Packaging - **1/2
Right off the bat this is a tough one…I like the huge bubble window and nice graphics…And to me ANYTHING with Vader on it.. Especially a ticked off one over lava.. Is nice…

But where the packaging falls short.. Is in accessibility…It is not collector friendly…But those of you that collect the Star Wars figures.. Know this and it should comes as no surprise…But with such nice graphics.. It is a shame to tear into it…

Also since it is a carded figure and with a over sized bubble…storing them will be difficult.. And at the Walt Mart where I found mine…a few had dented and dings in the bubbles… So choose carefully…

Sculpting - ***
This I s a tough one too…Since we Never have seen General Grievous outside of the one stock Lucas film shot.. And his animated counterpart on “Clone Wars” Its tough to say how faithful he is…BUT. If the character in the film is as evil and wicked looking as this figure is… SWEEEET…

The figure is sculpted very nicely.. With good detail on the hands and face (although I wish there would have been more detail in the paint.. But we will talk about that in a few…)

The cape also has a nice detail with a nifty flowing look that looks just as cool in an action pose as it does just standing at attention…Again.. The final verdict will be once we see this guy on the big screen…

Paint - ***
The paint ops are fairly basic on this figure.. A silver-ish gray base.. With a bone color for the highlights…There is a decent paint wash on the figure to give him a battle worn look…The paint is consistent through out the figure with very little slop… Not even on the back of the cloak with the clone wars symbol…The only place I see and slop is on the cloak, where the dark red inside bleeds to the outer color.. But that is only in one spot…
Overall decent paint scheme.. But this isn’t a very colorful character to begin with…

Articulation - ***
It is nice to see a new “Sneak Preview” figure with decent articulation… Following the rest of the line…

While it is not on the level of the OTC...it is decent and has many possibilities for posing etc…The General has a ball jointed head…ball jointed shoulders…forearm cuts…midsection cut…joints at the hips. And ball jointed knees..Not bad for a preview figure…and all the joints are tight smooth…

There is however a small sweet spot for his legs.. Once you get him close he will stand in any position.. But in order to avoid him bending over like he is at the Jedi Proctologist.. You need to find that sweet spot…

Accessories - **
Not much by way of accessories here.. Grievous comes with a light saber.. And a droid blaster rifle… and if you are nit picky.. I guess you could count his cloak as an accessory.. But I sure don’t.

It is after all a preview figure.. But a couple more light sabers would have done nicely… since we know that the General can wield several at once…

Fun Factor - **1/2
If you are a fan of Star Wars…(and really who isn’t…) This is a nice figure to begin the onslaught of Episode 3 figures…
If you have little ones.. I would think twice about buying him for them on two levels… he is scary looking.. More so than Vader.. And his joints.. Are too tight in some places…and the think soft plastic can easily bend and deform…

Value - **1/2
There are 4 figures in the sneak preview line.. And all of them are priced at the normal star wars figure rate.. I paid around 6 for mine at Wal-Mart…Depending on who you are and how important it is to you to have them…I have always felt that the prices of figures should be in direct relation with their size…3 inches.. 3 bucks.. Call me old fashioned.

Overall - ***
I always enjoy the first Star Wars figure from a new line… Especially from a new movie.. So for me. This is a cool figure…I am a reporter for a TV station.. And the General is now on my desk right next to Vader…Which is right in the view of our newsroom camera… Nothing says serious news outlet.. Like Darth Vader on a desk…haha…

I said it earlier.. If you are a Star Wars fan.. you’ll want this figure… Heck even if you aren’t.. He just looks imposing and cool…The choice is yours…

Things to watch out for -
Dented or dinged bubbles on the peg.

Score Recap -
Packaging - **½
Sculpting - ***
Paint - ***
Articulation - ***
Accessories - **
Fun Factor - **½
Value - **½
Overall - ***

Where to Buy: 
I found mine at Wal-Mart here in West Virginia... And I suspect that these will be popping up at retailers all over the country very very soon…