Tag Archives: Star Wars

#1334: R5-D4

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

R5-D4

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II

Hey guys! I’m not feeling too hot tonight so Super Awesome Girlfriend is helping me write this review. Isn’t she super awesome?

We’re looking at Star Wars stuff again. Something something something, droid info here-wait Ethan is actually reading this over my shoulder, so I should write something real…

Everybody knows C-3PO and R2-D2, but not many people know about R5-D4. Why? Because he blows up early on in the movie. It’s okay though, because he shares a lot of the same parts as R2 so he gets plenty of toys! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! Today, we’ll be looking at one of those toys.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

R5-D4 comes from the second year of Kenner’s Star Wars: Power of the Force II line. The figure is about 3 inches tall and depending on how you count articulation, he has 1 or 3 points (this will make sense later…so he says). So umm, surprisingly enough he and R2 don’t star any parts.

The sculpt is pretty accurate, overall, but it has a few inaccuracies. To start with, there’s the weird bar thingy running between the two back feet (roller things). The R2 figure didn’t have this, so why this one does is beyond Ethan’s congested mind. It just looks weird. Beyond that, there’s the weird silver thingies attached to his legs. Why are they there? Nobody knooooooows. Maybe they’re guns? Ehhhh… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ The sculpt is also hindered by the action feature. Remember how I mentioned that he explodes in the movie? Well Kenner tried to replicate that…sort of. The top of the figure, the dome, splits in half when you press the special yellow button at the base of the body. There’s also this missile that gets launched because why not? It kind of holds the figure back, because you can’t move the head around due to the missile stored there, which is kind of annoying really. But they tried…I guess. Okay, paint. This figure has paint. Let’s talk paint. It’s sandy looking, which is good because you know Tatooine has lots of sand. You know who hates sand? Anakin hates it, because it gets eeveeeeeeeeeerywhere! Including on this guy! Good work team, go team go. Ethan will probably edit this one later, you know, when his head isn’t full of mucus.

You know what the droid’s head is full of? Missiles…nah, just one, which is his only accessory.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This lovely addition to the collection came from the Farpoint charity auction. Ethan has always had a soft spot for R5, which isn’t surprising because he has a soft spot for every robot, droid character. The figure is okay, he’s a bit held back by all the explodey stuff Kenner tried emulating with the figure. They could’ve done a lot worse, so he isn’t bad, just sandy. I honestly have no attachment to the droid, so there’s not much for me to say about it. I guess that’s it? Oh, Ethan just burrowed into the blankets…aaaaaaaaaaand he’s gone. I’m terribly sorry.

#1330: Arc Trooper

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

ARC TROOPER

STAR WARS: CLONE WARS (HASBRO)

“Through the creative vision of Lucasfilm Ltd. and the Cartoon Network, the Clone Wars are brought to life in an exciting new series of short animated chapters. A unique animation style captures the drama of this epic period in galactic history along with its outstanding heroes and adversaries. Noble Jedi warriors lead Clone Troopers into battle against the evil Separatist forces and their droid armies. Anakin, Obi-Wan, Yoda and their comrades struggle against the rising power of the dark side and confront personal challenges against a backdrop of war-torn planets”

