JYN ERSO
STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)
I bet you guys weren’t expecting one of these, now were you? Sure, it’s not been nearly as long a gap between Flashback Friday Figure Addendums as the last two rounds, but four months is still four months, right? What can I say, I like keeping you guys on your toes.
As I’ve been discussing the last two days, one of Hasbro’s focuses in The Black Series this year is doing the whole Rogue One team in one cohesive run. That’s one new figure, and then a bunch of re-issues. For the most part, I either missed out on the original runs, or I didn’t need the update, but I did decide to go for the re-issue of Jyn. I know, it might seem crazy to buy another Jyn, but I’m a crazy guy. Here’s what this crazy guy had to say about the original release:
Alright, the 3 3/4-scale Rogue One stuff is done for now (though I’m sure there will be plenty more things for me to review, going by what Hasbro’s shown off in the last week), so we move on to the larger-scale Black Series stuff. As of late, it’s been a little difficult to say where this line was headed, what with a large chunk of the Force Awakens stuff either showing up too sparsely, or being too heavily packed. It looks like Rogue One might help getting things back on track. The first of the new figures is main character Jyn Erso, who I’m looking at today!
THE FIGURE ITSELF
Jyn is sort of taking the place of last year’s First Order Stormtrooper in regards to release style. She was first released as a preview item at this year’s SDCC, before being slotted into the regular release line-up. She’ll also be showing up as part of the Target-exclusive 3-pack with Cassian Andor and the Death Trooper Specialist some time next month. They all look to be the same figure, but for this review, I’m looking at the regular release figure. She’s part of the first series of Rogue One-inspred Star Wars: The Black Series figures, and she’s figure #22, making her chronologically the first figure in the series. Yes, you read that number right, she’s #22, meaning Hasbro actually kept the number scheme for The Black Series for more than a year. And there was much rejoicing (yaaaaay.) Jyn here is wearing her Jedha outfit, which, from what we’ve seen in the marketing for the movie looks to be a fairly present look. The figure stands about 5 1/4 inches tall and she has 29 points of articulation. Jyn’s sculpt is fairly decent overall, and is certainly on par with what we’ve come to expect from The Black Series. The hood is kind of bulky and odd looking, but it’s not awful, and it can easily be removed, resulting in a superior figure. The underlying head sculpt is pretty decent, and bears more than a passing resemblance to Felicity Jones (though it’s not quite spot on). It’s a little softer than I might like, but it’s not awful. The body sculpt is also pretty great, with a nice set of proportions and some nice layering on the various clothes. The verst is technically removable, but since the arms still have the jacket sleeves on them, I can’t see many people removing it. The paintwork on Jyn is passable. It’s not anything amazing or anything, but it’s better than a lot of last year’s Black Series offerings, which is a nice improvement. If Hasbro could start adding a little bit of accent work here and there, I think the figures could be even better. Jyn’s only accessory is her blaster pistol (the same as the one included with her smaller-scale counterpart). It’s a little light given the price (and the fact that the same series features are re-issue of last year’s Rey, which has a staff, BB-8, and an added lightsaber), but hood makes up for it a bit.
THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION
Jyn was one of the first items I grabbed from TRU during their midnight opening. I didn’t know she’d be showing up in the Target set as well, or else I’d probably have held off on this particular release. That being said, she’s a solid figure, and a lot of fun to mess around with. There are worse things than owning two of a good figure, I suppose.
That review was written in October of 2016, before I’d seen the movie, or really knew anything about the character I was reviewing. It’s also something of a relic in a few ways other than the writing (which is usually where the relic status on these old reviews comes up), like the rejoicing on keeping the numbering on the line, or the fact that I bought her at TRU. The red box line wound up going much further than Jyn’s meager 22, wrapping up in 2020 with Kit Fisto’s 112. It wound up with quite a run. I was actually pretty positive about this figure in my original review, something I’d kind of forgotten about after she kind of became a go-to figure for ragging on by the fanbase. I stand by it, because she’s actually a really nice figure. It was kind of nice to remind myself of that. This release is overall very similar. Like Kanan from last year, the change-up is the face paint, and it’s a really major change. The likeness was alright, but it’s pretty on the mark now. Totally revitalizes the figure’s look.
Thanks to my sponsors at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure for review. If you’re looking for toys both old and new, please check out their website.