Tag Archives: Star Wars

#3033: Wrecker

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

WRECKER

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“Wrecker has brute strength that makes him capable of lifting a clone gunship without any help. His muscle and size are matched only by his temper… and an equally pronounced sense of humor.”

Hey, how about this weekly Bad Batch thing I’ve got going?  Pretty cool, right?  Boy, you guys are gonna be real disappointed when I don’t actually do it next week because I don’t actually have anything more Bad Batch to look at yet.  Sorry, did I let the wind out of your sails a bit?  I don’t mean to be a downer.  Would it make you feel better if I actually got to actually reviewing this toy, instead of all this weird meta crap that I keep falling into?  Okay, I’ll get away from the weird meta crap that I keep falling into.  Away from the weird meta crap, we’re going to be talking about Wrecker, who fulfills the Batch’s archetype role of “the big guy,” by being, well, big.  Good for him.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Wrecker is figure 5 in the Bad Batch-sub-line of Hasbro’s Black Series Phase IV.  He’s a deluxe-sized figure, and is the last of the original core members of the titular team, though they will be joined by both Echo and Omega later this year.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 31 points of articulation.  In terms of movement, Wrecker is pretty similar to how Zeb worked out, meaning he’s got quite a good range of motion on most of the joints, notably the shoulders and elbows.  Given how restricted he *could* be given the nature of the design, I’m quite impressed by how well Hasbro has managed to make this work.  Wrecker gets an all-new sculpt, which is unsurprising, given how much larger he is compared to the rest of his teammates.  Like Tech, I find that Wrecker’s sculpt does a better job of hybridizing his design from the show with the real world stylings of The Black Series.  There are certainly some more animated elements on the armor design, but there’s also a good balance to how things work.  His armor is well defined, with sharp lines, as well as a little bit of sculpted damage.  As with Tech, a number of the pieces are separate overlays from the main body, which gives him a little more depth.  Wrecker, like the rest of the Batch, includes a removable helmet.  It sits quite snuggly on the underlying head, and is generally quite well scaled to the rest of the body, and does a great job of capturing the design from the show.  The underlying head has enough of that generic Morisson likeness to pass him off as a clone, but keeps his as unique as the others.  It’s a pretty strong sculpt, with a lot of character.  I love the slight smirk, and the scarring turned out quite well.  It’s probably my favorite of the unmasked Batch heads thus far.  Wrecker’s paint work is pretty decently handled.  The base work is all pretty strong, as well as being consistent with the other team members.  There’s some slight wear to the detailing of the armor, as well as some additional scraping and scuffing details.  The unmasked head gets the printing on the face, which works well with the sculpt.  In general, just a solid offering on the paint front.  Wrecker is packed with his blaster (shared with Hunter), knife, and back pack.  It covers the basics for a battle-ready Wrecker, but I wouldn’t have minded seeing his small doll, or even a set of alternate hands in fists.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve been waiting on this guy to complete my team for a little bit, since I actually got Tech a bit before I got around to reviewing him.  This guy definitely feels a lot like Zeb in terms of quality, and that’s a good thing.  Tech’s still my personal favorite, but Wrecker’s a strong figure in his own right.  After a slightly softer start with Hunter and Crosshair, I feel like the team filled out well, and I’m very excited for Echo and Omega to wrap things up!

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.

#3032: Cad Bane

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

CAD BANE

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“A ruthless bounty hunter from the planet Duro, Cad Bane was the preeminent blaster-for-hire in the galaxy at the time of the Clone Wars. No quarry was too dangerous for Bane … if the price was right.”

