Tag Archives: Star Wars

#0799: First Order General Hux

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

FIRST ORDER GENERAL HUX

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS

Hux1

Man, that new Star Wars movie sure was a good movie. Like, really good. To be fair, large elements of the film’s plot and certain characters were somewhat recycled from the original trilogy, but I really didn’t care.  What I do care about are the toys! And hey, now I get to actually write a Force Awakens review with actual, real knowledge of the characters! What a novel concept!

I noted in my full review of the movie that Domhnall Gleeson, who portrays General Hux, was the only new addition to the cast with whom I was already familiar. I was actually kind of pumped that he was in the film, and I really enjoyed his performance and the character of Hux in general. He makes for a good bad guy. But, does he make for a good action figure? Let’s find out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Hux2General Hux is part of Hasbro’s smaller scale Star Wars: The Force Awakens line of figures. He comes from the “Space” subset of the line, which makes sense (well, more sense than some of the other subsets). The figure stands 3 ¾ inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation. Standard stuff for the line. Hux’s sculpt appears to be unique to him. He’s presented in his fully dressed up uniform, with his hat and overcoat. He’s only seen a few times with the full get-up, but it’s striking, so I can understand why Hasbro went for it. I suppose that in theory we might see this sculpt reused for some of the other First Order officers, at least if the line runs that far. The overall look of Hux’s sculpt is decent enough, but I have one major issue with it. For other jacketed characters, such as Finn and Poe, there is a basic body with the underlying shirt and then an overlay piece for the coat. For Hux, however, the coat is just sculpted strait onto the body. It’s not really an issue on the torso, but it looks rather ridiculous when it has to break for the leg articulation. An add-on piece would have been much preferred here, and I really don’t know why Hasbro opted not to go for it, apart from a desire to cut costs. In addition, the bulk of this figure’s sculpt is a lot more simplistic than the other figures in the line. The coat and uniform are mostly devoid of any sort of texturing or any real small detail work, which only makes the cuts for the joints even more jarring. At the very least, the figure’s face looks like Gleeson, which is perhaps the one truly nice piece of the sculpt. Adding to the rather simple sculpt, Hux’s paint isn’t the most exciting thing. I guess it’s nice that the shirt and coat are different shades. And, the basic application isn’t bad. He’s just a bit drab. For accessories, Hux includes a small pistol, as well as a piece to yet another build-a-thing. I actually kind of like this build-a-thing piece, though, because it can work like a jetpack, which makes Hux a small bit more interesting.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked up Hux from my local Target. I was actually out with my brother picking up the new Battlefront game, and happened to find this guy. I had been somewhat excited to get him, and I was happy to find him, but the figure’s definitely not one of the stronger entries in this line. I mean, he’s not terrible, but he’s not super fun either. The character is also getting a Black Series figure, so perhaps that one will be better.

Hux3

#0797: Endor Rebel Soldier

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

ENDOR REBEL SOLDIER

POWER OF THE FORCE II

EndorRebel1

Star Wars has always had army builders and generic troops as an important part of the story (and toylines). The Imperial forces tend to get the most focus and have the most effort devoted to them, but we can’t let the bad guys have all the fun, right? Enter the Rebel Soldiers. The Rebels have a tendency to change up their designs to suit their environment, even more so than the Imperials, so they’ve got a few divergent looks. One of my personal favorites has always been their uniformed look from Endor, which has been privy to a few different figures over the years. Today I’ll be looking at the second of those figures.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

