General Grievous is probably my favorite character to come out of the prequel stories, and at the same time he is the most disappointing.
Name: General Grievous
Line: Star Wars: The Legacy Collection
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Released: 2008
Price: Retail: $7.50-$9.00
Scale: 3.74” (figure is 4.75” tall)
Accessories: Two lightsabers and blaster
My first introduction to Grievous was during the Genndy Tartakovsky Clone Wars cartoon that came on in between other shows in five minute increments. This show painted the portrait of an incredibly cunning, strong, quick and deadly android that could defeat multiple Jedi’s in a single fight. The coolest thing about this character was that he used his cyborg enhancements to wield lightsabers in an incredibly deadly and unique way, so he could beat the Jedi’s at their own game without having any force powers. I thought this was awesome. Then came Revenge of the Sith, and my initial impressions of the droid general were shattered, as what we were shown was a sickly robot-guy with an annoying voice and who couldn’t even give Obi-wan a good fight one-on-one.
It seems that the new Clone Wars series has made General Grievous into an imposing character once again, but I’m not sure because no matter how hard I try I just cannot get into that show. Nevertheless, I still find that I like the idea of General Grievous, I just try to forget how he was portrayed on the big screen.
From what I can remember from the movie, this is a pretty good representation of the film Grievous. He is very tall compared to other Star Wars figures, and has that lanky look too him. He is also chalkfull of details, with little wires, circuits and hoses running thoughout his torso and neck. The layered, armored look is very well represented with this sculpt. My favorite part has to be the thighs, which are pieced together with several pieces of plastic and help emphasize the skeletal design. I also love the feet, with their giant raptor-claw toes that look as if they could tear your face off (if he didn’t feel like using his lightsabers or blaster). The head sculpt is also pretty accurate to the movie. The hands each have three fingers, but the problem is that they can’t really hold their weapons well. The blaster can be securely held in one particular hand, but the lightsabers tend to fall out, not matter which hand you use. This is still a very well done sculpt of a character that may be pretty hard to capture in mass market plastic form.
Sculpt Score: 8 / 10
All of the paint on General Grievous is applied well. General Grievous has multiple colors of gray and silver, along with his bone-colored armor. One thing that helps to break up all of the cyborg parts is Grievous’ green organs housed in his torso. The different colors used really help to bring out the layering of the sculpt. My only problem with the paint has to do with the armor on the torso, shoulders and head. Hasbro went with a bit of a wash to make him look weathered. The effect is okay, but for some reason Hasbro desided to use a pastel pink color to help bring out the details. You can’t really tell from the pictures, but in some spots it looks really pink. If you’re not holding the figure within 14” of your face you probably won’t notice, and it blends into the rest of the figure at a distance.
Paint Score: 7 / 10
General Grievous offers us a much greater range of motion than your typical Star Wars figure. He comes with balljoint neck and torso, swivel hinged shoulders, swivel biceps (on each arm), hinged elbows, swivel wrists, swivel hips, double-hinged knees and swivel hinge ankles. I’m very glad that Hasbro has given us a Grievous that has all four arms with great articulation for each one. Grievous suffers a bit with his legs. The thighs are made with a very soft plastic, and it hurts his ability to stand. I love that the designers gave us the intricate design, but they really needed to use a harder plastic during production. The soft plastic that shows up ever so often in various toylines always make a figure feel cheap. The plastic used really hurts his ability to pose, and that is a real shame for a figure that has really good articulation.
Articulation Score: 8 / 10
Despite the fact that he can’t hold many dynamic poses, General Grievous is still a very fun figure. He comes with two lightsabers and one blaster. Not only does he have the four arms, but Grievous also has removable armor to expose his vital organs. You can also connect two arms via a couple of plugs to give Grievous just two arms, but these do not function well or look very good. These little additions to the figure help to bring the playability up.
Fun Score: 8 / 10
For about $7.50 at most places, Grievous is a good sized 3.75” scale figure, that comes with some good accessories. The only problem is that this is an incredibly difficult figure to find. I don’t actually remember seeing him in the stores, and I got mine loose from ebay for about $5.00 with shipping. So really he is not a bad price, but there is nothing so absolutely amazing about this figure that makes him a really great value either.
8 / 10 - A good sculpt for a character that has a unique design and many details.
7 / 10 - Paint that works well for the most part, just some color choices I’m not so sure about.
8 / 10 - Very good articulation, but soft plastic hurts the capabilities.
8 / 10 - The multiple arms and good articulation makes this a fun figure.
7 / 10 - A good price for a very good figure.
76 / 100 - This is a Good Toy
This is probably the best General Grievous figure that is out there. As far as looks go I prefer the Clone Wars version, but unfortunately that figure suffers from awful articulation. This figure offers you some fun gimics, very good articulation, and because of his tremendous height can be an imposing figure for your other 3.75” guys to battle.
-Clark
This could be the figure given away in this month's Review Commentator Contest. Join the discussion by leaving a comment on this review for a chance to win!
_________
