Tag Archives: Star Wars

#1197: K-2SO

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

K-2SO

STAR WARS: ELITE SERIES

k2diecast1

By now, it shouldn’t surprise anyone to pull up the site at see K-2’s name at the top of the page.  He was by far my favorite part of Rogue One, and one of my favorite parts of the Star Wars universe in general.  I’m steadily working my way to owning every possible action figure version of this guy.  I’ve already gotten the obligatory 3 3/4 inch and Black Series figures, plus the Lego Constraction figure, and even the Pop! figure.  The line I almost always overlook is the Disney’s in-house line of die-cast figures, available exclusively at the Disney Store, but, as with Poe, I did track down the die-cast K-2 figure, which I’ll be looking at today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

k2diecast2K-2 was part of the assortment of Rogue One-related Star Wars: Elite Series released back on Rogue Friday.  The figure stands about 7 1/2 inches tall and has 19 points of articulation.  If you read my Poe review, you’ll probably remember that he was in a 7-inch scale.  Now, if you reference my Black Series K-2 review, you’ll note that I gave that figure’s height at 7 1/2 inches.  No, I didn’t mess either measurement up; these two figures are the exact same size, which means this guy’s actually 1/12 scale, and thus not actually in scale with the rest of the Elite Series figures.  In Disney’s defense, in order to be in proper scale with the rest of the Elite Series, K-2 would have to be almost 9 inches tall; the materials cost alone would mean he’d have to be in his own unique price point.  At this size, he’s still about a half inch taller than Poe, meaning he won’t look horribly out of place.  The flip side of all this is that this figure is perfectly scaled with The Black Series, so if you aren’t happy with your Black Series K-2 or are unable to find that particular figure, you have a second option.  In terms of construction, K-2 is mostly metal, with plastic being used only for his head and hands.  Like Poe, this means he’s a little more restricted in terms of motion than, say his, Black Series counterpart.  However, unlike Poe, where the there were some issues with looking a little too soft due to the metal parts, K-2 seems to do alright on the details.  If anything, he’s the one figure that it makes total sense to do in die-cast, being a droid and all, and his more geometric stylings lend themselves far more to this style of figure.  Another improvement over Poe: all those pesky screws on the back now have covers.  You can still see where they are, but they stick out a whole lot less.  In terms of accuracy to the source material, I think this figure’s actually a little closer to the movie design than the Black Series figure.  The head’s certainly superior on this figure at least.  The rest you can sort of chalk cup to differences of materials.  About the only real negative is the way the neck articulation has been implemented; rather than sticking with the movie design, there’s now a trench running just above the neck, allowing you to place his head straight up, which is just the most unnatural looking thing.  In terms of paint, this K-2 gets the proper gunmetal grey finish that his other figures have lacked, and also gets the proper grey detailing on the shoulder joints.  Aside from that, though, he’s a bit of a step down from the Black Series figure, loosing out on a lot of that figure’s really cool weathering, and also getting an inaccurate Imperial logo on both shoulders.  K-2’s only accessory is a display stand, which is the same as Poe’s.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

K-2 was picked up for me by my Super Awesome Girlfriend while we were out at the mall.  I caught sight of him through the window of the Disney Store on the way to another store and made a note to go back for him, but she snuck off later and grabbed him for me.  I’m a little disappointed that he’s not truly in scale with the Elite Series not because scale matters all that much to me, but more because him being the same size as the Black Series figure now leaves me eternally wondering which one I prefer.  If you want posablity and playability, go with the Black Series, but if you just want a cool looking K-2 for the shelf (and something you can possibly fend off home invaders with), you could do a lot worse than this guy.

k2diecast3

#1194: First Order Stormtrooper Squad Leader

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

FIRST ORDER STORMTROOPER SQUAD LEADER

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS

fosquadleader1

It’s been almost a week since the last time I looked at a Star Wars toy.  And I amassed quite a number of them towards the backend of last year, so there’s just sort of this pile of them waiting to be reviewed.  Here’s one off the pile.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

fosquadleader2The First Order Stormtrooper Squad Leader was part of the early 2016 Snow Gear assortment, alongside unmasked Kylo Ren and Nien Nunb).  The figure stands a little under 4 inches tall and has 5 points of articulation.  In terms of construction, the Squad Leader uses the same basic tooling as the standard FO Trooper (and by extension, all of it’s deviations, reviewed in the First Order Legion set), which is sensible.  As I noted when I reviewed it before, it’s a pretty strong sculpt, and accurately recreates the First Order armor from the movie.  The main appeal of this figure is the web-gear, which is unique to this guy.  It’s a combination of the Heavy Artillery Trooper’s ammo vest with an Officer’s pauldron.  It’s different enough to keep him interesting, which I guess is the point.  Paintwork for this figure is pretty much on par with the other FO Troopers I’ve looked at.  There are some fuzzy lines here and there, but by and large he’s pretty good.  The Squad Leader includes a basic blaster rifle, as well as a much larger blaster that’s part of the build-a-whatsit.  It’s kind of a cool piece, though it’s actually taller than he his, so getting him to hold it is kind of tricky.  Still, better than a lot of the pieces included with these figures.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Being part of one of the later assortments of the Force Awakens line, this guy never really showed up at retail in full force.  I ended up getting this guy from Cosmic Comix during their Biggest Sale of the Year! (TM).  I like the Heavy Trooper look, and I liked this variation of it, so I got him.  Is he really different from figures I already own?  Not really, but he’s still pretty fun.

#1188: Lando Calrissian

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

LANDO CALRISSIAN

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

landogen1

For Day 22 of my post-Christmas reviews, I’ll be taking a look at the last of the Star Wars-themed figures I got this year, before once again returning to the world of Marvel (spoilers for tomorrow’s review?)  Today, I’ll be looking at everyone’s favorite suave scoundrel.  No, it’s not Han Solo, why do you ask?  Okay, so it’s everyone’s *second* favorite suave scoundrel, Lando Calrissian!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

landogen2Lando was released as part of Series 5 of Walmart’s exclusive smaller-scale Star Wars: The Black Series line, the same assortment that brought us Wednesday’s Admiral Ackbar figure (along with Ahsoka Tano and a Royal Guard).  Like Ackbar, Lando is a re-release of an earlier Vintage Collection figure.  Also like Ackbar, I don’t have the earlier figure, so this one is new for me.  The figure stands just shy of 4 inches tall and has 24 points of articulation.  The Vintage Collection was where Hasbro finally started adding in some additional hip movement for some of the figures.  Lando was from later in the line, when they started adding it to non-Jedi/Trooper characters.  At this point the movement was still rather primitive when compared to lots of other small-scale lines like this, but progress is progress.  The sculpt is generally pretty decent.  He’s based on Lando’s General look from Return of the Jedi, which isn’t my go-to Lando look, but it’s a decent enough choice.  The uniform is pretty solid and matches up with the onscreen costume.  The holster is a separate, removable piece, which is actually pretty convenient, since it had a tendency to switch shoulder from shot to shot.  The head sports a passable Billy Dee Williams likeness.  It’s hardly perfect, but it’s about as close as any other likeness this line’s ever given us.  The cape is cloth, and that’s probably the one major detractor about this figure.  It’s not awful; the actual cape bit is decent enough, but the clasp, which is rather thin in the film, is replaced here by a rather thick spandex band.  It’s totally inaccurate and ends up covering a good portion of the rather nicely sculpted collar.  Lando sports some pretty decent paintwork.  Nothing particularly spectacular, or super exciting, but the application is quite clean, continuing the upward trend from Hasbro as of late.  Lando includes a small blaster pistol, which can be placed in the holster.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Just like Admiral Ackbar, Lando was a Christmas present from my Super Awesome Girlfriend, though there’s no special reason behind me getting this guy (aside from an offhand confirmation of “yeah, I like Lando”).  While this isn’t my first choice of costume, this is otherwise a pretty solid figure, and I’m glad to add him to my collection!

