Tag Archives: Star Wars

#1083: K-2SO

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

K-2SO

STAR WARS:ROGUE ONE

k2sosmall1
Hey guys! So, I’m currently sitting in my powerless apartment writing this review, courtesy of hurricane Matthew. I’ve actually written this review out usin g paper and pencil, so, you know, old school! If I’m very lucky, my power might be restored by the time this is published, but probably not. Oh well.
Moving past that, let’s get back to the Star Wars figures! Today, I’ll be looking at Rogue One’s most intriguing character (to me, anyway), the repurposed Imperial Security Droid turned hero, K-2SO!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

k2sosmall2Like yesterday’s Jyn Erso figure, K-2 is from the first series of smaller-scale Star Wars: Rogue One figures. As far as I know, K-2 just has the one look in the movie, and that’s the look seen here. The figure stands 4 ¾ inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation. It’s worth noting that not only does K-2 have an extra point of articulation (there’s a ball-joint at the base of his neck AND the base of his head), he also gets ball-joints for all of his joints, giving him some of the best mobility in the line. The only downside is he’s a little hard to keep standing, but he’s certainly workable. K-2’s sculpt is certainly a very strong one. He has no actor’s likeness, but the likeness of the character is certainly there. His design has been captured very well here (even if the non-functioning joints on the arms and legs are annoying). All of the sculpted details are nice and crisp, and he just looks like he’s supposed to. The paintwork on this figure is also pretty good, especially given the scale. While some of the details such as weathering have been removed or dialed back, there’s still plenty of really top notch work here, and there aren’t any details that have gone completely unpainted. K-2’s only accessory is his big, goofy grapple-thingy, which I feel fairly certain is not an authentic extra from the movie. At least it matches him stylistically, I guess.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

K-2 is one character that I knew that I wanted going into Rogue Friday. I love Alan Tudyk, I love robots, and this guy in particular has a pretty sweet looking design. This was the first of the smaller figures that I grabbed from TRU’s display, and I was very happy to get him. He’s probably the best basic figure Hasbro’s produced since they switched to the lowered articulation.

#1082: Jyn Erso – Eadu

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

JYN ERSO – EADU

STAR WARS: ROGUE ONE

jyneadu1

Okay, so yesterday was technically the start of my Rogue One coverage, but the two figures covered there were both from The Force Awakens, so there wasn’t really a lot of new ground covered (especially since I’d already looked at both characters before).  Today, we really get started with the Rogue One stuff, kicking it off with one of the figures of the film’s main character, Jyn Erso, self-declared rebel.  In what is undoubtedly an attempt to avoid another #wheresrey type of controversy, Hasbro has made sure to get all manner of Jyn products out right out of the gate, with even more in the pipeline for later release.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

jyneadu2Jyn is part of the first series of Star Wars: Rogue One 3 3/4-inch figures.  She is one of the three Jyn figures Hasbro put out on Rogue Friday.  From what we’ve seen in trailers for the film, Jyn has several distinct looks over the course of the film.  This figure is based on her Eadu look.  It says so on the package.  Presumably, Eadu is one of the planets that Jyn and her team travel to.  It’s not a look we’ve seen a lot of in the trailers, but that doesn’t mean we won’t see more of it in the movie. The garb she’s wearing here looks somewhat similar to the Endor gear from Jedi, so it’s consistent with he time period she’s supposed to be a part of.  The figure is just over 3 1/2 inches tall and she has 7 points of articulation.  I know, a whole two extra points of articulation!  It’s a Christmas miracle!  The extra movement is placed at her wrists, and very well hidden.  I almost didn’t realize it was there.  Jyn’s sculpt is about on par with the output from TFA, which is to say she’s very well proportioned and has a lot of fun little details.  The hat is a permanently attached piece, which isn’t a shock at this scale.  That might be more annoying were we not getting a whole slew of Jyn figures, but it’s acceptable in this case.  It’s hard to really say whether she looks like Felicity Jones, given just how small the head is, but she doesn’t look UNlike Jones, so I guess that’s good.  The main poncho piece is a separate piece of softer plastic, which has been glued in place (so it’s not coming off).  She’s sporting a breathing mask just like the ones used by Han, Leia, and Chewy in Empire.  It’s mostly just there as an extra bit of detail, but I guess you can get her to wear it if you want.  It’s a cool piece, but the tank part of it is glued to the poncho, right under her left arm, which means her arm is permanently stuck out just a bit.  All in all, not a bad sculpt, though.  The paintwork here is decent, and once again about on par with the TFA line.  She’s rather on the dull side, colorwise, but that’s accurate to what we’ve seen from the source material.  The eyes are a bit high-set, but other than that, the placement looks pretty good.  Jyn is packed with a blaster pistol, which she can either hold or place in her holster.  She also includes a large missile launcher, because, hey, Hasbro.  This one’s actually not terrible, and it’s certainly better than the build-a-thingies included with TFA figures.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like Poe and the Snowtrooper, Jyn came from my trip to TRU’s midnight opening.  I wasn’t exactly sure which versions of Jyn we’d be seeing, but seeing as this was the only small-scale Jyn available, this was the one I got.  I actually like this look quite a bit, and though the figure isn’t perfect, she’s still pretty cool.  And, even if the movie totally blows, she’s still a pretty cool Rebel trooper, which I can certainly get behind.

