Category Archives: Reviews

#0845: Batmen

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , ,

BATMEN

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (MATTEL)

DKRBats1

Batman’s had his fair share of wacky variants over the years. Some are actually pretty cool, and some are really far out there. And then some are just super lazy. Today, I’m going to be looking at one of the super lazy ones (alongside a fairly standard one), courtesy of Mattel’s tie-in line for The Dark Knight Rises.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

DKRBats2Batman (and Batman) were part of the “Basic Series” of Mattel’s small-scale The Dark Knight Rises line. These were the cheapest figures available, as they were mostly just recolors of the basic Batman figure. The figures stand 3 ¾ inches tall and have 7 points of articulation. The articulation is kind of odd; the figures lack any sort of elbow movement, which is incredibly limiting. The knees, hips, and shoulders are rather simplistic, but the neck joint is inexplicably a ball joint. Moving past the articulation, the sculpt actually isn’t that bad. It does a pretty good job of capturing the design of the bat-suit from TDK and TDKR, and it actually features a pretty great depth of fine detail work. The head, specifically his exposed mouth, does look a bit weird, like the mask doesn’t fit right, but that’s the only real “down” to the sculpt. The capes are both cloth; they’re just simple scraps of black cloth, cut into vaguely the right shape. Cloth very rarely works well at this scale, and these two show why. The capes are fairly rigid looking, and don’t do anything but hang there awkwardly. The paint is the dividing point for these two. The black one is a fairly standard Batman, looking more or less as he does in the film. He’s not really painted as much as he is molded in the proper colors. The parts that actually use paint are fairly basic, but well applied. The other one has a strange aqua sort of coloring to him, which is, of course, totally made up for the toy. It looks a bit more vibrant than the black one, and it has a few more paint apps, but some areas, such as the face, are a bit sloppier on this one. Neither of these two includes any sort of accessories.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Dark Knight Rises came out well after I’d stopped buying weird Batman re-colors (well…mostly), so I didn’t get either of these figures new. Instead, I actually got these from my girlfriend’s dad, who found them at the super market and thought of me. How kind of him! Can’t say I would have ever gotten them for myself, and one really has to wonder who the heck Mattel was hoping would be buying these, but they actually aren’t that bad.

#0844: Elite Speeder Bike

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

ELITE SPEEDER BIKE (w/ FIRST ORDER STORM TROOPER)

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS

FOSpeeder1

Geez, it’s February, and I’m still making my way through the stuff I bought over the holidays. It’s in part due to the fact that a sizeable chunk of stuff from that time was all Star Wars-related, and I try my best not to review too much similar stuff at once. Anyway, Star Wars has always valued vehicles of many differing sizes and functions. Some of my personal favorites are the speeder bikes introduced in Return of the Jedi. While they haven’t seen an official First Order update in the movies just yet, Hasbro took their own stab at creating an updated look, dubbed the Elite Speeder Bike.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

FOSpeeder2The included figure doesn’t get a name more specific than “First Order Stormtrooper,” but this guy is definitely different from a standard Trooper. He’s not Biker Scout different, but he’s still different. This trooper stands just shy of 4 inches tall and has 9 points of articulation. Yes, you read that right, he has a whole 9(!) points of articulation, thanks to his fully articulated knees. Seems even Hasbro knew that this guy needed to be able to properly sit. Sculpturally, this figure looks to use a slightly modified version of the basic body used for the Stormtrooper Commando included with the Assault Walker, with a new set of legs, of course. It’s just a basic Stormtrooper design, and it’s as good a translation as all the other releases. The paint is the main difference; he’s done up in all black, which is mostly just molded plastic, with one tiny bit of silver and then the red stipes on his upper torso, which call back to the TIE Fighter’s detailing. It’s a cool, unique look, even if it’s not very technically complicated. The Trooper includes a small blaster pistol, which can be stowed on the figure’s right thigh.

