Tag Archives: Star Wars

#1065: Luke Skywalker

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

LUKE SKYWALKER

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

lukefarmboy2

Luke Skywalker is kind of the bread and butter of Star Wars: The Black Series.  He’s by far the most recurrent individual character in the line, and is thus far the only character with at least one look from each of the Original Trilogy films covered.  He’s already had two figures from A New Hope, in both his X-Wing pilot gear and his Stormtrooper disguise.  However, his main look from the film was still left unreleased.  Fortunately, Hasbro’s made sure that one of Luke’s most definitive looks didn’t get left out, and Tattooine Luke started hitting shelves over the summer.  I’ll be taking a look at him today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

lukefarmboy1Luke was released in the sixth series of the third iteration of Star Wars: The Black Series (i.e. the one launched with the Force Awakens product).  He’s #21 in the line (not that the numbers actually mean anything, of course, since Hasbro keeps restarting the counter), and he’s the first Original Trilogy figure to be released since the switch to Force Awakens product.  The figure stands just shy of 6 inches tall and has 29 points of articulation.  As you can probably tell from the pictures, Luke is constructed from a mix of sculpted elements and soft goods.  Pretty much, the underlying body forgoes the shirt, the shirt is cloth, and it’s held in place by a rubber belt.  The basic sculpt is decent enough, though not without its flaws.  The legs and boots are both very nicely detailed and textured, and there is a fully sculpted body under the cloth shirt.  However, the upper body feels somewhat under scaled compared to the legs.  The shoulders feel too narrow and the arms just a bit too short to be accurate.  Rather than re-use the X-Wing Luke head (as was done with the Stormtrooper Luke), this figure gets an all new sculpt.  It’s okay, but is noticeably smaller than the last sculpt, and does not possess as strong a likeness.  The cloth shirt is okay for what it is, but the problem really lies with “what it is.”  The choice to make the shirt a separate piece is somewhat odd.  While it’s not the first time Hasbro has done such a thing with this design, it’s never really worked before, and doesn’t really work here.  Where a sculpted piece could have captured the texture and specific shaping of Luke’s shirt in the movie, the cloth piece is too clean, too simple, and really just hangs there in a rather unconvincing fashion.  The worst thing is that, like Darth Vader before him, the cloth pieces just aren’t tailored correctly to the body, which results in his tunic continuing way too far down his legs, making it look more like a robe than it should.  It’s definitely disappointing.  Luke continues the trend of lessened paint apps on The Black Series figures, sporting only the most basic detailing.  It’s clean, well applied, and well matched to the source material, but it lacks some of the life of earlier figures.  Luke is packed with his lightsaber and a pair of binoculars, both of which can be hung on his belt.  It might have been nice to get a Stormtrooper belt and blaster, since the belt is already removable and it would allow him to match with the Series 2 Han Solo, but I guess Luke being an all-new sculpt made such extras cost prohibitive.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I found Luke here at the Walmart near where my family vacations.  Wasn’t really looking for him or anything, just killing time on my way there, but there he was.  I was actually pretty excited to find him, since I haven’t gotten a new Black Series figure in what seems like forever.  That being said, I can’t help but feel a little let down by this guy.  He’s not awful or anything, but he’s not the slam dunk he should have been.  Rather than being THE Luke to own, he’s just another figure in the pack.  X-Wing Luke will continue on as my go-to figure for display purposes.

#1054: FA-4

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

FA-4

STAR WARS: LEGACY

fa42

So, I gave Star Trek its due, why not the other “Star” franchise?  Regular readers of the site will no doubt be aware of my less than stellar opinion of the three Star Wars prequels.  That said, regular readers will also be very likely to know that I don’t hate everything that came out of those movies.  Generally, it’s the stuff at the forefront of the screen that I don’t so much care for.  That stuff in the background?  Usually pretty cool.  Case in point: FA-4, the subject of today’s review.  Most people have no clue who this guy is.  Heck, I had no clue who this was, at least prior to purchasing this figure.  As it turns out, he’s the pilot of Count Dooku’s ship at the end of Attack of the Clones.  Far from a pivotal role, but literally everyone in Star Wars gets an action figure at some point.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

