Packaging: ***
I haven’t been a huge fan of the legacy packaging but it’s ok.  It’s not the most dynamic of the star wars packages for sure and it does get old fast seeing it on the pegs.  I haven’t included any packaged shots because I assume everyone already knows what the legacy cards look like. There’s a little slot on the back so you can tell which parts of the build a droid you’re getting.  Hasbro’s done a wonderful job of contorting the troopers this time around to shove them into the bubble.

Sculpting: Han and Luke ***, Spacetrooper **1/2, Trinto and Dice ****,Wioslea ****, Jawa ***1/2, Brainiac (Pons) ***
The sculpts vary greatly in terms of quality but my issues here aren’t so much with the actual head sculpts so much as they are with awkward looking limbs and body proportions in some cases.  The first one that comes to mind is Brainiac. Brainianc has a fairly decent headsculpt that should be instantly recognizable to fans of the cantina.  The problem is with his body.  The legs stick out in an overly wide stance and the shoulders appear almost robotic the way they jut out of the torso.  There’s a natural quality about some sculpts but the balljoints really killed it here with his shoulders.  Looking back on other cantina aliens from 2004, the balljoints really weren’t necessary in this case but more about that later.

Wioslea is really a fantastic figure.  The headsculpt is totally new and while it represents one of the most atrocious alien designs in the original trilogy, it mirrors the character on the screen beautifully.  They went ahead and didn’t just make the bizarre headsculpt here but they also give her a new body sculpt (yes her. This is a female).  She has odd bowlegs that really add to the detail of the figure.  You can’t see them unless you lift up her skirt (and that’s something you would never want to actually do with a creature like this) but kudos to hasbro for sculpting them.  Her hands are also new sculpts.  I love those very strange old low budget aliens and Wioslea is one of the best they’ve done.

Up next are the Luke Skywalker and Han Solo in stormtrooper disguise figures. I’m going to be grouping them together for most of the review since they are sort of a pair.  You really can’t have one without the other.  This is the same body sculpt we’ve seen for a number of years now.  This was originally used with the VOTC stormtrooper.  At the time of its release I thought it was the best thing since sliced bread (or possibly the VOTC Boba Fett which was even nicer) but now it looks a bit lanky and dated.  A big issue for several people on these has been scale.  They both appear to be the same height to me.  One thing that bugs me is the way the chest joints stick out, particularly on Luke. This is the fault of the way they were shoved in the package once again.  The headsculpts themselves are decent.  Han really does look like Harrison Ford but this isn’t that impressive since Hasbro nailed Han’s likeness quite a while ago.  I believe they’ve done excellent jobs on his sculpt for years.  Luke has never looked quite right and at this point it’s safe to say he never will.  It’s a passable likeness and I guess collectors will argue forever about which is the best headsculpt. This one appears a bit too geeky for my tastes.

The Spacetrooper is a unique first for any star wars line.  How he’s been in movies this long and never ended up with a figure until now baffles me.  The sculpt is alright.  Once again the VOTC stormtrooper sculpt.  He has some nice add ons but those are mostly in the accessory category.  The body sculpt is much less mess up on this one due to particular placement in the package.  What really bothers me here and gives him the low marks is the headsculpt.  What on earth?  That’s no way for a trooper to look! He looks like some sort of emo teenager with a combover.  I thought these were all clones of Jango Fett? Hasbro needs to be consistent.  Either make them clones or don’t.  I would have preferred if they all had masks like Cobra Troopers.  The other thing that bothers me about this guy is the height of his neck with the helmet on.  It looks ridiculous and disproportionate.

The Jawa is a decent sculpt.  If we’re simply grading the figure he’s nearly perfect.  The accessories are a bit strange and hard to remove and detract from his look overall but the figure itself is close to perfect.  I’m glad they went back to the classic “X Bandolier” Jawa look.  The real prize of the set thoug his the Treadwell droid.  I’m not a big droid guy but we’ve never gotten this one before.  Hasbro brings it to us now in great detail with several posable arms as well unique sculpts on each arm.  For what would be considered a pack in, this is an impressive figure on it’s own and makes the purchase of another jawa justified.

The real winner of this set though is Trinto Duaba and Dice Ibegon.  Trinto is another ugly alien bum character but he looks great.  The skeletal detail in the face is pretty creepy and they’ve given a lot of detail into the texture of his shawl.  Dice Ibegon is one I’ve personally been waiting for for a lonnng time though.  We only see the top half of Dice in the movie so Hasbro had to take some artistic liberty on this one.  I really like it when a company goes the extra mile to bring us a figure which is exactly what Hasbro had to do to put out a figure like Dice and they truly delivered.  This is exactly how I would have imagined the creature in full.

