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Saga 2004 #15 Captain Antilles (Tantive IV Invasion) Review

Captain Antilles is Fan Choice Figure #5 and makes his first-ever appearance as an action figure. Read on for the review and 14 photos!

Captain Antilles

Tantive IV Invasion

"Antilles was the captain of the Tantive IV when stormtroopers overran it in search of the stolen plans for the Death Star. Although the Royal House of Alderaan claimed that the Tantive IV was a diplomatic vessel, it was an integral component of the Rebels' fight. Vader strangled the unfortunate captain while interrogating him about the stolen plans." --Excerpt from the package back

Sculpt--3.5/5
Rejoice! We finally have a Captain Antilles figure! Okay, so it's not that big a deal to me, but this is still a decently sculpted figure that will please all who have clamored for this figure. All of Antilles' clothing has some great textures like the leathery look of the boots or the fine, cross-hatched texture of the jacket. There are also some great looking wrinkles to help pull off the look of fabric and supple leather. Other nice details are the functional holster, the removable helmet, and the fact that there is no noticeable gap between the crotch and the thighs--an area that usually has an obvious gap for articulation purposes.

Some not so nice details? The relatively young look of Antilles' headsculpt and the fact that his legs seem to be a bit too long. Artists (myself included) tend to elongate legs because of various reasons which I won't get into here, but let's just say that there is a romantic view of what the human body looks like and that usually doesn't match up with the reality of what a human body looks like. And that's basically what's happened here--the sculptor simply didn't pay much attention to real-life proportions and judging by past Star Wars figures, it seems they hardly ever do. For a good example of a well proportioned figure, get your hands on the latest TIE Fighter Pilot (which I hope to have reviewed...someday). Ahem...well, that mini-rant was unexpected, but I think you get my point.

Articulation--4/5
Captain Antilles has eleven points of articulation: ball-jointed head, extendable and twistable neck, shoulders, angled elbow-cuts, wrists, hips and waist. The articulation here is primarily to recreate Antilles' strangled appearance in A New Hope. The ball-jointed head is perfect for cocking his head back as he gasps for air, and the angled-elbow cuts allow his hands to come up close to his neck as he holds onto Vader's arm. One of the weirdest articulation points ever made is Antilles' extendable neck. Presumably they did this so a Vader action figure could get his hand around Antilles' neck, but I know of no Vader figure that has a grip wide enough for the task. Thus, I don't use the feature, and plus it just looks freaky. But other than the choking pose, Antilles can actually be posed in some great action poses, thanks to his elbow and wrist articulation.

Accessories--4/5
Not much to complain about here. We get a removable helmet, a rebel blaster rifle and an action figure stand. The stand is the same old thing we've been getting. I like 'em but they tend to not lie flat when connected to other stands. The helmet looks great and the fact that it is removable makes me wish they had done this with the other Rebel Troopers. This helmet is even complete with a chinstrap and antennae--a nice touch. The Rebel blaster is the newer version like the one that came with General Jan Dodonna, and it fits into the holster nicely.

Paint--3/5
Pretty solid job on the paint. My only beef is that I wish the helmet was glossy, instead of the matte finish that we got. The blaster could also use some black paint since they were black in the film.

Overall--3.5/5
This is a good figure that I heartily recommend. The extra long legs kinda bug me (is it obvious?) but it's a well done figure that is capable of being film accurate while also being capable of some imaginative play. Recreating the chocking scene did prove a little difficult, but that was more because there isn't really a perfect Vader to choke this figure with. My best results came from the Death Star Clash Vader (also known as the Masters of the Dark side Vader) or the Vader from the Imperial Forces 4-pack (a repaint of Emperor's Wrath Darth Vader). Perhaps the new Original Trilogy Collection Vader will fit the bill, but until then I think these are the best choices.

--Photos and review by Garett Yoshimura
garett@carrotnetwork.com


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All original website content and photos © Copyright 2002-2006 Garett Yoshimura. All Rights Reserved. Not affiliated with Lucasfilm Ltd. or Hasbro.

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