Well, hey, this one’s actually pretty timely, huh?  Or…is it?  You know, cuz, umm, spoilers or whatever.  Introduced in The Clone Wars cartoon, and patterned on Lee Van Cleef’s Angel Eyes from The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, Cad Bane is probably one of the few examples of an attempt to create another Boba Fett actually kind of working.  He’s generally a pretty popular character in his own right, and has managed to find footing in two additional series outside of Clone Wars‘ run.  His toy coverage has been surprisingly sparse.  He got a small handful of figures during the Clone Wars run, and back in late 2020, he also got a Black Series figure.  Sure would be a shame if that thing were, like, impossible to get, or something, right?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Cad Bane is figure 6 in the Clone Wars sub-line of The Black Series‘s Phase IV incarnation.  He’s only the second Clone Wars figure to get a standard release, though he did also get a Pulse-exclusive release, which was the same core figure, but with his robot sidekick Todo 360.  The figure stands about 6 inches tall and he has 31 points of articulation.  Cad’s articulation style is of the new breed of articulation for the Black Series figures, but as an earlier release, he’s kind of at the beginning of them figuring things out, so some of it’s not quite as refined as more recent figures.  The joints are all there, but the range isn’t always.  The neck and elbows are both more restricted than I’d like.  Cad’s sculpt is unique to him.  As a character that, at the time, had only animated appearances, there’s a degree of artistic license on translating him from Clone Wars into a real-world style.  Things on this one end up adhering much closer to that animated style than any other characters to make the jump in this line, barring possibly Zeb.  Essentially, they took the animation model, ever so slightly tweaked a few of the proportions, and added a fair bit more texturing.  It ultimately works pretty well, especially given his more alien nature in-universe.  There’s a lot of actual layering going on with the assembly of his outfit, which looks really sharp, and also gives him quite a bit more depth.  The figure’s hat, bag, and breathing apparatus are all removable, adding some extra variety to his display options.  I’m not super crazy about the hat, if I’m honest.  The shaping seems a little bit off, and it doesn’t really sit securely at all, at least on my figure.  You can kind of find a decent spot to hold it a little better, but even then, it’s not going to be staying in place during any posing.  Cad Bane’s paint work is genuinely pretty solid.  There’s not a ton of variety of color inherent to the design, but they make up for it with a lot of weathering, which helps to really sell the character’s gunslinger angle.  Cad is packed with his twin blaster pistols, which he can either hold, or stow in his holsters.  It’s a shame we couldn’t also get his rifle, but given how much is going into the core figure’s construction, it’s pretty understandable.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

If you keep up with the site, you might recall that I reviewed the rest of Cad Bane’s assortment of Black Series figures at the beginning of last year, while they were still rather new.  Why not review Cad then?  Because I didn’t have one.  For whatever reason, that assortment was scarce, and Cad was the only one with no immediate re-stock, so I had to wait until they finally got the solid cases of him distributed, which took over a year’s time (hey, he did better than Bly, whose restock took almost two whole years, and happened after his packaging style had already been abandoned).  So, it was a bit of a wait.  Was he worth it?  Generally, yeah.  I’ll admit that he did let me down just a tad right out of the box, but that might have been due to the whole playing up the hype in my head thing.  I’ve had him for a bit now, and I’m warming up to him.  He’s got some issues, but I like the overall product a lot.

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.

#3031: General Lando Calrissian

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

GENERAL LANDO CALRISSIAN

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“Lando Calrissian served as a general in the starfighter attack on the second Death Star, showing off his superb piloting skills by guiding the Millennium Falcon into the Death Star superstructure.”

Lest you may think that Hasbro has given up on the Original Trilogy coverage for The Black Series, have no fear, our one token OT item is here!  It’s time for another Lando that people will beg for and then not buy once he’s actually available, until he sells out and they claim that Hasbro didn’t make enough.  Ooh, sorry, there might be some in-built aggression there.  When last I was discussing Lando, in the summer of 2020, I had brought up the character’s general’s gear from the end of Return of the Jedi.  Well, would you look at that?  I’m gonna be looking at that one again!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

