Star Wars The Black Series Rebel Commando review

While they weren’t the savage Stormtrooper killers like the Ewoks, the Rebel Commandos did handle their business in Endor.

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of Return of the Jedi — how is that possible??? — Hasbro finally put the Rebellion’s Endor Army into the Black Series. These guys have been long overdue and definitely essential characters for any worthwhile Return of the Jedi Endor scene. Apart from the killer teddy bears of course.

The Rebel Commandos didn’t get the typical release, making their debut as part of the ROTJ Vintage Card Anniversary wave. Let’s bust through the bunker and see if these guys are worth building en masse.

Packaging: Hasbro once again breaks out the old school classic Vintage Card setup complete with the Kenner logo. I still love the silver frame surrounding the ROTJ logo and a live action shot of the Rebel Commando. The blister card makes it nice and easy to see the figure and check out any flaws.

The card back material is slightly more solid than the G.I. Joe Retro line, but it’s not as thick as I’d like. The rear of the package retains that classic flair with cross sells of the other figures comprising this wave of ROTJ figures. I do miss Hasbro’s quality bios for the Black Series with this setup, however.

Likeness: For the Endor mission, the Rebel Commando gear had some variety. Some soldiers wore a tan vest with camo pants, others wore a camo jacket while others rocked a longer camo trench coat similar to Han Solo. The only consistent aspect of the attire with every trooper was the hat/helmet they wore.

This gave Hasbro a few options for appropriate gear without getting bashed for not accurately capturing the Endor troops’ look. They opted for the vest version and it looks really good. The default head sculpt looks really focused like he’s ready for some serious action against Stormtroopers.

I dig the slight stomach he’s sporting as well. That’s a cool little bonus and gives a bit of personality to the trooper.

All of the outfit details look. There’s a good amount of gear on the commando as well with a shoulder strap containing what I assume is a thermal detonator. The jacket has a Rebel rank insignia and the left arm has a wrist communicator.

Moving to the belt, it has a good array of pouches and extra gear. The pants have a solid amount of wrinkles and bagginess to best navigate a forest setting.

And the donut helmet has an impressive amount of detail from the side strap buttons, the chin strap and the metallic ring around the head. This is a pretty distinct look among Rebellion gear and it turned out nice.

Paint: The paintwork is solid especially with the Commando’s face. His blue eyes are piercing and Hasbro worked in a very subtle stubble around his mouth and chin. Really great work.

I kinda figured the Rebel Commando squad would have more grime on their outfits but looking at reference pics they’re actually pretty clean. The lack of grass stains is weird, yet accurate.

Hasbro seems to have some trouble making bold camouflage patterns. Similar to the G.I. Joe Classified Series, the camo effect on the pants just kind of blends in and doesn’t pop the same way it does on screen.

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Scale:  The average Rebel Commando is the same height as Han Solo so they’re taller than both Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker while solidly looking up at Chewbacca.

Articulation:  Per Return of the Jedi, the Rebel Commando needs to be pretty flexible, able to hit a good crouching/resting on knee pose while waiting to ambush the Stormtroopers.

Hasbro has made significant strides with the range of movement despite the figures lacking double-jointed elbows and knees.

The articulation is great though the knee swivel joint sometimes still throws me off. He’s able to hold all sorts of fun action poses with no trouble at all.

Rebel Commando has:

• neck
• ball-jointed shoulders
• elbow (with swivel)
• wrist
• wrist hinge
• torso
• hips
• thighs
• knees (swivel)
• ankles

Accessories: Hasbro’s Hoth Troopers are the absolute best army builder option they’ve ever done across their lines.

To incorporate as much army building greatness as that figure, Hasbro would probably have to make the Rebel Commando a true deluxe offering instead of just with the price point.

Not that it would be impossible — reusing Han’s Endor coat and a left shoulder strap piece could have helped a lot.

Hasbro did consider army builders with this one and with some creativity you can do some decent mixing and maxing. Easily the most important addition is the alternate swappable face plate. A carry over from the Hoth Trooper, this still works great.

One thing I wish Hasbro considered was making the face plate set up compatible with the Hoth soldiers so we could have even more head swap options. It’s off just enough to look weird.

We have the grizzled, thick beard who is the most distinct of the Rebel Commando members waiting for Han to run around the corner. I love that inclusion and I suppose with a little black paint you’ve got a commando with a black beard too.

There’s some assistance on the weapon front as well. He comes with a longer rifle as well as a shorter blaster. Mix up which hand is holding what blaster and from a distance you can almost fudge another trooper. Toss on Han’s coat and you’re in business.

Worth it?  What a difference a few years make. The Hoth Trooper in 2020 was under $30. Now the Rebel Commando is $34 with less accessory and army building options. I would have been OK paying more with a third face plate head and swappable arms to go with the jacket look. This is a figure I’m sure a lot of folks will have a close eye on come a sale.

Rating: 9 out of 10

The figure itself is pretty much a 10, but the idea of milking the price of army builders seems really backwards to me when a cheaper price would lend itself to Hasbro selling a ton of these awesome figures.

Where to get it?  Naturally the Rebel Commando is the first of these 40th anniversary Retro figures to sell out. Going online is probably the easier option. Entertainment Earth still has him in stock.

As an Entertainment Earth affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases.