Tag Archives: The Black Series

#1155: Kanan Jarrus

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

KANAN JARRUS

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

kananbs2

So, when The Black Series was launched, the focus was most prominently on the Original Trilogy characters (with one or two Prequel characters here and there, but definitely secondary).  As the line has continued, it’s become a bit more inclusive, adding The Force Awakens, of course, but also some Clone Wars and Rebels characters (and in the most recent series, even a proper EU character).  Today, I’ll be looking at one of those Rebels figures, namely Kanan Jarrus!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

kananbs3Kanan was released in the sixth series of the third round of Star Wars: The Black Series (i.e. the sixth series of Force Awakens Black Series).  He’s figure #19 in the line, which I believe makes him the first Rebels figure numerically.  The figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 27 points of articulation.  This figure takes Kanan’s animated design and sort of real-world-izes it.  It’s a good plan on Hasbro’s part; with the smaller scale figures, you’re guaranteed to get a larger quantity of them, so the stylized look won’t stand out as much, but for the larger figures, where animated releases will be far more spaced out, it’s far better to have them fit with the rest of the established line.  This way Kanan can get right to mowing through Stormtroopers without waiting for a proper Rebels Trooper release.  Overall, I think Kanan’s sculpt does a reasonable job of taking Kanan’s animated design and translating into how he might look in a live action film.  It’s not perfect, and I do really think Hasbro would have been smart to base Kanan on his voice actor Freddie Prinze, Jr in terms of likeness and build.  While it certainly looks like Kanan, he still ends up being a little more cartoony than a real person; his eyes (and head in general, really) are rather large, and his torso and arms seem very scrawny.  They’re certainly not as exaggerated as his animated counterpart, but when compared to some of the other figures from the line, he does look ever so slightly famished.  On the plus side, the texture work on the figure’s clothes is pretty outstanding, even better than a few of the other Black Series figures.  I like that each article of clothing has its own texture.  As far as the paint work goes, Kanan matches up with most of the more recent Black Series releases.  He’s a notable improvement over some of the prior figures, and most of the work is pretty sharp.  He could probably stand to have a little more accent work in a few spots, but what’s there works.  There is this weird clump scratched paint on his neck thing, almost like he was scratched before the paint had completely dried, but that’s the only real nit.  Kanan is packed with sidearm blaster, as well as his lightsaber, the hilt of which is designed got separate into two pieces that clip onto his belt, just like on the show.  It’s not the world’s largest accessory complement, but it’s better than several other figures in the line.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, Kanan was released prior to me getting into Rebels, which means I saw him a number of times and passed him up, since I didn’t know the character (yes, I know I bought all of the Rogue One and Force Awakens stuff before seeing the movies and “knowing the characters.”  You’re very smart.  Now shut up).  By the time I got into the show and actually wanted this guy, he had pretty much disappeared from shelves.  Fortunately for me, there are still some cases of series 6 making their way out there, and one such case had hit the Target where I found the second series of Rogue One figures, allowing me to grab this guy at the same time.  Karan has his flaws, but so did a lot of figures in this particular series, and at least his don’t prevent him from being a fun action figure.

#1151: Scarif Stormtrooper

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

SCARIF STORMTROOPER

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

scariftrooperbs2

Last night, showings started for Rogue One. I was traveling yesterday, so I won’t actually be seeing it until later this evening, but I sure hope it’s good. I’ve got one more Rogue One-related review lined up for today. This one gives us another look into some of the Empire’s new (well newly appearing, anyway) Troopers, specifically of the Scarif variety. I’ve already looked at one of the Squad leaders, but now I’m looking at one of regular grunts!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