Paint: Han, Luke ***, Spacetrooper ***1/2, Jawa/Treadwell ***1/2, Wioslea ****, Trinto/Dice ***1/2, Brainiac **1/2
Once again we’ll start with Brainiac.  They did a good job on the matte finish head sculpt and the eyes look pretty decent.  What really bothers me is the glossiness of the torso.  This is not the case on every other figure in the wave and it’s a bit distracting.  I really wish they would show some consistency on the small issues like this.  

Han and Luke are basically how you’d except.  Han’s hair is a darker shade than it should be which takes him down a point.  They both have a bit of slop around the hands where the black meets the white but it’s not unexpected.  If only Han’s head had the effort put into it that the original VOTC did.  Also half a point off for the eyes on the helmets being different sizes.   The Spacetrooper has a fairly inhuman toyish looking face but the paint on the body is cleaner than Han and luke.  Nothing else is of note about this one.

The Jawa has a good matte finish to most of the figure.  I wish they would have added a bit more dirt around the bottom of his cloak but we can’t be that picky.  The Treadwell droid has nice clean paint applications.  Once again I wish there was some more paint around the base but since we’re getting two figures in this set I won’t be quite as picky.

Wioslea has a great paintjob on the head and they’ve mixed the colors perfectly.  The hands and feet look good too.  Trinto looks completely off from the character you see on the card.  The skin tone is an entirely different shade.  I won’t take off too much for this one though since it says on the back of the card that he can change his appearance.  Dice really makes up for it though.  The paint work on Dice is almost like something from the specialty market.  They’ve done a nice brown wash over the lighter colors and brought us another winner in this category.

Articualtion - Han, Luke, Spacetrooper ***, Brainiac ****, Wioslea ****, Trinto/Dice ****, Jawa, Treadwell ****
The articulation on all three troopers is identical.  They have ball hinged shoulders, balljointed necks, ball hinge elbows, swivel wrists, balljointed chests, swivel hips, ball hinged knees and ball hinged ankles.  This is the same articulation we’ve seen for years now and I really wish they would have gone ahead and added the balljointed hip joints.  I don’t understand how Hasbro has made trooper with those hips before such as on the Commander Gree figure and they refuse to change these five year old molds.  

Brainiac has  the distinction of being the most articulated cantina alien ever released.  He has full SA (hips aside) which is above and beyond what I would expect from a background character.  The head doesn’t have a large range of movement but it works for me.  Wioslea has the same articulation minus the knee joints but you can’t really fault her for that.  The bow legged design doesn’t lend itself to knees.  The neck joint has a great range of movement.  The ankles are also necessary to stand.  The figure really looks natural because the cloak hides all the articulation.  

The Jawa is really articulated for a figure of its size.  It has ball hinge shoulders, ball hinge elbows, swivel wrists, swivel waist, swivel neck (with barely any range).  The reason he scores so high is the Treadwell droid.  This thing is loaded with articulation.  He has a swivel base, swivel antennas, and eight arms with 2 points of articulation each.  That’s around 20 points of articulation which is great.  I wish he had wheels on the bottom of the base but that’s nitpicking.  

Trinto Duaba has the same articulation as Pons Limbic except he has swivel elbows as opposed to ball hinge.  This is a bit annoying and they do slide around more than necessary but Dice Ibegon (who I include in the score) more than makes up for it.  For a figure not even two inches Tall, Dice has seven points of articulation! In addition to a turning neck, Dice has 6 swivel arm joints.  

Accessories - Han, Luke **, Brainiac ***1/2, Wioslea ***, Trinto/Dice ****, Jawa, Treadwell ****, Spacetrooper ***1/2, Build a Droids  ***
Let’s start with the bad first.  Han and Luke have their helmets and blasters. That’s it.  Actually Han also has a removable grenade on the back of his butt as well. Luke’s is glued on.  For the price point of over nine dollars each with tax now since the price hike, Hasbro really has to include more to justify the cost.  Obviously the helmets are necessary so it’s barely even fair to count them as accessories.  They could have throw in half of a dianoga with each character or some trash or even handcuffs.  Long rifles would have even sufficed.  

Brainiac comes with his blaster which fits into a holster as well as a 2 piece snap together cantina table.  I’m glad they’re including these bar pieces with the cantina figures.  I can’t really think of anything else to include with a figure like this except possibly a cup.  

Wioslea comes with a removable robe and a blaster.  The removable robe has two holes in the top for the antennas to poke out.  In the movie the hood just sat over top of her head but it’s kind of cool that they give you the option.  I think a bar piece or something else would come in handy here.  I don’t know what else to give her really.  

The space trooper has a good amount of accessories.  In addition to the obligatory helmet, he has a small tube that fits into the bottom of the helmet and attaches to what I assume is an oxygen tank on his back.  He has a new rifle as far as I can tell.  It looks like an old fashioned grenade launcher and even has some paint operations of its own.  He also comes with the standard blaster though I chose not to display it with him.  