General Lando Calrissian is figure 07 in the Return of the Jedi-sub-set of Black Series Phase IV, placing him right after the deluxe Boba Fett numerically in the sequence.  He’s the last figure in the late 2021 assortment for the line, and, as noted in the intro, the only Original Trilogy-based figure in this round of figures.  The figure stands just over 6 inches tall and he has 27 points of articulation.  In terms of movement, Lando feels like a bit of a step back.  The range on the joints isn’t terribly, but they’re not particularly well worked into the sculpt, and he misses a number of the steps forward on how the joints are assembled.  In a lot of ways, he kind of feels like an older sculpt that was sitting around.  That being said, his sculpt is an all-new one, even if it doesn’t necessarily feel it.  The head gives us another stab at the Billy Dee Williams likeness.  It’s not as good as the Disguised Lando, but it’s better than the initial Bespin version.  None of them have really been all that bad, so he’s generally made out alright in this category.  The body sculpt captures all of the design elements for his uniform. Pretty much, it does exactly what it needs to, and leaves it at that.  Not a ton of detailing or anything, but it looks decent enough.  While the Bespin Lando got a plastic cape, this one goes for a cloth piece, and it looks decent enough.  It’s held in place with a plastic clasp, which has trouble sitting just right.  It’s certainly an improvement on how the Vintage Collection release handled things, though.  Lando’s paint work is pretty straight forward stuff.  The printing on the face works well, and all of the base color work on the uniform is what it needs to be, much like with the sculpt.  Lando is packed with a blaster pistol, which he can either hold, or stow in his shoulder holster.  It feels a bit light, but that’s really just Black Series these days.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Of all the figures in this assortment, Lando was the one that excited me least.  He feels kind of overdue at this point, I guess, but it’s also not like we haven’t seen this look in plenty of other styles.  With a bunch of actually new offerings for the rest of the set, and this not being one of my personal favorite looks for the character, he just doesn’t thrill me.  The figure’s fine.  He does what he needs to, and he gets Lando back out on shelves, which is far from the worst thing.

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.

#3030: Koska Reeves

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

KOSKA REEVES

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“A master of hand-to-hand combat, Koska Reeves is loyal to Bo-Katan and is a member of a band of Clan Kryze Mandalorians striking back at the Imperial remnant.”

The Mandalorian‘s first season crafted a lot of new lore (or at least lore that was new to a wider audience) for the Mandalorians, leading some people to question how this would fit with the lore established in the likes of Clone Wars and Rebels.  The second season in turn brought that previous lore to the forefront, reintroducing Bo-Katan, and with her, a few other Mandalorians from her version of the culture.  Introduced alongside Bo-Katan’s live action debut were her two lieutenants, Axe Woves and Koska Reeves.  Koska seems to have been the one to take off a little bit more, since she re-appeared alongside Bo in the second season finale, and she’s also the first one to get a figure, which I’m taking a look at today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Koska Reeves is figure 12 in the Mandalorian sub-set of Hasbro’s Black Series in its Phase IV incarnation.  She’s the second of the two Mandalorian figures in this particular assortment, and is thus far the trickiest to acquire from this particular round, likely due to her being the short-pack for this set.  The figure stands just under 6 inches tall and she has 27 points of articulation.  Structurally, Koska is largely the same as Bo-Katan.  It’s not a surprise, nor is it unwarranted, since the two sport very similar designs.  Apart from some small details here and there, notably the collar of her jumpsuit, that aren’t quite spot-on, but it’s overall close enough to justify a little re-use.  The belt has been modified, downgrading her to one holster, rather than two.  It’s otherwise pretty much the same.  Koska’s helmet is an all-new piece, slightly different in its shaping than Bo’s.  It sits lower than Bo’s, which also guards the neckline a bit, covering up that one spot of inaccuracy.  Underneath the helmet is an all-new unmasked head sculpt, which is an okay offering, but doesn’t have quite the spot-on likeness for Sasha Banks you’d hope for, given the overall upward trend on Black Series likenesses recently.  Still, it’s a distinct sculpt, and gets a lot of the character down, even if the likeness isn’t quite there.  The paint work on Koska is okay.  It’s more in-line with the on-screen color scheme than Bo-Katan’s was, and it’s actually pretty bright and eye-catching.  Unlike a lot of this set, she actually gets a fair bit of accent work, especially on the armor.  Koska is packed with her jetpack and two blaster pistols, even though she’s only got a spot for one.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Since we’d already gotten Bo-Katan, it really was only a matter of time before we got some of her back-up.  Koska being the first makes a lot of sense, and I’m glad Hasbro didn’t opt to drag things out on this one.  She’s a pretty straight forward figure, banking on a lot of re-use, but it generally works out pretty well, and she fills out the roster pretty nicely.

