Saturday, August 4, 2018

Action Figure Review: Gamorrean Guard from Star Wars: The Black Series Phase III by Hasbro

    I was very, very excited to find the Target exclusive Gamorrean Guard on a Target run this past Thursday. While I love the Black Series it definitely has a severe shortage of aliens, particularly aliens from the Original Trilogy. The Gamorrean Guards are some of my favorites and I'm pretty excited to finally get them. We've had Jabba the Hutt for quite some time now so it's nice to finally have some other characters to pal around with him. The Gamorrean Guard is a portly figure and, unusually, costs $30 bucks at Target. Usually exclusives cost a few bucks extra but the Gamorrean Guard is about $10 bucks more. He's definitely heftier than most figures, so maybe that's the reason why? To be honest, I wanted him so bad that I didn't care; I just bought him. Let's check him out after the break...



 The Facts:

Height: 5 7/8ths inches

Articulation: Swivel/hinge ankles, double hinged knees, swivel thighs, ball jointed hips, ball jointed mid torso, swivel/hinge shoulders, swivel/hinge elbows, swivel/hinge wrists, hinged jaw, and a ball jointed head.

Accessories: Two vibro axes and a staff.

Non-Scalper Price: $30 dollars
 The Positives:



* The Gamorrean Guard looks fantastic. He has some excellent paint work, an incredible sculpt, a thicker than normal size, and the inclusion of soft goods for his loincloth. He is very well done and definitely stands out as one of the coolest figures Hasbro has made yet.

* The headsculpt is also quite good. I love the work on the eyes, the helmet, and the wrinkles on the Gammorean's porcine face. The paint on the nose and mouth might seem a but too heavy but I think it actually matches the film costumes from Return of the Jedi rather well.

* Like Admiral Ackbar, the Gamorrean Guard also features a hinged mouth. He looks rather silly with the mouth fully open but the hinge does allow you to give him some smaller, open mouthed expressions that do improve the look of the figure and might help each figure to stand out if you decide to army build these.

* Due to his shape, the Gamorrean doesn't initially feel as well articulated as your standard Black Series figure. That's not true, though, as the Gamorrean actually has as many joints than your standard figure (more if you count the mouth) and, with a little effort, you can get some very battle ready poses out of him. He isn't as havy as you may think, though, as his stomach/ waist is actually an overlay over a more standard body, just FYI.

* There is some rather impressive sculpting and detailing on the Gamorrean Guard's armor. His leather tunic has a nice dark dry-brushing effect while the metal elements, such as the shoulder pads, look incredible. Also, the bandolier the Gamorrean Guard wears his a separate piece that can shift around a bit. It might be removable with some effort, but I don't really want to mess with it.

* The Gamorrean Guard features a soft goods loincloth to cover his nether regions and it actually works quite well. I like the shaggy look of the loincloth and the color matches up pretty nicely with the tunic. It helps make him feel a bit more "deluxe" than he would if the loincloth were just made of plastic.

 * The Gamorrean Guard includes three weapons, the first being the vibroaxe that I most associate with the vintage Kenner. Gamorrean Guard figure. It's my favorite and I love the paintwork here. It's excellent with nice, rusty dry-brushing.

* The second weapon is a simpler looking ax. It has the same rusty looking blade paintwork as the first one but it has a smaller blade. This is the style of ax that came with the Power of the Force II Gamorrean Guard, so that's what I always associate it with.

 * Last, but not least, is a vibro-staff. It features some minor paintwork on the head but it otherwise just cast in a darker grey plastic. It's still a very cool accessory, though, and the presence of three axes gives you a few cool options to display your figures with.
 He might be a few bucks more than a standard figure in the line but  think the Gamorrean Guard is definitely worth it. Excellent sculpting, a fabric loincloth, three nicely done weapons, and an articulated jaw definitely makes the figure feel fairly deluxe. Maybe not as deluxe as I might expect (Bubo would have been a great inclusion here) but still worthwhile purchase. He's still an Epic figure and one that gives me hope that Hasbro may soon dive more into the creatures and aliens from the Original Trilogy and Prequels.



