Week 13: Death Squad Commander

This week we focus on another figure that lasted the entire vintage line unchanged. The Death Squad Commander, as it was initially known, or Star Destroyer Commander as it was quickly renamed, was initially released as one of the first 12 figures. It appeared on both Star Wars and briefly on Empire Strikes Back logo card backs with it's initial name, and was soon renamed as the Star Destroyer Commander. Consequently he can be found under both names on ESB card backs.(ESB moc pic from forum member Rik Biel, SW moc pic from www.12back.com)

The figure itself is fairly plain, yet remains a classic member of the vintage line. The helmet is reminiscent of the Death Star Troopers seen in A New Hope, yet the uniform is gray, despite the majority if not all of the troopers seen in A New Hope wearing black. Interestingly, the photo on the face of the card, which remained unchanged throughout the line, clearly shows a gray uniformed character. Here is the known Kenner releases for the figure according to Kellerman's book:

As Death Squad Commander:

SW 12 Back A, C
SW 20 Back A
SW 20 Back G w/Fett offer
SW 21 Back B 
ESB 21 Back G w/Secret Figure offer

As Star Destroyer Commander:

ESB 31 Back B
ESB 41 Back A w/Survival Kit offer
ESB 47 Back A w/4-LOM offer
ROTJ 48 Back D w/Nien Nunb offer
ROTJ 65 Back B
ROTJ 77 Back A

The figure was not released on the POTF card back, however proofs of that card do exist. There was a POTF Collector Coin made depicting the Star Destroyer Commander.

   

The figure had two names for it's US release, but it had many other name variant's on international cards. Being a character name made up of real words rather than imaginary names, the translations and names are different for every country in which it was released. (pics from www.toysrgus.com)

Palitoy (U.K.) 12 Back Death Squad Commander:

Harbert (Italy) 12 Back "Commandante Squadra Della Morte":

Meccano (France) "Le Cdt de l'Etoille Noire" (Death Star Commander):

Lili Ledy (Mexico) Star Destroyer Commander:



There are no widely accepted standard US release variations to the figure. However, I do have a couple of figures with some very minor differences:

Variation #1: 

DSC figure's eyes seem to be looking to his right. The location of the Hong Kong COO and GMGFI is on the back up his upper left leg, BUT the date (1977) is located on the calf of his left leg. The text is smaller than the other figure. Also, this figures rank bars appear to be just a bit higher up on his chest than the other figure (see comparison pic). Of the 4 loose DSC figures I have this is the only variant like this one I have. The rest are like #2.

Variation #2: 

DSC figure's eyes seem to be looking to his left. The location of the Hong Kong COO and GMGFI 1977 is all on the back of his upper left leg and in slightly bigger text than the other figure. Also this figure's uniform appears to be slightly darker grey than #1.

Pricing:

Like most vintage figures this one is pretty common and can be found in mint condition and complete for around $10 or less, and looking at eBay it looks like this figure carded can run as little as $40 (rotj) to over $350 (12 back AFA 85). 

Special Thanks to Rik Biel for doing the a good deal of the write-up for me on this one....I just filled in some spots. I have been very busy as we a getting ready for to make some changes in our lives here at home. I may be moving soon as we are getting ready to put our house up for sale. I hope that I will be able to keep this feature on it's regular weekly schedule, but that may be difficult to do in the coming weeks/months. I will try my best and thanks to all the readers of this feature. As always, there is a thread in our forums each week as well if you want to post any comments or pics of any of your figures, etc. Thanks!! 


 

 Thanks for reading!