Episode III Gift Pack - TSC - Exclusives

As the Clone Wars sweep across the galaxy, heroes and villains arose to fight for ultimate control.

There were plenty of great multipacks in The Saga Collection, but the Episode III Gift Pack wasn’t one of them. Restricted to a UK Woolworth’s exclusive in mid-2006, the six figure set included an exclusive action figure that collectors all over the world would likely not be able to secure thanks to this set’s exclusivity. With themes loosely based around the Battle of Utapau as well as Anakin’s betrayal to the Jedi, the Episode III Gift Pack includes Darth Vader, General Grievous, Obi-Wan Kenobi, a unique (and exclusive) commemorative silver edition R2-D2, Anakin Skywalker (with Sith eyes) and a Shock Trooper. Most of the figures in this multipack were straight repacks from the Revenge Of The Sith line, save for R2-D2. Hasbro took R2-D2 (Artoo-Detoo) from 2005’s TSC Early Bird Figures mail-away exclusive and then casted the figure in a dull silver plastic. If you recall 2004’s SW [S - P3] Darth Vader (which was a Toys R Us exclusive), R2-D2 was approached in the same fashion. It’s a much better figure and sculpt than 2002’s SW [S - P1] R2-D2 (Silver Anniversary 1977-2002) (also a Toys R Us exclusive) figure. However, this figure’s exclusivity in this set will no doubt enrage those that need to have them all. There are no plans for this figure to become available in the USA, so the aftermarket is likely your only choice at this point.

Darth Vader, Anakin Skywalker and the Shock Trooper are all straight repacks from the Revenge Of The Sith line. Darth Vader is a straight repack of 2005’s ROTS Darth Vader (III 11) figure, Anakin Skywalker is a straight repack of the running change of 2005’s ROTS Anakin Skywalker (III 28) figure, and the Shock Trooper is a straight repack of 2005’s ROTS Clone Trooper [Shock Trooper] (III 6) figure. These figure are not aging well and all feel outdates in one way or another. Darth Vader feels the most sustainable of these three and it makes sense why Hasbro carried this sculpt forward. There aren’t any differences at all between the figures in this set and the original Revenge Of The Sith figures. Hasbro did however in many instances include less accessories in the boxed set than they did with the basic figure releases. Collectors should be able to see a theme in the Episode III Gift Pack, but they likely aren’t going to be thrilled to have to pay money again to buy them just to secure that silvery version of R2-D2. We confident that most collectors have their fill and then some with all of the figures in the Revenge Of The Sith line. To buy so many of them over again must be a bit painful for the hardcore collectors, especially since better versions of so many of these characters exist.

The remaining figures, General Grievous and Obi-Wan Kenobi are straight repacks from The Saga Collection, but just like the other figures, they come with less accessories this time around. General Grievous is a straight repack of 2006’s TSC General Grievous (SAGA 030) figure and Obi-Wan Kenobi is a straight repack of 2006’s TSC Obi-Wan Kenobi (SAGA 028) figure. Once again, no paint operation differences exist between these figures and their original releases, except for less accessories. Obi-Wan Kenobi will always remain a great figure (and likely a base figure for future upgrades), but General Grievous is now dated and feels aged like the Revenge Of The Sith figures Hasbro included in this set. The Episode III Gift Pack will offer new fans some great main characters to recreate their own battles, but we do wonder if those same people will get these action figures in other ways. It will be interesting to see how this set does overall. When it comes to rehashes, most collectors feel that all exclusives should contain some newness. There is definitely newness here but it’s in the form of a quirky version of a character that doesn’t fit into the theme of the set. And this version of R2-D2 isn’t screen accurate. The Episode III Gift Pack may serve some purpose for new fans, but we find the set frustrating and rather unfortunate.