{"id":9259,"date":"2010-09-07T10:30:47","date_gmt":"2010-09-07T15:30:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=9259"},"modified":"2010-09-28T03:38:08","modified_gmt":"2010-09-28T08:38:08","slug":"vault-review-star-wars-vintage-collection-magnaguard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=9259","title":{"rendered":"Vault Review: Star Wars Vintage Collection: MagnaGuard"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>I was so happy with the General Grievous I bought last week that I decided he shouldn’t be the lone representative of the Vintage Collection on my shelves. So, I headed off to Toys R Us to pick up another figure. This time, I was after Grievous\u2019 bodyguard droids, the MagnaGuard, and I wasn\u2019t disappointed.<\/p>\n

The IG-100 MagnaGuards are an advanced battle droid series created to be General Grievous\u2019 personal bodyguards and elite enforcers. Different models are denoted by their various colors, gray being the rarest. They are programmed on the use of various weapons, but are usually seen brandishing electrostaffs made from the lightsaber resistant metal phrik. Grievous personally trained each Guard in the seven classic styles of lightsaber combat. They can also remain active after their heads are removed. This makes them the deadliest of opponents, even for the Jedi.<\/p>\n

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First, I wanted to talk a little about the package. I don\u2019t usually feature this part of the toys I review because it usually doesn\u2019t matter to me. I\u2019m the kind of guy that believes toys should be opened, and the packaging is just the obstacle standing between me and my fun. Recently, I\u2019ve been admiring the packaging of the new Star Wars Vintage Collection. The classic deco, complete with peg hole instead of J-hook, not only looks sleek but it also stirs a childhood nostalgia in me. I remember these from so long ago and I just can\u2019t help but smile when I run across them on the toy shelves today. It\u2019s almost a shame to open them, almost.<\/p>\n

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The MagnaGuard\u2019s sculpt is impressively detailed. His all-new body and extremities are crafted to resemble how a real robot would be put together. Each piece blends nicely into the next without the harsh cuts of articulation. There are small hydraulics and wires sculpted underneath the armor throughout his body. Even on his tiny head, behind his red eyes, are the sculpted details of robotic workings. On his front and back are two soft armor pieces that can be removed to show his robotic guts underneath. Then there\u2019s his sculpted head wrap, which is also removable to show his bare skull. I honestly don\u2019t know if they could have added any more detail to this figure.<\/p>\n

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Adding to the high detail of this figure is his amazing articulation. The MagnaGuard has a ball-jointed head, upper torso, and hips. His shoulders and elbows are swivel-hinges. While his knees and ankles are regular hinges. Lastly, his forearms are swivel joints. With this amount of articulation, there are few poses the Magna Guard can\u2019t take. Plus, he can actually hold his poses since his legs are made of a sturdier plastic than Grievous\u2019 legs. I\u2019m particularly happy with all the ball joints, especially the hips, which makes this figure feel truly self-animated.<\/p>\n

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To top off the trifecta of detail on this figure is his superb paint job. His armor is a light gray, while the workings and guts underneath are dark gunmetal gray. There are dabs of silver and copper to highlight various pieces, and the dark red of his eyes and chest sensor stand out among all the metallics. But what really makes this figure stand out is his dirty and worn look. Hasbro really went the extra mile here and gave the MagnaGuard a dark dry wash. This makes the figure look as if he\u2019s been around a few battlefields and lived to fight again. It\u2019s a small detail, but it adds tons of character to a droid that would have otherwise looked like he was straight off the factory floor. Continue to Page Two…<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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The MagnaGuard comes with a couple accessories. He has a regular black blaster. It\u2019s one we\u2019ve seen a few hundred times already and is the exact same one Grievous comes with. He also has his electrostaff. Hasbro did a great job here as well. The electrostaff is molded a silver color, but the ends are painted with copper details. Also, the ends are sculpted with small ridges and a coil where the electricity comes out. Speaking of electricity, you get two translucent light-bulb looking pieces that fit over each end. These are supposed to resemble the staff in action and have purple tendrils of energy emanating from them. It\u2019s a pretty nice effect, but I\u2019m glad it\u2019s removable.<\/p>\n

