This week I was lucky enough to happen upon wave six of Star Wars’ Vintage Collection at my local Wal-Mart. I was tempted to pick up a Jango Fett to go with my Vintage Mace Windu, but instead I decided to pick a character that I actually cared for. So now I’m the proud owner of a General Lando Calrissian.
Sure, Mace Windu may be the badass of the Star Wars Universe, but Lando Calrissian is the official Cool Cat. First of all, he somehow gambled his way into becoming the Administrator of Cloud City. I know some people win a ton in Vegas, but I’ve never heard of anyone winning so much that they literally own the casino afterwards. Second, when he hands over Han and crew to Vader, he mentions that the Empire arrived before they did. He played it so cool that even though he sold them out, he still gave them a tour of the city and hit on Leia. Third: capes. How many office administrators/generals do you know that wear capes?
One thing bothered me though. I was always confused as to why the Rebellion allowed a man with basically no military experience to become a General. Not to mention the fact that he sold out his best friend to the Empire for what is basically more lenient tax regulations. I guess the Rebellion really will take anyone with a ship.
The first Vintage Collection figure we get of Lando is him in his General’s uniform, which is a pretty good choice in my opinion. Especially considering the most likely alternative is an all blue leisure Office Administrator suit, which isn’t quite as flattering. I’d rather take the stylin General duds anyday.
The sculpting on the figure itself has a ton of tiny details. There are the obvious ones like his rank insignias, pouches, and wrist band. But there are also incredibly small details that I didn’t notice until I got him out of package. They actually sculpted the vertical lines that make up the fabric pattern of his pants and shirt. That’s a level of detail you just don’t expect to see on a three inch figure, but it’s definitely appreciated.
Lando’s face sculpt is also pretty good, but I’m not entirely happy with it. It definitely looks like Billy Dee Williams in general, but not exactly from every angle. I’m fine with that. But I think the real problem is the figure’s half-hearted smile. Billy Dee has a very large and flashy smile that they didn’t translate over into plastic. Which is a real shame because I’d rather have him posed on my shelf, looking back at me, with that million dollar smile. Continue to Page 2…
This is my favorite version of Lando. Not sure about the way his hands are sculpted though. The gun is a bit small, yeah. I like the new ball jointed hips but now I’m wondering if we’ll be buying every character once more if they’re re-re-released with the improved articulation. (Why, of course we will!)
Yeah, his hands are a bit odd from certain angles. But he’s still pretty cool.
If I were an avid Star Wars collector, I don’t know if I’d be happy with the Vintage line or annoyed about having to buy another version of all these figures, lol.
The Alliance granting Lando the rank of general is indeed odd. He mentions the Battle of Tanaab as the basis for it but when could he have found the time? At the end of Empire, he and Chewie were headed to Tatooine presumably so he could infiltrate Jabba’s palace. If we assume about a year between Empire and Jedi, wouldn’t Lando need that time to build up his street cred in his disguised identity?
Maybe he was just a really good palace guard! Either that or Lando really gets around. 😛
It was five months after the destruction of the first Death Star, apparently.
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Battle_of_Taanab
Huh, so he also fought pirates. That Lando’s a busy guy.
Thanks for the link Jester.
Best Billy Dee likeness, best lando ever, horrid cloack clasp and for one in my life it could actually have done with “less” articulation around the hips to make it look less like a bunched up diaper. Other than that a solid figure and a good review.
Thanks Motorthing!
Yeah, the hips can look a little odd sometimes, but it’s easy to overlook with this good of a figure.
is it just me, or just once, shouldn’t we get a lando who comes with an ice cold colt 45? this is my “starscream with cobra commander pilot” combo product that will likely never happen.
I don’t know about that, but he could do with a pimp hat: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3026/2814309589_1204478d19.jpg
I love the pimp hat on the Mug. It suits him so perfectly.
WE (my circle of geeks and nerds called a local Star Trek club, back in the day) used to refer to the Lando Calrissian School of Cool, where you majored in wearing a cape. Some folk just could not rock the cape like others, so there needed to be a school…
Fast Forward to the ’90s, where I discover a blacksploitation flick called ‘Agent OO Soul’ (I think it had a couple other names too) starring Billy Dee Williams. It was one of those “oh, no, you didn’t need money THAT badly, did you?!” kind of direct to video (?) things but man, there he was, for no logical reason wearing a tux and a Dracula cape!
OK, The Tux, there was logic. It was part of his severance package from the CIA. The Cape…
That movie sounds horribly awesome! I’m definitely going to have to check it out. Thanks Steve. 🙂
and really, shouldn’t we have gotten some hos for lando? jabba got hos and he’s neither hot nor smooth
I’m sure Lando got plenty of off-screen action. 😛
Yeah, where the heck WERE the hot chicks on Cloud City? The way Lando reacts to Leia, you’d think he hasn’t seen a human woman in years.
(I’m a Star Wars-episode IV if you MUST- Leia fan. Carrie Fisher was smoking hot there. I thought she looked tired and just hated being in the film for Empire, and slave costume notwithstanding wasn’t really much better in Jedi. So there. 🙂 )
Now that you mention it, I don’t really remember seeing other women on Cloud City. That’s really odd.
whatev, i just lando to have some bitches.