Good old Cliff from Cheers! As Major Bren Derlin in 'The Empire Strikes Back', actor John Ratzenberger had some lines, but when it came to his figure, although Kenner clearly intended it to be of him with his distinctive moustache (although they still got his uniform wrong), some genius responsible for the cardback photo cropped the character out of the image on all the cardbacks up until the Tri-logo, when matters were finally rectified and the character got restored!... Poor Cliff Clavin! He never could get a break :lol:. It also explains the childhood mystery I had of why the figure had facial hair, yet the image on the cardback did not.
This figure has the curious distinction of being the first one that could only turn his head in one direction (Bib Fortuna and Weequay being the others, since Luke Hoth's scarf was sculpted in a more play-friendly 'windswept' position

). His scarf looks a little strange, and I remember as a child thinking it was a bit odd that they should make a figure that couldn't turn his head both ways. However this is still a solid figure, and until Kenner finally released a Luke Hoth in a later wave, it was either the trusty Rebel Commander or the Rebel Soldier that you would have to shove in the back of your tauntaun if you wanted to pretend it was Luke... unless you wanted it to look completely ridiculous by putting Greedo in there!
There are some interesting variants with this figure, the most famous of which is the black (actually a very dark brown) boots PBP one with the melt marks on his backside (Ouch! Remind me never to sit on the iron! :lol

, however his boots can be found in a range of different shades of brown, as can his moustache, which can also be thinner or thicker. Perhaps most interesting of all though is that whilst most figures in the line actually have multiple different sculpts available (most of which are extremely similar), with the good Commander, a very obvious difference can be found at the base of his tunic below the belt, where at least one variant has a more lobster-tailed look, with three prominent vertical lines being present there instead of the more usual one.
Another interesting, but rather less welcome fact is that the Rebel Commander's gun can leech its colour into the white plastic of the figure's hand if left in position for long enough (as can the original dark green blasters if left in unpainted hands like Boba Fett's). Therefore, when I finally discovered this grim news, I wrapped the part of the gun in contact with the figure's hands in a strip of transparent plastic in an effort to prevent the colour transfer.
Anyway, here are my five:
Clavin 01.jpg
Clavin 02.jpg
Clavin 03.jpg
Clavin 04.jpg
Clavin 05.jpg
Clavin 06.jpg
Clavin 07.jpg
Clavin 08.jpg