#1184: Admiral Ackbar

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

ADMIRAL ACKBAR

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

ackbar1

For the 18th day of my post-Christmas reviews, I’m ducking into the galaxy far, far away for a quick stop.  This time around, I’m heading back to the original trilogy and looking at the best trap-detecting commanding officer in the whole Rebellion, Admiral James Tiberius Ackbar.  No, he’s not really James Tiberius Ackbar, but that felt appropriately Admiralitorial.  Onto the figure!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

ackbar2Admiral Ackbar is part of Walmart’s current exclusive Star Wars: The Black Series.  His assortment (which also included Lando Calrissian, Ahsoka Tano, and a Royal Guard) hit around Rogue Friday.  Ackbar is a re-release of the previous The Vintage Collection Ackbar.  I don’t have that figure, so this one’s new to me.  Yay!  The figure stands about 4 inches tall and he has 18 points of articulation.  He’s based on Ackbar’s Return of the Jedi look which, at the time of the original figure’s release, was the only Ackbar design (since then, he’s appeared in both Clone Wars and The Force Awakens). It’s a very good recreation of his on-screen design.  In fact, it’s probably one of Hasbro’s best Star Wars sculpts, even seven years after its initial release.  The best part is definitely the head sculpt, which perfectly captures Ackbar’s distinctive head prosthetics.  The paintwork on Ackbar is solidly handled.  Like yesterday’s Spider-UK, Ackbar showcases a definite step-up in the overall paint application from Hasbro.  There are some slight differences on this guy’s paint compared to his TVC figure  The black details on his head and hands are a bit less subtle, which is a slight detractor, but the rest of the paint is a lot bolder and crisper, which makes him just look a lot better put together.  Ackbar is packed with a baton and the control panel from his ship (which is rather on the random side, but better than nothing, I suppose).

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Ackbar was a Christmas gift given to me by my Super Awesome Girlfriend.  We’ve been playing through Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and Jess particularly loved Ackbar’s extra sassy personality in the game, dubbing him “Sassbar.”  When she found out there was a new Sassbar figure out, she told me I had to get it.  True to form, she went the extra mile and actually got him for me.  I’ve always had a soft spot for the good admiral, and I gotta say, this is easily one of the best Star Wars figures Hasbro’s ever put out there.  He certainly warranted the re-release, and I’m happy it allowed me to get him!

#1181: Clone Commander Cody

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

CLONE COMMANDER CODY

LEGO STAR WARS: CONSTRACTION FIGURES

commcodylego1

Alright, let’s start off week three of the post-Christmas reviews by looking at…something from the same line as yesterday.  It’s like something different, only the exact opposite!  Like yesterday’s review, today’s subject comes from the somewhat contested Star Wars prequel trilogy.  In fact, he’s even the same actor as yesterday’s character, thanks to the wonders of cloning!  Yes, it’s everyone’s favorite clone commander who tried to kill Obi-Wan in Episode III, Clone Commander Cody!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

commcodylego2Commander Cody was another figure from the first assortment of Lego Star Wars: Constraction Figures, released during 2015’s Force Friday event.  Amazingly enough, Cody was the only Storm/Clone Trooper variant available in the first assortment.  The figure is assembled from 82 pieces and, like Jango, stands about 9 1/2 inches tall.  In terms of construction Cody is very similar to Jango, using most of the same basic pieces.  Upon closer inspection, several of the body pieces are clearly designed to be Clone Trooper armor, and it seems they were rather hastily refitted to be Jango’s distinctive Mandalorian togs.  That being the case, a lot of the pieces work a lot better for this guy, and he makes for a more faithful recreation of his on-screen counterpart.  The helmet, while still not as spot-on a recreation like K-2’s head, it’s more complex design makes for a more interesting sculpt than Jango’s.  I personally could still stand to have a little more detail present, but I definitely like this one.  Of the three Constraction figures I’ve looked at so far, Cody has the best paintwork by far.  Not only is the white and orange nice and vibrant, but he’s also got a ton of great detail work, especially on the torso.  There’s some fantastic weathering going on here.  Cody includes his larger blaster rifle, which is a surprisingly good recreation of the rifle seen in the movies.  That’s it.  No action feature for this guy.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like Jango, Cody was a Christmas present from Super Awesome Girlfriend’s parents, picked up during the same Walgreens sale.  Cody’s not my first choice of Clone Commander (Rex would be first, followed closely by Gree), but he’s not a bad character, and I’d be more inclined to pick him up than Jango.  The end result is definitely a superior figure to Jango, and probably one of the better Constraction figures Lego’s put out.  K-2’s still my favorite, but this guy’s a solid follow-up!

