Over the last few conventions Heroes & Villains has become a regular stop of mine. As a brand Heroes & Villains is dedicated to providing customers with an authentic approach to wearable lifestyle gear.

Throughout the year, and especially at conventions, Heroes & Villains will debut a new apparel and accessory collection. These collections can sometimes be timed with a movies release or anniversary or any other relevant milestone for a property. These collections run the gamut of today’s most iconic properties such as Star Wars, Marvel, DC, Dungeons & Dragons, and more. At past conventions this has included X-Men Academy, Deadpool and Wolverine both of which debuted at consecutive New York Comic Cons in 2023 and 2024 and last years San Diego Comic-Con Star Wars Racing Theme collection.

While collections feature shirts, jackets, sweaters, and hats as well as satchels and bags the team at Heroes & Villains are not afraid to try adding different things to a collection such as wall hanging home décor pieces or home goods as appropriate. As Doug Johnson, Creative Director at Bioworld Merchandising, describes it the goal is to broaden a story, regardless of franchise, through product development. Depending on what the collection is the company will create a story within the collection and relay that story through their design approach. From the ground-up detail is given to all aspects of every piece going into a collection whether its color palettes, fabric, cut, embroidery, or any other design aspects. But it’s not just design that rules out focus is always given to function. It isn’t enough that a bag or jacket is aesthetically pleasing but bags and accessories are also designed with proper function including durability, layout, and storage options.
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Getting to this year’s convention Heroes & Villains expanded and actually offered two collections.

In the Star Wars Pavilion the collection revolved around a Special-Ops theme focusing on the Pathfinders Specialist Division a stealth and reconnaissance division in the Rebel Alliance used in forward scouting missions as well as the Inferno Squadron an Imperial Special Forces team used in infiltration, sabotage and assassination. While the Pathfinders portion of the collection had a very earthy feel utilizing greens, tans, and creams the Inferno Squadron portion came off with sharp lines and a red and black theme. In the collection were shirts, hats, jackets, and bags which featured a new bag silhouette. My favorite pieces in the collection though was the Rebel and Inferno Squadron Shackets which sit between a shirt and a jacket and are meant as a layering piece of clothing; but more on that below.

And here are some better product shots:

The other Heroes & Villains collection focused on Marvels latest movie – Fantastic Four. Taking a page from the movie the collection had a bit more of a dated look while still maintaining the movies technological advancements seen throughout the movie. With pastel colors and distressed looks the collection featured a collection of shirts (including a themed shirts for each member of the Fantastic Four), a varsity jacket and bomber jacket, hoodies, and even a Thing terry cloth hoodie. Check out the collection below.

And here are some better product shots:

Star Wars Rebel Pathfinder Shacket Review

It seems that whenever Heroes & Villains drops a collection I am immediately drawn to one particular item in the collection whether it was Logan’s Travel Backpack, the Rebel X-Wing Moto Racer Jacket, or this year’s pair of Shackets.

Sitting between a shirt and a jacket the shacket is what is described as a layering piece of clothing. While the shacket can fit as a shirt it is definitely meant to be worn over a shirt but is really too light weight to act as a jacket once the temperature drops.

This button-up piece features embroidery and patches strategically located throughout. Sewn into the back collar in Aurebesh is the word Rebel while above the right chest pocket the word Pathfinder is sewn in. Patches on the rebel shacked include the Rebel Pathfinder Logo on the right sleeve and the Rebel Special Forces logo on the bottom right corner. A portion of the Rebel symbol is printed on the left pocket to add a bit of color to the piece. Also above the left pocket is a bit of elastic in case you went with the Rebel crossbody bag. The fabric which is 50% Cotton and 50% Polyester while having a canvas feel to it still feels very comfortable to touch and when worn.

In full disclosure the piece I am reviewing was given to me at the convention; that said it was given to me after discussing the collection with the Heroes & Villains team and only after I had tried the shacket on earlier in the convention and had decided to add it to my collection. I say this as I can be very picky with items I want to add to my wardrobe and this had passed my test on site.

While the look of the piece was what drew me into trying the piece on I am happy to have it in my collection as a good in-betweener for those semi cold summer and fall nights. The color while on the green side is still neutral enough to fit into my casual wear in many situations and the well placed patches and embroidery are subtle which is perfect to call out that this is a Star Wars themed piece of clothing without screaming it. 

One note about these shackets is that they run big, almost a whole size up, and while they are meant to be bigger I couldn’t help feel as though the large was a bit too big for me so I actually ended up getting the shacked in a medium size. The medium fits very comfortably on my shoulders and even though I don’t envision myself buttoning the shacked up when wearing it when I do the stomach doesn’t bulge nor are the shoulders too tight when. The benefit I found of going one size smaller was that the shacket lays very nicely at the hem. While I can see the appeal of the shacket being larger on you when worn I can’t help but appreciate how the size down sits at the hem without billowing.

While there are certainly some amazing pieces in this collection from the cream colored Inferno Squadron Tie Fighter Tee and the Star Wars Inferno Squad Icon Tee to the Star Wars Rebel Commando Field Jacket which I didn’t even really get to discuss ultimately my heart and eyes belong to the SHACKET. Even now I am eyeing the Inferno Squad version but I will be happy to wear the Pathfinder piece for years to come.

You can pick up the Rebel Pathfinder Shacket here or you can grab the Inferno Squad Shacket here.