Generic To Its Core, The Death Star Scanning Crew Exclusive Two-Pack Is Entirely Forgettable!

The Good: Appropriate accessories, Generally good sculpt and coloring, Incredible articulation
The Bad: Scanning box accessory is very cheaply made, Entirely lame subjects, No collectible value!
The Basics: The Death Star Scanning Crew Vintage action figure set is a pair of generic Imperials that only has any value because of their rarity!


It is a rare thing that I am not excited to actually sit and write a review of a Star Wars toy. In the Star Wars Vintage Collection, there might not be a less interesting figure set to review than the Death Star Scanning Crew. The bottomline is: these are boring figures, not worth picking up, despite being well-made (save one of the accessories).

The Death Star Scanning Crew appeared at the midpoint of A New Hope (reviewed here!), on the Death Star. They are seen momentarily approaching the Millennium Falcon on the hanger deck where they go in to scan for life forms and get knocked out so the crew can escape to skulk around the Death Star.

The 4" Death Star Scanning Crew figure two-pack is a very basic Imperial Officer and a generic Imperial Technician.

Basics

The Death Star Scanning Crew is a two-pack that includes two unremarkable figures that are generic lackeys working for the Galactic Empire. The figures in the Death Star Scanning Crew, the Imperial Officer and the Imperial Technician, stand 4" and 3 3/4” tall, respectively. The Imperial Technician is cast wearing his gray uniform, the Imperial Officer is an equally generic officer in the black uniform. These figures are made entirely of hard plastic, save the holster, and they are two of the least-detailed Star Wars figures in the Vintage line.

This toy is a decent sculpt, especially for a figure that is supposed to be a generic technician/officer. Because they are such basic figures – the uniform for the Imperial Technician is monotonal gray, while the Officer is monotonal black, Hasbro easily got the sculpt right. Both are very simply dressed Imperials. As far as molding details go, that Hasbro included seams on the characters’ uniform and pockets molded onto the pants deserves some credit. The big difference in sculpt is that the Imperial Officer has the rank pins on the character’s shoulder.

The Death Star Scanning Crew figures are very basically colored. Both figures are indistinct without any coloring for badges and the Imperial Technician figure is monochromatic with the gray uniform, black boots and peach flesh tones for the face and hands. Sadly, on the Imperial Technician, the foot is colored only on the surface; when the ankle is moved, the resulting hinged ball and socket is revealed to be gray underneath.

Accessories

Both members of the Death Star Scanning Crew come with blasters. They are the very basic Imperial Blaster, which is a 1” pistol that comes with any number of Imperial action figures. These are detailed to be in perfect proportion to the new figure line and as a result, they are thinner and smaller than the original Power Of The Force figures.

The Death Star Scanning Crew figures also come with the box of scanning devices. This is a bright blue box that has things that look like they could come out. The box has cheap black dowels for wheels and they do not actually help the scanning tools box move. The box is completely incongruent with all other Star Wars figures.

Playability

The four inch toy line was designed for play and the Death Star Scanning Crew is pretty exceptional in that regard. The figures are incredibly articulated and well-balanced. The Death Star Scanning Crew figures have great balance, arguably because the amazing articulation provides so many posing options that it is easy to find the figure’s equilibrium. Like virtually every other Star Wars figure, they have the standard holes in the feet that allow this figure to be posed in more outlandish poses on the playsets and toys that have the matching foot pegs!

The Vintage Collection Death Star Scanning Crew figures are high on articulation. Each figure has fourteen points of articulation, most of which are ball and socket joints. These figures are articulated at the ankles, knees, shoulders, elbows, wrists, groin socket, neck and lower bust. This provides the consumer with incredible options for play and display of these simple-uniformed officers!

Collectibility

The Death Star Scanning Crew is part of the Vintage Colleciton four-inch series, but was exclusive to the two-pack and released only at Kmart. Locally, three of the four Kmarts still had some available this month, over a year (and two Christmases!) after their initial release. That makes it a distinctly poor investment for collectors and fans.

Overview

The Death Star Scanning Crew is well-made, but utterly dull. That’s all there is to it.

For other Star Wars exclusives, please check out my reviews of:
Vintage Collection Imperial Scanning Crew
Amazon.com Exclusive Legacy Collection 212th Battalion Clone Trooper figure
30th Anniversary Battle Of Hoth Target Exclusive Playset

3.5/10

For other toy reviews, please check out my Toy Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2015 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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