scariftrooperbs3The Scarif Stormtrooper is Walmart’s Star Wars: The Black Series exclusive for 2016. He just started hitting right at the beginning of December, but as is always the case with these sorts of figures, he might be more prevalent in some areas than others. The figure is about 6 inches tall and he has 27 points of articulation. I’ve already covered a lot of this figure before, thanks to most of his parts being shared with the TRU-exclusive Hovertank Pilot. This figure is really just a new head and belt/skirt. The designs share a lot of common pieces on the actual costumes, so the reuse is certainly warranted, and I had actually guessed this reuse was imminent when I reviewed that figure. It’s certainly a decent base body to start with, and I like it just as much here as I did the first time around. The new pieces mesh quite well with the preexisting parts, and look to be fairly accurate to the movie. The paint work on this guy is pretty solid, and actually a bit better than a lot of prior Black Series releases. The colors match up pretty well with the movie designs, and the base work is all pretty clean. What’s really cool is there’s even some additional accent work and weathering, which helps to make the Trooper look nice and battle worn. After a disappointing number of totally spotless figures, it’s a refreshing change of pace. The Scarif Trooper’s only accessory is a basic Stormtrooper blaster, though it’s worth noting that this blaster’s got the extra detailing that we saw with the Eadu Jyn, which is cool to see be a continuing trend.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Oh boy, this guy. Was getting this guy a fun trek. So, he wasn’t ever really announced by Hasbro. News of him instead broke when someone’s Walmart started running the ad showing off the figure on their in-store monitors right around Rogue Friday. Most other stores, including the one closest to me, followed suit shortly thereafter. Of course, while there may have been an ad, there was no sign of the figure anywhere. It was quite surreal, because it’s very rare to see an ad for any action figure these days, and it’s usually for figures that have long since left shelves. Getting the ad for the figure months before we see even a production sample? That’s weird. With no indication of when the figure would be showing up, I ended up stopping in at the closest Walmart rather frequently, and getting more and more disappointed with each visit. But, as luck would have it, after almost completely giving up, I stopped once more last week on a whim. I actually almost missed him at first; he’s supposedly hitting in solid cases of just him, but there was only the one left by the time I got there. I’m really glad I finally found him. The Scarif Trooper is my favorite of the new designs, and this is a very well put together figure too!

scariftrooperbs4

#1119: Jyn Erso – Eadu

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

JYN ERSO – EADU

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

jynbseadu1

And we’re back with the Rogue One toys!  Alright, alright.  After the initial surge of product for the September 30th “Rogue Friday” event, there’s been a slow trickle of additional products making their way out over the course of the last month or so. Everyone and their mother seems to be getting in on the store-exclusives for this one, including K-Mart, who presumably wanted another chance to send out shampoo to those poor customers who try ordering their exclusive online (genuine flip side question: do you think there’s someone out there who opened a box expecting some Head & Shoulders and instead found themselves with only a Jyn Erso to treat their dry, itchy scalp?)  I’ll be looking at the K-Mart-exclusive Jyn Erso today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

jynbseadu3As noted in the intro, Jyn is a K-Mart-exclusive, but more specifically, she hails from the popular Star Wars: The Black Series line by Hasbro.  Jyn follows the K-Mart exclusive trend started by Starkiller Base Kylo and Rey, being a standard-sized Black Series figure packed with a large environment base/diorama.  Unlike the prior two, however, the actual Jyn figure is more than just a simple repack of her non-exclusive figure, but is rather a (mostly new) figure based on her Eadu look.  The figure is about 5 1/4 inches tall and she has 29 points of articulation.  She shares her lower half, hands, and possibly her torso (it’s hard to tell) with the Jedha version of Jyn, which, given what we’ve seen of the two designs, is accurate.  In addition, she gets a new head, arms, and an add-on for her jynbseadu4poncho.  There’s also a removable hat and breathing mask.  Unlike the hood from the Jedha figure, the removable pieces here don’t feel overly bulk or out of place.  That being said, that’s likely because (especially in the case of the hat), she wasn’t really meant to be seen without those pieces.  It’s still a much more pleasant end look, though.  The new pieces on Jyn are all nicely sculpted, and match up with the smaller Eadu Jyn in terms of specific details.  The new head has a stronger resemblance to Felicity Jones.  I’m not sure if that’s specifically the sculpt or the paint, but I feel this figure just looks more immediately like her.  It’s kind of too bad she’s jynbseadu6got hat hair, or else I might suggest swapping this head onto the Jedha version.  One of my more minor issues with the Jedha Jyn was that, while her paint work was clean, it was rather bland in terms of accent work.  Fortunately, this Jyn does a lot to fix that, offering a much wider variation of color on her poncho, and making her look less like a cartoon and more like a real person.  There’s still some room for improvement, but she’s generally a step up from the regular release.  This Jyn includes the same blaster pistol as her Jedha counterpart, as well as a collapsed version of her baton we’ve seen from the trailers (which she can hand from her poncho), a Stormtrooper rifle, and the previously mentioned environment base, which is made to look like a rocky cliff of sorts (if the Kylo/Rey pairing from last year is any indication, we’ll probably be seeing another figure shortly after the movie with a corresponding base).  Those accessories, along with the removable hat and breathing mask, mean that this Jyn feels like a much better deal than the standard retail version, even at $5 more.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Some K-Marts got this figure on Rogue Friday (some even got it a bit earlier).  The K-Mart nearest me may have, but they decided to open late that Friday morning, so I went to Target instead.  I ended up hitting the store up a week later, which got me this figure.  Yay.  Honestly, I’m wishing more and more that I’d just skipped the standard Jyn.  She’s not bad, but this figure’s just much better (and I’m gonna end up with another standard Jyn anyway, due to the Target set).  If you just want one Jyn figure, I wholeheartedly recommend this one if you can find it.  She’s easily the coolest version of the character on the market.  She’s even worth stepping into a K-Mart to get her!