#1180: Jango Fett

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

JANGO FETT

LEGO STAR WARS: CONSTRACTION FIGURES

jangolego1

We close out my second week of post-Christmas reviews today, taking a look back at the line that kicked of this year’s gift reviews two weeks ago.  Yes, it’s a look back at Lego’s line of Constraction Figures.  Last time around, I was looking at one of the characters from last month’s very well-received prequel Rogue One.  This time, I’m looking at a character from a prior prequel (a pre-prequel, if you will), generally less well-received, especially as time has gone on.  Yes, it’s none other than Blue Boba Fett Jango Fett!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

jangolego2Jango Fett was part of the first assortment of Lego Star Wars: Constraction Figures, released on Force Friday 2015, alongside Luke, Vader, General Grievous, Obi-Wan, and Clone Commander Cody.  The figure is built from 85 pieces, and when fully assembled, he stands about 9 1/2 inches tall and has 13 points of articulation.  Jango definitely takes some liberties with his design, especially compared to K-2.  All of the important details are there, of course, but greatly simplified, and made to better fit the Constraction Figure aesthetic.  After the rather faithful head sculpt on K-2, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little disappointed by the much more simplified sculpt seen here.  It’s not  awful or anything, and I guess it matches the rest of the body a bit better, but I do sort of which it followed the film design more closely, or at least had some sharper detailing sculpted in.  Alas, it was not to be.  Legos are generally lighter on the paint, but this isn’t the case with Jango, who has quite a bit of detailing, in order to showcase his heavily weathered armor.  It definitely goes a long way to make him a visually interesting figure, and makes up a bit for the slightly less detailed helmet.  Jango includes his two blaster pistols (which have, like him, been Lego-ized), which he can hold or “holster” on his thighs.  He also has an action feature on his jetpack which launches the rocket at the top when the button at bottom of the pack.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Jango here was a gift from Super Awesome Girlfriend’s parents.  Apparently, there was a sale on Star Wars toys at Walgreens and they took advantage of said sale to pick me up several things.  I hadn’t really every thought to pick up Jango of my own volition, but he’s certainly one of the cooler figures in this line, and I don’t *dislike* Jango Fett as a character.  Not a bad figure!

#1177: K-2SO

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

K-2SO

POP! STAR WARS (FUNKO)

k2pop1

For Day 11 of the post-Christmas reviews, I’m going to be taking a look at the licensing juggernaut that is Funko Pop!  Even several years in, I still can’t say I fully understand this whole Pop! craze.  That being said, given that the line encompasses every conceivable license known to man, it’s not the sort of thing one can totally avoid. One of the most expansive licenses within the Pop! style is Star Wars, which is currently host to over 150 different Pops.  Nearer to the end of those 150 is today’s focus figure, K-2!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

k2pop2K-2SO is #146 in the Pop! Star Wars line.  He’s the second to last of the main Rogue One-themed Pops, fourth to last when you factor in the two Smuggler’s Bounty exclusives.  The figure is one of the taller Pops I own, standing 4 1/2 inches tall.  As a Star Wars Pop!, K-2 contractually can’t have any articulation, and is instead a bobble head.  You can get a little bit of movement out of the neck, but it’s not advisable, since you risk ruining the spring.  As far as the sculpt goes, K-2 is probably one of the best Pop! sculpts I’ve seen.  It helps that his design requires that he be a bit further removed from the usual Pop! elements. He already has big circular eyes and lacks a mouth, so he comes off a whole lot less creepy than the typical Pop!, and on top of that, his body is in a straight standing pose, rather than the odd crouch of some of the earlier figures.  I do have to admit, it’s slightly odd to see a K-2 figure that doesn’t have even the slightest hint of his hunched neck.  It’s not really something this style of figure allows for, so I guess I can understand the need for the change.  K-2’s sculpt features a great level of fine detail work, especially on the body; it’s good that they didn’t skimp on the sculpted elements there.  As far as paint, K-2 is fairly basic.  He’s mostly gunmetal grey, with some brighter silver here and there, and of course the white for his eyes.  The lack of any sort of weathering on this guy is a slight letdown, but not entirely outside of the style, so I can’t really complain.  K-2’s one accessory is a display stand (standard for the Star Wars Pops), which is definitely appreciated, since he can’t actually stand without it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