EndorRebel2The Endor Rebel Soldier was released in the 1997 series of Kenner’s Power of the Force II line. The figure is a little bit over 3 ¾ inches tall and he has the standard 6 points of articulation of the time. He doesn’t appear to be based on one Rebel Soldier in particular, but is instead an amalgamation of several of the Rebels from the Endor scenes. The sculpt is generally very well done, and I’d consider it above the usual quality of a PotF2 figure. The general proportions aren’t too exaggerated, and there’s only the slightest bit of pre-posing to him. The best work is definitely on the head, particularly the helmet, which is a great recreation of the film design. From the neck down the details are a bit looser. The Rebel uniform had a few different looks, and this figure tries to make itself work well enough for a bunch of them. It does this by going a bit fuzzy on some of the more defining elements of the uniform. The texturing on the uniform is pretty nicely handled, and rather abundant, which is a little surprising on a figure from this time period. The only real iffy part of the sculpt is his feet, which look more like ugg boots than the WW2 inspired look from the film. The paint on this guy is probably his weakest point. It’s not bad, mind you, just not terribly accurate to the film. Instead of the more complex selection of various colors, the majority of this figure has been painted in a generic camo pattern. It doesn’t look half bad, and I think it probably ends up making him a bit more interesting as a toy than a more faithful color scheme might have done. The Rebel Soldier includes a backpack and a rifle. Both are a little oversized, though not as comically so as other PotF2 figures.  He also included a “Freeze Frame,” which was the gimmick of PotF2 at the time.  It’s just a projector slide of Han, Leia, and several of the Endor Rebel Soldiers in front of the Imperial base.  It doesn’t add much value to the actual figure, but I guess it’s sort of nifty.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I originally got this figure from the KB Toys outlet near where my family vacationed every summer. I recall just liking the basic look of the guy, and just being fond of the Endor Rebels in general. He was one of my favorite PotF2 figures, and I even gave him a name (Pterlick, after one of my middle school teachers). Somewhere along the line, I lost track of him. Ever since, every time I came across a selection of well-priced PotF2 figures, I’d always look for him. After a few years, I finally got lucky just last month, when I found him at the House of Fun. I’m glad to have him again, and even more glad that he held up as well as I remembered.

EndorRebel3

Star Wars – The Force Awakens: A (Pseudo) Movie Review

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Movie Reviews and tagged with ,

TFAPoster

Hey look! Another movie review!

I’m sure that everyone and their mother will be weighing in on the latest Star Wars film in the next week or so. I mean, there are already several hundred reviews out there by now. There’s a lot of buzz about this new movie, especially after the poor showing of the last three Star Wars films. Could the franchise reclaim the magic? The short answer? Yes.

I saw the film last Thursday night, and I really, really liked it. Now, as I said, there’s no shortage of reviews covering tons of different angles of the film, and all its various merits.  So, to set myself apart from all the other reviews, I’m gonna handle things a little differently. I’m going to examine the film through the lens of how it impacts all those action figures I bought. This is, after all, and action figure review site, is it not?

IN BRIEF

All in all, I really loved this movie. Sure, it didn’t top the original trilogy, but it was very definitely a worthy successor. It was a fantastic experience, from start to finish, and the whole “event” around it has really done a bang up job of reigniting my excitement for the franchise.

The general plot is very similar in structure to that of A New Hope (with a little Empire thrown in for good measure).  A lot of the story beats are going to feel very familiar, but not in a bad way.  The similarities are important to the story, and are key to recapturing the feel of the older movies.

Now, let’s look at some specifics:

 

 

 

—-THERE BE SPOILERS BELOW!—-

Continue reading →

#0787: Poe Dameron & Riot Control First Order Stormtrooper

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

POE DAMERON & RIOT CONTROL FIRST ORDER STORMTROOPER

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

Poe&Trooper1

By the time you guys read this review, I’ll have already seen the new Star Wars movie. Lucky me! Unless it’s terrible, in which case, un-lucky me! Of course this review was written beforehand, since I had to, you know, go see the movie, so I can’t offer any actual thoughts on the movie. I also still don’t have any real information on any of the new characters, so, hey, enjoy one more review of me talking about stuff I don’t know! That’s the best, right? Let’s have a look at resistance pilot Poe Dameron and a Stormtrooper variant!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

This pair was released as part of a two-pack of figures from the new Force Awakens-branded Star Wars: The Black Series line. The set is a Target exclusive (in the US, anyway).

POE DAMERON

Poe&Trooper2“An ace pilot, Poe Dameron is a leader in the Resistance’s fight against the evil First Order. He soars into battle behind the controls of a modern X-Wing fighter.” So, yeah, that’s kind of the same bio we’ve gotten on every Poe figure so far. Hey, at least they’re consistent! This figure is based on Poe in his
“casual” look (the same look used for his “Armor Up” figure in the smaller scale). Poe is 6 inches tall and has 25 points of articulation. When this figure was first announced, the assumption was that he’d be making use of a lot of re-used parts, especially given that he and Finn have the same jacket. However, it appears that the only piece to actually be re-used is Poe’s head, which is the same piece as his single release figure (though you can be forgiven for not realizing, for reasons I’ll touch on in a bit). The likeness is decent enough, though not quite as good as some of the other figures. The rest of the sculpt is all-new, and quite well handled too. As with the smaller scale figures, Poe and Finn’s jackets have enough minor differences to give each of the figures a bit of uniqueness. Poe’s jacket is much sharper detailed in general, which makes it look a bit better. Poe’s paintwork is generally pretty good, though it is not without its drawbacks. The base color work is all pretty good, and there’s Poe&Trooper3not too much slop or bleed over. The clothing, especially the coat, have some nice accent work to help bring out some of the sculpt’s details. The head’s paint is easily the sloppiest, with the same wonky hairline that’s plagued all of the Poe figures so far, as well as a slightly messy attempt at giving him 5 o’clock shadow, which just looks a bit goofy. However, it’s leaps and bounds above the regular release Poe, who’s paint was, to quote Shaun of the Dead’s TV edit, “funk ugly.” Poe is packed with a rifle (which is the same model as his smaller scale figure), and a helmet.