jynbseadu5

#1093: Imperial Hovertank Pilot

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

IMPERIAL HOVERTANK PILOT

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

hovertankpilot1

Well, dear readers, we’ve made it to the end of the Rogue Friday stuff.  I’ve looked at all of the regular release figures that I’ve gotten.  However, I also managed to grab one of the many store-exclusives, that were up for grabs.  This one fits the theme of the last few days, being another Black Series figure. Rogue One is offering us a whole bunch of different specialized Imperial troopers, such as today’s Hovertank Pilot, who follows the precedent set by the TIE fighter pilots, the AT-AT drivers, and even the Biker Scouts, of being a trooper specifically designed to drive a thing.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

hovertankpilot2The Imperial Hovertank Pilot is part of the Star Wars: The Black Series line and is a Toys R Us-exclusive figure.  He was released alongside the latest Black Series set on Rogue Friday, but appears to have shipped in cases of just Hovertank Pilots.  The figure stands about 6 inches tall and has 27 points of articulation.  So far, the figure has a totally unique sculpt, but that’s likely to change, given the closeness of the Pilot and Scarif Trooper designs.  From the looks of things, all of the Pilot’s armor but the helmet and belt is the same as the Scarif Trooper.  The helmet lacks the mouthpiece, sports a much thinner visor, and is wider at the base than the Scarif helmet, and the belt lacks the skirt, in favor of two slightly longer pouches on the frontmost pockets.  I like the design of the Pilot, but, like the Death Trooper, I’m not certain it quite fits the OT-aesthetic.  It’s certainly close (especially on the parts shared with the Scarif Trooper), but something about the helmet looks more First Order than Imperial.  Someone brought up that this figure almost looks like a first order take on the Biker Scout, and I kind of agree.  But, like I said, it’s still a solid design on its own.  The sculpt does a good job translating the design (at least from what we’ve seen of it), and features a nice assortment of smaller detail work.  In particular, I like the texturing on the clothing under the armor.  The shoulders seem a touch wide, but other than that, the proportions feel pretty solid.  The paintwork is actually a good deal better than a lot of Black Series figures.  Not only is the basic application pretty clean, but he’s also got some really great wear and tear on his armored parts, which makes him stand out a bit next to the other spotless Troopers we’ve gotten.  Here’s hoping we get more like him!  The Hovertank Pilot includes a standard Stormtrooper blaster.  Like some of the others in this series, he feels a little light on accessories, but I don’t really know what else you could give him.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, I’m sure no one’s shocked to find out that I got this guy at TRU during their midnight opening event for Rogue Friday.  I actually wasn’t sure I was going to grab him, and I didn’t pick him up on my first pass.  However, when I looped back around to the Black Series figures, he was still there, and I decided to go for it.  I’m glad I did.  After K-2, I’d say this guy’s my favorite of the Rogue Friday stuff.  He’s just a very well put together figure.  I look forward to getting the Scarif Troopers on this body!

Okay, that’s it for the Rogue Friday stuff (well, mostly).  I think this launch was much more successful than the Force Awakens product, and I hope that Hasbro is able to keep it more or less consistent for the Episode VIII launch.  Only time will tell! Tomorrow, I’ll be back to some non-Star Wars figures.

rogueonebs1

#1092: Kylo Ren – Unmasked

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

KYLO REN – UNMASKED

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

kylounmasked1

Alright, let’s keep moving on with the Rogue One stuff.  Today we’ll be looking at…Kylo Ren?  Okay, I used my bad Terminator rip-off joke with the Poe set at the very beginning, so I can’t use it here.  Ummm…here’s Kylo Ren?