THE VEHICLE ITSELF

FOSpeeder3The updated speeder bike is the real meat of this set. It’s a basic Class I vehicle, which means it’s among the smallest vehicle selection (in fact, it’s the smallest vehicle currently available). The bike is just shy of 8 inches in length and stands a little over an inch tall. It has posable foot pedals, handlebars and tail flaps, as well as an opening engine compartment. The bike uses the Movie Heroes version of the speeder bike as a starting point, which is as good as any, I suppose. It has a new set of handles, new fins on the back, and a new front half. The general design of the bike has been tweaked to make it a bit more flat and wing-like. The overall design isn’t bad, but I’m not sure I like it as much as the original speeder, and I’m also not sure it necessarily fits with the other First Order vehicles, though it’s hard to say. It’s certainly not a bad design. The color scheme of the bike has been done to match with the TIE Fighter (and, in turn, the included Stormtrooper). The paint application is nice and sharp, and the color scheme adds a lot of fun to the design. The bike has not extras other than the included Trooper. A flight stand would have been much appreciated, especially since the bike still has the spot in the back where said stand would attach.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked up this set from a Walgreens near where my family vacations over the holidays. I had seen the set a few times, and, after a bit of pestering from Super Awesome Girlfriend and my brother, I decided to finally pick it up. It’s hard to say that this set offers the same amount of value as the equally-priced Assault Walker, but it’s still pretty fun, and the included Trooper is definitely one of the cooler ones!

#0843: Chopper Predator

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , ,

CHOPPER PREDATOR

PREDATORS (NECA)

Chopper1

Alien vs. Predator is NOT a good movie. It’s pretty terrible from start to finish. However, it’s failure as a film is more punctuated by the fact that there’s actually a lot decent ideas (or at least the beginnings of decent ideas/concepts) that are completely dropped in favor of making the film as generic and forgettable as possible. One of the most disappointing aspects of the film is it’s handling of the second titular character, the Predator, or more accurately to the film, the Predators. The movie presents us with three unique Predators. They look cool, and their super imposing, and you’re super excited to see what they can do. But, they spend the first half of the film cloaked, and when they finally engage the Aliens, two of the three are taken out in the space of 5 minutes (by the same Xeno, no less!), leaving us with only the least distinctive of the three Predators to carry the rest of the film. Fortunately, NECA’s currently in the process of making super cool toys of just about every Predator ever, so the AvP Preds have gotten new life via action figures. Today, I’ll be looking at my personal favorite of the trio, Chopper Predator.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Chopper2Chopper Predator is part of the 14th Series of NECA’s Predators line, which is the first of a handful of series (in both the Predator and Aliens lines) based on AvP. The figure stands almost 9 inches tall and has 32 points of articulation. Chopper uses a new base body for the Predators, introduced in this series, and shared with his two series-mates. This new body is much larger than previous Predators, and also offers a much greater range of motion and posability. The body is nicely proportioned, and it has a ton of really great texturing and fine detail work. Seriously, every part of this sculpt is covered in texturing, which makes him look really cool. While a lot of the body is shared with the other two Predators, Chopper does get a unique head, forearms, and plasma caster. The head depicts Chopper’s bio mask very nicely; the texturing on it really makes it look like the real thing. The “hair” is a little bit unruly, but it’s made from Chopper3soft rubber, so it can be managed.  The forearms are the real star here, since the large blades are what he takes his name from. The gauntlets have some fantastically ornate work on them, while still being nice and sturdy, and the left one even has a flip-up display. The actual blades are well-handled, and surprisingly sharp; they’re included in both semi-stowed and fully extended lengths, which is a nice touch. One of Chopper’s more distinctive elements was the pair of skulls mounted on spikes on his back, which this figure replicates as best it can. They’re included as separate pieces; one is slotted into the base of the plasma caster, and the other is supposed to pop into the little clip on Chopper’s back. I say “supposed” because mine included the clip included on Celtic and Scar, rather than the smaller unique clip that Chopper was meant to have. Chopper4Fortunately, a carefully shaped and cut twisty tie was enough to keep it in place! The actual skulls are just as awesomely sculpted as the rest of the figure, and replicate the in-movie look very well. Chopper’s paint work is another pretty great area. There’s some nice variance in the sheens of the various parts of him, with the skin being shinier than the armor and cloth. He’s also got some fantastic accent work on the armor, which gives it a nice worn in look and adds a lot of depth to the figure. There are one or two spots of bleed over, but the overall work is good enough that they don’t jump out at you. In addition to the two Chopper5sets of blades, and the skulls on spikes, Chopper also includes a Combi Stick (in retracted form), a pretty brutal looking knife, and a shuriken looking thing (which he can’t hold, what with having two fists. It’s the thought that counts!). That’s incredibly impressive given that prior Predators were lucky to get more than one accessory!

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Despite not caring for the film, I’ve actually been anxiously awaiting this series’ release ever since they were announced. I was always bummed that Chopper was so under-utilized, and even more bummed when he was the only Predator left out of McFarlane’s tie-in line. I bought Chopper from All Time Toys, after catching their post on their FB page that this series was in stock. I’m so happy to have him, and he’s hands down my favorite Predator to date. NECA did an amazing job on this one!