RIOT CONTROL FIRST ORDER STORMTROOPER

Poe&Trooper4“Armed with specialized batons, the First Order’s Riot Control Stormtroopers are trained to subdue crowds in the most ruthlessly efficient manner possible.” Yeah, so here’s another Stormtrooper. But he’s got a new hat—I mean baton and shield! He’s the same figure as the regular First Order Stormtrooper from the first series of Force Awakens The Black Series figures.  It’s still a good sculpt, and you really can’t have too many Stormtroopers, so no complaints there. The main difference is the accessories. He gets the same pair of blasters as the regular release, plus a shield and baton, which make him an official “Riot Control” Stormtrooper. They’re both quite nicely sculpted, though he has a bit of trouble actually holding the baton.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I ended up finding this set at one of my two local Targets, without too much trouble. The main appeal of this set (for me anyway) was definitely Poe, since I hadn’t yet gotten him in this scale. I don’t have his other figure to compare, but this one looks to be the better of the two. The Riot Trooper doesn’t offer much new, but the new accessories are pretty cool, and I won’t say no to another Black Series Stormtrooper!

Poe&Trooper5

#0786: Princess Leia – Boushh

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

PRINCESS LEIA ORGANA – BOUSHH

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

LeiaBoushh1

Hey, we’ve looked at two days of new and upcoming Star Wars stuff, why don’t we switch gears for a day and have a look at something a bit more old school. A ways back, in my very first Star Wars: The Black Series review, actually, I looked at the line’s first version of Princess Leia, which somewhat unfortunately presented her in Slave Leia get-up from Return of the Jedi. It’s not an outfit that really serves as a “definitive” version of the character, nor is it a design that translates all that well to action figure form. A lot of fans (myself included) have been clamoring for another, more action figure oriented (and more story prominent) design. It took a while, but Hasbro finally obliged, with Princess Leia in her Boushh disguise, a figure I’ll be taking a look at today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

LeiaBoushh2Leia was released in Series 9 of Hasbro’s Star Wars: The Black Series. She’s figure #16, going by the second round of numbering. Leia, along with IG-88 and Clone Commander Cody, was one of the last three figures to be released prior to the switch-over to Force Awakens product. This Leia figure is also based on Return of the Jedi, but comes from the portion of the movie prior to her capture by Jabba, while she is still masquerading as the bounty hunter Boushh. The figure is just over 5 ½ inches tall and has 27 points of articulation. She stands a little taller than the previous Leia, but Leia was supposedly wearing lifts to help disguise herself further, so it doesn’t bug me too much. Leia gets an all-new sculpt, and a pretty darn good one at that. The body has some pretty great layering on the various parts of her costume, which is very nicely used to help hide a lot of the articulation. The pair of tanks on her back are a separate, removable piece. The belt/bandolier is also a separate add-on, but not intended for removal. Both are nicely sculpted and scaled well to the figure. The bandolier has a soft goods cape attached, which I feel works a lot better than previous fabric parts, so that’s good. When I reviewed the previous LeiaBoushh3Leia, I noted that I thought the head sculpt was a pretty good likeness to Carrie Fisher. This one’s better. It helps that this figure also gets a much nicer paintjob than the last. While I wouldn’t mind a little more fine detail work to highlight the subtleties of the sculpt a little more, what’s here is pretty serviceable, and there aren’t any glaring issues. Leia is packed with a removable helmet, a a staff, and a thermal detonator. The helmet is the star piece here, and it fits well on her head. The staff is technically supposed to be the same as one of the two included with Slave Leia, but it’s an all-new, much larger, much more accurate sculpt, and she holds it quite nicely. The thermal detonator doesn’t really fit in her hand, but it can easily be stowed on her belt, which is cool.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Black Series is infamous for its distribution issues, so Leia was out for quite a while before I was actually able to find one. However, I finally managed to find her at a Walgreens, in the midst of killing some time while my Mom and brother were participating in a 5K. I’m glad I got her, because it was killing me that Slave Leia was the only version we had. This one is just a much better figure all around.

