Star Wars Action Figure Reviews

Durge is the official new baddie of the Clone Wars and this is perhaps the greatest figure of him. You want articulation? This figure has it! Combine that with great sculpting and a nice ride and you have one of the greatest deluxe sets made! Read on for the review and 24 photos!

Durge with Swoop Bike

Separatist Forces

"A century before the Clone Wars, this 2,000 year old bounty hunter went into hibernation to recuperate after being tortured by Madalorians. Awakening shortly after the Battle of Geonosis, Durge learns that the only Mandalorians still alive are the Clone Trooper, which were created from Mandalorian Jango Fett. Durge joins the Confederacy to enact his revenge upon Jango Fett's clones. His swoop bike is a high-performance craft with exceptional speed and challenges even the most skilled pilots. Simple vehicles, they achieve their performance through a combination of repulsorlift and turbothrust engines." --Excerpt from the package back

	Sculpt: Durge--5/5, Swoop Bike--4.5/5 Now, I haven't read the Clone Wars comics, but I have seen some scans from them and this figure does an excellent job of replicating this hulking, armored bounty hunter. His armor looks great, with nice clean lines and sharp edges. His gauntlets have little attachments on them and they look superb despite their small size. There's even a little damage sculpted in the armor here and there. The separately sculpted hoses that go from his legs to his waist are great though a little on the stiff side. His hands look good holding the handles of the swoop or brandishing his blaster pistols which can also be stored in the functional holsters on his hips. Another awesome thing about this figure is that he looks great both on and off the bike! Yes, ON AND OFF the bike!! No other "riding" figure has looked this good off the bike/beast, and that's one of the reasons this figure is getting a perfect score. The only negative is this figure's lack of pegholes in the bottom of his feet; they could have been useful for creating some difficult poses that will now require hand support. Durge's Swoop bike is simply awesome. I can't say if it's totally accurate, but what I can say is that I likes it! It really looks like one cool piece of machinery! Like most swoop bikes, it is reminiscent of a Harley Davidson motorcycle with its high handlebars and its angled outrigger. This bike is a totally new sculpt and not a rehash or repaint or made from parts of other swoop bikes. There are plenty of dents sculpted all over the bike giving it a truly used and battle-tested feel to it. A nice feature is the storage holster for Durge's shotgun-like blaster, which totally reminds me of the scene in Terminator 2 where the Terminator is using his shotgun while riding his motorcycle. Articulation--5/5 Wondering what the new super-articulated Clone Trooper will be like? This figure is the next best thing! Durge has twelve points of articulation: neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, mid-section, hips, and knees. But that's not the best part--the best part is that all of these points (except for the hips and wrists) are hinge-and-swivel joints!! The posing possibilities on this figure is astounding! You can make some really great shooting poses, or have him use his lance, or have him shoot at people while riding his swoop, or...well, you get the idea, the list can go on and on! This articulation is what helps make Durge look great on or off his swoop and is proof that great articulation is better than a built-in action figure any day of the week! Features--NA/5 There are no features associated with this set unless you call great articulation a feature! Let's hope this becomes the norm! Accessories--4.5/5 Besides the great swoop bike, you get a variety of Durge's weapons: two blaster pistols, a blaster rifle, a three-pronged lance, and his backpack. I'm not sure if this is the same backpack/jetpack that the basic Durge figure has, but if it is, then it is in it's compacted form. The blaster pistols are well detailed and fit in his hands perfectly. The blaster rifle looks vaguely like a standard Imperial blaster rifle from the original trilogy but has a shotgun-like grip. It also has a plastic strap that you must put together yourself. It isn't hard to do; one side is already connected to the gun, the other end has a little peg that you stick into a hole on the gun. The problem with this is that it tends to come undone rather easily. The lance is a pretty cool accessory. You can have Durge "joust" with it while he is on his swoop, or you can simply attach it to the swoop bike. He also looks good using it off his bike. Paint--2.5/5 This is the only area that could use some work. Comparing this Durge to the basic version is like night and day. The basic Durge has a nice wash on his armor which makes him look nice and dirty. He also has the correct flesh tones on his arms and more prominent red markings on his armor. However this Durge does not have those things; his armor looks clean, he has no flesh tones on his arms, and the red markings on his shoulders and knees are barely visible. Also, none of this Durge's weapons are painted, making them look a bit cheesy and very plastic. The swoop bike is well done, but if it had a paint wash to make it look more used and dirty it would probably look even better than it does already. Overall--4.5/5 I think this is one of the best deluxe sets to come out in a long time. The figure is just stupendously great and very fun to play with thanks to his awesome articulation. There really isn't much not to like here; you get an awesome figure and a great-looking vehicle. I'll be the first to admit that I wasn't a big fan of the Clone Wars line, but figures like this (and the great cartoon) are making me change my mind. With that said, I'm officially stating that this is one of the must-have figures of 2003!