NecaSnow1

 

#0842: Patriot

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

PATRIOT

MARVEL UNIVERSE (HASBRO)

Patriot1

The early 2000s were a bit of a dim time for Marvel, at least for me. For almost a decade, they decided to do their very best to make fans looking for more “classic” interpretations of the heroes unwelcome, by giving just about every major series a dark, brooding, paranoid tone. There were a few series that managed to not suck, though, and one of my personal favorites was Alann Heinberg and Jim Cheung’s Young Avengers. The team has, unfortunately, been pretty scarce in the toy world: there was one boxed set at the end of Toy Biz’s run with Marvel Legends, a Vision 2.0 (released as a variant of the original Vision) in Marvel Minimates, and then today’s figure, Eli Bradley, aka Patriot!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Patriot2Patriot was released in Series 17 of Hasbro’s Marvel Universe line. It’s actually Patriot’s second figure, which gives him twice as many figures as half the team, and infinitely more figures than the other half of the team. Yay for him, I guess. The figure stands roughly 3 ¾ inches tall and has 23 points of articulation. Eli had two distinct looks in the comics; this figure (like his Marvel Legend) is based on his first costume. He spent far less time in this costume than the other, but it’s a slightly stronger design and it’s got a lot in common with Bucky’s costume, which allows for some part re-use. Part re-use is probably the real reason this figure even exists, since he’s 100% re-used from other figures. His body is (unsurprisingly) from Series 7’s Bucky figure, and his head is from Series 5’s Union Jack (oh no, conflicting patriotism! What will he do?). The tricky thing with these re-used parts is that, while Bucky and Patriot’s designs are similar, they aren’t identical. So, Patriot ends up with a very different collar than his comics counterpart, the front of his jacket has buttons on both sides (as opposed to just the right side), and his boots are cuffed. It’s a bit frustrating that none of these were fixed for this figure, but it is what it is I suppose. At the very least, the overall look of the figure is a close approximation. The paint does do its fair share to try and mask some of these issues as best as possible; the front of the jacket, for instance, only has painted piping on the right side, allowing the other side to sort of “fade in” to the torso. The paint also adds the small stars on his forehead and torso, as well as the striping on the sides of his legs. Unfortunately, the figure lacks the proper white piping on the edges of the gloves. Also, some of the paint, especially the red, is quite sloppily applied, though this is only really noticeable up close. Patriot was packed with Captain America’s original shield, which, like the rest of this figure, is a reuse, though it’s completely excusable here, since it’s supposed to be the exact same shield.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Being an avid Young Avengers fan, I bought Patriot as soon as I found him (which was at my local comic book store). Of the six Young Avengers figures in existence, this is probably the weakest. That being said, he’s not terrible. The parts he re-uses, while perhaps not 100% accurate, are at least good pieces. That makes this figure a good figure, if not an accurate one. Plus, viewed through the lens of “inaccurate or not at all” I’ll happily take inaccurate.

#0841: Farmer Zombie

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

FARMER ZOMBIE

THE WALKING DEAD MINIMATES

FarmerZombie1

I have *a lot* of Minimates. The vast majority of them were purchased because I actually wanted them, or was invested in the character presented. However, some of them I have for no other reason than “they’re Minimates.” Today’s focus, the Farmer Zombie, is one of the latter.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

FarmerZombie2The Farmer Zombie was released in the third series of The Walking Dead Minimates. He was double-packed, and could be purchased with either Prison Hershel or battle-damaged Tyreese. The figure is about 2 ½ inches tall and has the usual 14 points of articulation. The Farmer Zombie is based on a zombie that appeared in issue 49 of the comic. He uses the basic ‘mate body, along with an add-on piece for his hair/the saw-blade stuck in his shoulder. The add-on piece attaches from the bottom of the head, slipping over the neck peg, rather than plugging into the top of the head like most ‘mates. The piece works reasonably well, though it does greatly limit the posability of the head, since the whole thing’s all one piece. As with most Minimates, paint is this figure’s strongest suit. The base colors are suitably drab, and the detail work is exceptionally well-handled, with some great texturing and depth, which makes the guy actually look pretty darn creepy. The Farmer Zombie’s one accessory was a clear display stand, though my figure was lacking his.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Series 3 is actually where I stopped really picking up Walking Dead Minimates, so I didn’t get this guy new, nor did I feel any huge need to track him down later. I ended up getting him when I ordered a random loose “Mystery ‘mate” from Luke’s Toy Store, along with a few other items. I wouldn’t have gotten this guy otherwise, but I’m glad I did, because he’s actually a pretty well-put-together ‘mate.

