Tag Archives: The Black Series

#3107: Migs Mayfeld – Morak

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

MIGS MAYFELD — MORAK

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“A hot-headed ex-Imperial sharpshooter, Migs Mayfeld was once the leader of a gang of criminals. Mayfeld’s old ties help The Mandalorian on his mission to rescue Grogu from Moff Gideon”

We’ve been seeing some lulls as of late in some of Hasbro’s major lines.  Not all at the same time, of course; they’ve been kind of rotating a bit.  Hasbro’s still having some noted issues with proper distribution, and all that, resulting in some lines being few and far between on their releases.  I looked at one Black Series figure over a month ago, which was actually one that had been sitting in my “to review” pile for several months.  Before that, my last three Black Series reviews have all been reissues of one form or another.  How about something new for a change?  Well, newish.  Migs Mayfeld was first introduced in The Mandalorian‘s first season, as point man for the group performing the heist in “The Prisoner.”  He was portrayed by stand-up comic Bill Burr, noted for his (likely comedically exaggerated) dislike of the franchise, and was, at least in his first appearance, really just playing himself…IN SPACE.  The character returned during the show’s second season, in the episode “The Believer,” which gave the character a surprisingly effective emotional journey, and gave Burr a chance to deliver an incredibly nuanced performance, far outside of his usual range.  This second appearance rather resonated with viewers, making it the natural choice for the character’s first figure treatment, which I’m taking a look at today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Migs Mayfeld (Morak) is figure 15 in the Mandalorian sub-set of Black Series‘ Phase IV incarnation.  He’s one of three Mando-themed figures in this particular assortment…not that I’ve actually had the chance to see the whole assortment, or anything, of course.  Just Mayfeld.  Mayfeld is based on his disguised appearance from “The Believer,” after he and Mando steal Transport Driver armor to infiltrate the Imperial base on Morak.  It’s what he’s wearing during what’s really the character’s most definitive scene, and it also means that he can double as a Transport Driver, should you want such a thing.  The figure stands just shy of 6 inches tall and he has 27 points of articulation.  Since Mayfeld is disguised as an Imperial, it makes sense for the figure to re-use some Imperial tooling.  While the Transport Driver isn’t strictly speaking one we’ve gotten before, it’s show design was heavily built from the Mudtrooper design we saw in Solo.  Subsequently, a good portion of this figure is making use of the Mudtrooper Han parts.  It’s a solid sculpt, and not one that really got out there, so it’s a fairly sensible re-use.  Apart from the collar of the undershirt not being the same, and there being some lingering holes in the back meant for the hoses from the Mudtrooper mask, it’s a close enough sculpt to work.  He gets a new skirt piece, with his slightly tweaked belt and holster, as well as a new head and removable helmet.  The helmet is on in the package, so you can’t actually see the Burr sculpt at all until its opened.  You almost have to wonder is Burr requested that, since it’s out of the ordinary for how such figures are usually packaged.  The helmet is supposed to be the same one that the Tank Pilots were sporting, and it matches up pretty well, while still being removable.  Under the helmet is the proper Mayfeld sculpt.  It’s a pretty solid one, if perhaps a touch too large for the body.  The likeness to Burr is fairly strong, and it’s great that he’s got an expression that really breaks from the usual emotionless appearances we tend to see on these.  Mayfeld’s paint work is generally decent, with one notable thing that I hesitate to really call an “issue;” it’s more of a discrepancy.  The armor on his right arm is red, as it was on the Han figure, denoting a higher rank.  However, Mayfeld’s armor in the episode is without this extra coloring; it’s Mando who gets the extra detail on his armor.  So, this one gets extra paint that he shouldn’t technically have, which is the opposite direction that such issues tend to go with paint.  At this point, I wonder if Hasbro might intend to just give the inevitable disguised Mando the green arm, just so that you can swap them both for the proper set-up.  That said, VC made the same mistake on Mayfeld, and Mando was still sporting the red as well, so perhaps Mayfeld is just cursed to be given a promotion.  Worse things have happened.  Mayfeld is packed with the previously mentioned removable helmet, as well as a small blaster pistol, which is a pretty key accessory for him.  It’s kinda light, but it also covers the basics, so I’m not too bummed about it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Mayfeld was a character that I had no issues with in his first appearance, but not one I was particularly intrigued by, or eager to see more of.  That said, his reappearance in “The Believer” was genuinely one of my favorite parts of the second season.  So, the announcement that he was getting a figure based specifically on that episode was cool by me.  Plus, it’s a Bill Burr figure, which is kinda cool in and of itself.  The figure turned out pretty well overall.  The issue with the coloring on the arm is honestly pretty forgivable, and I think he otherwise handles things well.  Now, the wait for the inevitable Mando to go with him begins.

