Tag Archives: Star Wars

#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.

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#0951: Luke Skywalker – Stormtrooper Disguise

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LUKE SKYWALKER – STORMTROOPER DISGUISE

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

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“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!

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#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

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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.

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#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.

#0912: Captain Phasma

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

CAPTAIN PHASMA

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

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Hoo boy did people get upset about Captain Phasma. First there was the frenzy when she was revealed to be female. Then there was the frustration of finding either of her (slightly under-packed) figures. Then, when the movie finally got released, people were upset that she had a small part, because, without much prompting, lots of folks decided she was supposed to be the next big thing. She had been touted as the next Boba Fett, and suddenly people backtracked. That amuses me, since Phasma did more in The Force Awakens than Fett did in all three of his onscreen appearances. But I digress…

Phasma has been pretty hard to find in just about every scale. I managed to get a smaller Phasma from the First Order Legion set, but I hadn’t managed to find her larger The Black Series figure. Well, not until now…

THE FIGURE ITSELF

CapPhas2Captain Phasma is figure #06 in the Force Awakens re-branded Star Wars: The Black Series, making her numerically the first figure in the second series. The figure stands a whopping 7 ¼ inches tall and she has 24 points of articulation. Her range of motion is fairly similar to the basic First Order Stormtrooper, though she’s made a bit more limited by the slightly taller thigh armor and the addition of the cape. Granted, she wasn’t super mobile in the movie (apart from that time she got tackled by Chewbacca), so it’s not like there are a lot of scene-specific poses that she can’t pull off. The actual quality of the sculpt is pretty great; she’s pretty similar to the Stormtrooper, but with additional detailing, as well as an all-around sharper look, which makes her a pretty awesome piece. The cape, though restrictive, is very well textured, and shaped very nicely to her shoulders. The paintwork on Phasma is incredibly clean, possibly the cleanest I’ve seen on a recent The Black Series figure. The colors are all clean and distinct, and she really pops when placed with the rest of the line. The elephant in the room here is the finish of the armor: Hasbro opted for flat silver, as opposed to going the vac-metalized route. It’s understandable, as basic paint holds up a little better to play, but she does lose some of the coolness of her on-screen counterpart. Phasma includes her custom blaster rifle, which, like all the Stormtrooper weapons, can be stowed on her right leg.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Rest assured, dear readers, I didn’t shell out the big bucks for Phasma. It would appear that Hasbro has started shipping out more cases containing Phasma figures, because I didn’t have to try particularly hard to find this one. My dad actually came across her at Target, just in with the other Black Series figures. I even saw another Phasma a few days later. I’m glad to finally have one of these. Sure, her part was relatively small, but she still has a really awesome design, and it translates really well to action figure form. That being said, I’m really glad I waited for the price to fall; at retail, she’s an entertaining figure, but for much more than that, I can see her being a disappointment.

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#0905: Luke Skywalker

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

LUKE SKYWALKER – X-WING PILOT

POWER OF THE JEDI

LukePOTJ1

The Phantom Menace was a big deal in a whole lot of ways, mostly due to being the first Star Wars film in almost two decades. One of the things it did was bring the main Star Wars toyline of the time to pretty much a screeching halt, in favor of product centered around the new film. To be fair, it wasn’t unlike what The Force Awakens did last year, with one major caveat: Phantom Menace, while commercially successful, was far from critically successful, and people were far less interested in product based solely on the new film after seeing it. Shortly after the movie, Hasbro did a quick retool of the line, re-branding it Power of the Jedi, and offering figures from throughout the Star Wars saga. Going back to the older films let Hasbro bring out new versions of the Original Trilogy’s main heroes, which included Luke Skywalker.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