Easily the best thing to come out of the Star Wars prequels is Genndy Tartakovsky’s Star Wars: Clone Wars micro series, released in the period between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.  It was the most fun that Star Wars had been since the original trilogy.  There were a couple of cool new ideas introduced by the series, including the Advanced Recon Commando Troopers, or ARC Troopers, an advanced group of clones personally trained by Jango Fett before his demise.  I’ll be taking a look at one of them today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The ARC Trooper was released in the 2005 assortment of Hasbro’s animated-style Star Wars: Clone Wars line.  Though the figure is simply named “ARC Trooper,” he appears to be specifically based on Captain Fordo, the lead ARC Trooper from the series.  The figure stands about 3 1/2 inches tall (he’d be closer to 4 if he were standing upright) and he has 4 points of articulation.  This line was specifically based on Tartakovsky’s line-art from the series.  He’s style is very fluid, which means the figures are rather limited on the articulation front.  A number of figures opted for a more static pose, but the ARC Trooper was actually sculpted in a rather pre-posed manner.  He’s mid-stride, with his right outstretched in a commanding motion and his left down by his side holding a blaster.  While I’m generally not a huge fan of pre-posing on action figures, this is definitely one time where it really works, because it aids in capturing that fluid style I was talking about.  The sculpt does an overall pretty solid job of capturing the distinctive design of the clones from the cartoon.  The only slightly off part is the helmet; on the show, the helmets bowed inward at the bottom, but here it flares out.  It doesn’t result in a super different look or anything, but it’s ever so slightly off.  Still, it’s quite a nice sculpt.  The paintwork on this guy is pretty straightforward.  It’s just flat colors, as it should be.  The application is mostly pretty clean, though there’s a bit of slop on the edges of the kama.  Fordo included a pair of blasters, which can either be held or stowed in his fully-functioning holsters.  He also included the same black display stand included with all of the Clone Wars figures, though, surprisingly, he doesn’t really need it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Captain Fordo was my first Clone Wars figure.  I was always interested in the line, but all the figures I wanted were in hot demand at the time, so I could never find them in stores.  I ended up getting this guy while on a day trip with my dad and my brother.  We had gone to a small comic show, which had been a bust in terms of action figures, so my dad took us to a Target on the way back and let us each pick something out.  Christian got an Anakin and I got this guy.  He’s not a super complex figure or anything, but I still really like him, and he reminds me that I should really track down more of this line.

#1327: Princess Leia Organa – Jabba’s Prisoner

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PRINCESS LEIA ORGANA — JABBA’S PRISONER

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

“Disguised as the bounty hunter Boussh, Leia infiltrated Jabba’s palace as part of a small rescue team to free Han Solo, Leia was captured and forced to endure the status of Jabba’s slave until the opportunity to escape presented itself.”

My very first Princess Leia figure I reviewed for this site was the one from the second series of Black Series figures.  While I was generally nice to that figure in its proper review (I hadn’t yet become jaded and cynical), I’ve always had some issues with the decision to go with the Slave Leia design, seeing as it was the inaugural Leia in that scale.  I don’t have a huge issue with the costume overall, but I feel it’s not the character’s primary look.  Regardless, the design’s a popular one with the fanbase, which translates to toys.  Interestingly, the look wasn’t a part of the vintage line; it’s first release was in 1997, more than a decade after it appeared on screen.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Princess Leia Organa as Jabba’s Prisoner was released in the third year of Kenner’s Star Wars: Power of the Force II line.  She was the third single-release of Leia in the line (there were also four Leias in the Princess Leia Collection and another packed with the Endor Speeder Bike, all released the same year as this one; 1997 was a good year for Leia).  The figure stands about 3 3/4 inches tall (which was rather tall for a Leia figure; later figures would go shorter) and has 6 points of articulation.  This is one of those figures where lessened articulation is a plus, since her design is kind of hindered by being broken up for lots of articulation.  Here, she’s got the simplest assortment of articulation, which allows her to avoid having unsightly lines all over her skin.  In addition, since she’s from later in the line’s run, she’s spared a lot of the crazy proportions that plagued earlier POTF2 figures.  Generally speaking, her sculpt is pretty decent; the details are all pretty true the film’s design, and the proportions are among the best we’ve seen on a Slave Leia figure.  The face doesn’t look much like Carrie Fisher, but it’s far from the worst Leia sculpt from this line, and it’s not a terrible sculpt.  The skirt piece is plastic on this figure, which I think looks for a better overall look when compared the cloth used for just about every other Slave Leia figure; it actually allows for a bit of dynamic flow and is unlikely to fray over time, which are both definite plusses.  The paint work on this Leia is pretty decent.  She’s about on par with the rest of the line; the application is clean and the colors match up with the source material.  The gold actually adds a nice bit of vibrance to the figure, and is one of the better gold paints I’ve seen on an action figure.  Leia’s only accessory is a removable collar with a chain attached.  It’s a bit bulky and doesn’t ever seem to sit right, but it’s easily removed of you so desire.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like the Bespin Han Solo, while I didn’t own this figure for myself growing up, it was one of the ones my Grandmother had at her house for my cousin Patrick to play with.  Like that Han figure, she went missing somewhere along the way, so when those figures were absorbed into my collection, she wasn’t one of them.  I finally added this figure to my collection  early this year, picking her up from the Farpoint charity auction alongside several other POTF2 figures.  She’s not my favorite version of Leia or anything, but she’s a decent enough figure, I suppose.