#1081: Poe Dameron & First Order Snowtrooper Officer

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

POE DAMERON & FIRST ORDER SNOWTROOPER OFFICER

STAR WARS: ROGUE ONE (HASBRO)

snowtrooperpoe1

Last Friday was Rogue Friday, Hasbro’s second attempt at the whole “Force Friday” thing they tried last year.  It marked the official launch of all of the Rogue One-related products.  However, in light of the fiasco that was last year’s Force Friday event, most stores decided to forego the midnight opening event, with only Toys R Us participating.  Super Awesome Girlfriend and I headed over to the closest TRU last Thursday night, and I picked up an assortment of Rogue One products.  Today I’ll be looking that the first of the bunch, Poe Dameron and the First Order Snowtrooper Officer.  Why are Poe and a First Order Snowtrooper in the Rogue One line?  Well, it’s because it’s been a well-kept secret of Rogue One actually involves the Snowtrooper Officer being sent back in time to kill Jyn Erso and prevent the birth of Resistance fighter Rey.  The only hope of stopping him was the Resistance’s own Poe Dameron, sent back to protect her.

Wait. Sorry, that’s actually the plot of Terminator.  My mistake.  Right.  Yeah, Poe and the Snowtrooper are just here because TFA product is still being released under the Rogue One banner, as is the case with most new Star Wars lines!  I doubt Poe’s really going to be in the movie.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Poe and the Snowtrooper Officer are one of the three 2-packs in the first Battle-Packs assortment in the Rogue One line.  Each line has one or two Force Awakens products peppered in and these two are that portion of the Battle-Packs.

POE DAMERON

snowtrooperpoe2I kinda love Poe Dameron.  He’s easily my favorite part of TFA.  So, I was pretty happy to see another Poe pop up with all the new figures.  Of the three new main characters, Poe ended up with the most distinct looks.  So far, we’ve gotten his jacketed look from the beginning of the film and his pilot look from later.  The only one missing is his dress uniform from the very end of the film, which is the look this figure replicates.  It’s admittedly a somewhat obscure look, since it’s really only seen in the one shot, but it’s cool to get it nonetheless.  The figure stands a little under 4 inches tall and he has the basic 5-points of articulation that everyone should be accustomed to with these new Star Wars figures.  Poe gets an all-new sculpt.  That means we get yet another attempt at Oscar Isaac’s likeness for the head.  It’s still not perfect, but I think this is the best version we’ve gotten from Hasbro yet.  The rest of the body does a good job of snowtrooperpoe5translating the uniform we see on screen into action figure form, at least from the few reference shots I’ve been able to find (seriously, this is a short-lived look).  One thing I do really like is that, even with it being a totally new sculpt, the pants and boots here are clearly the same ones on the jacketed figure.  That’s consistency!  The paint on this guy is alright, but not without issue.  Sadly, most of those issues are on the head (again), mostly dealing with the hairline (again).  It’s far from the worst paint I’ve seen from Hasbro, but it could definitely be better. On the plus side, at least he’s not as pale as some of the prior Poe figures!  The paint on the body is pretty solid, as well, which is good.  Poe includes a blaster pistol (the same as the one that came with his X-Wing pilot figure).  He is also the figure in this set who gets the big honking missile launcher.  Because Hasbro.