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.

#3029: Q9-0 (Zero)

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

Q9-0 (ZERO)

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“A bug-eyed protocol droid with modified programming, Q9-0 — or “Zero” to his colleagues — operates with precision timing.”

The Mandalorian‘s first season had a minor running gag of pairing off Din, who was seen by some as just a stand-in for Boba Fett, off with other characters that were in some way stand-ins for the other bounty hunters from the scene aboard the Executor in Empire.  The most straight forward was, of course, IG-11 (who was even meant to just be IG-88 at an early stage of production), but Din also faces down some Trandoshans (the same species as Bossk) in the second episode, and in Chapter 6, one of his companions on the prison heist mission is Q9-0, a bug-eyed protocol droid turned bounty hunter, with some not unlike 4-LOM qualities.  And he’s also voiced by Richard Ayoade, which is a pretty cool thing in and of itself.  Now he’s got a figure, which is admittedly, not voiced by Richard Ayoade in reality, but is voiced by him in my mind.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Q9-0, aka Zero, is the 11th figure in the Mandalorian sub-line of Hasbro’s Black Series‘s Phase IV incarnation.  He’s the first of two Mandalorian figures in the assortment that hit retail last fall, and also the first figure to be based specifically on Chapter 6 of the show.  The figure stands about 6 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  The movement on his arms is notably a bit restricted, largely due to design, but the legs get a much better range.  Whatever the case, he’s totally capable of getting all the appropriate movement for the character based on the show, as well as a little more movement in the legs, so he does what he needs to.  Zero’s sculpt is an all-new offering, not borrowing from any previous protocol droid sculpts.  It’s a good recreation of Zero’s on-screen design.  There’s quite a lot of detail work going into it, and the articulation is pretty well worked-in aesthetically.  He’s got a separate, albeit nonremovable, shoulder harness with some pouches, as seen in the episode.  It adds a nice touch of character to him, as well as giving him something that looks more worn-in compared to his more machined body, which makes for a cool contrast.  Zero’s paint work errs a bit more on the basic side.  All the standard color work is there, and he gets a little bit of accenting in a few spots, but generally, it’s just the basic.  It does rob the sculpt of some of its punch, just a bit, but because the sculpt is a s strong as it is, the lack of paint doesn’t really ruin the figure, either.  Zero is packed with a single blaster rifle.  He has a little bit of trouble getting it into his hands properly, but it’s otherwise pretty cool.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Zero was certainly my favorite part of Chapter 6 (I’m a sucker for cool droids), so I was hoping we’d wind up getting him figure form at some point.  I was fairly happy to see him turn up here.  The figure is pretty middle of the road all things considered, but that means he’s still far from a bad offering, and he’s probably my second favorite in this particular assortment.  I’m curious if we’ll see the rest of the crew from this episode, especially in light of Mayfield being based on his Season 2 appearance, but I’m honestly content to just have this guy, really.

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.

#3028: Tech

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

TECH

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“Tech is the computer and weapons specialist, the most talkative of the group.  His genetically enhanced brain can puzzle through technical issues at speeds even faster than some droids.”

