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Review |
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| Sculpt: |
| Major Bren Derlin, a Rebel Alliance officer at the Hoth base in THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. This is the character's first figure in the modern era; it was produced as "Rebel Commander" in TESB and RETURN OF THE JEDI vintage Kenner lines. The likeness to actor John Ratzenberger (yes, Cliff Claven of CHEERS fame; he was 32 at the time) is good, but not exact. Also, he seems a bit short, compared to, say, a Clone Trooper. Still, it's probably the best representation we'll ever see of this obscure character, and rates 8.5 out of 10. |
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| Paint: |
| Major Derlin's head is molded in flesh tone, with tan paint applications to his cap, light tan to the visor, white and green to his snow goggles, lighht brown to his head scarf, and eggshell to his head covering. White, blue, and black are applied to the eyes, with brown detailing on his eyebrows and moustache. His torso, arms, jacket bottom, legs, and pelvis are all molded in the light tan of his cold weather survival suit. The torso has a flesh tone paint app to the neck. The shoulder/chest yolk of his jacket is a light brown. There is red piping on his breast pockets. His rank insignia is silver and red. His gloved hands are molded in white. His jacket bottom has medium brown paint apps to the belt and blaster holster, with silver deco on the belt buckle. His boots are a medium gray, with light gray straps. There was a tiny bit of light gray paint slop on my sample's left foot.: 8/10. |
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| Articulation: |
| Ball-jointed neck, with planer-cut shoulders, forearms (at glove/jacket separation), hips, and waist. Angle-cut elbows allow the figure to hold its blaster pistol in a two-handed grip. Considering he's a relatively minor character, I'm not really going to quibble over his lack of either ball-jointed knees or shoulders. Then again, he's become a popular character because of the CHEERS connection, and Original Trilogy nostalgia, so Hasbro really could have tossed in a couple of knee joints, like they did for General Veers: 7.5/10. |
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| Accessories: |
| Character-specific figure stand and BlasTech DH-17 Blaster Pistol. This is the smallish blaster from the POTJ Rebel Fleet Trooper (Tantive IV Defender), and looks really undersized. It's molded in black, with silver paint apps. However, it does fit well in his holster: 7.5/10. |
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| Packaging: |
| The same The Saga Collection card as the rest of the series, with a character-specific background image--in this case, the interior of a large ice hanger at the Rebel Alliance base on Hoth. The insert image is a composite of John Ratzenberger, and has The Saga Collection logo to the right of the character image. The figure's name is just below TSC logo, with its collection number (Major Bren Derlin is Saga #008) just to the right. The cardback features a small film image of Major Derlin addressing Princess Leia, and has text that explains the context of the scene in TESB, along with the diecut display area for the Exclusive Hologram Figure: 8.5/10. |
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| Availability: |
| As of this writing, the figure has been appearing at retail for about three months. Along with General Rieekan, Major Derlin is the pegwarmer of this wave, and sells slowly at retail; it is also available from most online sources: 9.5/10. |
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| Conclusion: |
| Major Derlin is just an obscure background character to kids and casual STAR WARS fans, but hardcore fans and collectors have been waiting for a decent version of him since 1980. According to the Expanded Universe, he also lead a Rebel assault squad on Endor. Now that Hasbro has a decent enough head sculpt, a minor bit of head retooling being placed on an Endor Trooper body could result in ... oh, well: 7.8/10. |
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