#0840: Bumble Bee & Hot Spot

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

BUMBLE BEE & HOT SPOT

TEEN TITANS (BANDAI)

Bee&HotSpot1

You know, I hate on Mattel a lot, especially in regards to their DC Comics-related output. Believe it or not, there was a time I didn’t consider them the worst company in possession of the DC license, thanks to good ol’ Bandai America. For reasons no one was ever really able to explain, Bandai picked up the license for the Teen Titans cartoon of the early 2000s, and they put out a selection of figures that were….less than stellar. That said, some of their figures remain the only figures to date of certain characters, including both of the characters I’ll be looking at today, Bumble Bee and Hot Spot!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Bumble Bee and Hot Spot were released as a two-pack in the fourth series of Bandai’s Teen Titans line. As far as I know, the pair never interacted on the actual show, so it’s an odd pairing, but Bandai seemed to pick the pairings at random for just about every set in the line.

BUMBLE BEE

Bee&HotSpot2Bumble Bee is probably the more prominent of these two, being the de-facto leader of the Titans’ East Coast branch, and getting a prominent role in several episodes over the show’s run. The figure is a little over 3 ½ inches tall and she has 5 points of articulation, due to Bandai deciding to cut articulation on later series of the line. Because the figures didn’t have enough stacked against them! Bumble Bee had a unique sculpt, which actually isn’t too bad. The proportions are a tad off in some spots (especially the arms), but the figure does a decent job of capturing her design in the show. She’s certainly a lot better than other figures from the line. Bumble Bee’s paint work is actually not terrible. She’s got all the proper colors, and none of her sculpted work has been left unpainted. Her paint has also stood the test of time pretty well, which is a nice change of pace for this line. BB’s prototype showed her holding one of her stinger weapons, but the final figure is sadly lacking them. She does, however, get a set of removable wings. It would have been cool if they’d been articulated, but I guess it’s just good they were actually there.

HOT SPOT

Bee&HotSpot3Hot Spot was never much more than a minor character on the show. Of his four appearances on the show, only one of them actually had him do anything of substance. Still, the dude had a pretty cool look, so you couldn’t leave him out of the toyline! He’s right at 3 ½ inches tall, which makes him a little shorter than BB. Since they never interacted on the show, I can’t really say if it’s accurate of not. He seems to be in a slightly different scale going by the size of his head, but it’s hard to say. Like BB, his sculpt is unique, and it’s a pretty good approximation of his look on the show. The bent elbows are kind of an odd touch, since most of the other figures avoided such posing. The slight pre-posing of the legs can also make him a bit difficult to stand. Hot Spot’s paint is a bit of a letdown. The biggest thing is that he’s flat out missing painted details to match up to the sculpted ones on his legs, which is annoying. Also, it’s more of a personal preference thing, but the decision to go with solid yellows and reds on the head and hands robs the figure of a lot of the character’s visual interest. Hot Spot was packed with…ummm… I’m actually not sure what it’s supposed to be. Maybe it’s a flame blast or something? I don’t know, I lost mine. But hey, at least he’s got a permanent gripping pose on his right hand! That’s totally accurate to the character…

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked this pair up from Target back when they were still new. I was still pretty excited for the line at the time, what with the show still being on the air. These were two of my favorite characters on the show, so I was happy to get them. I have to admit, they aren’t as bad as I had feared, at least based on the others I’ve reviewed from this line. They aren’t the greatest figures of all time, but they’re still pretty fun, and they’ve managed to age pretty alright!

#0839: Rey (Jakku)

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

REY (JAKKU)

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

ReyWM1

“Rey is a resilient survivor, a scavenger toughened by a lifetime of dealing with the cutthroats of the harsh desert world of Jakuu.”