#1320: Yoda

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

YODA

STAR WARS: THE POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

“For over 800 years, the diminutive Jedi Master known as Yoda trained the most committed students in the ways of the Force, guiding them into their roles as Jedi Knights, protectors of peace in the galaxy.”

Yoda.  Talks funny, he does.  That’s all I got.

Okay, I’ve probably got more.  The Star Wars prequels are bad for a whole lot of reasons, but if I had to pick one thing I hated the most, it’d be how badly they mucked up the Jedi Knights, Yoda most of all.  For me, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith cement the little green guy as possibly one of the worst people in the whole galaxy far, far away, having him not only be the guy who essentially establishes the Empire, but also making largely responsible for Anakin’s turn to the Dark Side, by way of spending the majority of Episode III’s first act poking the bear with a stick.  But that’s enough of that.  Let’s go back to when Yoda wasn’t totally the worst!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Yoda was released in Power of the Force II’s second assortment of figures.  This was Yoda’s second action figure, following the original vintage figure.  The figure stands about 2 inches tall and he has 4 points of articulation.  He’s not particularly posable, but I honestly can’t think of a Yoda figure that has been, so it’s hard to hold that against this guy.  In terms of sculpt, as a largely inhuman sort of character, he didn’t fall victim to the same problems that plagued most of the other figures from this line.  With that being said, he’s still rather stylized, and not exactly a pitch-perfect recreation of his on-screen counter part.  The head’s definitely a bit big, and the hands are just sort of goofy looking.  Admittedly, he looks more like his real-life counterpart than most of his compatriots, so that’s a plus.  The articulation really isn’t worked into the sculpt, which is most evident around the hips, where the robes he’s wearing just randomly break their flow.  I’m also not entirely sure what’s going on with how the sleeves of the robe are hanging; it doesn’t seem to lend itself to any particular pose.  In terms of paint, he’s relatively passable.  Basic application seems to be pretty solid, though he’s a little bug-eyed.  They added some slight shading as you get further down the robe, which makes it look like it’s been slowly picking up grime over the years.  Overall, the paint’s fine, but all of his colors seem to sort of blend together, which looks a little bland.  Yoda includes his cane (which he has a little trouble holding), as well as a back-carrier.  The second piece goes with the Dagobah Training version of Luke from this same line, allowing Yoda to be carried on that figure’s back (please excuse the photo; I didn’t have Luke handy, so I just went with the blonde hero kid I had on hand).  It’s actually a pretty nice way of adding some extra value to a figure that would otherwise be half the size of his compatriots.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I didn’t have this Yoda growing up.  In fact, I don’t believe I had any Yodas growing up.  I got this guy at the same time as most of the PotF2 figures I’ve reviewed as of late; he came from the Farpoint Charity auction.  This is actually figure I’ve been meaning to track down for some time, since the complimentary Luke was my very first Star Wars figure.  He’s a bit on the goofy side, but I’m pretty pleased to finally have him!

#1316: R1-T2

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

R1-T2

STAR WARS DROID FACTORY (DISNEY PARKS)

“Whether they are merchandise to the Jawas of Tatooine, servants of the Evil Galactic Empire or friends of the Rebel Alliance, droids of all different types populate the Star Wars galaxy. From Astromechs, to Protocol or even Assassin Droids, there are many different colors and styles of each droid class. Each droid is different and has their own unique personality. at the Star Wars Droid Factory, Guests can build and name a star Wars droid that is uniquely their own. May the Force be with You… and your Droids!”