The Jawa is really a stand out figure.  Certainly worth the nearly $9 you normally pay for them.  Of course there’s the fantastic and aforementioned Treadwell droid but the jawa also includes a restraining bolt which he can hold in either hand.  He also comes with a ridiculously oversized jawa blaster which is attached to a bandolier that can be slung over his existing one.  This is a bit of overkill.  Sure he can store it in his trusty holster but he cannot even hold this gun properly and it looks silly on him.  

Trinto and Dice are of course getting perfect marks because I don’t count either figure as an accessory but rather a good value for a two pack. Dice, if considered a pack in is a fantastic item to add to your display and very well detailed as mentioned earlier. Trinto also has a blaster pistol and a removable shawl.  You’ll be glad to know there’s a slit on the side so it doesn’t hinder the articulation in his arm one bit.

Of course each figure also includes the parts necessary to build 2 astromech droid figures.  By far the most boring and unrewarding build a figures I could possibly think of, but it’s nice to have them once you’ve got the whole wave you essentially get two free figures.  These don’t really improve the value a whole lot for the figures individually though because unless you have a great interest in astromech’s there is not nearly enough motivation in owning these to buy additional figures to get them.  They have swivel necks, legs, and that’s it.  There is a light orange and white R4 and a dark orange and black R2.  Notice my R2 is missing a leg because I couldn’t find obi wan.  

Value:  Han, Luke **, Brainiac ***, Wioslea **1/2, Spacetrooper **1/2, Trinto,Dice ****,  Jawa and Treadwell ****
The simple fact of the matter is the majority of these are not $9 figures.  Target’s current price is 8.74 to 8.99 in some places plus tax which is beyond absurd.  Walmart is a bit better but not by a lot.  Toysrus is actually not a bad price for them these days.  Han and Luke feel like rip offs for sure, as does Wioslea and Brainiac to some degree. Obviously army builders will want multiples of the spacetrooper and at this price it’s a bit discouraging.  The Jawa and the Treadwell and Trinto and dice are really the only ones worth paying Target’s price for.  Even then it’s only an average value.  

Things to Watch Out For -
I would be careful picking paint apps on Han and Luke. Some of the ones I saw on the peg had lazy eye.  Just look at a paint apps in general on these figures.  You should be pretty fine on the aliens though. 

Overall: Han, Luke **1/2, Brainiac, Spacetrooper ***, Wioslea ***1/2, Dice and trinto/ Jawa and Treadwell ****
I thought hard about these scores but in the end the current price of figures is simply not worth paying for some of them and in the case of unexciting (though necessary) retools like Han and Luke it makes the purchase feel highly unjustified.  The spacetrooper is an interesting army builder though I do wish the headsculpt was nicer and it sat better on top of his shoulders.  Brainiac is a nice addition to the alien line up but he isn’t as nice as some past releases, not even Felipern and Myo from 2004 which is a slightly disappointing fact.  Wioslea is really a different and new type of character.  Despite the value problem it’s a really decent figure and it will be sad to see it pegwarm.  Dice Ibegon was pulled off really well by Hasbro and the way they packed her with Trinto, a less in demand character was a smart idea.  The Jawa being released with a very cool and larger droid was also a great idea to sell a tired character and give us a new droid at the same time.  I look forward to picking up the Obi Wan figure as well as it looks like the best version of Old Ben to date and even has the Holo leia table. 

SCORE RECAP:
Packaging: ***
Sculpting: Han and Luke ***, Spacetrooper **1/2, Trinto and Dice ****,Wioslea ****, Jawa ***1/2, Brainiac (Pons) ***
Paint: Han, Luke ***, Spacetrooper ***1/2, Jawa/Treadwell ***1/2, Wioslea ****, Trinto/Dice ***1/2, Brainiac **1/2
Articulation: Han, Luke, Spacetrooper ***, Brainiac ****, Wioslea ****, Trinto/Dice ****, Jawa, Treadwell ****
Accessories: Han, Luke **, Brainiac ***1/2, Wioslea ***, Trinto/Dice ****, Jawa, Treadwell ****, Spacetrooper ***1/2, Build a Droids  ***
Value: Han, Luke **, Brainiac ***, Wioslea **1/2, Spacetrooper **1/2, Trinto,Dice ****,  Jawa and Treadwell ****
Overall: Han, Luke **1/2, Brainiac, Spacetrooper ***, Wioslea ***1/2, Dice and trinto/ Jawa and Treadwell ****

Where to Buy -
So far these have been found at Target, walmart, TRU, Mejiers and of course online options.  I picked up mine between Walmart and Target.  Obi Wan, The jawa and the spacetrooper are the hot ones for now so prioritize if you want the whole wave.