If you kitbashed Star Trek and Lord of The Rings, you'd probably come close to a Nom Anor. He's muscularly stunning and quite foreboding. As the new Masters of the Universe...whoops, did I just write that?... in the New Jedi Order timeline, the Yuuzhan Vong are quite the compelling and complicated conquering race, and they obviously like to workout.

Nom Anor was a Fan's Choice candidate a few times, and Hasbro finally decided to release him favorite or not. 

VC59 NOM ANOR

Appearance: Crimson Empire II
Sequence: VC59
Asst. 98525/37499
Includes: Amphistaff, Removable Chest Armor, Removable Cloak
Retail: $9.99

Released: April 2012

Cardback:  Celebrate the legendary Star Wars saga that changed the universe forever! This collection brings to life the incredible story of good versus evil that captured our imagination and took us to a galaxy far, far away. Iconic Star Wars heroes and villains are captured with incredible detail and premium features to commemorate each epic tale in the Star Wars saga. May the Force be with you! [MORE IMAGES]

SCULPT/PAINT: The sculpt is intricate with lots of detail of chiseled metal or sinewy elements that make it almost Geiger-esque . I'm not disparaging the creative reference for this figure, but the design doesn't shout McQuarrie, Chiang, or McCaig to me, so it seems out of place with the rest of Star Wars galaxy proper. This figure has distinct comic book inspired touchpoints, which is what it's based on (Crimson Empire II).

The headsculpt is nicely done with flesh tones around the jaw area for added depth and his teeth are painted with a nasty sneer. He also has a painted tattoo on the crown of his head that casts an even more sinister and agressive element to his visage.

ARTICULATION: There are 14 points of articulation on this figure, but has limited range of movement in the knees due to the shin plates that extend in front of the point of articulation. The feet only swivel sideways, so it can be tough maintaining a more dynamic pose and keeping him balanced upright. Nom has ball jointed shoulders, elbows, and knees and his head attaches to a ball peg.

ACCESSORIES: His molded armor chestpiece can be removed by popping of the head. There's also a detachable back piece that's supposed to be a grafted animal part the Vong like to torture and painfully accessorize themselves with. You can wear this backpiece directly on his back or also through the cape. Additional molded and non-removable grafted parts line his arms and lower legs to strike quite the aggressive silhoutte.

The cape itself works okay. There isn't the excess fabric found with the Jedi robes, and after a little finagling, you can minimize the poof on the hood. There's a piece that attaches around the neck to keep the hood in place. The dearly departed ToyFare magazine previewed a prototype of Nom Anor with a sculpted hood that looked pretty sharp from what I recall seeing, but they decided to go soft goods with this final release.

Nom comes with the traditional and long Vong Amphistaff that detaches in two pieces in order to accommodate fitting in the blister

CARDBACK: Since this figure was supposed to have been released last year, his cardback doesn't feature the new 2012 "14 back style. There's the standard "Expanded Universe" title header and nifty composite art of the character. The back has art taken from Dark Horse's Crimson Empire II with a lineup of the rest of Wave 4, plus the re-circulated Wedge Antilles, on the bottom. A "Character Debut - First Time Offered as a Figure" is apllied on the front blister, which he is.

TOPPING THINGS OFF: From an aesthetical standpoint, this figure is excellently detailed with fantastic paint applications on the head and armor. Despite some limits in movement and pose due to this design, it's a solid Expanded Universe villain that many book and comic fans have been waiting to be released. 

But does that character and design fit into the rest of the Star Wars galaxy of figures? Based on the positive response and sell through of the Kyle Katarn and Vong Comic Pack in 2009, that answer is positively yes. But maybe this figure's design is better suited for a Comic Pack and not as Vintage Collection figure. But that's just me.

RATING: WANTED