Senate Guard, Emperor's Royal Guard, Shadow Guard & Elite Praetorian Guard (Guards 4-Pack) — Star Wars The Black Series

Overview

The Guards 4-Pack is a late September 2017 Fan Channel exclusive at $79–$89, available at GameStop, ThinkGeek, and Barnes & Noble. Four guards spanning three eras and three continuities: a Senate Guard from the Republic era of Revenge of the Sith, an Emperor’s Royal Guard from the original trilogy, an Emperor’s Shadow Guard from the Legends continuity of The Force Unleashed games, and an Elite Praetorian Guard from The Last Jedi. Three of the four share the same body underneath their robes. This is also sometimes referenced as “Guardians of Evil” in secondary market searches.

The Shared Body

The Senate Guard, Emperor’s Royal Guard, and Shadow Guard all share the same underlying body and sculpted details underneath their robes. 19 joints each — ball-jointed dual-axis neck, ball-jointed shoulders, ball-jointed elbows, ball-jointed wrists, ball-jointed upper body, ball-jointed hips, swivel thighs, swivel joints above and below knees, ball-jointed ankles. Each has a soft-goods robe that feels bulky and thin but can be made to flow with patience. Head can be popped off on all three to remove the robe — not recommended on any of them. No head under any helmet on any figure in the set.

Senate Guard

The first Black Series 6” Senate Guard. A character present throughout the prequel trilogy as the Republic’s legislative protection corps, never previously released in 6” scale. Captures the Revenge of the Sith version nicely. 2 accessories plus robe: blaster rifle (hangs over the shoulder in the film-accurate position with patience) and blaster (fits the holster under the robe but the hands don’t grip it well). Head movement restricted by the helmet geometry front and back despite the dual-axis neck joint.

Emperor’s Royal Guard

A straight re-release of the single-card Emperor’s Royal Guard (id=5976). Identification tip for secondary market buyers: this Guards 4-Pack version has no white date imprint on the bottom of the foot — the original single-card release has one. That’s the only physical difference. 3 accessories: force pike (good fit, can be posed at attention with pike leaning on shoulder), blaster (too small for the hands, fits holster under robe), removable red robe. Belt is a separate plugged-in piece, technically removable by stripping down the legs — not recommended. Excellent red colour tone and sculpted under-robe detail.

Emperor’s Shadow Guard

From the Legends continuity of the Star Wars: The Force Unleashed video game series — Force-sensitive elite guards chosen personally by Palpatine, each carrying an ignitable pike. The source documentation is direct: this character is Legends, and Hasbro likely included it because it was an easy repaint. Even so, the black outfit looks mighty cool and the figure works well on display. 3 accessories: lightsaber pike with removable red blade (good fit in hands), blaster (too small for hands, OK in holster), removable black robe. Same shared body as Senate and Royal Guard.

Elite Praetorian Guard (Double Blade)

The odd one out — different body from the other three. No ball-jointed wrists on this tooling; the elbow system is swivel-above and swivel-in, not ball-jointed through. 4 accessories: double-bladed naginata that separates in the middle to create two individual weapons, plus two removable shoulder bells that move up slightly when arms are raised above 90 degrees. The first Praetorian Guard design in the 4-Pack series — this is the dual-weapon variant. Elbows bend to approximately 80 degrees with patience; don’t force them. Shiny clean armour, no weathering. Reviewed and released before The Last Jedi opened.

The Era Span

The set covers four distinct guard types across three continuities and ~60 years of in-universe time: the blue Senate Guards protecting the Galactic Republic in its final years, the crimson Royal Guard serving Palpatine’s Empire through Return of the Jedi, the black Force-wielding Shadow Guards from the Legends post-ROTJ EU, and the crimson Praetorian Guards protecting Snoke’s throne room in The Last Jedi. As a display grouping they trace the lineage of guard tradition through the saga’s political history.

Secondary Market

Fan Channel exclusive (GameStop, ThinkGeek, Barnes & Noble), late 2017. Accessories to verify: Senate Guard’s blaster rifle + blaster + blue robe; Royal Guard’s force pike + blaster + red robe; Shadow Guard’s lightsaber pike + red blade + blaster + black robe; Praetorian Guard’s naginata (2 halves) + 2 shoulder bells. The lightsaber pike’s removable red blade and the naginata’s two halves are the smallest and most easily separated components.

Verdict

Guards 4-Pack delivers on the promise of its concept — a guard-through-the-eras set with four distinct designs, three genuine first-or-exclusive releases (Senate Guard’s programme debut, Shadow Guard’s Legends revival, Praetorian Guard’s double-blade configuration), and one convenient re-release for collectors who missed the single-card Royal Guard. The soft-goods robe construction is the shared limitation across the three robed figures: bulky, requires arranging, and blasters are universally too small for the hands under those robes. The Praetorian Guard’s naginata split mechanic is the standout accessory feature.

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Part of Star Wars The Black Series | Phase 3 Red Line. Related: Elite Praetorian Guard (Heavy Blade) P3-EX-EPG | Clone Troopers of Order 66 P3-EX-CT66 | Imperial Forces EE 4-Pack P3-EX-IMPE.