There’s one more major character I haven’t looked at in this latest round of The Force Awakens figures. In fact, she’s the lead character! Let’s take a look at Rey!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

ReyWM5Rey is part of the third series of the Walmart-exclusive Star Wars: The Black Series figures, alongside the previously reviewed Poe and Finn, as well as a re-released Han Solo from Return of the Jedi. The figure is 3 ¾ inches tall and has 26 points of articulation. I do wish her waist joint offered more movement, but her articulation is generally pretty solid. Rey is noted as being based on her “Jakku” appearance, which isn’t all that different from her look from the rest of the film. That said, this figure does feature Rey wearing gloves, which she only does during the film’s Jakku scenes, and all of her accessories are Jakku specific. Rey’s sculpt is similar to the larger 6-inch figure, but like Finn and Poe, there are enough differences to show that this is an original work. It’s definitely a top-notch sculpt; there are lots of great small details, and the texturing on her cloths is very nicely handled. Her proportions are fairly balanced (perhaps her arms could be just a touch less gangly, but that’s minor), and the head has a passable likeness of Daisy Ridley. The hair’s a little thicker than Ridley’s was in the film, but that’s forgivable, given the small scale. Rey does take a bit of a hit in terms of paint. The general application is not terrible, ReyWM3but she suffers from some rather sloppy spots. In addition, the joints for her ankles are cast in flesh toned plastic, which makes them stand out quite a bit against the brown of her boots. Lastly, she has the same slightly rosy cheeks as her larger scale counterpart, which, while a bit more subtle this time, exhibit a dot-matrix-style patterning (suggesting a printed paint app of sorts), which is a little distracting up close. Still, she fairs a bit better than either of her previously-reviewed figures, which show’s Hasbro’s at least getting a little better. Rey makes out quite well in the accesories department, including her signature staff (now with proper painted details), a back pack, and an alternate head featuring the head wrap and goggles she wears in her introductory scene. While thes parts are all re-used from prior Rey figures, the improved paint apps elavate them to a new level, and the complement the figure very nicely.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Rey was the last of these figures I got. I ended up having to stop at five different Walmarts to find her, and when I finally did find her, she was the last one the store had, and she’d even been hidden under a Darth Vader figure. Rey was packed into cases in the same quantities as Finn and Poe, but as the lead, she’s proved to be the first figure to get picked up by most collectors (and she’s also become scalper-bait. Yuck!). In addition, she’s hands down the best figure in Walmarts’s exclusive line, and the best Rey figure currently available. Here’s hoping that Hasbro can find a way to get more of this figure out there, because everyone should have this figure.

ReyWM6

#0838: Kylo Ren

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

KYLO REN

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

KyloWM1

“A dark warrior strong with the Force, Kylo Ren commands First Order missions with a temper as fiery as his unconventional Lightsaber.”

Every story needs a villain, and for The Force Awakens, that’s good ol’ Kylo Ren.  A lot of people took issue with the character’s portrayal in the film, but I really enjoyed it, and look forward to seeing more of the character (and the makers of the next Fantastic Four film should take note on how to properly handle a vain, masked, megalomaniac with a bad temper).  I’ve only looked at one other Kylo figure, so why not look at another?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

KyloWM2Kylo was released in the second series of the Walmart-exclusive Star Wars: The Black Series figures, alongside yesterday’s Stormtrooper and a figure of Leia from A New Hope.  The figure is roughly 4 inches tall and he has 26 points of articulation.  The neck and right shoulder are somewhat restricted by the sculpt of the hood, but other than that, the articulation is pretty solid here.  The larger Kylo used cloth for the outer portion of Kylo’s robes, while the regular 3 ¾ inch figure opted to sculpt the whole thing.  This figure goes for the best of both worlds.  The upper half is entirely sculpted, while the lower half makes use of soft goods for the outer most skirt.  This allows for the hood to be a bit more controlled than it was on the larger figure, while still offering some extra movement on the legs.  I think this compromise works, though it does look just the slightest bit jarring at the changeover.  I wish the cloth skirt were just a touch shorter, but other than that, it works well. The sculpted parts are quite impressive, and offer a ton of really great texture work.  On a whole, the figure looks quite imposing, a trait I felt the larger figure lacked.  Kylo’s paint is fairly minor, given how much of him is just straight black, but what’s there is pretty solid.  The silver of the mask and belt looks good, and I definitely appreciate that they used a different finish of black for the gloves and boots.  Kylo is packed with his distinctive lightsaber, both lit and unlit, which seems a better solution than a removable beam.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Kylo was picked up at the same time as Finn and the First Order Trooper, purchased for me by my Super Awesome Girlfriend.  Kylo was definitely one of the figures from this set that I wanted the most, seeing as I didn’t get one of the smaller scale Kylo’s back in September.  The 6-inch figure was a bit of a disappointment, but this guy definitely delivered, and he’s probably the best Kylo out there right now.

KyloWM3

#0837: First Order Stormtrooper

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , , ,

FIRST ORDER STORMTROOPER

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

FOTrooperWM1

“Equipped with sleek armor and powerful weapons, the Stormtroopers enforce the will of the First Order.”