LukePOTJ2Luke was released in 2001 as part of the second basic assortment of Power of the Jedi figures. The figure is 3 ¾ inches tall and has 6 points of articulation. He depicts Luke in his X-Wing Fighter gear, presumably from A New Hope. This was the third figure to depict Luke in his pilot gear, but it’s notable for being the first ever to give him a removable helmet (though he’s not the first X-Wing pilot to get a removable helmet. That was Wedge Antilles, just two years prior). The sculpt on this figure is decent enough.  It does a much better job of capturing Hamill’s size and proportions than earlier Lukes did, though he takes the smallness a bit too far; Luke looks just a tad under fed. The likeness on the head is just so-so, but certainly a good attempt. The body has a slight rigidity to it that looks a little unnatural, but the level of detail is pretty fantastic, especially at this scale. The hose on his chest piece was a separate piece, which had a tendency to fall out (hence my figure not having his anymore). Luke’s paintwork is decent enough (though my figure’s a little worse for wear in that respect). It’s fairly basic, but all the important details are there, and they manage to be pretty decently applied (though the white of his teeth makes him look almost buck-toothed). Luke’s lone accessory was his removable helmet, sadly lost some time ago by child-Ethan.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I believe I got this figure from Cosmic Comix, which is weird, because he was new at the time and they never really carried new Star Wars figures. I bought him because he had the removable helmet, which rather fascinated me at the time. He was pretty good at the time, but this figure hasn’t aged particularly well. There’s nothing that stands out as being super off, but he just feels somehow lacking.

#0877: Princess Leia & Han Solo

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

PRINCESS LEIA & HAN SOLO – BESPIN

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

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You know, they say the best things come in threes (who says that? I don’t say that! I don’t think that’s a thing…) I’ve already done two days of Princess Leia reviews, why not go for a third? Well, you’re getting a third whether you want it or not. This is my site! ….Which I’m incredibly glad you’re all reading right now! So…if you don’t like this, I promise I won’t review a Princess Leia tomorrow. Anyway, here’s today’s review. It’s not just Leia, though, there’s also a Han! Yay?

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Like yesterday’s set, these two are from 1997’s The Princess Leia Collection sub-set if the Power of the Force II line. This pair represented The Empire Strikes Back.

PRINCESS LEIA

HanLeia2After spending almost the entirety of the first film in the same basic outfit, Leia was given a few more looks for the sequel. While her Hoth look from early in the film is by far the more definitive look, this figure was based on her slightly more regal look from a few of her scenes on Bespin. She’s 3 ¾ inches tall and has the usual 6 points of articulation. Unlike the last pair of figures, this Leia didn’t have an equivalent single-release figure. She got a totally new sculpt. Like the other figures in this line, it’s not really fantastic, but it’s passable enough. The general proportions are fairly decent, and she looks sort of like Carrie Fisher. She’s a bit oddly posed, though; the legs are in a slight stride (making it really hard to keep her standing) and her right arm is bent in such a way as to make it longer than the left. Like the prior Leia, this figure uses some cloth parts for her costume, specifically the skirt and cape (though, this time, the cape uses a plastic piece for the collar). The pieces once again scale pretty well for cloth, which is always nice to see. The paint is all pretty passable and clean, though some of the work on the face is a little bit heavy. Leia includes no accessories of her own (unless you count Han!).

HAN SOLO

HanLeia3While Leia got a few different looks in ESB, Han pretty much just stuck with the one main look for the majority of the film. Since it’s the look that he wears around Bespin, it makes sense to pack this one with Leia. The figure is a little taller than Leia, and has the same 6 points of articulation. Like yesterday’s Luke and Leia, Bespin Han had a single-release counterpart in the main line (which I even reviewed on this site!). This figure uses the same head as that one (as did most of the PotFII figures); it’s not a great head sculpt, mostly because it bears next to no resemblance to Harrison Ford, but at least it was consistent. The rest of the sculpt is okay, but not fantastic. Like Luke, the body feels rather undersized, especially the hands. This only exaggerates the problems with this head. I think part of this may be to counteract the use of a cloth coat, which does bulk up the figure a little. The coat isn’t as well tailored as Luke’s, but it’s alright, I guess. Once again, the sculpted version looks a fair bit better. The paint is fairly well handled, though, like Leia, the face is a bit heavy handed. It’s not technically a paint issue, but it should be noted that the color of the coat is incorrect. It should be blue. It’s worth noting that the single-release figure also had the wrong colored coat, so it may have been a licensing thing. Han was packed with his usual blaster, which, like all of the PotFII blasters is a fair bit over-sized.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As with yesterday’s set, I picked this pair up from a collectibles store across from the theatre where I saw The Force Awakens. This was actually the one of the two sets I was more looking forward to, but after opening them, I think it may be the lesser set. Once again, the Leia figure is the superior of the two figures, and she’s helped by the fact that she’s the only PotFII version of this particular look. Han, on the other hand, is rather a letdown. Still, this is a cool enough set that I don’t regret getting them.