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Also technically an accessory is the MagnaGuard\u2019s cape. Made of a dingy looking brown material, you get the impression that the cape was originally white but has been dirtied over time. This is backed up by the holes that dot the tattered bottom. At the top, the cape is folded around and fits over the shoulders of the Guard nicely. There are even a few lines of Grievous\u2019 symbol visible for decorative detail. One thing I didn\u2019t like about this cape is that, unlike Grievous\u2019, it is very thin and difficult to pose. The thin fabric keeps rolling up onto itself and leaves you with something that looks more like a scarf tail than a cape.<\/p>\n

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I\u2019m extremely happy with the MagnaGuard figure. It\u2019s the best articulated Star Wars figure I\u2019ve ever owned. Add in the extreme amounts of detail and superb paint job and you have truly amazing figure all around. This is just a damned good figure any toy collector can appreciate, whether you\u2019re a Star Wars fan or not. In fact, I\u2019m so impressed with this guy that I already know I\u2019m going to be picking up at least one more for my Grievous display. Maybe two\u2026<\/p>\n

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I found this guy at my local Toys R Us, but over the last couple days the second wave of the Vintage Collection has been showing up at my Wal-Marts too. So if you\u2019re looking for these, I would check those two stores first. You can expect to pay $8 to $10 for the Vintage Collection figures. That\u2019s a decent price, especially when a figure turns out as nice as this one.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was so happy with the General Grievous I bought last week that I decided he shouldn’t be the lone representative of the Vintage Collection on my shelves. So, I headed off to my local Toys R Us again to pick up another figure. This time, I was after Grievous\u2019 bodyguard droids, the MagnaGuard, and I wasn\u2019t disappointed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9260,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[34,10],"tags":[682,672,670],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.itsalltrue.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/magnTN.jpg?fit=50%2C50","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pObc6-2pl","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":11981,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=11981","url_meta":{"origin":9259,"position":0},"title":"Vault Review: Star Wars Vintage Collection: Mace Windu","date":"March 9, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I was a casual Star Wars toy collector. But ever since The Vintage Collection debuted, I\u2019ve been finding myself perusing the Star Wars more and more often. In my weakest moments I\u2019m sorely tempted by the AT-AT in retro packaging. But even at my strongest, I couldn\u2019t say no to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25655,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=25655","url_meta":{"origin":9259,"position":1},"title":"Top Ten Star Wars Characters We Want Painted Black!","date":"November 12, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "Film & TV"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12128,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=12128","url_meta":{"origin":9259,"position":2},"title":"Vault Review: Star Wars Vintage Collection: Gen. Lando Calrissian","date":"March 25, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"This week I was lucky enough to happen upon wave six of Star Wars\u2019 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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12262,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=12262","url_meta":{"origin":9259,"position":3},"title":"Vault Review: Star Wars Vintage Collection: Dagobah Luke","date":"April 11, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Maybe it\u2019s the fact that the figures look so damned good, or that they retail for reasonable prices, or maybe it\u2019s just a Jedi mind trick. Either way, I\u2019m compelled to buy two with every purchase. So when I picked up Lando, I also somehow found myself at checkout with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12267,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=12267","url_meta":{"origin":9259,"position":4},"title":"Vault Review: Star WarsThe Clone Wars Ahsoka","date":"April 12, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I walked into my Toys R Us this week not expecting to really find anything, and was pleasantly surprised by a nice little haul. Not only was I able to pick up the DCUC Golden Pharaoh and Jemm figures, but TRU also got in one case of the new wave\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10352,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=10352","url_meta":{"origin":9259,"position":5},"title":"Vault Review: Star Wars Vintage Collection: Adm. Ackbar","date":"November 30, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"It\u2019s always a bit difficult finding toys this time of year. Not only are the stores full of parents and grandparents to contend with, but you also have to deal with random shipment schedules and untrained stockers. So I was extremely pleased to see a single case of Star Wars\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9259"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9259"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9259\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9569,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9259\/revisions\/9569"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}