Kylo seems to be a rather polarizing character.  It seems that most either love him or despise him.  I fall into the first category, but can sort of understand people in the second.  I chalk my enjoyment of him up to his being perhaps the greatest onscreen portrayal of Dr Doom to date, in everything but name.  Anyway, Kylo’s gotten himself another figure, and I’m reviewing that figure today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

kylounmasked2Kylo Ren is the last figure in the first set of Rogue One-based Star Wars: The Black Series figures (the set is technically Series 7 of the Force Awakens stuff, which explains his present here).  He’s figure #26, and he’s the highest numbered Black Series figure to date, which is cool I suppose.  This Kylo was previously available at this year’s Celebration event, with a couple of extra pieces not included here, but this is his first main retail release.  The figure is about 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 26 points of articulation.  For the most part, this figure is the same as last year’s #03 Kylo.  The only difference between the two is the head, which is unmasked this time around (as denoted by the figure’s name).  The head offers a pretty good likeness of actor Adam Driver, looking just as pouty as he should.  The head fits well on the body, and looks the part, so no complaints here.  The body is alright; I still have my issues with the cloth parts, but I’ve come to terms with them now.  As far as paint goes, most of the changes are once again on the head, which is handled pretty well, though his skin is really pale.  The only change to the body is on the gloves, which have been given a shiny finish here, which actually makes the figure look a little better.  The exclusive Kylo had a lot of extras, including a First Order flag, Vader’s helmet, and an extra helmeted head.  This figure lacks those.  All he gets is two versions of his lightsaber.  Instead of the removable blade version from the first figure (which was technically inaccurate), he gets one with a permanently affixed blade and one without.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I hadn’t initially planned on Kylo being one of my Rogue Friday purchases.  In fact, I passed him up at TRU’s midnight opening (well, initially, anyway.  Then he was gone by the time I got back).  However, when I picked up the Death Trooper, this guy was sitting there too, and I just kind of wanted him.  I’m actually quite glad I picked him up, because he makes a few nice changes to the prior Kylo, and is just a really fun figure all-around.

#1091: Imperial Death Trooper

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

IMPERIAL DEATH TROOPER

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

deathtrooper1

Picking up from yesterday’s intro, today marks the second of the two character designs to be featured in both the larger and smaller scale Rogue One lines from Hasbro.  To be fair to the Death Trooper, though, this is currently his only single-release figure, which certainly has some added appeal, doesn’t it?  Yeah, I’m sorry guys, I don’t have a lot of stuff I can say here, not having seen the movie and all.  Let’s just take a look at the figure, shall we?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

deathtrooper2The Imperial Death Trooper is part of the first set of Rogue One-themed Star Wars: The Black Series figures, and he’s figure #25, making him the fourth figure in the set.  The figure stands about 6 1/2 inches tall and has 27 points of articulation.  While he doesn’t quite have the range of K-2, the posablity on this guy is a marked improvement over the First Order Troopers we got last year, and he doesn’t feel like he compromises his look for movement either, like the original trooper did.  Right off the bat, this Death Trooper doesn’t feel quite as insanely skinny as his small-scale counterpart.  He’s still more svelte than the average figure, but in a more realistic and believable way, which I think makes his whole design just look a tad better.  The detailing on the armor is nice and sharp, and there are plenty of extra details not seen on the smaller figure.  Getting a closer look at the armor, the Death Trooper really does feel like it belongs somewhere between the clones and the Stormtroopers chronologically.  Now, whether it’s actually supposed to be in-between is another matter entirely, but I like the shared elements.  It makes him fit in very well.  I also like the Darth Vader-style belt, which, as small as it is, still really sells the time period these guys come from.  I’m still not 100% sold on these guys fitting into the Original Trilogy timeline, but we’ll see how the movie handles it.  The paint on the Death Trooper is actually pretty impressive, especially when compared to the rather low level of detailing on the smaller figure.  There’s a ton of great little accent work on the armor (including a very slight green tint to the lenses on the helmet), and there’s even  noticeable difference between the finish on the armor and the underlying bodysuit.  The Death Trooper includes a large, shotgun-style gun (same as the smaller figure), as well as a smaller blaster, which is actually one of the available pistols in the latest Battlefront game.  Both guns are pretty cool, though, like Cassian’s blaster, I do wish they had a little bit of paint on them.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I missed the Death Trooper at the TRU midnight opening.  I made it a point to grab Jyn, Cassian, and K-2, but I moved onto the 3 3/4 inch figures before securing this guy, and by the time I got back, there were none of him left.  Fortunately, Target saved the day the following morning, placing him right at the front of the big display near the store’s entrance.  I wasn’t sure about the Death Trooper’s design at first, but the figure is definitely amongst the strongest in the initial assortment of products.