Thanks to my sponsors at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure for review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website.

#3079: Admiral Piett

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

ADMIRAL PIETT

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“An ambitious Imperial officer, Piett rose through the ranks to captain and was assigned to the Super Star Destroyer Executor, Darth Vader’s flagship. When Vader strangled Admiral Ozzel, Piett was granted a battlefield promotion to admiral — and given a grisly warning of the penalty for failure.”

Hey, remember yesterday, when I was filling in the lull between Marvel Legends releases with stuff I had sitting around unreviewed?  Well, prepare yourselves for the same thing, but with Black Series.  Sure, there are theoretically new figures out there I haven’t reviewed, but I also haven’t seen any of them, so I’m pretending like they aren’t really out there yet, and doing my first Black Series review in a month and a half about a figure that’s been sitting to the side of my desk, unopened, for, like, six months.  Eh, it’s just Admiral Piett.  Everyone forgets about ol’ Firmus.  Okay, not everyone.  There was actually a sizeable campaign to bring him back for Return of the Jedi.  So, I guess it was really just Lucas that forgot him.  Well, Hasbro didn’t, at least as far as The Black Series is concerned, so I guess I’ll remember him for the day and take a look at that figure.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Admiral Piett was released in 2018 as an online store exclusive Black Series release, predominately shipping through Entertainment Earth.  The figure stands about 6 inches tall and he has 26 points of articulation.  Structurally, Piett largely shares his parts with Tarkin and Veers.  It’s sensible, them all being in the same uniform and all.  As with Veers, Piett’s torso sculpt has been tweaked ever so slightly to change up the pins and properly designate his rank.  He’s also got an all-new head sculpt, sporting a pretty solid likeness of actor Kenneth Colley.  Not as strong as Tarkin, but a touch better than Veers, which is saying something.  He’s still got hat hair, but what do you expect?  Piett gets his own removable had, which is a distinct piece from the one included with Veers figure.  They should be, since their hats are slightly different, but it’s still nice that Hasbro went that extra mile, especially since the hat’s really just a bonus with Veers in the first place.  The paint work on Piett is up to the same par as Veers; nothing too terribly exciting or anything, but he gets the colors he needs to, and the printing on the face is nice and lifelike.  Piett is packed with the aforementioned removable hat, as well as the same small blaster pistol included with Veers.  Not that he ever really uses it for much, but it lets him be ready should he ever, you know, be, like, in the same vicinity as an actual fight.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Since Piett was released right around the same time as Veers, and one can only get so excited about a bunch of stuffy British guys in grey, I wound up passing on ordering him.  I kind of regretted that after the fact, since, as I mentioned in my review of the PotF figure, I do have a bit of a soft spot for the character.  Fortunately for me, I got a second chance at grabbing him, courtesy of him getting traded into All Time before the holidays.  Of course, then I dragged my feet on actually opening and reviewing him, but that’s hardly the point.  While not the most thrilling figure, he’s nevertheless a rather nice one, and fills out the upper ranks of the Imperials just a bit more.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website.