K-2SO was one of two figures I received from my totally cool-tastic brother this Christmas.  After seeing Rogue One, I pretty much wanted all things K-2, and this guy puts me one closer to completing that goal!  He’s actually not a bad little figure; he may not have the playability of some of the other K-2s, but he captures the spirit, and is definitely one of the better Pop figures out there!

#1173: Sidon Ithano & First Mate Quiggold

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

SIDON ITHANO & FIRST MATE QUIGGOLD

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS

sidonianthoquagley1

Would you look at that?  I’ve made it through a whole week of post-Christmas reviews!  Go me!  For day 7, I’m going back to that galaxy far, far away.  You know what the backbone of Star Wars merchandise is?  You might think it’s Darth Vader, or Stormtroopers, or even R2-D2 or C-3PO, but you’d be wrong.  No, the actual backbone, the thing that’s kept the franchise afloat with a near endless supply of tiny action figures is all of the split-second appearance, no-name characters peppered in to fill out the backgrounds of scenes.  Need to fill a slot in a wave of figures?  Here’s Willrow Hood!  Worried the boxed set doesn’t offer anything new?  How about Snaggletooth?  Need something unique?  Elephant Mon, anyone? Heck, people will spend good money to get a complete set of the bounty hunters from Empire, despite the fact that most of them only appear in that one single scene and only one of them gets even a single line of dialogue.  That’s commitment from the fanbase right there.  Of course, as the prices of oil have risen, these obscure figures are getting fewer and further between.  Fortunately, The Force Awakens provided a great new selection of background characters, which Hasbro in turn took advantage of in order to get some fun new action figures.  Two such characters were Sidon Ithano and his first mate Quiggold, who I’ll be looking at today.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Ithano and Quiggold were released in the second series of two-packs from the Star Wars: The Force Awakens line.

SIDON ITHANO

sidonianthoquagley3Sidon Ithano is the captain of the Meson Martinet, the ship Finn almost transfers to prior to Rey’s capture by the First Order.  That’s pretty much his whole character (okay, not entirely true; like almost every background Star Wars character, he’s got a whole elaborate backstory, which most people will never know).  He was playable in a side mission in Lego The Force Awakens, which is how I became familiar with him.  His figure stands about 4 inches tall and has the standard 5 points of articulation.  The sculpt is unique to this figure, and is quite impressively rendered.  The helmet is nice and clean, with lots of really sharp lines, and his clothing sports some incredible texture work, which really makes him stand out. Easily one of the best sculpts from the smaller Force Awakens line.  Ithano’s paintwork is fairly straight forward.  The application is pretty clean, and the basic colors seem to match up pretty well with what’s seen in the movie.  The color scheme is also rather on the unique side of things, which adds a nice bright splash of color to the shelf.  Ithano is packed with a blaster rifle…for all you blaster rifle needs?  It’s a cool design, I guess.

