The Gamorrean Guard was released in the Star Wars Black Series in 2018 as a Deluxe release. He was a Target US exclusive and was sold elsewhere via the Fan Channel.
The Gamorrean was part of the 3rd Phase of the Black Series and is therefore packed in a squared black box with a bright red side spine. The front of the box features the Black Series logo, character name, and a greyscale artwork of the Gammy as illustrated by Gregory Titus. The red side would normally hold the figure number, but as an exclusive, this is left blank with a shaded black box where the number should be.
Around the back, we see a larger image of the Titus artwork as well as a short piece of background text that reads:-
"Burly, pig-like brutes who favored axes and other primitive weapons, Gamorreans were often used as muscle by Hutts and other underworld king-pins. Jabba the Hutt employed a gang of intimidating Gamorreans to guard his palace on Tatooine."
The Gamorrean justifies his Deluxe status not in height - standing half a head under a standard figure - but in girth with the bulky proportions of the Gamorreans executed really well. The body features a leather brown chest armour, complete with the circular front motif and a dark wash over the top to add weathering. Across this is a black strapping section that also functions as a belt of sorts. The arms start with overlapping studded silver shoulder armour panels and then we run down the muscular green-skinned arm to similarly coloured bracers.
The lower skirt of the Gamorrean is executed as soft goods with a scaled fur skirt attached tot he figures waist. It works really well assuming it is tucked in fully, it can start to pull out from the waist as the waist is moved around and that leaves a plainer brown fabric left exposed. If you do want to cut this away fully there is a sculpted and painted brown section underneath. Like the arms, the legs are uncovered and finish in a harsh-looking pair of grey sandals.
Painting across the body is excellent with weathering on the brown armour, a realistic gunmetal colour on the metal armour panels and a good skin tone match to the Gamorreans we see on screen.
The head is as impressive as the body capturing the prosthetic masks used for the filming of Return of the Jedi complete with those small squinting eyes, porcine nose, wide teeth filled mouth, and horns that sit just beneath the skin-cap helmet. Like the body, the head is well painted with shaded sections that translate from the base green tone to a brown around the nose and mouth.
The also features an opening mouth feature, something only found on a handful of Black Series releases. The engineering is more that both the jaw and head are pivoted, and tilting the head back creates the opening mouth. The exposed inner mouth is also painted with pink tongue and yellowing teeth. While the feature adds another dynamic to the figure, the open-mouth look doesn't quite work for me as its not something I can relate back to the original Return of the Jedi scenes. It is however good to have some options to vary your Gamorreans if (like me) you army build these.
The Army Building has also been recognised in the accessories with three individual weapons included, all as seen in various scenes in Return of the Jedi. You can choose to arm your Gamorrean with a Vibro-Lance, a hand axe, or a Vibro-Axe.
The largest is the Vibro-Lance, the weapons the Guards were using as Luke entered Jabba's Palace. The piece is taller than the Gamorrean himself. It is cast in grey plastic with a wicked three-pronged end and shaped sections down the shaft of the weapon to act as grips. It is
unpainted and would have benefited from a darker wash.
The small axe is the weapon used by the Gamorrean that escorts R2-D2 and C-3PO into the Palace. It features a brown painted wood colour shaft and a dull grey metallic blade with a brown brushed edge that gives it a rusty used feel. The larger Vibro-Axe is the weapon most of us 80's kids will remember as coming with the Kenner Vintage figure and with most Gamorrean Guards since. It is accurate to the original prop but not easy to see in the film, and we get the best look at it in the Force Unleashed videogames. Like the smaller axe this features a painted brown shaft, dull grey blade with brown rust weathering.
The Gamorrean has two gripping hands allowing all three weapons to be fitted in either hand. This also allows two-handed grips for the lance, and for dual axe-wielding if you want to go all out.
Articulation was always going to be sacrificed when you have a body shape like the Gamorrean, but Hasbro have still included 17 points of articulation including that jaw. The jaw is more mobile than the head itself which can only really turn a few millimetres on either side. The waist is more extensive in its movement, but keep an eye on the soft goods as they can work their way out.
The arms are single jointed but bend well past 90 degrees and thanks to the shoulders that work fully upwards and outwards - with the shoulder armour moving with the arms - the arms are very wide-ranging in movement and that gives you plenty of options for either static guarding, moving prisoners or preparing to attack.
The legs feature double joint knees, so the Gamorrean can kneel if you want. The leg movement and the joints themselves do support the figure in many upright stances, and he is very sturdy once posed.
It is no secret I am a huge fan of Jabba the Hutt and the scenes in Return of the Jedi and for me the Gamorrean Guard is an essential part of any Jabba's Palace display. The Black Series release ticks nearly all the boxes for me - it looks the part, is well painted and has a good selection of accessories that enhance its Army-Building options.
The only real issue for me with the Gamorrean is its exclusivity, and this is an ongoing issue with Hasbro giving core army-builders out as exclusives (see also Phase 2 Clonetrooper, Scariff Trooper, Deathtrooper Specialist as other examples). I have got two guards to date, not paying over retail for either of them - but I would like the option to have more for my Jabba's Palace setup. Perhaps for the 40th Anniversary of Return of the Jedi?
This is my Jabba's Palace display to date with the new Bib Fortuna alongside the Slave Leia, a Gamorrean and a C-3PO. The bigger shelf also includes as many figures as I can think of that would potentially have frequented Jabba's Palace including Boba Fett, Bossk and Dengar as well as some more 'fan theory' inclusions like Aurra Sing. Bubo is a cast custom item I bought many years ago.
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About Me : As a child of the 70's and 80's I grew up in a golden age for action figures and in my youth bought and sold myself through collections of Star Wars, G.I. Joe (Action Force) and M.A.S.K. while also dabbling in He-Man, Transformers and Ghostbusters. Roll forward and I am now reliving that Youth with the action figures of today and am a collector and fan of the larger 6-8 inch figures from my favourite movie and TV licences - including the ones mentioned above, but also the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Doctor Who and the Aliens. I launched The Mephitsu Archives in 2015 with a view of creating a UK focused site or these figures where fans can pick up the latest action figure news, read reviews and get information on where to buy their figures and what is currently on store shelves. I hope I am delivering that to you guys...