fa43FA-4 was part of the final “Droid Factory” series of the Star Wars: Legacy line.  Due to the move to The Black Series in 2013, the series was put on indefinite hold, until Amazon decided to pick it up as an exclusive item.  FA-4 was originally intended to be one of the Build-A-Droids, but was made into a single release figure instead when a few assortments were combined to form this last series.  The figure stands about 3 inches tall and he has 8 points of articulation, which is pretty good for the design.  The sculpt on this figure looks to be unique.  It’s quite nice, though it appears some liberties have been taken to make the design just a touch sturdier.  While I personally find it enhances the design, sticklers for screen accuracy might be a little letdown.  While FA-4 was a pretty basic design, the sculpt still manages to work in some cool small details, especially around there areas of the joints.  FA-4’s paintwork is quite nicely handled.  He’s molded in a basic gunmetal grey, with bronze accents, which look really sharp.  Despite his duller palette, I think he still manages to stand out.  FA-4’s only accessory is TC-70’s torso piece.  I’m not really planning on finishing him, so it doesn’t do a whole lot for me, but I can’t really think of much else FA-4 could have included.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

FA-4 was purchased for me by my Super Awesome Girlfriend, back in July.  He has the distinction of being the last figure that I purchased from All Time Toys prior to the Ellicott City Main Street flood, which has closed down them and several other businesses for at least the next few months.  With that in mind, this figure has quite a bit of weight to bear.  Fortunately, I think he delivers.  He’s a really fun, unique figure, who’s been made all the more special for me.

#0997: Captain Phasma

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

CAPTAIN PHASMA

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

PhasmaSmall1

With the dust very definitely settled from The Force Awakens, it does seem that people went a little crazy over Captain Phasma. She was a perfectly entertaining character, and she definitely had a cool design, but there wasn’t much more than that. Which definitely upset some people. I had no real expectations, so I wasn’t let down. I would like to see more of her in the next one, though (especially after catching up on Game of Thrones and finding out just how awesome Gwendoline Christie can be), so here’s hoping. Phasma’s gotten at least one figure in each of The Force Awakens’ many lines, with the latest being from the smaller Black Series line-up.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

PhasmaSmall2Phasma is the last of the three figures that make up the fourth series of Walmart’s exclusive 3 ¾-inch Star Wars: The Black Series. The figure stands a pretty sizeable 4 ¼ inches tall and has 26 points of articulation. Her design is quite similar to the First Order Stormtrooper, but the actual figure is a fair bit sturdier than the smaller Trooper, which is much appreciated. There’s plenty of great fine detail work (the helmet once again stands out), and the proportions are pretty nicely balanced. My only complaint is less about ther sculpt and more the way the figure was packaged: her shins are quite bowed, which makes keeping her standing quite difficult. The cape (which is a sculpted add-on) is thinner and less obstructive than the larger figure’s cape, which is good. It’s a little odd, since the aesthetics of this series so far have dictated cloth capes and such, but I can’t say I mind the sculpted piece. Like her two previous figures from Hasbro, this Phasma goes for flat silver paint, in place of the more chrome stylings of the movie. I’m still a little bummed by that, but it’s a little more acceptable on a more articulated figure such as this one. In spite of the flatter finish, the paintwork here is pretty solid. There’s a bit of bleed over on some of the black/silver changeovers, but that’s all pretty minor. Phasma is packed with her usual custom blaster, which she can hold much better than the troops she commands could hold theirs.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As with Han and Leia, Phasma was purchased for me by Super Awesome Girlfriend. As with all the Phasmas I’ve looked at so far, I really like this one. I think the 6-inch one is still my favorite of the three versions, but this one’s still really solid, and I think she’s my favorite of the Series 4 figures!