This is actually the first Gamorrean Guard I've reviewed on the site! For more Star Wars: The Black Series Phase III figures, check out the following:
442nd Siege Battalion Clone Trooper, 212th Attack Battalion Utapau Trooper, Coruscant Guard ---(Phase II), and 501st Legion Clone Trooper 4 pack
4-LOM
Admiral Ackbar and First Order Officer
Ahsoka Tano 
AT-AT Pilot 
Baze Malbus
Captain Cassian Andor (Eadu) 
Captain Poe Dameron
C-3PO
C-3PO (Resistance Base)
Captain Phasma
Chewbacca (Target Exclusive)
Chewbacca (The Force Awakens)
Chirrut Imwe 
Clone Captain Rex (HasCon Exclusive)
Clone Commander Gree
Clone Commander Wolffe 
Constable Zuvio
Darth Revan 
Darth Vader (Emperor's Wrath)
Death Star Trooper
Dewback/ Sandtrooper
Director Krennic 
DJ (Canto Bight)
Elite Praetorian Guard
Elite Praetorian Guard (with Heavy Blade)
Finn (First Order Disguise)
Finn (FN-2187)
Finn (Jakku)
First Order Flametrooper
First Order General Hux
First Order Snowtrooper
First Order Snowtrooper Officer
First Order Special Forces TIE Fighter
First Order Stormtrooper
First Order Stormtrooper Executioner 
First Order Stormtrooper (with Gear)
First Order TIE Fighter Pilot
General Leia Organa
Grand Admiral Thrawn (SDCC Exclusive)
Grand Moff Tarkin 
Guardians of Evil 4-Pack
Guavian Enforcer
Han Solo (Solo)
Han Solo (The Force Awakens)
Hera Syndulla
Imperial AT-ACT Driver
Imperial Death Trooper
Imperial Death Trooper, Captain Cassian Andor, and Sergeant Jyn Erso (Jedha) 3 pack
Imperial Hovertank Pilot 
Imperial Shock Trooper 
Imperial Royal Guard 
Inferno Squad Agent
Jaina Solo (Legends)
Jango Fett
K-2SO
Kanan Jarrus
Kylo Ren 
Kylo Ren (SDCC 2016)
Kylo Ren (The Last Jedi) 
Kylo Ren (Starkiller Base)
Kylo Ren (Throne Room) 
Lando Calrissian (Solo)
Lando Calrissian (The Empire Strikes Back)
Luke Skywalker 
Luke Skywalker (Jedi Master) 
Luke Skywalker (Jedi Master)- Ahch-To Island
Maz Kanata 
Obi-Wan Kenobi (Force Spirit)
Obi-Wan Kenobi (SDCC 2016)
Phase 1 Clone Trooper Commander, Phase II Clone Trooper, Imperial Stormtrooper, and First Order ---Stormtrooper Officer four pack
Poe Dameron
Poe Dameron and First Order Riot Control Stormtrooper
Porgs
Princess Leia Organa 
Qi'ra (Corellia)
Qui-Gon Jinn
R2-A3, R5-K6, and R2-F2
Range Trooper
Resistance Tech Rose
Resistance Trooper
Rey (Island Journey)
Rey (Jakku) & BB-8 
Rey (Jedi Training)
Rey (Jedi Training)- Crait
Rey (Starkiller Base) 
Rey's Speeder (Jakku)
Sabine Wren
Sandtrooper Sergeant, Crimson Stormtrooper, Lieutenant OXIXO, and R2-Q5
Scarif Stormtrooper
Scarif Stormtrooper Squad Leader 
Sergeant Jyn Erso (Eadu)
Sergeant Jyn Erso (Jedha)
Snowtrooper 
Supreme Leader Snoke (Throne Room)
Tusken Raider 
X-34 Landspeeder & Luke Skywalker (SDCC Exclusive) 
X-Wing Pilot Asty 

4 comments:

  1. I wouldn't mind paying a bit more for this guy... if I could FIND him!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was actually at 3 Targets within 24 hours of finding mine and only one had them in stock. He is great but it definitely seems that folks are getting frustrated at having their online orders canceled and such due to Target not being able to stock enough of him. Hopefully he'll be plentiful at some point.

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  2. Need some green eggs to go with that ham. A balanced breakfast for any Rancor.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm sure there are green eggs out there in Star Wars lore. You could serve them along with Luke's milk from TLJ.

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