I haven’t been to a Disney park in a decade, but one of my favorite things the last time I was there was the Star Wars-based “Star Tours” and all of the cool Star Wars-themed stuff around it.  Over the years, Disney has commissioned a handful of exclusive action figures (some from usual Star Wars toy-producers Hasbro, and some from Disney’s in-house companies) to sell in the ride’s gift shop.  My timing always seems to be particularly bad when it comes to these items; both times I’ve been to Disney World, it was in between figure releases.  In 2012, they introduced a line of build-your-own figures, under the trappings of a “droid factory,” which is a pretty fun concept.  I’ve finally gotten my hands on one, so I’ll be taking a look at him today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

R1-T2 (named by me, of course; if your curious, it’s R1-T2 as in “puttin’ on a…”) was part of the 2015 assortment of Star Wars Droid Factory, which was the second main assortment of pieces.  The line is available exclusively through Disney Parks.  The figure stands about 3 1/4 inches tall (counting the top hat) and he has 5 points of articulation and actual rolling wheels on the bottom of each foot.  R1 is built from six different pieces: a dome, trunk, three legs, and a hat.  This droid sticks largely to the R2 style of build, albeit with a slightly modified trunk, which is a little bit more sleek in design.  The general quality of the figure’s sculpt is pretty solid; it’s about on par with one of the more articulated astromech’s from Hasbro.  The plastic’s perhaps the slightest bit softer than I’d like, but not horribly so, and at least the level of detail hasn’t been negatively affected.  One thing I really appreciate is the extra detailing at the top of the trunk, under the dome.  It’s not going to be seen under normal circumstances, but it’s still there, and it looks really cool.  There are ten different possible hats available for the Droid Factory droids; R1 is sporting the top hat, which looks ever so fly.  It attaches to the top of the dome via a peg, and it stays nice and tightly in place, but can be removed if you so desire.  There are a number of different paint schemes available for each Droid Factory piece; R1 sticks with the basics, being largely white with color accents in the three primary colors and a bit of black (which matches up really well with the top hat, creating a tuxedo sort of effect).  All of the application is pretty clean; there’s a bit of slop here and there, but nothing outrageous.  R1 has no accessories, but he does come with a cool resealable package, which even has a sheet of stickers so that you can put his name on the backer!

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, if I haven’t been to a Disney Park since 2007, how did I get an item that was released in 2015?  Nepotism.  I mean, sort of.  See, my brother Christian went to Disney World with his school’s music department, and he made a point of assembling me one of these guys to bring home, and put a lot of care into putting together the pieces he thought I’d like the most.  I’m really happy with this little guy, and also really happy to have finally gotten *something* from the Star Tours gift shop.

Also, I’d like to give an extra special shout-out to Christian, who is graduating from high school today.  Way to go bro!

#1310: Luke Skywalker

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

LUKE SKYWALKER

STAR WARS (KENNER)

Luke Skywalker has over 100 action figures, which is quite a few.  More than just about any other main character from the franchise, in fact.  There was a time, however, when he had just one.  His very first figure was released by Kenner in 1978, and that’s the one I’m looking at today.  There’s your intro.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Luke is one of the very earliest entries in Kenner’s Star Wars line.  He was initially released in the Early Bird set, alongside Leia, Chewbacca, and R2, and later saw regular release as one of the line’s first 12 figures.  He was also consistently carried throughout the run of the original trilogy’s line.  My figure comes from the earliest of the single releases, or at least that’s what I’ve been told.  The figure stands about 3 3/4 inches tall and has the standard 5 points of articulation (or at least he did; my figure had his head snap off, necessitating it being glued back in place).  The figure sported a unique sculpt at the time (though the head would later see reuse on the Bespin figure from the Empire line), which is decent enough, at least in the context of the rest of the line.  He’s not super detailed, nor is he the spitting image of Mark Hamill as Luke, but the main elements of the character have been conveyed pretty well, and he’s certainly not awful.  His design has also been graced with very few real compromises, which wasn’t completely unheard of in this line, but it was pretty rare.  As one of the three lightsaber wielding characters in the first film, he got one of the retractible blades that Kenner was experimenting with early in the line.  The hilt of the saber is molded in Luke’s hand, and the majority of his right arm has been hollowed out.  There was then a separate blade, which could be pushed up or down, as if he were igniting the saber.  It’s not a particularly accurate rendition of the saber, and it requires Luke to hold his weapon in a way he never does in the film.  Luke’s saber was molded in yellow, because, umm, reasons, I guess?  Of course, you can’t see that from my figure, because they were also really easy to lose, which isn’t ideal.  Still, it wasn’t the worst concept ever.  In terms of paint, Luke is fairly simple; he’s got al the basic colors, and that’s about it.  There were a number of variants on the hair color; mine has the more common bright yellow.  Not super lifelike, but it’s about right for the time.  Luke included no accessories.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When I was growing up, I had access to a lot of my dad’s old toys.  His collection of Star Wars figures was one of the sets that was given to me to keep.  Luke was by far my favorite of the set, and saw a lot of play time.  His head broke off at some point, and there was a good five years in there where I never seemed to be able to hang on to both pieces at the same time.  I eventually did find both pieces and get him put back together, so that was a small victory.  The figure’s not perfect, but he’s a pretty good starting point, and he’d remain one of the better Luke figures out there for quite a while.