LeiaBoushh4

#0785: C-3PO & R2-D2

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

C-3PO & R2-D2

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS

C3P0&R2a

A lot of the merchandise for The Force Awakens has focused on the film’s newest characters. This has been met with some apprehension by a portion of the fanbase, who don’t want to invest a lot of money on characters they know nothing about. Fortunately, not everything is based on the new characters, so classic fans have a number of “safer” options, such as today’s focus figures, C-3PO and R2-D2.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

C-3PO and R2 are part of the first series of two-packs from Hasbro’s current Star Wars: The Force Awakens line. They’re one of two sets of figures in this particular assortment to actually come from The Force Awakens, though even they only just barely qualify.

C-3PO

C3P0&R2bFirst up is the panicky, overly emotional golden boy of the franchise, C-3PO, human-cyborg relations. The figure stands 3 ¾ inches tall and has the now standard 5 points of articulation. To be fair, the reduced articulation is actually a lot less of an issue on someone like 3PO, since he’s not the most agile character to begin with. 3PO shares his sculpt with the recently released Mission Series Tantive IV Two-Pack version of the character, which seems reasonable enough, since his design hasn’t really changed. It’s a pretty good representation of the character, and it has some nice detail work, especially on the arms and the one open section of wiring on his midsection. So, old sculpt, old design, old character. What makes this figure The Force Awakens-inspired? Paint. For the most part, he’s just the usual gold, but now he’s got a funky red left arm. Why? I have no idea, but there it is. On the plus side, it looks like he finally got his silver leg replaced with a proper gold one, so he’s not too patchwork. The paint is fairly decent overall, though the eyes are a little wonky. If you have the option, you might want to look through a few sets to find the one with the least wonky eyes.

R2-D2

C3P0&R2cAnd here’s R2, the one single character in the entire franchise whose look never changes. But he really needed another figure, I guess. Plus, it’s not like you can release a 3PO figure without him. That’s insane. R2 is about 2 ½ inches tall and has 3 points of articulation. That’s kind of lackluster for R2, since it means he can’t even properly do one of his signature poses. Not that it matters, since he doesn’t have his third leg. Like 3PO, R2 also shares his sculpt with the Mission Series version. It’s a reasonable enough, I suppose. The details on the legs are a little soft, but not terribly so. In general, he looks like R2, which is the main point here. Unlike 3PO, the paint doesn’t really do much to set R2 apart from the previous figure to use the mold. It’s just fairly basic R2 paint. It’s fairly cleanly applied, so that’s good, but it would definitely help the figure if he had some sort of wash to help bring out the details of the sculpt. As is, he feels a little bland. This R2 is different from the last one is one way: accessories. Yep, this guy comes with a pair of missile launcher that can be attached to the top of his legs. Something tells me these won’t actually be showing up in the movie, but at the very least they do match R2’s overall aesthetic, and the missiles are actually kinda neat.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I didn’t really set out to find this pack or anything, but I saw it a few times at my local Target, and thought it was vaguely interesting. Then I realized I hadn’t actually bought a C-3PO figure since the POTF2 version from the 90s, and felt kinda bad, so I grabbed this set the next time I saw it. It’s certainly not the most exciting thing to come out of the new movie. 3PO’s got some merit, being slightly different from previous figures and being pretty well put together all around. R2 on the other hand, doesn’t really have much to offer, and is a “meh” figure at best. I’m kind of assuming most people will be getting this set for 3PO.

#0784: Guavian Enforcer

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

GUAVIAN ENFORCER

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

GuavianEnforcer1

Alright, it’s just three days until the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens in theatres, and I’m pretty excited. To show off my excitement, I’m going to review one Star Wars item from now through the 18th. First up is yet another character I don’t know much about, the Guavian Enforcer. Apparently, this guy’s a new army builder, so that’s cool I guess. Let’s have a look at one of the two versions of this character currently available.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

