E.T. and Galactic Senate Pods

E.T. and Galactic Senate Pods

NECA - Hasbro

I got a set of Galactic Senate Pods from EBay!  Now I can recreate the most exciting scenes from the prequel trilogy!  Let the debating and filibustering begin!  

One pod came in a set of repacked figures (Yoda, Palpatine, shock troopers) as a Target exclusive way back in the day.  I wasn’t quite crazy enough then to rebuy a bunch of figures I already had just so the Emperor could have the equivalent of a metal boulder to throw at a CGI puppet thing.  

Years go by, and NECA gave me a reason to give this another look with the arrival of their E.T. mystery mini figures.  Ugh...blind bag nonsense.  Actually, my wife was given two as a birthday gift, and I added a third (another neutral, arms down pose) just to make this all work.  

If you didn’t know E.T. existed in the Star Wars universe, here’s a clip from The Phantom Menace to save you the agony of rewatching the movie.  You would probably fall asleep during the political crap before their split second inclusion in the “vote of no confidence” crowd rabble scene:

Sit down, loser.

I like to believe that E.T.’s kind was one of the few groups that got out while the getting was good.  The people in the prequel movies were complete morons and made a mess of everything, so an E.T. family took their round spaceship (which looks quite similar to a trade federation core ship, right?) and galaxy hopped.  Also, maybe being a Force-sensitive race makes sense of E.T.’s telepathy and levitation powers?

Anyway, enjoy this very odd inclusion to my collection.  I picked them up cheap before Disney decides to flesh out that one line of Tarkin dialog into another horrible spin-off movie or show episode:

“The Imperial Senate will no longer be of any concern to us. I have just received word that the Emperor has dissolved the council permanently. The last remnants of the Old Republic have been swept away.”

Wait!  That does sound awesome...the Emperor “dissolving” a whole room of these pods and their stuffy delegates?!  At least it would be better than anything in Rogue One...I wish I could dissolve Rogue One.