#0996: Han Solo

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HAN SOLO

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

HanStarkiller1

Continuing off of what I said about Leia and Han yesterday: given the sizeable role of Han in The Force Awakens, it was no shock that he was the first of the pair to get added to the toyline.  It was a bit surprising that he was not offered in the higher-end 3 ¾ inch line, though.  However, that’s something that Hasbro has now amended, if perhaps not quite in the way we were expecting.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

HanStarkiller2Like Leia, Han was released in the fourth series of Walmart’s exclusive 3 ¾ inch Star Wars: The Black Series.  This is the second Han in this line (though the first one was from Jedi) and the third Force Awakens Han overall.  So, how is this not quite the Han we were expecting?  Well, in case you hadn’t noticed, he’s wearing his cold weather gear, which Han has for (parts of) the attack on Starkiller Base.  It’s not a look that he has for long, and it’s certainly less of a signature look than the black jacket. With that being said, it’s far less of an issue with Han than it was with Leia, since this isn’t Han’s first figure from TFA and it’s also not a bad look.  The figure is about 4 inches tall and has 24 points of articulation.  The sculpt isn’t quite as good as his 6-inch counterpart, but it’s not bad.  The body definitely gets the best work, with tons of really great texturing on the jacket in particular.  I’m also glad that the holster can be plugged and unplugged from his leg, allowing for some additional movement that the prior Han did not.  I’m having trouble seeing much Harrison Ford in the head, but I think that may have more to do with paint than anything else.  Structurally, the head sculpt doesn’t look too far off from the 6-inch version, which was pretty good.  So, about that paint.  It could definitely be better.  The body isn’t bad, but the head is a bit of a mess.  Ignoring the brown hair (which seems to be a licensing thing), the application on the eyes is just off.  They’re not properly placed and they’re at least twice as big as they should be.  Han’s definitely got the crazy eyes going on.  The brown hair and larger eyes also have the misfortune of making him look far younger than he should, which is not what you want from an old-man Han.  Han includes his blaster pistol, which is nicely sculpted and very well painted.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Just as with Leia, I didn’t find Han at any of the Walmarts near me.  In fact, I didn’t find him at all: Super Awesome Girlfriend did!  Han’s a figure that could definitely use some improvement.  He had a high bar to clear after the truly amazing 6-inch Han, and he didn’t quite do it.  That being said, he’s certainly not a bad figure.  I’d be curious to see if a better paint job could breathe some new life into him.

HanStarkiller3

#0995: Princess Leia Organa

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

PRINCESS LEIA ORGANA

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

LeiaTFA1

When the initial few waves of The Force Awakens product hit, the old guard of characters were largely absent, despite the large role of Han Solo in the film, and the decently-sized (and certainly incredibly important) role of Leia Organa. Around February of this year, Han found his way into both the 3 ¾ and 6 inch-scale lines, but Leia was still noticeably absent. Until now, that is!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

LeiaTFA2Princess Leia was released in the fourth series of the Force Awakens-themed 3 ¾ inch Star Wars: The Black Series, a line which remains exclusive to Walmart. So, first bone of contention with this figure: the name. In the movie, it’s kind of a point that Leia’s not really royalty any more, and she’s almost exclusively referred to as “General Organa.” It’s a small thing, but it’s an important change for her character. The fact that the box just lists her as “Princess Leia Organa” is kind of annoying (and doubly so, since there’s already another figure in this line with that *exact* name, which is just confusing everybody). Of course, the name’s pretty easy to move past, since I didn’t keep her in the package. What’s a little less easy to move past is the costume choice. Leia spends most of her screen time in a military uniform, which is not unlike her look from the Endor scenes in Jedi. She then spends about 5 minutes at the very end of the movie in a blue dress. We got the blue dress look, which I can’t say is my favorite. Alas, I don’t work for Hasbro, so I guess I’ll just deal. The figure stands about 3 ½ inches tall and has 22 points of articulation. She can get some decent motion out of her arms and neck, so that’s good. For what it’s worth, there’s a full body sculpt under her dress (she’s keeping it modest with a full-body stocking), articulated legs and all. The legs are rather limited, both by the obtrusive dress piece and by the decision to only give her cut joints at her hips.  Just as in the movie, her dress has a two-piece design, with the outer “jacket” being made from soft plastic and the under dress being real cloth. They mesh together pretty well, and it’s sort of a best of both worlds thing, preserving look and some of the movement as well. Issues with the design aside, I will admit that this is a pretty solid sculpt. The head captures Carrie Fisher pretty nicely, and I like the small texture details on the sculpted parts of the dress quite a bit. Leia actually doesn’t have much paint, with most of the dress being molded in the same blue. She gets some paint on her head, obviously. It’s not terrible, but it could certainly be better, especially the eyes. Leia includes no accessories, which is a bit of a bummer.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve not had much luck with getting the Walmart-exclusive Black Series figures in my area, so I’ve yet to see any of these figures near me. However, Super Awesome Girlfriend is not cursed like me, and ended up just finding Leia by accident one day. Yay for me! I’ll be honest: this isn’t the Leia figure I was hoping for. Her other Force Awakens look is far more action figure-worthy, and would just make for an all-around better figure. With that said, this figure isn’t terrible, and I’ll definitely take this over no Leia at all. Here’s hoping the other version’s on the way.