FIRST MATE QUIGGOLD

sidonianthoquagley2What good is a captain without his trusty first mate?  I don’t know.  I guess it depends on the quality of the captain, and, by extension, the quality of the first mate.  So, there’s like, a lot of potential variance there I suppose.  Anyway, here’s Quiggold, who’s a guy who gets just as much screen time as the last guy.  He’s also playable in the same Lego game level, where he gets a cool mini gun thing.  So that’s fun.  The figure stands about 3 3/4 inches tall and has 4 points of articulation.  Where Ithano is tall and lean, Quiggold is short and squat.  The figure’s sculpt does a pretty solid job of conveying his design from the movie.  He looks suitably like a big puppet (which is pretty much what he was) and the details on his skin and clothing are quite nicely rendered.  I wouldn’t mind if he had some more texturing here and there, but he’s certainly reasonable for the scale.  The paintwork on Quiggold is okay, if maybe ever so slightly imbalanced.  There’s some really great work on the face, which makes his skin look quite lifelike.  I just sort of wish the details continued onto the other exposed parts of his skin, but he’s not awful.  Quiggold includes a large missile launcher version of his big gun, which is…well, it’s not as far off as most Hasbro missile launchers, so I guess it’s got that going for it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I received these two as a Christmas present from my Super Awesome Girlfriend.  We’ve been playing through Lego The Force Awakens together, and I quite enjoyed the Crimson Corsair level.  She happened to spy these figures at retail and grabbed them for me.  I very much enjoy this pair of figures.  They’re solid renditions of solid character designs, and you can’t really ask for much more.

#1169: Akazonae Royal Guard

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

AKAZONAE ROYAL GUARD

MEISHO MOVIE REALIZATION (BANDAI)

royalguardmr1

Alright, we got the Aliens, we got the Super Heroes, so for Day 3 of the post-Christmas reviews, why not look at another cornerstone of my collecting habits: Star Wars!  In fact, this one is a double whammy, being both Star Wars *and* a high-end Bandia figure.  Huzzah!  The main Star Wars toy license for North America is held by Hasbro, who are pretty big into exclusivity and no-competition deals.  Because of this, no other toy company can release Star Wars figures under a certain price in the US, which is why the Star Wars Pop!s are bobble heads, and the Star Wars Sideshow figures carry a hefty price tag.  There are a few workarounds, however.  Bandai’s recently been putting out a line of concept figures, envisioning certain Star Wars characters as they might appear were they in a Samurai film, rather than a Sci-Fi one.  They’ve done a handful of the various Imperial Troopers and today I’ll be looking at my personal favorite, the Akazanae Royal Guard.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

royalguardmr2The Akazonae Royal Guard was released as the sixth figure in Bandai’s Star Wars: Meisho Movie Realization line.  He was originally slated as the fourth release, but was pushed back to follow variants of the Trooper and Darth Vader, and he ultimately hit just this past summer.  The figure stands about 7 inches tall (which was actually a bit larger than I was expecting, but I’m certainly not complaining) and he has 43 points of articulation.  The articulation has a bit of a learning curve to it.  It seems rather stiff at first, but once you get the hang of it, he’s actually a lot of fun to mess around with.  His sculpt is mostly unique to him, but it does appear that he shares at least some parts of the legs with the Storm and Sandtroopers, which is certainly reasonable from a consistency standpoint.  As far as the sculpt goes, he’s a bit tricky to review, what with not actually being based on any specific design.  With that being said, the sculpt is definitely a top-notch piece of work, and it does a good job of combining the Royal Guard’s film design with actual, functioning Samurai armor.  He’s a touch more ornate than previous figures (barring maybe Darth Vader), as he well should be, being an elite royal guard and all.  There’s lots of fun, little details sprinkled throughout the figure, and he incorporates some really nice layer work.  Also, I appreciate that, when configured certain ways, this figure can almost pass for just a slightly more armored version of the standard Royal Guard.  Were he not just a bit larger-royalguardmr3scaled, I’d probably just throw this guy in with my Black Series figures.  You might think that the paint work on this guy might be lax, being pretty much entirely red and all, but he’s actually got some pretty incredible work.  The actual hard armored parts have a nice, semi-gloss sheen, which contrasts nicely with the duller finish of the rest of the figure.  He’s also got a few different shades of red, which keep the whole look interesting.  He’s also got some really great accent work; there’s a black wash on a lot of the armored pieces, giving it a nice worn-in sort of feel.  There’s also some blue/indigo piping on a few sections, which adds a nice bit of flair, and really helps to break up all the red.  All around, this is just a very vibrant, very bold figure, especially when compared to the other figures in the line.  The Royal Guard includes a Katana, a scabbard, a large staff, three pairs of hands (in fists, loose, and tight grip), and a tabard that can be swapped out with the insignia on the front of his armor, thus creating a more classic Royal Guard look.  It’s a fun assortment of pieces, and provides a number of cool different looks.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Royal Guard was a Christmas present from my boy Tim.  I’d actually checked the figure out a few times, and it was the first of the Movie Realization figures to really speak to me.  Tim and I had a few conversations about the figure back when it was solicited, and it seems he took note of that.  I really like this figure, a whole lot.  There’s just so much about the design that really works, and I definitely feel he’s the strongest of the Movie Realization line, despite being one of the more minor designs presented therein.  There’s just so many fun ways to pose him and have him interact with others, and now I’m seriously considering picking up one or two of the others in the line at some point (a very dangerous venture indeed).  Thanks, Tim…