Remember all the way back in April, when I took a look at the first two members of the titular team of clones from The Bad Batch?  Well, hey, like 10 months later, I finally have another one of them to talk about!  Shway!  In my review of the team’s second member, Crosshair, I discussed how the team members all really fall back on classic action movie team archetypes.  Hunter is the fearless leader, Crosshair is the cold marksman, and today’s focus, Tech, is the resident smart guy.  Go smart guy, go!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Tech is figure 04 in the Bad Batch sub-line of Hasbro’s Star Wars: The Black Series‘s Phase IV incarnation.  He’s the third member of the actual team in this set, and the second to last of the initial line-up for the crew.  The figure stands just over 6 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation.  While the other two members of the team shared a good number of parts with each other, Tech’s more removed, more Scout Trooper-inspired design means that he actually gets an entirely new sculpt.  Thus far, it’s my favorite of the three team sculpts I’ve looked at.  While Hunter and Crosshair stuck a little closer to the actual animation design, Tech does a better job of sort of hybridizing things, meaning he retains all of his distinctive elements from the show, while still really fitting right in with the rest of the standard-release figures.  The only part I’m not crazy about is how they’ve worked the knee joints into the sculpt; I feel like they’re too low on the leg when he’s posed.  Beyond that, it’s all really strong.  There’s a ton of detail work going into his costume elements, and whole bunch of depth to the sculpt.  A number of the armored pieces are separate overlays, adding to this depth quite nicely.  As with the others, Tech features a removable helmet.  It follows the show design quite well, and even includes a posable visor, which is fun.  Under the helmet, there’s a head that looks remarkably like Phil Collins, if I’m honest.  He’s not sporting his signature glasses from the show, but that’s honestly one of those in-show cheats, since he wouldn’t be able to have them under the helmet anyway.  Tech’s paint work is a pretty decent set-up, improving on the other two a bit.  There’s just a lot more going on with the layout of the color work here, and it gives him a lot more to work with.  The underlying head gets the printed technique, which looks good on the sculpt.  Tech is packed with a small blaster, three different tools, and a back pack.  The blaster’s standard issue, and doesn’t actually have a spot for storage, but I’d rather have it than not.  The tools can all be stashed on his belt, where they stay nice and secure.  The back pack is a little loose when plugged into the back, but otherwise it’s a cool piece.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Of the core Bad Batch team, Tech was definitely the one I was looking forward to the most.  I just really like his design, and I was looking forward to seeing it in toy form.  It was a long wait to get him, but I’m really happy with the end result.  Definitely my favorite of the team so far, and just generally one of the best Black Series figures of the more recent offerings.

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.

#3027: Aurra Sing

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

AURRA SING

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“A feared bounty hunter known for her chalk-white skin and built-in comlink antenna, Aurra Sing was an expert sniper and trained assassin who would work for anyone who paid her.”

In prep for this review, I realized that I haven’t actually reviewed any Black Series figures in a rather astounding seven months.  No, really, the last one I looked at was the Luke from Heir to the Empire.  Not really a high note to go out on, either, unfortunately.  Well, after quite a delay, I’ve finally got some more of these figures to look at.  I’m kicking things off with the first post-Boba Fett attempt at creating another Boba Fett, Aurra Sing.  Designed as a background fill-in character for the podracer sequence from Phantom Menace, before getting a more proper name, Aurra was simply referred to as “Babe Fett” by her designer Doug Chiang, so the intent behind her was pretty transparent.  Not that it was overly successful, of course.  She got a little bit to do in the old Expanded Universe, but was largely out of the spotlight until being tapped to be a recurring bounty hunter in The Clone Wars.  There she was finally fleshed out a little bit, and would have even had her arc wrapped up completely, had the show not been cancelled.  As it stands, the “resolution” to her arc became an off-hand reference to Tobias Beckett killing her offscreen some time before Solo.  Which, honestly?  About on par with everything else going on with the character.  Well, she’s got a Black Series figure now, so I guess I’ll take a look at that.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Aurra Sing is figure 8 in the Clone Wars-sub-set of The Black Series Phase 4.  She’s the first figure in the final 2021 assortment of the line, and the only one to be Clone Wars-based.  The figure stands a little over 6 inches tall and she has 29 points of articulation.  Her articulation scheme is slightly on the more restricted side, kind of in line with what we saw on Asajj Ventress, the last figure in the Clone Wars set numerically.  You almost have to wonder if some of these similarly themed figures were being designed in batches.  Aurra does get slightly more movement on her joints, especially the arm joints, which are great for properly holding her long rifle, as well as getting some fun poses with the pistols.  Aurra’s sculpt is all-new, and it’s generally pretty decent.  It’s an interesting experiment, seeing as she’s based more on her Clone Wars appearance than her brief live-action one, but she’s still realistically detailed.  It’s an astoundingly subtle difference from just a straight Phantom Menace figure, but there it is.  It works out pretty well, and they’ve made the articulation work nicely within the sculpt’s aesthetics.  Aurra’s paint work is overall an okay set-up.  The printing works well for detailing the eyes and mouth, and the base work on the body is decent.  She does lose out on some of the base details on the back, which is a bummer, but otherwise things look pretty decent.  Aurra is packed with her long rifle (with removable sling), and two twin blaster pistols.  The sling on the rifle isn’t quite as secure as I’d like, but the pistols can be stashed securely in the holsters on her hips.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’m by no means an Aurra Sing fan.  There was a lot of build up that went really no where, and she’s just never clicked with me.  She does alright in her Clone Wars appearances, though, so I guess that makes her a little better as a character.  This figure at least looked pretty cool, and ultimately, she turned out pretty nicely.  Still not my favorite or anything, but she’s fun.