#1090: K-2SO

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

K-2SO

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

k2sobs1

In contrast to their output from The Force Awakens, Hasbro has mostly steered away from doubling up character/costume selection for The Black Series and their smaller scale lines for their first batch of products.  There are a handful of exceptions, such as today’s subject K-2SO.  Of course, in K-2’s case, it seems acceptable, seeing as it looks like he’s only got the one look for the movie, and he’s definitely set to be a fan-favorite.  Let’s see how his second figure turned out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

k2sobs2K-2SO is part of the first set of Rogue One-themed Star Wars: The Black Series figures.  He’s figure #2, which makes him the third figure in the set.  The figure is 7 1/2 inches tall (making him shorter than only Chewbacca in terms of the other figures in the line) and he has 31 points of articulation, which is just downright impressive.  Even more impressive is the general posability. Pretty much everywhere that the real K-2 has movement, so does this figure.  The range of movement is the best we’ve seen on a Black Series figure.  K-2’s really cool design has been very nicely translated into figure form here.  The smaller scale figure had quite an impressive sculpt, so this one definitely had a bar to clear in that respect.  I’m happy to say it cleared that bar with room to spare.  K-2 is incredibly well detailed, with lots pf sharp work on the various plates and pistons.  This figure offers us a really nice look at some of the cool little details his design features to tie him in with the rest of the Imperial designs, such as the “OII” that is seen on the backs of the Stormtroopers, and the torso’s overall similarities to the Snowtrooper chest piece.  It helps to make K-2 feel appropriately Original Trilogy in style, as well as selling the whole “reprogrammed Imperial droid” thing.  The downfall of many a Hasbro figure is lackluster or even just mediocre paint, but that’s not the case with K-2.  The majority of the figure is done in a nice, dark gunmetal grey with a flat finish, which looks very accurate to the film.  On top of that, he’s got the proper detail work for his eyes, the orange around his shoulders and hips, and the Imperial insignias on his shoulders.  The insignias are slightly worn off, which, along with the other small bits of silver here and there, gives him a nice worn-in look, which is especially appropriate for an OT-era character.  K-2 has no accessories.  Early prototype shots showed him with a Stormtrooper blaster, but that was dropped somewhere along the way.  Given the size and quality of this guy, he hardly feels lacking.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This was the figure I most wanted going into the Rogue Friday midnight opening, and as such was the very first figure I grabbed when I got into TRU (though a lot of that was due to the Black Series display being the closest to the door).  K-2 is hands down the best item to come out of the Rogue One launch.  In fact, he’s possibly the best figure to come out of The Black Series period.  Heck, he may well be one of Hasbro’s best overall offerings of all of their various licenses.  This is a figure everyone should own, even if you haven’t seen a single Star Wars movie.  He’s just really, really, really cool.

k2sobs3

1089: Cassian Andor – Eadu

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

CASSIAN ANDOR – EADU

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

cassianeadu1

One Rogue One character conspicuously missing from my 3 3/4-inch reviews was Diego Luna’s Cassian Andor, who looks to be one of the film’s central characters.  Currently, the only way to get a smaller scale Captain Andor is to buy the big U-Wing vehicle, which seemed like a touch much to me on top of all the other figures I bought.  Fortunately, there should be a number of different Cassians hitting shelves in the next month or so, so I shouldn’t be without one for long.  In the mean time, I can tide myself over with his larger scale figure, which I’ll be taking a look at today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

