PRE VIZSLA

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

Fun FiQ Fact #0013:  Despite sharing Jon Favreau as a voice actor and both being Mandalorians, Pre Vizsla and Paz Vizla are actually *not* directly related.

While I was certainly interested in Clone Wars during its first season, it wasn’t until the second season began the first mainstream delve into Mandalorian culture that I really got interested.  It helped that it was a pretty heavily Obi-Wan-led.  Central to the story was Jon Favreau’s *first* Star wars character, Pre Vizsla, who served as a notable antagonist.  I obviously snagged Pre’s first figure, during the show’s tie-in run, but I’ve been hoping to see him crop up in Black Series for a little while.  Hey, would you look at that?  He cropped up in Black Series.  Well, might as well review him.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Pre Vizsla is figure 17 in the running Clone Wars sub-set of Star Wars: The Black Series‘s Phase IV incarnation.  He’s part of the last assortment from last year, the lone Clone Wars figure in a largely Ahsoka driven set.  While the show tie-in Pre was based on his “Phase I” design, this one (and the VC figure that hit at almost the exact same time) is based on Pre’s later run design, which has previously not gotten toy coverage.  The figure stands 6 inches tall and he has 27 points of articulation.  Pre Vizsla is based on the modified Jango Fett body used by the two prior Clone Wars Mandos.  Given that both of them are supposed to be remainders of Pre’s men after Maul and Bo-Katan split them, it does make a degree of sense.  It’s a slightly clunky body, especially in terms of articulation, but something about the QC on this particular release does feel a little slicker than the prior two I’ve gotten.  He gets an new head, helmet, and belt piece, in order to suitably change him up for Pre.  The helmet is a solid recreation of his later design, and gives him a more unique shaping than the others, which I quite like.  The underlying head is okay; it’s not the best work, and winds up looking a little oddly shaped in profile, but from the front it looks pretty good.  I think it’s slightly thrown off by being on the slightly stockier base body, which contrasts with Pre’s rail-thin appearance in the show.  Pre’s color work makes use of a surprising amount of paint.  It’s all pretty cleanly applied, and the armored portions are particularly sleek looking.  The underlying head again gets the short end of the stick, with a particularly wonky hairline.  The work on the scar is pretty cool, though.  Pre is packed with his rocket pack, two blaster pistols, and the Dark Saber.  The rocket is a new piece, with a removable rocket and posable boosters, and it even has a loop on the back to hold the Dark Saber hilt, which is cool.  The Saber is the same mold included with Moff Gideon, but it’s been painted differently.  I think the white outline really works a lot better, and gives the whole thing a nice bit of pop.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

I’m not gonna lie, I waffled a little on this guy after his announcement.  I wanted him all that time, and then I saw him, and I just wasn’t sure.  I think it was the re-used body.  But, I saw him in person, and I liked him enough to jump in.  I’m glad I did, because he actually wound up being a bit better than I’d expected.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.