#0976: Commander Gree

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

COMMANDER GREE

STAR WARS: CLONE WARS

GreeCW1

The Star Wars prequels are almost universally loathed. However, as bad as the movies as a whole may be, there are definitely some ideas and concepts present that were actually kind of cool, if under-explored. On the plus side, the animated Clone Wars show, was able to take a lot of those concepts and apply them to a narrative that didn’t totally suck. Possibly my favorite part of the prequels was the Clone army, who were actually given a ton of development and individualized treatment in Clone Wars. While many of the clones used in the show were new characters, the cartoon also took the chance to flesh out almost all of the named clones from Revenge of the Sith, including my personal favorite, Clone Commander Gree.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

GreeCW2Commander Gree was released in the 2009 assortment of Hasbro’s Star Wars: The Clone Wars tie-in line. The figure stands about 3 ¾ inches tall and has 24 points of articulation. He represents Gree as he appears in the earlier part of the show, prior to the time skip. He’s seen here wearing his standard Phase I trooper armor, and as such, he uses the same basic parts as all the other basic clones in the line. The body isn’t a spot-on recreation of the cartoon design: the lower torso and the limbs are noticeably a little thicker, presumably to offer more stability. That said, it’s very close to what was seen in the show. Like most of the Clone commanders in the line, Gree features a removeable helmet. The helmet itself is nicely handled, and looks more or less the same as the second iteration of the non-removeable clone helmet. Under the helmet is Gree’s head, which is sporting his rather goody twin mohawked look. It’s a decent enough recreation of his look from the show, though it does look a little older than his on-screen counterpart. It’s also slightly on the small side, but that kind of comes with the removeable helmet territory. Gree gets a unique belt piece with a holster, as well as a bandolier add-on piece. These two pieces help to add a nice flair of uniqueness to him, which is certainly cool. Gree’s paintwork is handled pretty well. Early in the show’s run, the animation models were a bit less advanced. This affected Gree more than most, since his rather complex camo design was far too much to handle. So, his Clone Wars design is just the basic clone look, but with extensive green accents. The figure replicates this pretty well, and the overall application is nice and clean. Gree included a large blaster rifle, a blaster pistol, and a large missile missile launcher. Because Hasbro.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, I don’t recall exactly where I got Gree. I’m pretty sure it was a Target. I know I got him while he was still a relatively new figure.  The Clone Wars line was definitely a fun one, and Gree is a pretty strong showing.