#1306: Han Solo in Carbonite

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HAN SOLO IN CARBONITE

STAR WARS: THE POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

“After escaping from Imperial forces in the Hoth system, Han Solo and Princess Leia, Chewbacca and C-3PO, landed the damaged Millenium Falcon on Bespin’s Cloud City for repairs. The four put their trust in the city’s administrator, Lando Calrissian, unaware of the dangers awaiting them. A dashing ex-gambler and long time acquaintance of Solo’s, Calrissian had grudgingly made an agreement with Darth Vader to betray Solo and his friends. In return, the band would be set free once their capture had lured Luke Skywalker into Vader’s grasp. The Dark Lord had no intention of keeping any promises: on his order a carbonite freezing chamber was modified for use on humans, especially Luke Skywalker, to render him helpless for safe delivery to the Emperor. To test the chamber, Solo was frozen and then turned over to the Bounty Hunter Boba Fett. for delivery to the crimelord Jabba the Hutt. He became the favorite decoration in Jabba’s Palace on Tatooine, until a daring rescue attempt led by Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia freed Han and returned him to the enduring cause of the Rebel Alliance.”

Man, they went all out on that bio, didn’t they.  Not much need for me to add anything, so here’s a Han Solo figure!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Han Solo in Carbonite was originally released in 1996, as part of that year’s first assortment of Star Wars: The Power of the Force II figures.  The figure saw a number of re-releases over the course of the line’s run, and is one of the more common figures out there from the line.  He stands about 4 inches tall and has 6 points of articulation.  Han is depicted here just after being freed from his frozen carbonite prison at the beginning of Return of the Jedi.  We can tell he’s an “after carbonite” figure from his lack ofthe shackles he had in Empire.  Technically, I guess the hair could also be a tell, but all of the early PotF2 Hans had the exact same hair anyway.  The head is the same one used for all the other Han figures from this line (well, barring the final one from just before the end), which doesn’t have much in the way of a Harrison Ford likeness.  At least they were keeping it consistent.  The rest of the figure’s sculpt was new to him.  He’s still got the really exaggerated proportions and super tight clothing, but is otherwise one of the tamest sculpts to come out of this line.  He’s pretty much just in a basic standing pose, with no goofy mid-step thing or oddly bent arms.  The one main inaccuracy that stuck out at me was the shirt, which follows the pattern of his A New Hope shirt, rather than the more detailed ones from Empire and Jedi.  It’s far from the worst mistake, and 9 out of 10 people wouldn’t notice it, but I am that tenth person.  The paintwork on Han is about on par with the rest of the line.  It’s fairly basic and the colors aren’t terribly thrilling, but it gets the job done.  Han’s main accessory is, of course, the carbonite block.  It’s a pretty cool piece; the front is a pretty faithful recreation of the movie prop, and the flip side is hollow, with a clip at waist height, allowing for the figure to be placed on the underside.  Han also includes a small blaster, patterned on the one he uses to save Lando from the Sarlac.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This version of Han was the second Hon Solo I owned, following the mail-away Stormtrooper disguise figure.  He was procured on a trip with my grandmother, I think, though I’m not 100% sure on that.  It’s irrelevant at this point, because I don’t own the figure anymore.  I rather foolishly sold it about 15 years ago, on the basis that I already owned other Hans, which doesn’t even makes sense to me anymore.  The figure you see in this review is a replacement, which, like the last several PotF2 figures I’ve reviewed, was picked up during the Farpoint charity auction.  This figure’s actually a bit better than I remember him being, and is probably the best of the Hans from early in this line (though the later ones kind of surpassed all the others).  Not bad at all.

#1303: Captain Cassian Andor

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

CAPTAIN CASSIAN ANDOR

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“An accomplished Alliance Intelligence officer, Captain Cassian Andor commands respect from his Rebel troops with this ability to keep a cool head under fire and complete his missions with minimal resources.”