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.

#3026: IG-11

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

IG-11

STAR WARS: THE VINTAGE COLLECTION (HASBRO)

Alright, after quite a length of nothing but Marvel Legends reviews, I finally got a week last week of some more random goodness, and now I’m feeling a little more refreshed for some more theme-week-ing.  Not quite Marvel yet, because oh boy do I need to build back up to that one, but how about another toy powerhouse that I haven’t looked at since the beginning of the year, Star Wars!  I’ve got a whole stack of Black Series figures to look at, but before I get to those, I’m going to take today to be slightly different, with a rare Vintage Collection review.  It’s an IG-11, so not *that* different, but still different.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

IG-11 is figure VC206 in the Star Wars: The Vintage Collection line-up.  He hit hit retail last fall, in an assortment that was otherwise Original Trilogy-centered.  I suppose he’s not entirely out of place there, but he’s still the only Mandalorian-based figure in the set.  The figure stands 4 3/4 inches tall and he has 27 points of articulation.  Amusingly enough, he’s actually quite a bit more posable than his 6-inch counterpart, by virtue of this one actually being an all-new sculpt, as opposed to just re-using a prior IG mold.  This means he gets properly jointed hips, as well as the a fully jointed head with all of the proper moving parts, which you don’t tend to see.  He’s also much larger in scale relative to the standard-sized figures he’s meant to go with, of course, but that’s really just about him having actual proper scaling, instead of the usual “just noticeably taller than the other figures” scaling that IG molds tend to get.  In general, his sculpt is quite an impressive one, and it works well around the articulation, which means it avoids my usual issue with TVC figures.  Most notably, on the sculpt front, he’s got the correct modified hands for IG-11, which have thus far only been correct on the Mission Fleet release.  That one’s still first in my heart and all, but it’s nice to have a correct set of hands on a more correctly styled figure.  IG’s paint work is generally pretty decent.  The base work covers all the slight variations in the finish of the metal that he’s made up of, and there’s a little bit of wear and tear that’s handled with some slight accent work.  It’s pretty nice in a general sense, and seems just about as good as the larger scale figure.  IG-11 is packed with the usual pairing of large and small blasters, which he holds pretty well.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As I mentioned in my K2 review, I’ve more or less given up on collecting TVC, but I do have my exceptions to that.  K2 was one, and IG-11 is another. I was actually looking forward to this one quite a bit, and I was pretty excited to mess with him.  He turned out really nicely, especially for this line.  It’s not really enough for me to jump into the line any further, but I sure would love to see Hasbro do an updated Black Series version that’s a bit closer to this one in quality.

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.