GreeCW3

#0965: Takodana Encounter

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

MAZ KANATA, REY, FINN, & BB-8

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS

Takodana1

It’s hard to believe it’s been six months since The Force Awakens hit theatres. What’s harder to believe is that finding the figures from the film hasn’t gotten any easier, despite Hasbro putting out several new pack-outs of figures. It seems like every store I go to has the same 6 figures they’ve had since last October. Fortunately, there are a few new products trickling in, giving us a few characters who were missing from initial assortments. One of the film’s more popular additions to the mythos was Maz Kanata, a well-traveled bar owner who seems poised to be the next Yoda (well, if Luke doesn’t beat her to it!). She’s been mostly absent from the various toy lines (she was in a Lego set, but that’s it), but Hasbro’s finally put out their own figure of her. Of course, you have to buy three other figures to get it, but that’s not the point.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Takodana6Maz, Rey, Finn, & BB-8 were released in the “Takodana Encounter” set as part of Hasbro’s 3 ¾-inch line of Star Wars: The Force Awakens figures. Maz is the only new figure included, and the other three are re-packs. Rey includes a lightsaber that her single release didn’t have, but other than that these three are the same figures I reviewed here, here, and here.

MAZ KANATA

Takodana2Maz stands about 2 ½ inches tall and she has the standard 5 points of articulation. Her sculpt is 100% new to her, and it does a pretty admirable job of translating her on-screen appearance into toy form. The head should perhaps be a touch larger than it is, but other than that, they’ve got her pretty much down. Despite her smaller stature, this figure still has quite a bit of detail work, especially on the shirt and vest. Perhaps the only minor drawback I can think of is that the goggles aren’t articulated. They’re still separate pieces, so she’s got fully detailed eyes under there, the lenses are just fixed at the sides. As it stands, the goggles are just the slightest bit misaligned, which a tiny bit annoying. Maz’s paintwork is decent, if not quite as good as the sculpt. The colors are a little TakoDana3brighter than what we see on screen, but not so much so that it stands out as a bad thing. While areas such as the face and feet are quite expertly detailed, there’s some rather noticeable slop right around her belt, where the green of the shirt goes down too far and the yellow of the belt is rather thinly applied. All in all, though, she looks pretty good. Maz includes a blaster, an unlit lightsaber, and a box of junk for the saber to be placed in. That’s a pretty great assortment of pieces, and I love that we finally got a 3 ¾-inch Force Awakens figure without a useless build-a-thingy piece.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This set was given to me by my friends Cindy and Lance Woods as a graduation gift, which was very thoughtful of them. I had been wanting to pick this set up, since Maz is one of my favorite parts of the new movie. Maz is undoubtedly the main focus of this set, and I personally feel the whole purchase was warranted just for her, but I can understand why others might feel a little taken advantage of. For new fans, this is a fantastic starter set. For fans who have been following the line the whole time, being forced to buy another Rey, Finn, and BB-8 is probably a little frustrating. That said, one can hardly fault Hasbro for offering another way to get Rey, and I can’t imagine it would be too had to find someone who wants the three repeat figures.

Takodana5

#0951: Luke Skywalker – Stormtrooper Disguise

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

LUKE SKYWALKER – STORMTROOPER DISGUISE

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

LukeTrooper1

“Aren’t you a little short for a Stormtrooper?”

I haven’t reviewed any Star Wars: The Black Series figures in a while. And even then, the last handful of them have all been The Force Awakens-related. So, how about an Original Trilogy figure? Yeah, that’ll be nice. The most recurrent character in the line is by far Luke Skywalker. I mean, it’s fair; he is the central character of the first three movies. He also gets a few notable costume changes. One such change is when he steals the armor of an Imperial Stormtrooper in order to infiltrate the Death Star. It’s a rather popular version of the character, and it’s been represented in action figure form since way back in the vintage line. Now, let’s have a look at the latest version!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