Poor Cassian seems to keep drawing the short straw on the action figures. Jyn’s main looks were covered as widely-released single-packed figures.  We got a single-packed version of Cassian in both main scales, but they were both sporting his Eadu attire, which he only wears for short periods of the film. For whatever reason, Cassian’s main brown-jacketed look has been primarily limited to larger multi-packs.  The only version of that design to be released on his own is today’s focus figure, who was still a rather difficult to find exclusive.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Cassian is the second of the four figures in the Walmart-exclusive Rogue One assortment of the small-scale Star Wars: The Black Series line.  The figure stands about 4 inches tall and he has 28 points of articulation.  Like Jyn, Cassian’s articulation is a significant step up from what we saw with the Force Awakens figures, making for a much more playable figure.  He sports an all-new sculpt, which is definitely one of Hasbro’s finest, especially at this scale.  Prior Cassian’s have really struggled to capture Diego Luna’s likeness, but I think this one just about nailed it.  It’s really not wildly different from the previous sculpts, but there are subtleties that just make all the difference.  The body does feel a little on the bulky side for Cassian (I think the two-pack/U-Wing figure may have gotten the build down better), but the detail work is definitely top notch, with the jacket in particular really impressing me. I also appreciate that the joints don’t stick out like sore thumbs on this guy.  Bad integration of the joints was a really issue on the Force Awakens figures, and I’m really happy to see them moving past it.  Cassian’s paint is largely pretty good, barring a few small issues.  It’s definitely cleaner than the two-pack version, and the eyes/eyebrows in particular are very clean and well-placed.  That can be really tricky, and was something that marred both my Poe and Han figures from the prior assortments.  My one really complaint with this guy is the beard.  It still isn’t quite right for Cassian; they keep giving him a full goatee, when it should really be a lot less pronounced on the sides.  Still, that’s quite minor, and it looks better here than on prior figures.  In a similar fashion to Jyn, Cassian includes his modular blaster, which can be broken down into three parts.  Of course, this is more key for Cassian, since we actually see his full blaster in action in the movie.  The stock is a little loose and prone to falling off, but I’m otherwise quite impressed with how well they executed this blaster’s design. 

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I had wanted this version of Cassian as soon as it was shown, but I was unfortunately unable to find him anywhere at retail at the time of his release.  That’s really the main reason I ended up grabbing the TRU-exclusive one, since I didn’t want to be without this particular look for Cassian.  I was thrilled to actually find this guy at retail last week, and at half-price too!  Jyn was a fantastic figure, and Cassian manages to top her.  This is a truly impressive figure, and hands down the very best version of Cassian out there.  He rivals the larger K-2 figure for the spot of my favorite figure to come out of the Rogue One merch.

#1302: Sergeant Jyn Erso

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SERGEANT JYN ERSO

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“A highly skilled soldier in the Rebel Alliance, Jyn Erso is an impetuous, defiant warrior eager to bring the battle to the Empire.  Jyn has little patience for debate within Alliance High Command, enough that she takes matters into her own hands.”