#0876: Princess Leia & Luke Skywalker

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

PRINCESS LEIA & LUKE SKYWALKER – CEREMONIAL

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

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You know what? I kinda liked yesterday’s review of Princess Leia. So much that I feel like reviewing another Princess Leia today. But it’s not just Leia this time! Nope, now she’s also bringing her twin brother, Luke, along for the ride. Isn’t that sweet?

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

This pair are from the Star Wars: Power of the Force II line, specifically from 1997’s The Princess Leia Collection sub-set of the line. There were four different two-packs, each containing a variant of Princess Leia, alongside one of her compatriots from the films. Each film in the original trilogy was represented, with an extra set for the original film.

PRINCESS LEIA

LeiaLuke2Leia spends most of A New Hope in the same basic number, but she did have a second, more short-lived look right at the very end of the film, commonly referred to as her “Ceremonial” look, due to it being worn during the award ceremony that makes up the movie’s closing scene. That’s the look this figure replicates. She stands 3 ¾ inches tall and has the same 6 points of articulation seen on most of this line’s figures. Though a single-carded version of this design was released right around the same time as this figure, the sculpt seen here is unique. It’s not the most amazing work ever, but it’s not bad for the time, and certainly tops Leia’s first PotFII figure. The general build of the figure isn’t too terrible, though her head seems just a bit on the large side, and she has quite a neck. The “cape” and skirt are both handled via cloth pieces. At this scale, cloth can always be a questionable venture, but it works pretty nicely here. These pieces are technically removable, but aren’t really meant to be taken off; she looks rather incomplete without them. Leia’s paint is generally pretty well handled; it’s really only on her torso and head, but the detailing is pretty clean. Leia doesn’t have any accessories specifically for her, but there is an included medal, which can easily be given to either included figure.

LUKE SKYWALKER

LeiaLuke3The Luke included here is specifically designed as a companion piece to Leia, so he’s also in his “Ceremonial” garb from the end of the movie. I always felt it was a shame that this look was only in the one scene, as it’s actually pretty sharp. The figure is the slightest bit taller than Leia, but only just barely, and he has the same 6 points of movement. As with Leia, a single carded version of this look was released right around the same time as this set. The two use the same head sculpt (It was Kenner’s second stab at a standard Luke head), but everything else is new to this figure. While it’s not a bad sculpt, he does feel…undersized. Luke also makes use of softgoods, this time for the coat. It’s a little over sized, and definitely doesn’t look quite as good as the single release’s sculpted piece, but it’s not terrible. The coat can be removed, and, in contrast to Leia, he looks like he was actually designed with removing the coat in mind. Luke’s paint is a little more intensive than Leia’s; the application is pretty clean overall, and he looks pretty spot-on to the movie look. Luke seems like the more natural choice to give the medal to, but it doesn’t really sit quite right on his shoulders due to the coat.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The theatre where I saw The Force Awakens on opening night was in a mall, and right across from it was an incredibly well-placed collectibles store. I didn’t have a chance to go in (I had a movie to see, after all), but I ended up going back the next day. I was caught up a bit in the excitement of the movie, and definitely looking for something Star Wars-related to buy. I remember seeing these sets when I was younger and never actually getting them, so I figured “why not?” Luke’s inferior to the other version of this look from the same time, but Leia’s supposed to be the real star anyway, and she makes it worth it.

#0875: Princess Leia Organa

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

PRINCESS LEIA ORGANA

STAR WARS (KENNER)

LeiaVint1

Amazingly enough, in all 874 of the preceding reviews, I’ve only looked at one single figure from Kenner’s run on the vintage Star Wars line. And that was review #0052! 822 days ago! Wow, that’s weird. Well, I guess I’m breaking the trend a bit, looking at another vintage figure today. This one’s even more vintage than the last, being one of the very first Star Wars figures Kenner ever offered! Also, it’s a Princess Leia, and #0052 was ALSO a Princess Leia, meaning she’s still 100% of the vintage figures reviewed on this site. That’s pretty cool for her!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

