander Gree does “no wrong” in our eyes because we had to wait most of 2005 out before collectors received him. The paint job is truly incredible. There are some wrong applications, but if you can overlook them you should be able to appreciate just how fun of an action figure he is. Based on 2005’s ROTS Clone Trooper (III 41), Commander Gree comes to us super-articulated and with a removable antenna. Hasbro made a few shortcuts on him like his “painted on” suspenders, but again, if you forgive its grievances, Commander Gree is no doubt one of the more exciting figures in the entire Revenge Of The Sith line. Well accessorized and well articulated only begin to explain some of the reasons we enjoy him so much. But in particular, the paint job makes us so incredibly happy. Again, keep in mind that Commander Gree isn’t the perfect action figure you want him to be, but he does have a great deal of positives to make it a worthwhile purchase for you.

We probably should have mentioned this earlier, but there are actually two different versions of Commander Gree. One is a running change to correct some errors on the original paint operations, but unfortunately Hasbro missed some of the most glaring errors on the figure and they remain uncorrected. The first version of Commander Gree came with a lighter (almost lime green) visor. His belt and thigh armor (front and back) are more forest green in color as well. The revised figure has a darker green visor (which looks tremendously better). Another detail that only keen eyes will notice is that Hasbro trimmed up the green color flash running from the “mouth” of the helmet all the way up to the visor. And significantly more brown paint has been used to decorate his belt, thigh armor, knee armor and cod section. The second version definitely has an improved paint application. These enhancements do a great deal of good to improve the texture and depth of his armor. What Hasbro unfortunately neglected to update was his helmet. Commander Gree has a very uniquely shaped green helmet stripe separate by silver on both sides of it. Either Hasbro didn’t follow the reference materials too closely or they got lazy, but they gave both versions of Commander Gree an entirely green helmet top. They did manage to throw some dirt on it and it looks great, but the figure is inaccurate to the film. We’ve already mentioned the paint on suspenders. We wonder how hard it would have been to tool something very simple to give this character the attention he deserves.

Commander Gree also comes with plenty of accessories for both kids and collectors. In addition to the movie accurate antenna and DC-15 blaster, Gree also comes with a blaster cannon and projectile. The fun is as big as he is and obviously this accessory is intended to keep the kids occupied. But collectors will likely stow this away in some storage box never to be used again. We are very happy to see Hasbro utilize the III 41 sculpt for Commander Gree. But there are so many other clones that could stand to be made from it as well. (Editor’s Note: Almost every clone trooper battalion from Episode III has been made utilizing this sculpt now.) Despite already getting Commander Gree in this awesome sculpt we will need Hasbro to revisit him down the road. We need textured suspenders (as in a separately molded piece) and a corrected paint job on the helmet. We’ll just have to wait for an update. (Editor’s Note: Hasbro revisited Commander Gree twice. First as 2008’s TAC Commander Gree (08 03) figure and then as 2011’s TVC Commander Gree (VC43) figure. Both are tremendous updates to the 2005 figure but are still not entirely perfect. The helmet needs one more revisit to be perfect.) If you ask us, Commander Gree should have been one of the first clone commanders visited for the Revenge Of The Sith line. Anyone who reports to Master Yoda for duty should be made. But maybe Lucasfilm, Ltd. kept Commander Gree close to the vest as to protect the character’s identity until the film was released. Whatever you wish for, know that this Gree is a great deal of fun and a figure you should own in your collection. Just get the better one of the two.