Remember back last year when I reviewed those special smaller-scale Black Series figures based on the characters from The Force Awakens?  Well, Hasbro also did a set of those for Rogue One, albeit a more concise one.  They were a bit more difficult to find, since stores seem to still be swimming in the last few series just prior.  I did manage to finally track down some of them, including that set’s version of the film’s primary protagonist, Jyn Erso!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Jyn is one of the four figures from the Rogue One-themed assortment of the smaller-scale Star Wars: The Black Series line.  She hit in late November (well, in theory) and, like all of the small-scale Black Series figures since The Force Awakens, she’s a Walmart exclusive.  The figure stands about 3 1/2 inches tall and she has 24 points of articulation.  I’m happy to report that they seem to have realized how difficult to pose some of the Force Awakens figures were, and have reworked the articulation scheme for the Rogue One offerings.  While I’m still not totally sold on the hip joints, the overall poseablity really great.  This figure sports an all-new sculpt, and she’s notable for being a Jyn look that we hadn’t yet gotten in plastic form.  Granted, it’s just a slight variation of the main look that we’ve gotten in both the small and larger scales; it’s her main Scarif look, which is her vested look, but without the underlying green jacket that she’s had on the prior vested figures.  All of the Black Series Jyn figures have had rather nice sculpts, and this figure is no exception.  I honestly think it’s the best Felicity Jones likeness of the bunch (this was also true of the Rey figure from this line), and the body sports halfway decent proportions, which is good for this line.  The vest is a removable piece; she looks a bit off with it removed, but it’s nice to have the extra option.  The paint work on Jyn is quite good for the scale; there’s not a ton of super intricate work, but the application is all pretty clean, especially on the face.  There’s some slight slop here and there, but I find it to be lot better than earlier figures in this style.  Jyn is packed with her small blaster pistol, along with two attachments for it to be converted into a sniper rifle configuration.  It’s not something we saw in the film, but it did show up in Battlefront, and it’s a cool concept.  Certainly a better extra than yet another giant missile launcher.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This particular series of figures *mostly* eluded me at retail.  Jyn was the one figure that I actually saw.  In fact, I saw about ten of her right after Christmas, but since she was all alone and there were so many of her, I figured I’d wait.  Of course, then I didn’t see her or any of the other figures anywhere for the next five months, so I figured I’d missed my window.  Last week, I was killing some time while Super Awesome Girlfriend, and I happened upon a whole rack of the smaller Black Series figures, Jyn included.  For half-price no less!  I had resigned myself never to find her, but I’m super happy to have found her.  Genuinely the best version of Jyn on the market, and a marked improvement over the so-so Walmart-exclusive Force Awakens figures.

#1298: Imperial AT-ACT Driver

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

IMPERIAL AT-ACT DRIVER

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“The Empire’s combat drivers are trained to handle everything on the Imperial ground arsenal, from heavily armed AT-ATs to the more utilitarian AT-ACT walkers.”

You can’t have Star Wars figures without a metric ton of generic Trooper figures.  They’ve long been the backbone of the line, so it’s not a huge surprise that the movie makers put effort into introducing a few extra variants every time there’s a new movie.  Rogue One gave us the whole Scarif sub-set of troopers, which are some of my new favorites.  Today’s figure isn’t *technically* a Scarif trooper, but he share’s a lot of design elements, and he only actually shows up during the Scarif sequences of the movie, so I’m grouping him with them.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Imperial AT-ACT Driver is a Target-exclusive entry in the Star Wars: The Black Series line.  He follows the store-exclusive trooper trend, coming out after the TRU-exclusive Hovertank Pilot and the Walmart-exclusive Scarif Trooper.  In the movie, there are actually two drivers seen in the AT-ACT; a basic driver and a commander.  This figure represents the commander.  Of course, thanks to the fairly easily swapped heads on all these troopers, if you swap the head on this guy onto the Hovertank Pilot’s body, you can get both the basic AT-ACT driver and the Tank Commander, if one were so inclined. The figure stands about 6 inches tall and he has 27 points of articulation.  Structurally, he’s a total parts re-use; he’s got the body of the Hovertank Pilot and the head of the Scarif trooper.  It’s totally warranted re-use, since the movie design was the same.  Plus, the pieces are solid, so I have no issues with having them used again.  This figure’s main differences are, of course, the paint.  The basic colors match up with those of the Hovertank pilot (no doubt intentional, since it makes the previously mentioned head swap much easier), but he also gets the additional grey markings on the shoulders to denote him as a commander.  The markings are nice and sharp, which is good.  There’s also a little bit of weathering on the armored sections, offering a bit of accenting to the sculpt.  I’m glad to see the weathering on troopers is remaining a rather consistent thing.  The AT-ACT Driver includes a standard E-11 Blaster.  In uses the same extra detailing used for the blaster included with the K-Mart-exclusive Jyn, which is another thing that’s nice to see be a recurring feature.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This guy caught me by surprise, since he wasn’t really promoted that much by either Hasbro or Target.  On the same trip where Tim bought me Moon Knight, I also found this guy, but I was still planning to pass, since I was trying to hold off on buying as much.  Of course, this just wouldn’t sit with Super Awesome Girlfriend, who insisted on getting him for me.  This figure doesn’t exactly offer anything new, but I do really like him.  He’s probably my personal favorite of the various Rogue One troopers that have gotten Black Series releases.