royalguardmr4

#1166: K-2SO

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

K-2SO

LEGO STAR WARS: CONSTRACTION FIGURES

k2solego1

Behold!  The gift reviews commence!  As I’ve done the last few years, I’ll be kicking off the Christmas gift reviews not with a Christmas gift, but instead with my anniversary gift from Super Awesome Girlfriend.  Think of this as “Day 0” of the Christmas reviews.

So, have you guys had enough of Star Wars?  I sure hope not, because I’ve got more Star Wars stuff.  It’s like there was a movie this year or something.  As I noted in my review of that movie that was released this year, my favorite new addition to the mythos is definitely that lovable security droid, K-2SO.  I’ve looked at the two Hasbro versions of the character, but there are a few other companies who have taken a shot at him, including LEGO, whose figure I’ll be looking at today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

k2solego2K-2 is one of the three Rogue One-themed LEGO Star Wars: Constraction Figures, released alongside the rest of the Rogue One products on Rogue Friday.  The “Constraction Figures” are similar to LEGO’s Bionicle and Hero Factory lines, but based on their licensed properties (mostly Star Wars as of late).  K-2 is built from 169 pieces (which is over 60 more pieces than either of his compatriots uses) and when fully assembled, the figure stands just shy of 12 inches tall (so he’s about 1/8 scale) and has 13(ish) points of articulation.  The Constraction stuff tends to take a lot of liberties with the source material in order to fit the LEGO style a bit better, but K-2’s design, being already robotic in nature, has actually made the transition a lot less changed.  There’s obviously some tweaking to streamline him ever so slightly, and there’s the whole “made out of LEGOs” bit, but he’s surprisingly accurate to the source material.  Particularly noteworthy is the head, which is pretty much just a straight recreation of his on-screen design, rivaling even Hasbro’s Black Series figure in terms of accuracy and quality. There’s a part of me that sort of wants to start compiling a Mego-style Rogue One crew just to go with this head sculpt.  The body is a slight step down, but for being built pretty much entirely out of pre-existing LEGO pieces, it’s still quite accurate, and certainly impressive.  LEGOs are generally light on the paint, and while this is mostly true for K-2, he does get some nice work on the shoulders, and some downright impressive work on the head (once again rivaling the Hasbro version; they really brought their A-game on the head).  While K-2 has no accessories, he does get an action feature.  It’s nothing major, but when you press on K-2’s back, his shoulders swing forward.  If you position his arms right, you can get him to do sort of a smashing pose this way.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As I noted in the intro, this figure was an anniversary present from my Super Awesome Girlfriend.  She was well aware of how much I liked K-2 and made a point of making a trip out to pick this guy up for me after we saw the movie.  I actually almost picked the set up myself while we were out and about on our anniversary, but she quietly steered me away (in hindsight, I should have noticed that she was encouraging me *not* to buy a figure.  Really a dead give away).  I really like this guy a lot.  I’m not super into doing licensed characters in this style, but K-2 is a good fit for the style, and a lot of work obviously went into making the final product as cool as possible.