FIRST ORDER SNOWTROOPER OFFICER

snowtrooperpoe3Befitting the “VS” nature of the new two-packs, Poe’s pack-mate is a First Order Snowtrooper Officer.  He’s pretty much the same figure as the First Order Snowtrooper (reviewed here), but with an added shoulder pauldron.  That means he’s still about 4 inches tall and has those same 5 points of articulation as everyone else.  The Snowtrooper wasn’t a bad figure, but I’ve never been super into the Snowtroopers in general, so getting yet another isn’t exactly blowing my mind.  Seeing as Poe’s a pilot, wouldn’t a Tie Pilot be more appropriate?  I don’t know.  This guy has the same accessories as his predecessor, a blaster with an extended stock and a back pack.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, as noted in the intro, these guys came from Toys R Us’s midnight event for Rogue Friday.  Last year’s event was kind of a bust, so I wasn’t really sure what to expect this time around, and only even decided to participate a day or so in advance.  Super Awesome Girlfriend and I showed up at the closest TRU at about 11:30 last Thursday night, and we were only the third people in line.  I had a very pleasant conversation with the two guys in front of me (both older fans who were amused that someone my age was out for such an event).  At 12:01, the doors opened, I made my way to the action figure aisle, and picked up most of the figures I wanted, this set included.  I even got a free t-shirt!  A hugely improved experience over last year.

As far as the actual figures?  Well, the Snowtrooper’s kind of blah, but I like the new Poe figure a lot.  He might actually be my favorite of the smaller Poe’s we’ve gotten, even if he is in his briefly seen outfit from the end.  Silver lining: now my TFA Leia isn’t all lonely in her final scene outfit!

snowtrooperpoe4

#1072: Poe Dameron

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

POE DAMERON

STAR WARS: ELITE SERIES (DISNEY)

poedamdiecast1

Man, it’s hard to believe it’s been over a year since The Force Awakens product started hitting shelves.  This Friday, we’ll be seeing another midnight release, this time around for the products from Rogue One.  With Force Awakens, there was a lot of product being released in a relatively short span of time, so it was a little difficult to keep track of it all.  The main characters were available in a variety of scales, from a few different manufacturers.  Of course, I’ve looked at Hasbro’s 3 3/4-inch and 6-inch lines, but the Disney Store also got in on the action, offering a line of die cast figures (die cast is just all the rage right now).  The line more or less slipped under my radar.  I knew it existed, but wasn’t quite aware of the depth of the line until rather recently, which is why I’m only just now reviewing my first figure from the line, Poe Dameron.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

poedamdiecast3Poe is from the second round of the Disney Store-exclusive Star Wars: Elite Series.  He was released to coincide with the movie’s release back in December, and was the last of the film’s three leads to make it into the line (Poe’s absence from the first series of so many of the lines is a bit odd, especially given how popular the character proved to be.  Perhaps Disney under-estimated his appeal).  The figure stands about 7 inches tall (placing him roughly in scale with most of NECA’s output, as a reference), and he has 16 points of articulation.  He’s also reeeallly heavy, thanks to all that metal.  His torso, pelvis, arms, and legs are all metal, with plastic being used for the head, hands, feet, poedamdiecast4belt/tubes, and a few of his joints.  Poe’s certainly constructed from a lot more metal than a lot of die cast items, which is actually pretty cool.  It results in the figure being a little less posable than I might like, but the sheer heft of this guy is pretty nifty, and you can still manage some decent poses.  As far as the sculpt goes, Poe’s overall not bad, but not without a few issues.  On a whole, the details seem a little soft.  I’m not sure if it’s the sculpt or the paint, but he’s got a certain animated feel too him.  I’m also not really a fan pf the left hand, which looks a little like it was replaced by an inflated latex glove, due to the weird, puffy absence of a palm.  Possibly the most notable issue is more a construction thing than anything.  In poedamdiecast2order to be properly assembled, Poe needs to have 9 visible screws on his back, apparently.  That seems a little excessive to me, but I could be wrong.  At the very least, they aren’t visible from the front.  Moving past those issues, I think Poe’s actually got a pretty decent sculpt.  In particular, the head, I feel, is a better Oscar Isaac than we’ve seen elsewhere.  It’s still not perfect (it would appear he’s the Harrison Ford of the new trio in that respect), but it looks pretty good.  Poe’s paint is alright, though it’s kind of basic in terms of color, and a little sloppy in more than a few areas.  It’s also quite thick.  Plus, I’ve already noticed one or two chips on mine, which is slightly frightening.  I’ll be interested to see how it holds up in the long run.  Poe included his small blaster, his helmet, and a display stand.  The blaster and the stand are both pretty cool, but the helmet is a slight letdown, due to the opaque nature of the visor, and the fact that Poe actually can’t wear it. 

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got Poe from the Disney Store that was in the same mall as the Apple Store where I was buying my new computer.  I actually wasn’t aware that they had made a Poe in this line, so he was a nice surprise find.  He’s not a perfect figure but I think he might be my favorite Poe straight out of the box (my amalgamation of the two Black Series Poes is still my favorite overall, though).  Poe is still my favorite part of TFA, so it was really cool to find a new Poe to buy.

poedamdiecast5

#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

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

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

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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.

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