GuavianEnforcer2“The security soldiers of the Guavian Gang wear high impact armor that makes them stand out among other deadly criminals.” The Guavian Enforcer is part of the second series of the Force Awakens-themed re-launch of Star Wars: The Black Series. He’s been designated as figure 08, which makes him numerically the third figure in Series 2. The figure stands 6 inches tall and has 28 points of articulation. The sculpt is totally new to this figure, and it looks to be a pretty good translation of the design from the film, at least from what I’ve seen. The design is certainly a change of pace for Star Wars. Some people have commented he looks a bit like Jason Todd as Red Hood; others have said he looks like an obscure Marvel villain, or even a product placement for Target. Me? I think he looks like one of Cobra’s specialized troopers from G.I. Joe. Which isn’t actually a bad thing, truth be told. The sculpt is pretty decent all around. There’s a lot of nice texture work, and the finer details look pretty cool. The proportions seem a little exaggerated, but without seeing the movie I don’t know for sure that they actually are. The paintwork on the Guavian Enforcer is fairly nicely handled. The jumpsuit is covered with a pretty thick wash of darker paint, which makes it look nice and worn in, and it brings out the texture work of the sculpt quite adeptly. There’s some slight bleed over on the helmet, and the silver gash could stand to be a little more subtle, but those are the only real drawbacks. The Enforcer gets a whole two accessories: one that looks like an old-fashioned tommy gun, and one that looks a bit more like a shotgun. Neither is painted, which is a bit of a bummer, but they’re sculpted pretty well.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Guavian Enforcer is the first of the Series 2 I’ve been able to find (well, I also found Constable Zuvio, but I don’t really like his design). I found him at my closest TRU a few weeks back. I quite like the design of this guy, and he makes for a pretty neat figure. Hopefully the Enforcers make for decent characters in the movie!

#0779: Sarco Plank

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

SARCO PLANK

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS

Sarco1

The new Star Wars movie is just over a week away. That’s pretty cool, right? Well, I’m pretty pumped for it anyway. And you know what helps me get even more pumped for stuff? Action figures. And believe me, if there’s one thing Star Wars is good at, it’s getting action figures, even of the most obscure characters. Having not yet seen the movie, I can only speculate, but I’m gonna guess Sarco Plank might be one of those more minor characters.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Sarco2“A scavenger and trader who scours frontier worlds for riches, Sarco Plank must wear a specialized mask that keeps his native atmosphere circulating through his alien lungs.” So l it would appear that Sarco here is some sort of scavenger, possibly related to Rey in some way. Also, it should be noted that this guy was in some of the “Dark Side” reviewer packages, so he seems to be a bad guy. The figure stands about 4 inches tall (making him one of the taller guys in the line) and he has 5 (ish) points of articulation. There’s not much in the way of movement on the neck, but I’m pretty sure there’s still a joint there, just not a very useful one. Having no real reference for the character in the actual movie, I have the judge him purely by the quality of the sculpt. The quality is pretty good, mind you. This guy’s got a lot of cool textures and such, and the folds in his clothing look convincingly real. I also really like this guy’s helmet. It’s got a nice level of sleekness to it, with just the right amount of kitsch-y retro sci fi details thrown in. The multi-part visor in particular gives him a pretty unique look. His robes have been somewhat awkwardly cut into a pair of legs for articulation’s sake; it’s definitely goofy, but it calls back to the vintage Star Wars figures that did the same sort of thing with robed characters, so I don’t mind it too much. I’m not sure what’s going on with his hands, though. They’re kind of…mushy? My best guess would be they’re supposed to be hairy. Sarco actually gets a slightly more intricate paint job than a lot of the other figures in this scale. His helmet has a gradient of colors, making it look semi-transparent, and the robes have a nice variety of orang-y reds, as well as a slight wash to give him some extra depth. The apparatus on his chest even has the slightest bit of grime, which is a nice touch. Sarco is packed with a fairly neat looking gun (which could definitely benefit from some paint), as well as a piece to one of the build-a-things. Fortunately, his build-a-thing piece is actually another gun, so it adds a little more value, instead of being a meaningless piece of plastic like all the others.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

No real exciting story for how I got Sarco. I just happened to find him at my local Toys R Us. He was the only “new” Force Awakens figure they had, and I thought he looked kinda cool, so I figured he warranted a purchase. I know nothing about the character, but I do really like his design, and I think it makes for a pretty neat toy. Here’s hoping the character doesn’t totally blow!