#3007: Bo-Katan Kryze with Gauntlet Starfighter

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

BO-KATAN KRYZE with GAUNTLET STARFIGHTER

STAR WARS: MISSION FLEET (HASBRO)

Remember Mission Fleet?  You know, that all-ages-aimed Star Wars toy line that I’ve been following and actually really enjoy thoroughly every time I get around to reviewing one?  The one that I have, despite this, only reviewed twice on this site?  Yeah, that’s the one.  I keep bringing up the need to go back and get some of the backlog of them reviewed, but I keep, you know, not doing it.  Instead, I keep holding off for a new addition, which is what I’m doing now.  Again.  For the third time.  It happens.  Thus far, the two items I’ve reviewed have both been Mandalorian-themed, and this third review follows that same trend.  So, let’s have a look at Bo-Katan Kryze (who, much like sand, is coarse and gets everywhere) and her Gauntlet Starfighter!

THE TOYS THEMSELVES

Bo-Katan and the Gauntlet Starfighter make up the “Starfighter Siege” set of Star Wars: Mission Fleet, a Stellar Class release (the next size up from the two Expedition Class sets I’ve already looked at) from the tail end of 2021, which hit alongside Moff Gideon’s TIE Fighter and Obi-Wan’s Jedi Starfighter.  Though officially billed Mandalorian on the packaging, this set can work just as well as a Clone Wars release too, giving it a little more range, which is pretty cool, even if it is Bo-Katan.

The core Bo-Katan figure is in her full-armored attire.  The extra detailing on the helmet signifies her as at the very least a post-late Clone Wars version of the character.  The figure stands 2 1/2 inches tall and she has 9 points of articulation.  The articulation scheme here is the same as on the Mando, which is to say that it works generally pretty well given the scale.  Her sculpt is certainly more stylized than larger offerings, with slightly tweaked proportions on the head, hands, and feet.  It’s more cartoony, but not too overly so.  There’s still plenty of small detail work, and it tracks well with her design in both animation and in live action.  Bo-Katan’s paint work actually has quite a bit going on.  All of the important armor details are there, and she’s even got all the proper detailing on the helmet, which does look pretty cool.  Bo-Katan is packed with her jetpack (which is distinct from Mando’s), twin blasters, and her energy shield.

The vehicle portion of this set is far more prominent, given the higher price-point of the set.  Rather than just a speeder bike like the other two sets, there’s a full-fledged Gauntlet Starfighter include here.  It’s the ship she’s most frequently seen using, and it’s a fairly distinctive design, so it’s a strong choice.  The ship measures just shy of 9 inches tall and it’s 8 1/2 inches wide.  It’s just a one-person seater, but it’s still got a decent size to it, and it’s even got the full worked-in movement for the wings, as seen on-screen.  It’s a cool feature of a cool design, so it’s great that they worked it in there properly.  Given the ship’s larger scale, the added ports for compatibility with the rest of the line aren’t quite as obtrusive here as on the smaller vehicles, which is also pretty cool.  The color work on this one is also a bit more involved than the speeder bikes, making it a more vibrant and eye-catching design.  As with other vehicles, this one gets a large missile launcher and missile.  It can be mounted to any of the ports on the ship, and also includes its own articulated tripod piece for stand-alone use.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Cheyenne requested fairly early into Mission Fleet‘s run that I not buy all of them for myself, so I’ve been pretty deliberately holding on most of the line, just to give her a good stock of choices for gift ideas.  So, this was the one she opted to go for this year, which is honestly a pretty good call.  This is one of the cooler ship designs, and one that’s kind of rare in toy form.  It’s a lot of fun, and while Bo-Katan might be a coarse character, she does at least still have a cool design, making for a generally fun toy set-up.

#2995: Rancor with Luke Skywalker

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

RANCOR with LUKE SKYWALKER

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

“Within Jabba the Hutt’s desert palace on Tatooine, there is a special pit that houses a rancor. Over five meters in height, this reptilian-like creature has long, exaggerated arms, dangerous fangs and huge claws — truly a fearsome sight. The crime lord uses the rancor as a means of eliminating enemies and failed employees. Its pit is located beneath Jabba’s court, providing an excellent view for the crime lord and his associates as victims struggle helplessly to defend themselves. That all changes when Luke Skywalker is dropped into the loathsome pit. Armed with only a large bone leftover from one of the rancor’s previous victims, the Jedi Knight conquers the horrible beast.”