#3046: 501st Legion Clone Trooper

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

501st LEGION CLONE TROOPER

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES ARCHIVE (HASBRO)

“An elite unit of Clone Troopers, the 501st Legion patrolled the grounds after their siege of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant”

Clone Troopers.  They’re, like, one of the back bones of Star Wars.  Yes, it has multiple back bones.  It’s one of those aliens with multiple backs.  And Clone Troopers are one of them.  When in doubt, do some Clone Troopers.  It’s a good motto, especially when it comes to toys.  And one that Hasbro takes pretty well to heart.  Sometimes, they even do those Clone Troopers multiple times.  Also not a bad call, really.  Despite seeming like the perfect avenue for constantly re-releasing clones, their main line of re-releases, the Archive, hasn’t yet had any actual Clone Troopers, just one commander.  But that’s okay, because now we’ve got one.  Yay for new old Clone Trooper!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The 501st Legion Clone Trooper is part of the fifth assortment of the Star Wars: The Black Series Archive line, alongside Episode III Obi-Wan, Darth Revan, and A New Hope Leia.  He’s a re-release of a figure previously only available as part of the Entertainment Earth-exclusive “Clone Troopers of Order 66” boxed set from 2016.  Apart from some minor paint adjustments on the weathering of the armor, the releases are effectively the same, since there’s no face to update with face printing or anything like that.  The figure stands just over 6 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation.  Since he’s a straight re-release, we’re back on the old Clone body, rather than either of the updated versions.  That means a slight downgrade in terms of how the articulation works, but it’s still certainly passable, so I’ll hardly complain.  The 501st Trooper’s sculpt is shared with all of the other standard Phase II clones.  It’s the Phase I body, with the new helmet piece.  While it’s not quite as accurate as newer releases, it’s still a pretty strong sculpt, even seven years removed from its original release.  It’s not as good as the newer update, but it will fit in just fine with them.  As with any standard rank and file clone, the thing that makes this guy “unique” is the paint work.  It’s quite involved, with detailing not just for the 501st Legion’s distinctive blue markings, but also the wear and tear on the surface of the armor.  The first release of this figure used straight paint for these details, which was a little inconsistent in application, but for this release it’s updated to the printed technique, which gives it some more consistency from piece to piece, and looks just a touch sharper.  The Trooper is packed with his standard smaller blaster, which is accurate to what they carry in the film, as the long rifles are gone by that point.  It does still feel kind of light, but it is what it is.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was still on my “no prequels” rule for the most part when the set that contained this guy dropped, so I held off at the time.  I grew to rather regret that moving forward, so when he was confirmed for a single-packed re-issue, I was definitely on board.  He’s pretty straight forward.  Nothing new, and perhaps slightly outdated at this point, but it’s exactly what you expect, and by that metric, he does what he needs to exactly on the mark.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website.

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0017: Jyn Erso

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Flashback Friday Figure Addendum and tagged with , , , , ,

JYN ERSO

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

I bet you guys weren’t expecting one of these, now were you?  Sure, it’s not been nearly as long a gap between Flashback Friday Figure Addendums as the last two rounds, but four months is still four months, right?  What can I say, I like keeping you guys on your toes.

As I’ve been discussing the last two days, one of Hasbro’s focuses in The Black Series this year is doing the whole Rogue One team in one cohesive run.  That’s one new figure, and then a bunch of re-issues.  For the most part, I either missed out on the original runs, or I didn’t need the update, but I did decide to go for the re-issue of Jyn.  I know, it might seem crazy to buy another Jyn, but I’m a crazy guy.  Here’s what this crazy guy had to say about the original release:

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

Jyn 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.

