Jedi Order - Celebrate The Saga

A noble order of protectors unified by their ability to tap into the power of the Force, the Jedi Order were the guardians of peace and justice in the Galactic Republic.

The Celebrate The Saga multipacks sub-line serves as the commemorative sets Hasbro annually seems to release each year. But this time, they stepped things up a little bit. Not only does Hasbro claim that after these releases that 5POA tooling is going into their vault, but they’ve also added a few surprises, like “collector grade” astromech droids and Photo Real updating to make these five-packs as enthralling as possible. Whether exclusive through the Fan Channel or exclusive to a major retailer like Amazon, the Celebrate The Saga line has something for everyone. And while we may believe that the Photo Real updating is unnecessary for 5POA action figures, we have to admit that they look better than they ever did. We’re most happy about the inclusion of a TVC-quality R7-A7. Why didn’t they include the long-awaited (and canceled) R8-B7 figure? We’re so glad to have Ahsoka Tano’s astromech droid in a 3.75” super-articulated realistic style, but there are other droids we need. Although we received a Droid Factory version of R7-A7 unofficially in the Disney Parks 2015 Collection, we now have a “better” version in this Celebrate The Saga set.

R7-A7 is a rework of 2017’s Star Wars [The Last Jedi] R2-D2 Force Link figure. All of the Force Link technology is removed this time, of course, but the updated tooling, including the removal of the unnecessary holes below the leg sockets, makes this the definitive astromech Build A Droid sculpt on the market today. The paint operations of R7-A7 are gorgeous. The mauve-purple body with a light gray dome with neon green enhancements forces the figure to stand out against most others and all the other figures in this collection. And we are personally thrilled to see this figure available in this format after so many years. The other figures in the Jedi Order Celebrate The Saga set do not fare as well. 60% of this collection date back to tooling Hasbro introduced in 2013 in the Star Wars [Darth Vader/Revenge Of The Sith] line look that took the Star Wars line to a very dark place. If you lived through this nightmare, you hoped that none of us would see these terrible action figures again, yet Hasbro re-released them countless times, much to our chagrin. Thankfully, the Photo Real updates make these figures look the best they ever have, but that might not be enough to guarantee a sale.

Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Mace Windu are all from the first wave of the reinvented Saga Legends line released in 2013. The designs of the figures show postures and statures that are rigid and immobile. The cuffs of the Jedi gear on most of the figures encumber placing the lightsaber accessory practically into the hands. The pressure of the poor fit makes the lightsaber want to fall out frequently. Admittedly, the Photo Real updates look excellent on the figures, and perhaps if we had this technology available in 2013, this line might have performed a tad better than it did. Yoda is the most updated figure of the lot here. Although all four Jedi in this set received Photo Real updating, Yoda looks the best. And Yoda comes with the most articulation and accessories as well. Overall, the presentation is attractive, and it should pique some collectors’ interest, even if they decide to add this as a display piece to their collections. And then there will be a large facet of collectors buying this for R7-A7. Wherever you stand, at least we can hold Hasbro accountable for putting the 5POA format to bed in a vault, and we hope they lose the key. They should try and focus on a five-pack of astromech droids in the Droid Factory format we still don’t have yet.