LeiaVint2Princess Leia was one of the first four figures in Kenner’s Star Wars line, offered as part of the historic “Early Bird” set, alongside Luke, R2-D2, and Chewbacca. She was also, by extension, one of the original 12 figures from the main line, released in the first 1978 assortment. The figure measures a little over 3 ½ inches tall and has 5 points of articulation. As a figure from 1978, Leia is not blessed with the high level of sculpted detail that we’ve come to expect, but that’s not to say she’s at all a bad sculpt. The head is fairly decent, and the hair has some pretty cool texture work. The face is fairly generic, but not unreasonable. The top half of the body is a passable translation of Leia’s look (though she’s missing her hood), but the lower half is…different. In the film, Leia wears a dress, but the figure has sort of reworked that into this sort of leisure suit looking thing, in order to give her leg articulation. It’s a little weird looking. Also, like every other caped or robed character in the vintage line, she gets a rounded piece of vinyl with holes for her arms, which I guess is meant to look like her dress? Spot-on recreation, it is not. The paint on Leia is pretty simple; she’s mostly just molded in white, with only her hands, belt, hair, and eyes getting actual paint. It’s actually pretty well applied, though my figure has taken a bit of a beating, as you can see. Leia was originally packed with a small blaster pistol, but as a second hand acquisition, mine does not have that piece.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When I was growing up, my earliest Star Wars toys were actually my dad’s old collection from when he was a kid. He had a Leia, but he didn’t like the silly cinnamon buns hair, so he had sculpted her a new ‘do. As a kid, I never realized this wasn’t how she originally looked, so I was surprised to later see pictures of an un-modded Leia. While on vacation over the holidays, I came across a few vintage figures at a nearby antique store, which included the Leia seen in this review. Super Awesome Girlfriend was with me and insisted on getting it for me, so here she is. She’s fairly standard for the line; she shows her age, but certainly not in a bad way (not unlike the real Carrie Fisher).

#0869: Luke Skywalker – Snowspeeder

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

LUKE SKYWALKER – SNOWSPEEDER

STAR WARS: TRANSFORMERS

SnowspeederTF2

Sometimes, two things can be combined to make one single, super awesome. Take for instance chocolate and peanut butter. Great on their own, but put those two together and you’ve got yourself a winner. Over the years, a similar theory has been applied to all sorts of action figures and toys. Nine times out of ten, it’s Transformers + something else. In the mid-00s, Hasbro realized that the held the rights to both Transformers and Star Wars, and that no one had ever put those two properties together, so they did just that. Some of the more recognizable characters from the franchise were made into the alt-modes of their corresponding vehicles, and Hasbro even came up with an in-universe backstory for why the vehicles turned into robotic versions of their pilots. As a central character in the movies, Luke Skywalker got a couple of different figures, and I’ll be looking at one of those today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

SnowspeederTF3Luke was released as part of the sixth series of Hasbro’s Star Wars: Transformers line (the same figure saw a re-release in a later series as well, but there were a few cosmetic changes and less accesories). He’s the second Luke in the line. In his humanoid form the figure stands just shy of 7 inches tall and has 19 points of actual articulation (with a bunch more joints to facilitate the whole transformation thing). Luke is based on his basic pilot’s gear look, which makes for a slightly easier conversion to the Transformer aesthetic. He’s been made quite a bit more robotic and angular, and his look has been slightly tweaked to allow for the more mechanical parts of the ship he transforms into. The quality of the sculpt is okay, if a bit rudimentary. The head is definitely the best work. Though the transforming feature was a main selling point here, the robot mode definitely feels mostly extraneous, as he’s got a fair bit of excess stuff from his alt look. The first Luke’s alt-mode was his definitive X-Wing fighter. This one mixes things up, offering up a snowspeeder. The snowspeeder definitely got the focus here, resulting in a fairly faithful recreation of the ship from the movie. The transforming feature is a little difficult, but not terribly so. Paint is minimal on this set, but what’s there works and looks pretty decent. Once again, the speeder gets most of the focus, and ends up looking pretty cool. Luke was packed with a little 1 inch tall Luke figure, which is pretty neat. He also has a pair of blasters (which serve as the cannons in vehicle mode), as well as a lightsabre, though mine did not have that piece.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Star Wars: Transformers were something I never really got into when they were new. However, Gidget’s Gadgets, a small toy store near where my family vacations over the holidays, had a rather large selection of these guys when I was there in December. I was in a particularly Star Wars-y mood at the time, so I decided I might want to have one. Since they didn’t have an X-Wing, I went with the next best thing. It’s definitely a goofy figure, but I’m glad I got it. It’s a lot of fun!

SnowspeederTF1