cassianeadu2Cassian Andor is part of the first assortment of Rogue One-themed Star Wars: The Black Series figures, and is #23, which makes him the second figure in the set chronologically.  As noted in his name, this figure is based on his look while on Eadu.  Judging by the number of layers this guy is wearing, it seems Eadu might be on par with Hoth in terms of extreme temperatures (though, as Jyn’s Eadu figure shows, maybe not *quite* as extreme as Hoth).  This is, admittedly, not a look we’ve seen much of Cassian wearing in the trailers (where he’s more often seen in the brown leather jacket-ed look that will be part of the Target-exclusive three-pack next month), but he was wearing the jacket in the very first cast shot we saw from Rogue One last year,  which gives it a bit of credence.  The figure stands about 6 inches tall and has 27 points of articulation.  Sculpturally, he’s about what you’d expect from a Black Series figure.  The details aren’t anything amazing, but they’re decent, and there’s certainly some nice work on the various parts of his clothing, especially on the gloves.  The head sculpt is alright, though I’m not seeing a whole lot of Luna in it.  Like last year’s Poe figure, this may be more of a paint issue than a sculpt one.  I do have to say, they did quite a nice job sculpting the stubble on his face.  It makes the grey paint on the lower half of his face look a bit less silly.  The figure’s mobility is a bit hampered by the sculpt, but that’s mostly to due with the design.  I imagine the exclusive figure will be a bit more posable.  The paint on Cassian is okay overall, with the best work being on the body.  Even the head’s not awful, just not quite right for the character.  It’s mostly to do with the solid black goatee, I think.  It makes him look like a totally different person.  For the most part, the paint is rather basic, with lots of solid patches of color.  I can’t help but feel that this is a figure that would have been greatly helped by some accent work, just to make him a bit more interesting. Cassian includes a helmet and goggles to complete his cold weather look, as well as a blaster pistol and a slightly larger blaster rifle.  The helmet is okay, but kind of on the bulky side.  The two blasters are cool, though I think the larger one could stand a little paint.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was actually rather surprised to discover at TRU’s midnight opening that there was no small-scale Cassian available on his own.  This solidified my decision to pick up the full set of both scales, since I wanted K-2 in the smaller scale, but didn’t want to have K-2 without Cassian, meaning I needed to pick up this figure.  It’s like Hasbro planned it that way or something.  I’ve seen a lot of people calling Cassian the weakest of this particular bunch.  I don’t know that I can refute those claims.  He’s kind of on the average side, and easily gets lost compared to some of the other stellar figures in this set.  That being said, he’s still a solidly put together figure, and even if you aren’t interested in him as Cassian, he makes for a good Hoth attire Rebel soldier.

cassianeadu3

1088: Jyn Erso – Jedha

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

JYN ERSO – JEDHA

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

jynbs1

Alright, the 3 3/4-scale Rogue One stuff is done for now (though I’m sure there will be plenty more things for me to review, going by what Hasbro’s shown off in the last week), so we move on to the larger-scale Black Series stuff.  As of late, it’s been a little difficult to say where this line was headed, what with a large chunk of the Force Awakens stuff either showing up too sparsely, or being too heavily packed.  It looks like Rogue One might help getting things back on track.  The first of the new figures is main character Jyn Erso, who I’m looking at today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

jynbs2Jyn is sort of taking the place of last year’s First Order Stormtrooper in regards to release style.  She was first released as a preview item at this year’s SDCC, before being slotted into the regular release line-up.  She’ll also be showing up as part of the Target-exclusive 3-pack with Cassian Andor and the Death Trooper Specialist some time next month.  They all look to be the same figure, but for this review, I’m looking at the regular release figure.  She’s part of the first series of Rogue One-inspred Star Wars: The Black Series figures, and she’s figure #22, making her chronologically the first figure in the series.  Yes, you read that number right, she’s #22, meaning Hasbro actually kept the number scheme for The Black Series for more than a year.  And there was much rejoicing (yaaaaay.)  Jyn here is wearing her Jedha outfit, which, from what we’ve seen in the marketing for the movie looks to be a fairly present look.  The figure stands about 5 1/4 inches tall and she has 29 points of articulation.  Jyn’s sculpt is fairly decent overall, and is certainly on par with what we’ve come to expect from The Black Series.  The hood is kind of bulky and odd looking, but it’s not awful, and it can easily be removed, resulting in a superior figure.  The underlying head sculpt is pretty decent, and bears more than a passing resemblance to Felicity Jones (though it’s not quite spot on).  It’s a little softer than I might like, but it’s not awful.  The body sculpt is also pretty great, with a nice set of proportions and some nice layering on the various clothes.  The verst is technically removable, but since the arms still have the jacket sleeves on them, I can’t see many people removing it.  The paintwork on Jyn is passable.  It’s not anything amazing or anything, but it’s better than a lot of last year’s Black Series offerings, which is a nice improvement.  If Hasbro could start adding a little bit of accent work here and there, I think the figures could be even better.  Jyn’s only accessory is her blaster pistol (the same as the one included with her smaller-scale counterpart).  It’s a little light given the price (and the fact that the same series features are re-issue of last year’s Rey, which has a staff, BB-8, and an added lightsaber), but hood makes up for it a bit.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Jyn was one of the first items I grabbed from TRU during their midnight opening.  I didn’t know she’d be showing up in the Target set as well, or else I’d probably have held off on this particular release.  That being said, she’s a solid figure, and a lot of fun to mess around with.  There are worse things than owning two of a good figure, I suppose.

#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.