TOY REVIEW ARCHIVE    LIVING WITH LATE FEES    FEATURES    LINKS    BIO    MISSION    EMAIL    MAIN PAGE >


Star Wars Insider 12" Valorum and Guard

Three new 12" Star Wars figures in less than a week!  A bonanza of stuff is hitting right now, and the Star Wars Insider shipped the new 12" Chancellor Valorum and Coruscant Guard this week  These are currently only available through the Insider (http://www.shop.starwars.com/) and are billed as an exclusive, for the mere price of $69.99 plus shipping.


Accessories - **
The only accessory as such is the blaster rifle of the Guard.  It's appropriate and looks decent.  I'm not sure what else they could have included, but at seventy bucks I'd like to see SOMETHING more.


Packaging - **1/2
Not bad for Hasbro.  It's a very sturdy box, and cardboard completely encases the plastic window so there is less chance of damage.  I received mine in fine shape through the mail.  The background graphics are cool, but once again opening this up means trashing the packaging.

Articulation - **
Didn't I just mention on the Speeder Bike how I wish we'd get some new bodies?  Same here.  It's really not the strong suit of this line.

Sculpting - ***
Extremely nice work on Valorum - it really does look a lot like him and is a marked improvement over some of the other 'human' likenesses.  The guard has a bit of a vacant look, however, and two things would have greatly improved him - making the helmet removable, and make the top of the helmet actual bristles, rather than part of the sculpt.

Outfits - ***1/2
The saving grace on this set is the tremendous job they've done on the costumes.  Extremely nice material, great detail, and excellent quality.

 


Value - **
Because it's an exclusive, they get to charge what they'd like.  After getting the superb Speeder Bike for $50, there is no way that this set is worth $70, but at this point you don't have too much choice.  I suspect we'll see Valorum again in a single pack, but just like the Emperor's Guard, I bet this two pack is the only time we see the Coruscant Guard.

Overall - **1/2
The high points here are the terrific Valorum likeness and the excellent costumes.  That's not enough to make up for the poor articulation and lack of accessories at $70 - $40, maybe, but $70 is a hefty price to pay.


Figure from the collection of Michael Crawford.

This page copyright 2003, Michael Crawford. All rights reserved. Hosted by 1 Hour Hosting.com