It is a time of a new era. The ever reaching grasp of the new Imperial Empire are now clasping their grip around even distant outer rim planets to secure a good presence throughout the galaxy. One of these lonesome planets is known as Lothal; a planet on the verge of economic obliteration from the failure of farming and set back of industrial work. However even the desperate civilians are not in favour of the new presence of the Empire. One young man, known as Ezra Bridger, lives on the outskirts of one of the troubled towns surviving through petty con art and theft. Unbeknownst to him he is soon to encounter a band of rebels who take him on a journey he only distantly dreamed of. While on a trip to the town for small supplies he accidently intercepts a rebel mission to steal weapons off of the Empire. Ezra wants in and takes the precious creates for himself. But the rebels are fast and soon catch Ezra with the crates. The leader of the Rebel group, Jarrus Kanan, is intrigued with the boys’ courage and skills. And after revealing that he has no family and not much of a life the rebels accept him onto the team.
One of these rebel members is Zeb, a Lasat being built high and wide, easily towering over most average people. With his formiddble strength mixed with his aggression he no match for the commonly feared Stormtroopers.
The packaging on these brand new Rebels Mission Series is fresh with eye catching colours such as rich blues and oranges and the unmistakable Stormtrooper helmet acting as a backing plate. However the most beautiful aspect which hits me is how the packaging works. As for any fan of anything that collects merchandise it all comes down to one very hard decision; to open, or not to open. “Oh yes, I’ll open it and enjoy it as it should be, it’ll look great on my desk!” but wait “What if it could be worth thousands in the future?” But not to worry anymore, because now you can have BOTH ways! Instead of the classic vacuum formed plastic case being stuck to the card back a new way has been invented. The sides of the packaging have been folded in with flaps on both sides and the vacuum formed tray has only been glued half way down. So with a simple pull at the sides the whole bottom unfolds and the holding tray can be neatly pulled out with no damage what so ever! A collectors dream! Mint figures and a mint package!
Moving onto the actual figures, let’s take Zeb for starters. Without even looking in detail the paintwork screams out with great colours and hardly any bleed lines at all. The moulding is reasonably clean cut and body definition fits the animated series depiction. Again, the Stormtrooper is perfectly moulded with awesome paintwork looking exactly the same as in the series. This particular figure actually feels modern and new. It’s very light with smooth armour and thin limbs. Both figures have holes in either foot so they can be displayed on stands. They are also very light compared to older figures, possibly a new material? Articulation is VERY limited. With only 5 standard points of articulation on each figure posing positions are quite limited. However rather than a cheap and quick job I’d rather like to look upon these figures as representing the classic 1977 figures who also had only 5 points of articulation and standard posing features.
Overall these (in my opinion) are the best and most beautifully made figures that Hasbro has ever released. A fresh and inspiring look, preservation packaging, for once actual clean cut paint work and moulding and to top it off making articulation like the good old days. The Force is strong with these figures!