Hasbro Star Wars: Geonosian War Chamber #2 Review

 A long time ago.....

When Kenner Toys of Columbus, Ohio first introduced its first 12 3.75-inch Star Wars  "action figures" in 1978, the then-subsidiary of General Mills offered very few options for older teen or adult collectors to display the small replicas of heroes, villains, and assorted denizens from writer-director George Lucas's unexpectedly popular space opera.

There were several products produced by Kenner to help collectors of all ages to display their out-of-the-package figures, ranging from mail-in and in-store versions of especially-designed display stands to various "action playsets" based on locales seen in Star Wars (a.k.a. A New Hope), The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi.   There were also three vinyl Collector's Cases (one for each film); they could each hold 24 figures in compartmentalized bins which, when flipped over, doubled as display stands.

For the average and artistically-challenged collector (such as this writer), the "action playsets" (which included rudimentary and somewhat scaled-down versions of the Death Star, the Tatooine wastes, the Mos Eisley Cantina, the Rebel base on Hoth, and Jabba's Palace) were the alternative to creating homemade dioramas out of Plaster of Paris and other materials.  I mean, lots of us bought the figures not as toys but as collectibles, and very few of the people I knew back in the first days of Star Wars hobby-dom knew anything about keeping figures in the packaging or buying two of each or what have you.  We wanted to show off our figures - even if it was to other geeky collectors - in cool and dynamic ways, and if it meant creating crude little dioramas on such playsets as Dagobah or Land of the Jawas, so be it.

Enter the Cinema Scene/Screen Scene:

When Hasbro absorbed its once-deadly rival Kenner in the early 1990s, the executives in charge of reviving The Power of the Force line of Star Wars toys were probably aware that a few die-hard fans with talent and lots of time on their hands were creating really amazing dioramas based on scenes from the Classic Trilogy using the aforementioned Plaster of Paris, chicken wire, and other materials along with customized action figures. Perhaps knowing that the "base" consumer of the 1990s "reboots" of the "Kenner Collection" wasn't a four-year-old kid in Anytown U.S.A. but rather a thirtysomething man or woman who had seen Star Wars as a teenager in 1977, Hasbro went out of its way to design and produce figures, vehicles, and other "toys" that were more detailed and versatile than their 1978-1985 precursors.

Whether those fan-built dioramas were the inspiration for Hasbro's Cinema Scenes/Screen Scenes is a matter of debate, but for many collectors, these multi-figure sets with detailed bases and photorealistic backdrops are the Holy Grail of their Star Wars collection.

Altholugh every so often Hasbro has produced dynamic Jedi-versus-baddie action Cinema Scenes along the lines of Tatooine Showdown  and Jedi Final Duel, most of them are recreations of crucial but non-action scenes that don't feature weapons or conflct between the featured characters.

Geonosis War Chamber #2:

In a conference room on Geonosis, leaders of the Confederacy of Independent Systems watch Republic and Separatist forces engage in what will become the first battle of the Clone Wars. Unscrupulous opportunists who will do anything that will benefit them financially, they ally with Count Dooku to advance their own interests. - From the package blurb

What is going on in this Screen Scene? 

As the leaders of the Confederacy of Independent Systems watch a battle display's holograms move across the top of their conference table, a dark wave of despair washes over Shu Mai, Nute Gunray, and Passel Argente. On the surface above the underground Geonosian War Room, the secessionists' army of battle droids and Geonosian warriors is on the verge of defeat at the hands of a few Jedi Knights and a large contingent of clone troopers of the new Grand Army of the Republic. Now the representatives of the Commerce Guild, the Trade Federation, and the Corporate Alliance wonder if their grand plans to help create a New Order in the galaxy have come to a premature end, or if this is just a temporary setback for them and their mysterious Sith allies?

Hasbro's Geonosian War Chamber #2 is one of the latest three-figure Star Wars Action Scene Packs, which are small dioramas of scenes from the various Episodes of George Lucas' space-fantasy saga. This one features three individuals who are bent on usurping the democratic Galactic Republic and replacing it with a dictatorship -- the ruthless and pragmatic Gossam leader of the Commerce Guild, Shu Mai, the cowardly but vengeful Neimoidian leader of the Trade Federation,  Nute Gunray (last seen under arrest for his role in the Naboo crisis a decade before), and the mysterious leader of the Corporate Alliance, Passel Argente.

The renditions of these three alien schemers, of course, are very well done, reflecting not only changes in the toy making process that allow for better detailing in even these 3.75-inch figures, but a realization by Hasbro of the popularity of the multi-figure packs among collectors. Costume detailing has been much improved over the past decade or so, and the poses are a lot more dynamic than they would have been with the limited articulation and stiffness of Kenner/Hasbro's 1978-1985 original figures. The addition of such "extras" as the conference table and backdrop adds to the displayability factor that makes the "three-packs" so popular with Star Wars fans.

My only complaint, really, is that both War Chambers' light tables have the same simulated holos (two Republic Gunships very close to the central figure, a vulture droid in the extreme right foreground), which is repetitive. This doesn't look so bad when you keep the Screen Scenes in the packaging and stack them in order, but if you do line them up so that the two halves of the conference tables look complete, it looks odd and unattractive.

Should I buy this for my kids?

While Hasbro recommends this Star Wars Saga Screen Scene for children 4 and up, I'd say most buyers of this collectible would be more serious collectors over the age of 12.

Although Star Wars figures are pretty durable, they do have small parts that can come loose and be easily lost. These are really meant to be displayed rather than played with.