Oh boy, that sure is a nice Rancor there.  Sure would be a shame if someone were to…SABOTAGE IT!!!!  Right?  Get it?  Because, it’s like the whole thing where a bunch of winy fanboys claimed that Hasbro was sabotaging their own product, and then it was ultimately the winy fanboys who…you know…actually sabotaged it?  Isn’t it funny?  Or is it just sad.  Oh, right, it’s probably just sad.  And I’m likely to piss someone off with this intro, aren’t I?  Ah well, these days I fear nothing, so I’ve really got nothing to lose.  Not even the Rancor.  Especially since I wasn’t backing the Black Series one anyway.  But that’s not the point.  What is the point is that I’m falling back on my classic Star Wars reviewing fodder, Power of the Force, and that’s where I’m staying.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

The Rancor with Luke Skywalker were added to Kenner’s Power of the Force II line in 1998, as the largest of the creature packs that they were doing.  They’re based on Return of the Jedi, of course, and were actually the only creature pack where that was the case, since Jabba was from his Special Edition appearance in A New Hope, rather than his classic Jedi look.

RANCOR

Certainly one of the largest creatures in the Star Wars verse, or at least one of the largest that’s justifiable in toy form, the Rancor has been getting toy treatment since the vintage line.  This would mark its second time in toy form.  The figure stands about 10 inches tall (thanks to the hunch) and has 6 points of articulation.  He’s not an overly mobile figure, but the Rancor’s also not an overly mobile creature.  It’s main purpose is really just to lumber menacingly, which this one does quite well.  It does have a little trouble standing up, but careful posing can help it find that sweet spot for staying balanced.  The Rancor’s sculpt was an all-new one.  The vintage figure had gone far more basic on its detailing, so this one stepped things up a bit.  The end result is quite a nice piece, especially when compared to some of the smaller figures of the same line.  He’s a respectable match for the creature we see on-screen, and there’s a lot of solid texture and smaller detail work.  Due to the nature of the softer plastic, some of the details are likewise a little softer, but it’s generally quite good.  The only downside to this one is the “Real Feel Skin” feature, which can make him prone to a bit of gunk build-up.  It’s not quite as bad as yesterday’s Clayface figure, but it does require some occasional cleaning.  The paint work on the Rancor is pretty solid, actually.  There’s some decent accent work on the skin, which helps to bring out more of the sculpted details, as well as add a little more depth to the figure’s overall look.  The Rancor gets no accessories of its own, but it does get…

LUKE SKYWALKER

…a Jedi Luke variant.  1998 had quite a few Jedi Luke variants, covering various deviations of his main look throughout the film.  This one is very specifically Jabba’s Palace, after he’s lost the cloak and saber, before he’s gotten shot in the hand.  It’s the only one to fit that very specific narrative.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  He uses the same head and torso as a few of the Jedi Lukes from the same year, which makes sense from a consistency standpoint, and also means he’s re-using some pretty decent parts.  The arms and legs are new, and designed with him leaning back to look at the Rancor in mind.  The legs do make him a little tricky to keep standing, and the arms are unfortunately rather stiff for any decent posing.  He’s not a bad sculpt, but he’s a more limiting one to be sure.  His paint work is a little more involved than other Jedi Lukes by virtue of him having a bunch of brown flecks to simulate Tatooine sand.  It’s all a ploy to keep his father at bay, really.  Luke is packed with the large bone he uses to defend himself against the Rancor, which is a pretty fun scene specific piece.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was definitely a Jedi Luke fan as a kid, and liked this particular scene a lot, but it was kind of an expensive set, and never a super easy one to find, so I didn’t get this one as a kid.  Instead, I got it quite recently, just over the last summer, when one of them came through All Time loose.  I’ve actually been low-key looking for one for a while now, so I was pretty happy to finally get one.  It’s definitely an important piece of the PotF collection, and one I’m glad to finally have.  There have been more involved Rancors since, but this one’s still just a very nice piece, and the Luke pairs off well with him.