LukeTrooper2Luke was released as part of the pre-Force Awakens incarnation of Star Wars: The Black Series, as figure #12. He was released in the 8th assortment of figures, alongside Emperor Palpatine and the Clone Captain. As noted in the intro, this figure is based on Luke’s Stormtrooper disguise look from the second half A New Hope. The figure stands just under 6 inches tall and has 29 points of articulation. Seeing as he was running around in their armor, it’s not a shock to find out that this figure makes some pretty hefty use of the pieces used for the Stormtrooper/Sandtrooper. Luke ends up getting the arms and legs from that figure, along with the head of the X-Wing Luke from Series 1. Those pieces were all pretty good the first time around, and they’re still pretty great here. The head in particular is probably the best Hamill likeness in this scale. Luke also has a new torso and pelvis, which aid in making him “a little short for a Stromtrooper.” The end result looks pretty good, though the arms require some careful posing, as they are a touch on the long side. The paint on Black Series figures has been known to make or break the figures. Luke’s far from the worst I’ve seen from the line, and the head in particular is quite clean. That said, there’s still quite a bit of slop in the changes between black and white, which can be more than a bit distracting. Luke is packed with a standard blaster rifle, a communicator, and a removable Stormtrooper helmet. The helmet is the biggest deal here. It’s similar to the solid head seen on the normal Trooper, but obviously it’s been hollowed out so Luke can wear it. The details are a little softer here, but they don’t look terrible, and he fits in pretty well with the other Troopers.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Luke here was a graduation gift from my Super Awesome Girlfriend. On her way up to visit me, she stopped at a Walgreens and saw this guy there all alone. She picked him up, but between purchasing him and giving him to me, she had convinced herself that I already had him. Imagine her relief when she found out I didn’t actually own one! I never picked this guy up because he looked like a fairly simple re-use figure, but there’s actually a lot to like about this guy. Definitely glad to have him!

LukeTrooper3

#0947: Resistance X-Wing Fighter (w/ Poe Dameron)

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

RESISTANCE X-WING FIGHTER (W/ POE DAMERON)

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS

ResistanceXWing1

In the current climate of toymaking, where the costs of plastic are trending fairly consistently upward, pretty much every new mold produced needs to justify the cost of its production. In the years past, most items had large enough initial production runs to offset the tooling costs in pretty much one fell swoop. Sadly, as public interest has moved towards more technologically advanced entertainment, the market for toys has shrunk. Initial production runs are smaller, and so to make sure they tooling costs are covered, companies do their best to get multiple uses out of the same pieces, which tends to mean repaints. Today, I’ll be looking at one of these repaints: the Resistance X-Wing Fighter!

THE VEHICLE ITSELF

ResistanceXWing2The Resistance X-Wing Fighter was released as part of Hasbro’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens line, released right at the tail end of 2015. It was available exclusively at Walmart. The Resistance X-Wing uses the same mold as Poe’s X-Wing (reviewed here). Like that set, the vehicle requires a tiny bit of assembly when it’s first taken out of the box: the nose and wing cannons need to be attached and there are a few small decals meant to be applied to the interior of the cockpit. When assembled, the fighter is 15 ½ inches long and has a wingspan of 13 inches, just like Poe’s version. Poe’s X-Wing had a pretty nice sculpt, and it’s still nice here. It remains a little undersized, but, given the re-use, that’s not a shock. It’s also slightly less of an issue this time, since the included figure sits a little lower. The nose is still made from a softer rubber (which honesty didn’t bug me with Poe’s X-Wing, but it did turn a few people off). One noticeable change is the quality of the wing cannons. The actual sculpt hasn’t changed, but the manner in which they were packaged has, so they came out of the box far less warped than the prior set, which greatly improves the overall look of the vehicle. The paint is the most noticeable deviation from the prior X-Wing. In place of the dark grey and orange of Poe’s personalized vehicle, this one gets the off-white and blue palette of the basic Resistance fighter. It looks really clean, works very well on the fighter. The application is all pretty solid too, with no major slop or the like. BB-8 is still a little under painted on the body, but consistency I guess. The action features on this fighter are the same as those on Poe’s fighter. The wing feature seems a little tighter this time around, but the missile launcher appears to be identical.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

