Red has been my favorite color for as long as I can remember. Because of this predilection towards all things crimson, one specific cinematic moment has stuck with me for the majority of my life. In Return of the Jedi, when the platform on the Imperial shuttle that was delivering this enigmatic presence known only as “The Emperor” lowered, there came a boiling scarlet deluge like fresh arterial spray from the inner shadows. Against the stark black and white of the surrounding hangar and Stormtroopers, those red-clad Royal Guards couldn’t help standing out.
To this day, when I see that very specific perfect red, I think of it as “Imperial Guard Red.” In this red, there’s no orange, no hint of magenta or all the other colors that can ruin a good red. It’s just a pure, brilliant red.
Being an Imperial Guard, albeit a highly stylized one, this figure wouldn’t have been the same had it not featured that brilliant red. I can attest to the fact that when I popped off the top of the box I was immediately hit with a red unlike no other. In short, they nailed it, and this figure immediately catapulted itself to the top of my list of “most visually striking” figures.
The samurai Royal Guard is another in a string of strong feudal-era interpretations of Star Wars designs. It’s the fifth unique figure along with the Stormtrooper, Darth Vader, Sandtrooper, and Boba Fett.
At this point, if you’ve been collecting the line, you know what to expect. These figures are slightly larger figures with a high articulation count and fantastic sculpting. Despite the amount of what looks like articulation-hampering elements, they retain a wide range of motion due to the flexible material used. You will still suffer some limitations that wouldn’t be found in less adorned figures, but far less than some figures that seem almost encased in a plastic shell.
Vader and Boba are one-off figures, but characters like the Stormtrooper and the Royal Guard beg to be army-built. Unfortunately that will have to be left to wealthier collectors as these are not cheap. The Royal Guard’s price point was higher than most due to his being an exclusive, so that negated the chances completely. I can only hope that one of those cheap bootlegs shows up on eBay, because it seems a crime not to have a pair of them flanking Vader.
The Royal Guard gives you two options for display. You can have him without his “robe” and leave the armor insignia, or you can remove the symbol and plug in the front robe piece. I went with the robe for the vast majority of the pictures as it is more reminiscent of his familiar look, but I might switch it back to the armor + insignia look. I really haven’t decided, because he looks great both ways.
The Guard comes with his lance that cradles in one of several spare hands perfectly. He looks great just standing there, but he can also be posed in plenty of ways using it as a defensive weapons. These guys ain’t just for show, you know.
As with all the samurai figures, the Royal Guard comes with a sword and scabbard that attach to his hip. He comes with a pair of sword-holding hands, the previously mentioned lance-cradling hands, and a pair of fists.
The helmet evokes the samurai aesthetic while retaining the Star Wars look. His head is probably the most restricted of all of his articulation due to design, but then the original Guards didn’t look like they’d be able to look around all that much either, so it’s forgivable.
He has all the articulation you could want: ball-jointed waist, wrists, ankles, jointed elbows, knees, hips, and shoulders, and all of them give you a broad range only held back by the various armor elements. But as you can see, he still poses very well.
The Royal Guard is another high point in the Star Wars samurai line. I’m not sure how deep they’re intending to go, or if they have any plans for non-helmeted characters, but I’m looking forward to seeing what they have planned. With a samurai Spider-Man planned for an August release, it looks like Star Wars isn’t the only property that will be getting some feudal love. I’m all for it.
This figure is sold out at BBTS, but you can still purchase him at eBay or Amazon