Sarco3

#0764: First Order Flame Trooper

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

FIRST ORDER FLAME TROOPER

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS

Flametrooper1

Basic Stormtroopers are the bread and butter of Star Wars collecting, but if all you have are the basics, things can get a little bit boring. No, you’ve got to have some specialization, right? The original trilogy threw special troopers for piloting, scouting, cold climate, and even desert…stuff into the mix. The new trilogy of films looks to be following suit with all of those, as well as adding an all new brand of trooper, the Flame Trooper, into the mix. I’ll be looking at one of the figures of that design today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Flametrooper2“Specialized Stormtroopers of the First Order, Flametroopers carry incendiary weapons that can transform any battlefield into an infernal blaze.” So, yeah, specialized troopers. Says it right there. The Flame Trooper is part of the first round of the basic 3 ¾ inch The Force Awakens line of figures.  He’s part of the first trio of the “Lava” sub-set of figures. The figure stands roughly 3 ¾ inches tall and has 5 points of articulation. The Flame Trooper gets an all-new sculpt, based, of course, on the upcoming film’s design. The design is a variation of the First Order Stormtrooper design, which makes sense. His armor has been tweaked in a few areas, most notably the helmet, which has a much thinner visor, no doubt to keep the Trooper from being blinded by his own blaze. He’s also got what appears to be a rebreather built into the bottom portion of the helmet, which makes sense. The rest of the armor has also all been tweaked in its own way, mostly to afford the wearer more protection. As far as the actual sculpt goes, the figure does a Flametrooper4pretty good job of capturing the design, at least from what I’ve seen. The figure is just a bit more pre-posed than most of the others from this line; his legs are in a slight step positioning, presumably to help balance the weight of his flame thrower’s fuel tank. The Flame Trooper’s paint is pretty straight forward. He’s molded in white plastic, with paint for the black and silver details. The application is generally pretty clean, so that’s good. The Trooper includes his flame thrower which, while well-sculpted, can’t actually be properly held. He also incudes another build-a-thing piece, for those who care (which doesn’t include me).

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I ended up finding the Flame Trooper during the same trip that got me PZ and Goss. I had actually seen the figure once before, while visiting Super Awesome Girlfriend, but ended up passing him up at the time. Of course I wasn’t able to find him anywhere else, which certainly bummed me out. So, I was glad to come across him again. I really like this particular design, and the figure does a good job translating it.

#0758: Goss Toowers

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

GOSS TOOWERS

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS

Goss1

In spite of it being a series very much built around its fancy space ships and fully autonomous robots, the main entries in the Star Wars franchise never really places any focus on the mechanical experts necessary to keep such things running for any real period of time. It’s interesting, since the main characters tend to cover a wide gamut of various places in the two main armies. I mean, even Batman’s got a mechanic, certainly Luke Skywalker does too! It would seem the makers of The Force Awakens are at least somewhat aware of this ill-covered area, if Goss Toower’s bio is anything to go by.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Goss2“Goss Toowers is part of the tireless technical crew that provides mechanical support for the Resistance’s fleet of Starfighters.” See that? See, he’s mechanical support for the Resistance! Ha ha! Also, that’s literally the only thing I know about this guy, so…yeah. Like PZ-4C0, Goss is a part of the second round of the basic 3 ¾ inch figures from The Force Awakens. Goss is another part of the second assortment of the “Jungle” sub-set of figures. He’s a little shy of 3 ¾ inches tall and has the standard 5 points of articulation for the smaller scale line. Goss is one of the many new alien characters from TFA, and he doesn’t appear to be from one of the pre-existing races. That’s cool, we needed some new, exciting aliens, right? He’s mostly pretty humanoid, with most of his more alien parts being on what little we can see of his face. He’s also got three fingered hands, and generally a shorter and stockier build than the other characters we’ve seen, which adds a bit of variety. The sculpt seems to be a fairly decent translation of the onscreen look, going by the only character art we’ve been given, anyway. The folds and textures of his clothing are nice and sharp, and he doesn’t feel lacking for detail. His weird helmet thing is a little restrictive, so his head has a tendency to pop Goss4off if moved too far to one side or the other. He’s also just a bit forward leaning, so standing him can be a bit frustrating. The paint work on Goss is alright, but not the greatest. The colors work fine, and I like the gold on the gloves in particular, but the application is a mess; the boots start a good millimeter before their paint does, and the various uniform colors tend to be applied at best in the general area of where the sculpted lines place them. Goss includes a small handheld device, which I assume is a drill or welder or something, as well as another piece to the build-a-thing, which looks not unlike a push mower.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I found Goss at the same time as PZ. I wasn’t going to get him. I really wasn’t. His design is just okay, and I don’t know the character, so I could just wait until after the movie. But, Super Awesome Girlfriend was with me, and, well, she won’t stand for me not buying figures, so I ended up getting him, because there’s no point fighting her. I actually kind of like him, so I’m glad I got him. Just as long as he’s not another Jar Jar…

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