"Your screams are like music to my audio-receptors!"
The first General Grievous figure was released in 2019 and based on his live-action appearance in Revenge of the Sith. The figure would have an update in 2022 with a lighter colour scheme and updated cloak to recreate Grievous as seen in the Tartakovsky Clone Wars series. The latest iteration of Grievous in the Black Series line is this 2023 Gaming Greats release, tweaking the original figure into a battle-damaged variant as seen in the EA Battlefront 2 video game. Like the first release, Grievous is a Deluxe release warranted by his height and the volume of accessories included to complete his look. He is a Gamestop exclusive in the US and sold via the Fan Channel elsewhere. Grievous arrives in a window box as Hasbro reverses its plastic-free packaging decision. The wider Deluxe box follows the same design principles as the other Galaxy Collection figures with the slanted side and artwork in the blue hue allocated to the Gaming Greats collection. Grievous is number 25 in the series, following on from the Darth Malgus release.
Grievous is a full re-use of the original figure from 2019 but with some enhancement as we will see shortly. Hasbro has a good track record of realising droids in figure form, and the General uses the same principles as other robotic figures with a body sculpted to incorporate the joints mechanically into the figure with visible pegs and pivots. The main body of Grievous is cast in black plastic with a hint of a metallic finish. This is then overlaid with cream armoured panels across the chest, groin, arms, and legs. As per the Battlefront 2 graphics and in keeping with the ‘battle damaged’ sub-title for the release, the damage is added via paint decor across Grievous’ chest, arms, and legs. However, the figure has lost decor too with the silver scratches and wear seen on the original figure around the legs and midsection has been lost completely.
This damage is also carried into the head and the mask carries a scorched patch over the left eye. These eyes are sculpted beneath the mask and then painted with the red and orange organic hue we see on screen from what is left of Grievous’s organic body. The head is joined up to the main body by a further mechanically designed joint and surrounded with silver-painted hydraulic pipework.
The big improvement in my eyes to this new figure is how much more stable he is out of the box and into a standing position. The original Grievous suffered from gummy ankle pivots that did not come back far enough to level out the clawed feet, this appears to have been tweaked on this new release leaving Grievous able to stand fully upright out of the box and with joints secure enough to support his weight and that of any accessories.
Like the first figure, the arms arrive in a two-armed configuration but can be split to create the four-armed variation for Grievous. Each pair of arms is held together by interlocking pegs on the hands and from here can be used as a single pair of arms or split into four. Once split, this makes the articulation count a total of 19 points. The slimness of the arms once split only allows for a single elbow joint and shoulder joint and not any wrist movement and that can be a bit more problematic when you employ the General's 'collection'.
This release of Grievous does not feature a soft goods cloak, it wasn’t featured in the gameplay either. We do however get the collection of lightsabers Grievous has acquired - four in total all featuring a removable hilt with different detailing on each and four removable translucent blades - two green and two blue. These slot into the hands of Grievous, with some trial and error around which fits best whereas there isn't much play in the small, clawed hands and some of the thicker saber hilts are easier to work with in the lower grips. With no wrist articulation, the position of the sabers can only be orientated via the elbow or shoulder joint, which is frustrating when you are trying to align the position of the blades. The slim arms and the joints connecting them also lead to some posing frustration, with my figure's right upper arm already unable to hold itself fully upright.
Grievous works fine as a Gaming Greats release, aligning to the Battlefront 2 source material via the battle damage although the finish is not an improvement on the first release rather replacing one set of weathering with another. The figure does improve significantly on stability and to that end offers an upgrade option to the original figure. The complexity of Grievous and the split arms must be a headache for designers and I am pleased Hasbro has tackled these key elements rather than maybe using alternative arms or leaving them as a two-arm option - the negative in this is the lack of that wrist articulation which would really help the lightsaber posing.
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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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