Neimoidian Commander - ROTS - Basic (III 63)

Neimoidian warriors are specially trained members of the Neimoidian Gunnery Battalion. Commanders have distinctive armor befitting their rank and are armed with special Neimoidian weaponry that is being mass-produced for use in the Clone Wars.

As Hasbro was gearing up to release the all-encompassing The Saga Collection in December 2005, they saw it fit to release two more additional “unplanned” waves of the hugely successful Revenge Of The Sith line. Interestingly, these two waves brought collectors some of the greatest action figures. All of the figures were based on molds of previously created action figures and we got long-awaited characters like Commander Bly (III 57) and Commander Gree (III 59), not to mention the awesome R4-P17 (III 64) astromech droid and the fun Tactical Ops Trooper (III 65). We also got some scene-specific Separatists like Passel Argente (III 61), Cat Miin (III 62) and the Neimoidian Warrior (III 42). Then there is the Neimoidian Commander. The Neimoidian Commander is the “what the heck” moment of the Revenge Of The Sith line. Don’t misinterpret our point here. It’s an enjoyable repaint of the Neimoidian Warrior, but this character wasn’t found anywhere in Revenge Of The Sith or any other Expanded Universe source that we’ve been able to locate. You can chalk this up to being a Hasbro concept. And it honestly fits right in with the rest of the line, a testament to Hasbro’s quick thinking and clever ideas for the best repaints.

Some collectors might find the Neimoidian Commander a very ease pass for their respective collections. We wholly respect their decisions on this. What’s baffling is how Hasbro managed to come up with this particular concept anyway. Supposedly since the Neimoidian Warrior must be led, a Neimoidian Commander must exist (somewhere off screen). Not much distinguishes the Neimoidian Commander from the original Neimoidan Warrior sculpt save for a new silver paint job and a new weapon. But otherwise they are relatively identical. The same action feature was carried forward sadly as well as the same articulation. Nothing on the sculpt has been updated at all except for the paint job. Hasbro still left elements of the eye catching copper color so prevalently seen on the Neimoidian Warrior and they now merely serve as remindful color flashes found in the helmet and the center of the Neimoidian Commander’s chest. So in simpler terms, the two figures look perfect together. They are a bit limited in achieving a full range of motion despite being well-articulated, but with a little patience, you can work around the figure’s action feature rather easily.

The Neimoidian Commander comes with the same but repainted helmet of the Neimoidian Warrior. And instead of the firing battle staff, the Neimoidian Commander comes with a slightly revised weapon included with 2005’s ROTS Mustafar Sentry (III 56) figure. The top of this accessory wasn’t included, but the staff section was recast in silver plastic and included as this figure’s weapon. We appreciate the effort Hasbro made to set this figure apart from the Neimoidian Warrior, but it should prove that Hasbro was essentially grasping at straws trying to accessorize this figure. It can be said that the Neimoidian Commander is a lazy figure and not one of Hasbro’s finest moments. We tend to agree with that sentiment. We can think of nearly a dozen other figures off of the top of our heads that would have been much better candidates for the Repack & Repaint waves of 2005. But it still isn’t that bad and we have little to no issues accepting it into the Revenge Of The Sith family. We’ll still wait for a super-articulated update to the Neimoidian Warrior, but we would bet a large part of our collection that the Neimoidian Commander will never see an update again. Anything is possible, but this is a Hasbro concept that didn’t reach feverish levels in the collecting community.