SWTOTW, Week 16, 2020 Rebel Commander

Pomse2001

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Rebel Commander:

Rebel Commander.jpg
 

Snaketibe

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Good old Cliff from Cheers! As Major Bren Derlin in 'The Empire Strikes Back', actor John Ratzenberger had some lines, but when it came to his figure, although Kenner clearly intended it to be of him with his distinctive moustache (although they still got his uniform wrong), some genius responsible for the cardback photo cropped the character out of the image on all the cardbacks up until the Tri-logo, when matters were finally rectified and the character got restored!... Poor Cliff Clavin! He never could get a break :lol:. It also explains the childhood mystery I had of why the figure had facial hair, yet the image on the cardback did not.

This figure has the curious distinction of being the first one that could only turn his head in one direction (Bib Fortuna and Weequay being the others, since Luke Hoth's scarf was sculpted in a more play-friendly 'windswept' position :D). His scarf looks a little strange, and I remember as a child thinking it was a bit odd that they should make a figure that couldn't turn his head both ways. However this is still a solid figure, and until Kenner finally released a Luke Hoth in a later wave, it was either the trusty Rebel Commander or the Rebel Soldier that you would have to shove in the back of your tauntaun if you wanted to pretend it was Luke... unless you wanted it to look completely ridiculous by putting Greedo in there!

There are some interesting variants with this figure, the most famous of which is the black (actually a very dark brown) boots PBP one with the melt marks on his backside (Ouch! Remind me never to sit on the iron! :lol:), however his boots can be found in a range of different shades of brown, as can his moustache, which can also be thinner or thicker. Perhaps most interesting of all though is that whilst most figures in the line actually have multiple different sculpts available (most of which are extremely similar), with the good Commander, a very obvious difference can be found at the base of his tunic below the belt, where at least one variant has a more lobster-tailed look, with three prominent vertical lines being present there instead of the more usual one.

Another interesting, but rather less welcome fact is that the Rebel Commander's gun can leech its colour into the white plastic of the figure's hand if left in position for long enough (as can the original dark green blasters if left in unpainted hands like Boba Fett's). Therefore, when I finally discovered this grim news, I wrapped the part of the gun in contact with the figure's hands in a strip of transparent plastic in an effort to prevent the colour transfer.

Anyway, here are my five:

Clavin 01.jpg


Clavin 02.jpg


Clavin 03.jpg


Clavin 04.jpg


Clavin 05.jpg


Clavin 06.jpg


Clavin 07.jpg


Clavin 08.jpg
 

TheJabbaWookie

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In 2006 I thought I'd completed my loose run minus the last 17. In 2017 when I started collecting again imagine my surprise when I realised I was missing the Rebel Commander. Or perhaps it isn't such a surprise to have missed him out after all :lol:

I only have the one but I wouldn't mind a dark Boots Spanish variant
 

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Snaketibe

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TheJabbaWookie said:
In 2006 I thought I'd completed my loose run minus the last 17. In 2017 when I started collecting again imagine my surprise when I realised I was missing the Rebel Commander. Or perhaps it isn't such a surprise to have missed him out after all :lol:

I only have the one but I wouldn't mind a dark Boots Spanish variant

What a lovely mint example. Thanks for sharing :)
 

Mini99

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Here is one and only example.
 

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Pomse2001

Grand Master
Joined
Mar 13, 2012
Messages
16,102
Location
Denmark
Snaketibe said:
Good old Cliff from Cheers! As Major Bren Derlin in 'The Empire Strikes Back', actor John Ratzenberger had some lines, but when it came to his figure, although Kenner clearly intended it to be of him with his distinctive moustache (although they still got his uniform wrong), some genius responsible for the cardback photo cropped the character out of the image on all the cardbacks up until the Tri-logo, when matters were finally rectified and the character got restored!... Poor Cliff Clavin! He never could get a break :lol:. It also explains the childhood mystery I had of why the figure had facial hair, yet the image on the cardback did not.

This figure has the curious distinction of being the first one that could only turn his head in one direction (Bib Fortuna and Weequay being the others, since Luke Hoth's scarf was sculpted in a more play-friendly 'windswept' position :D). His scarf looks a little strange, and I remember as a child thinking it was a bit odd that they should make a figure that couldn't turn his head both ways. However this is still a solid figure, and until Kenner finally released a Luke Hoth in a later wave, it was either the trusty Rebel Commander or the Rebel Soldier that you would have to shove in the back of your tauntaun if you wanted to pretend it was Luke... unless you wanted it to look completely ridiculous by putting Greedo in there!

There are some interesting variants with this figure, the most famous of which is the black (actually a very dark brown) boots PBP one with the melt marks on his backside (Ouch! Remind me never to sit on the iron! :lol:), however his boots can be found in a range of different shades of brown, as can his moustache, which can also be thinner or thicker. Perhaps most interesting of all though is that whilst most figures in the line actually have multiple different sculpts available (most of which are extremely similar), with the good Commander, a very obvious difference can be found at the base of his tunic below the belt, where at least one variant has a more lobster-tailed look, with three prominent vertical lines being present there instead of the more usual one.

Another interesting, but rather less welcome fact is that the Rebel Commander's gun can leech its colour into the white plastic of the figure's hand if left in position for long enough (as can the original dark green blasters if left in unpainted hands like Boba Fett's). Therefore, when I finally discovered this grim news, I wrapped the part of the gun in contact with the figure's hands in a strip of transparent plastic in an effort to prevent the colour transfer.

Anyway, here are my five:

Clavin 01.jpg

Clavin 02.jpg

Clavin 03.jpg

Clavin 04.jpg

Clavin 05.jpg

Clavin 06.jpg

Clavin 07.jpg

Clavin 08.jpg

Thanks for the story and all the great info and thanks for sharing your collection 8)
 

Pomse2001

Grand Master
Joined
Mar 13, 2012
Messages
16,102
Location
Denmark
TheJabbaWookie said:
In 2006 I thought I'd completed my loose run minus the last 17. In 2017 when I started collecting again imagine my surprise when I realised I was missing the Rebel Commander. Or perhaps it isn't such a surprise to have missed him out after all :lol:

I only have the one but I wouldn't mind a dark Boots Spanish variant

Funny story, thanks mate and thanks for sharing the figure, yes who would not mind to have a dark boots PBP :D
 
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