ResistanceXWing4Included with the Resistance X-Wing Fighter is another figure of ace pilot Poe Dameron. He’s based on his look from the film’s opening, which is appropriate, since that’s when Poe is seen using this style of fighter. The figure uses the body of the Armor-Up Poe, along with the head of the single release pilot Poe. While it’s not a combination that really plays up the Oscar Isaac likeness, it’s not a terrible set of pieces. The body is solidly sculpted and has a lot of really cool detail work, so I don’t mind seeing it again. The head isn’t a bad sculpt, but it is a touch generic, especially with the opaqueness of the visor.  Still, it’s a decent representation of the helmet design from the movie, and the details are all pretty well realized. From the neck down, the paint is identical to the Armor-Up figure, which is fine, since that was pretty good. The head is slightly different, since it’s replicating Poe’s more unique helmet from the beginning. The paint is nice and sharp, so that’s good. The opaque visor is a little frustratingly cartoony, but that’s more the fault of the sculpt. Though he’s sort of an accessory himself, Poe does get one accessory: his blaster rifle. It’s the same piece seen with the Armor-Up Poe, but it’s another scene specific piece. I only wish there were somewhere for him to keep it while piloting so that it wasn’t rattling around in the cockpit.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Despite loving the normal release X-Wing and loving the Resistance color scheme, I’ve passed this set up more than a few times in the last few months, due mostly to the $50 price tag. It’s not unreasonable, but it makes me need redundant pieces a bit less. Last week, I managed to find this set at a nearby Walmart on clearance. At 50% of its original value, the set felt way more worth it. If I’m honest, I think the main fighter is superior to the Poe version. The blaster issue has been fixed, and the tension on the wing feature works a bit better. The included Poe isn’t quite as fun as the other version, but his generic-ness makes him a pretty decent unnamed Resistance Pilot. Ultimately, I’m not sure this set is quite as necessary as the first, but for half its original price, it’s way worth picking up.

ResistanceXWing3

#0925: Jawa

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

JAWA

STAR WARS (KENNER)

JawaVint1

You guys know what day it is, right? It’s May 4th, otherwise known as Star Wars Day! Clearly, I have to review something Star Wars-related.

Star Wars is populated by a plethora of fascinating creatures; some are big, and some are quite small. Today’s focus is an example of the small: the Jawas. Yes, those tiny, little hooded guys, whose actual appearance will forever be shrouded in mystery. The Jawas have been with the franchise from the very beginning, even in action figure form, being one of three alien races to find their way into the original line-up of twelve figures. I’ll be looking at that very first Jawa figure today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

JawaVint2The Jawa was part of the first retail assortment of Star Wars figures from Kenner, released back in 1978. Unlike later Jawas, which were released in pairs or with smaller droids, this guy was released all by himself. The figure stands about 2 inches tall and he has 4 points of articulation. There were two distinct versions of the Jawa available: one with a cloth robe (the one seen here), and one with a plastic cape (similar to those seen on Princess Leia, Ben Kenobi, and Darth Vader). The end result is two very different looking figures that are fundamentally the same figure at the end of the day. The cloth robe is a bit thick and cumbersome, truth be told, and it really doesn’t fit the figure all that well. When placed on the figure, the actual figure might as well not be there, since you can’t see it at all for all the fabric. It’s a good idea in theory, but doesn’t work so well in practice. What’s under the robe is a whole different story; the underlying figure is fully sculpted, and actually does a pretty decent job of capturing the look of the Jawas seen in the movie. It even has the two bandoliers, which are unseen with the robe in place. Sure, the sculpt isn’t on par with the level of detail seen on more recent Jawas. It has a much more cartoony appearance, proportions that would be more appropriate on a figure twice the size, and those strange pantsuit legs that plagued all of the robed characters in the vintage line, but the general look is definitely there. There’s no denying that this is a Jawa. The Jawa’s paintwork is rather basic: he’s mostly just molded in the appropriate brown, with paint for his face and eyes, hands, and the bandoliers. What’s there is relatively clean, apart from the obvious wear that the figure has taken over time. The Jawa originally included a small blaster.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When I was a kid, my dad gave me his collection of Star Wars figures. It consisted of eleven of the original twelve figures. Care to guess which of the twelve he didn’t have? It was the Jawa (in recent years, I’ve asked him why he never got the Jawa, to which he had no real answer beyond a vague sort of a shrug). Over the holidays, I found this figure at an antique store, and Super Awesome Girlfriend insisted on buying it for me. So, 37 years later, my dad’s first assortment of Star Wars figures is complete. That’s pretty nifty.