The Emperor's Royal Guard sculpt has been well used within the Star Wars Black Series, and the latest incarnation of the figure is in the Gaming Greats line as the base sculpt is recoloured in gloss blue to replicate the Imperial Senate Guards as seen in the Force Unleashed video game. The figure is number 08 in the Gaming Greats series of the Galaxy Collection and comes in a black window box and uses blue accent colours for the character details and artwork. As a Gaming Greats release it also carries the Gaming Greats sticker on the window, and the logo of the video game is used on top of the rear artwork.
The figure is identical to all those that have come before with the exception of the soft goods robes which are discarded altogether in order to recreate the Guards you fight against in The Force Unleashed. The armoured pieces are cast in a high gloss blue, with the undersuit a black that varies sadly from a matt finish on the thighs, to a shinier gloss on the arms - it would have looked much better with a matt black application throughout. The pieces are cast in their base colour, so the only paint apps to mention are the black of the helmet visor and the silver on the belt buckle. The lower skirt piece of the belt has also had to be painted in blue but is not distinguishable from the cast pieces.
The articulation is that of an older format Black Series figure with 16 points in total and retaining the double jointed pinned knees. The armour does play a part in restricting some of the motion of the joints with the shoulder armour stopping the arm being raised all the way up, and the chest and torso amour impeding the waist ball joint. So while the articulation is relatively wide ranging - the execution on the figure is less so and that leaves limited options for action posing particularly in the arms and torso.
The Senate Guard is armed with a Cortosis Staff, the same as was used for the Shadow Guard release back in 2017. This consists of a dark grey staff piece with crisp detailing around its various ringed segments, but lacking any paint apps. Into this you can then clip a translucent red blade. This blade connects OK but the clip is quite shallow, and my version did arrive warped and needed some heat treatment to straighten out. The staff fits into either hand, but the Guard still comes with the very odd right hand with extended ‘pointing’ finger that originally allowed the normal Guard’s force pike to be shoulders. Used to hold any other weapon does make the grip look odd with the extended finger pointing away from the weapon.
The other included accessory is an EC-17 hold out blaster. This is delivered in the holster - as has been the case for all the releases to date - held in place with some elastic strapping. While the holster is on the figure's right side, it can only be held by the left hand which has a split grip allowing two fingers to go into the blaster's handle. This weapon and holster do not appear to be consistent with the game, but it was obviously easier to include them rather than design a new belt piece.
Nearly all the Gaming Greats releases are tweaks to existing figures, and the Senate Guard was a prime candidate for inclusion. It looks OK, but not only suffers from the same issues as the original Emperor's Royal Guard figures - but also lacks the soft goods and features a weapon that the hands were not originally designed to wield. As a Gaming Greats exclusive, this release does retail initially at a higher price than general release figures that are more unique and that in itself is an issue and invariably why many of these Gaming figures end up at deep discount sooner rather than later. However, it is worth considering these Force Unleashed figures may just have become more desirable with the recent news that key protagonist, Starkiller Galen Marek, is on his way to the Star Wars Black Series..
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About Me : As a child of the 70's and 80's I grew up in a golden age for action figures and in my youth bought and sold myself through collections of Star Wars, G.I. Joe (Action Force) and M.A.S.K. while also dabbling in He-Man, Transformers and Ghostbusters. Roll forward and I am now reliving that Youth with the action figures of today and am a collector and fan of the larger 6-8 inch figures from my favourite movie and TV licences - including the ones mentioned above, but also the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Doctor Who and the Aliens. I launched The Mephitsu Archives in 2015 with a view of creating a UK focused site or these figures where fans can pick up the latest action figure news, read reviews and get information on where to buy their figures and what is currently on store shelves. I hope I am delivering that to you guys...
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