Everybody’s gotta have some faceless minions, right? You just aren’t a credible threat without a few thousand faceless minions! So, why don’t I take a look at one of the quintessential faceless minions, the Imperial First Order Stormtrooper?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

FOTrooperWM2The First Order Stormtrooper is part of the second series of the Walmart-exclusive Star Wars: The Black Series figures. The figure stands just over 3 ¾ inches tall and has 26 points of articulation. The articulation still features the awkward hips, and the torso joint is rather loose, but hey, guess what! We finally have a 3 ¾ inch FO Trooper who can hold his blaster properly! Isn’t that swell? Well, it’s more bittersweet, really. I’ll get to that. The sculpt is all-new to this particular Trooper; it’s decent, but not as strong as some of the other Troopers we’ve gotten. He’s a bit on the scrawny side, especially for the rather bulky FO Troopers. Still, the basic design is pretty solid, and there’s some nice detail work, especially on the underlying bodysuit. Now, here’s where a few minor issues with the sculpt arise. First of all, there’s the issue of the neck peg, which is once again much larger than the other figures (such as Finn), preventing easy head swaps. Then there are the hands, which have a fairly loose grip, which, coupled with the slightly restrictive sculpt of the elbow joints, means the figure has a really difficult time holding his gun the right way. Which is a super bummer. What’s even more of a bummer is the paint; it’s all over the place. There’s pretty much no part of the figure that isn’t subject to a missed section of paint, or some bleed over. While he looks okay from a distance, he’s really sloppy up close. The FO Trooper is packed with both a large and a small blaster, just like his larger counterpart. As noted, the figure has difficulty holding them, but one can be stowed on his thigh, which is cool.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got the Stormtrooper at the same time as Finn, courtesy of Super Awesome Girlfriend. I’m a fan of the new Trooper design, so I was kind of looking forward to this particular figure. It’s hard to say I’m not disappointed a little by the end product. The joints aren’t as strong as they could be, the hands are badly sculpted, and the paint is pretty sloppy. That said, he’s not terrible, just a bit of a letdown. Could he be better? Absolutely. Could he be worse? Very much so.

FOTrooperWM3

#0836: Finn (Jakku)

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

FINN (JAKKU)

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

FinnWM1

“A trained warrior desperate to escape his past, Finn is plunged into adventure as his conscience drives him down a heroic, but dangerous, path.”

One can hardly have Poe without Finn. Those two have to stick together! So, let’s look at a Finn figure!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

FinnWM2Finn is another figure in the third series of the Walmart-exclusive Star Wars: The Black Series figures. As with Poe, the main draw of this figure is the higher detailing and higher articulation count than the regular 3 ¾ inch figures. The figure is about 3 ¾ inches tall and has 26 points of articulation. The articulation is much the same as Poe’s, which is to say it’s mostly good, apart from the slightly outdated hip joints (though they’re less of an issue here, since being able to sit easily isn’t essential for Finn). As the name notes, this is the Jakku version of Finn (though his Jakku look ends up being his main look for the movie). At first glance it looks like this figure might share a few parts (namely the head and coat) with the regular release Finn, but a closer look shows that all of these figure’s pieces are new to this release. The detail work on the sculpt is absolutely superb, and there’s tons of fine detail work that really makes this figure stand out. The level of texturing on the clothing, especially the incredibly subtle detailing on the shirt, are really impressive. The two previous Finn’s had a pretty decent John Boyega likeness, but I think this one beats both. While Poe’s figure was hampered by sub-par paint, Finn ends up a bit more lucky on that front. The base paint is all very clean, and the work on the face is some of the cleanest I’ve seen from Hasbro in some time. The jacket and the lower portion of his pants also get some nice accent work, which adds a touch of realism. The pants could stand to be a touch more subtle, but the overall look is good. Finn is packed with a blaster, the same one all the other Finn figures have had. He doesn’t really use it much in the movie, but it’s a unique looking gun. What’s more, the level of painted detail on this version is astoundingly good. If only Hasbro could handle all of the accessory paint this well!

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

After finding Poe, I was eager to pick up the rest of the Force Awakens characters from this line. Finn here was purchased for me by my Super Awesome Girlfriend, at a slightly out of the way Walmart. Poe had a few issues that held him back, but Finn isn’t in the same boat, and ends up being the best version of the character we’ve gotten so far. Definitely glad I got him!

FinnWM3