That review was written in October of 2016, before I’d seen the movie, or really knew anything about the character I was reviewing.  It’s also something of a relic in a few ways other than the writing (which is usually where the relic status on these old reviews comes up), like the rejoicing on keeping the numbering on the line, or the fact that I bought her at TRU.  The red box line wound up going much further than Jyn’s meager 22, wrapping up in 2020 with Kit Fisto’s 112.  It wound up with quite a run.  I was actually pretty positive about this figure in my original review, something I’d kind of forgotten about after she kind of became a go-to figure for ragging on by the fanbase.  I stand by it, because she’s actually a really nice figure.  It was kind of nice to remind myself of that.  This release is overall very similar.  Like Kanan from last year, the change-up is the face paint, and it’s a really major change.  The likeness was alright, but it’s pretty on the mark now.  Totally revitalizes the figure’s look.

Thanks to my sponsors at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure for review.  If you’re looking for toys both old and new, please check out their website.

#3035: Chirrut Imwe

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

CHIRRUT IMWE

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“Deeply spiritual, Chirrut Imwe believes all living things are connected through the Force.  Though he lacks Force abilities, the warrior monk has rigorously honed has body through intense physical and mental discipline.”

Remember what I was mentioned yesterday about Hasbro doing a whole set of Rogue One releases for Black Series?  Well, in addition to the all-new Bodhi figure, they also did re-issues of the other members of the main team. While I got a handful of the original releases, I missed out on a few of them the first time around, so this provides me a second chance to get them.  One of the ones I missed was today’s focus, Chirrut Imwe.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Chirrut Imwe is figure 4 in the Rogue One set of Black Series figures.  He’s a reissue of the #36 figure from Phase III of the line, which hit during the latter part of the original Rogue One run.  The figure stands a little over 5 1/2 inches tall and he has 27 points of articulation.  The Rogue One figures were, unfortunately, not the line at its best when it came to articulation schemes.  Chirrut represents one of the worst instances, honestly.  The range on the arms and legs, especially at the elbows and knees, is quite restricted, with the elbows barely making even a full 90 degrees.  In addition, the actual layout and functionality of the joints is just kind of odd.  You can get some poses out of him that work, but they’re not particularly intuitive.  Chirrut’s sculpt was unique to him at the time, and remains so to this date.  It, like the articulation scheme it sports, is a product of its time.  It’s not terrible, but it’s not great either.  A lot of it’s because the aforementioned articulation’s not really worked in all that well.  The arms and legs again get the worst of that particular issue.  The head’s at least got a pretty solid likeness of Donnie Yen, which is definitely the strongest part of the sculpt.  His robes are a mixed media affair, making use of cloth pieces for the bottom portion. It works out alright, and does at least allow for a little more mobility, albeit somewhat limited by the actual articulation.  Chirrut’s paint work is overall rather basic.  The general colors match up to the on-screen attire, and the printing for the face is an incredible improvement over the prior release’s paint.  Chirrut is packed with his staff and his lightbow.  They’re both pretty solid pieces, especially the lightbow, which is made up of four moving parts, allowing for it to be properly collapsed and deployed.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The assortment that contained Chirrut’s original release was never plentiful at any retail locations near me.  By the time I actually saw one in person, it was obvious that Hasbro wasn’t going to complete the team line-up, so I didn’t see the point in expanding the set beyond the main three.  With Hasbro circling back around and completing the run, I figured it was worthwhile to finally snag him.  He’s admittedly a bit outpaced by more modern offerings, but at least he’s a little better than the first release.

Thanks to my sponsors at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure for review.  If you’re looking for toys both old and new, please check out their website.

#3034: Bodhi Rooki

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

BODHI ROOK

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“A former Imperial pilot, Bodhi has strong piloting and technical skills that he will put to use for the Rebellion.  Ever practical, but highly anxious, Bodhi must gather his courage to bring the battle to the Empire.”

When Hasbro launched Phase IV of The Black Series, in addition to a selection of new figures, they also devoted a whole sub-series to re-releasing and completing the core cast of Star Wars: Rebels.  We got a Zeb to finish out the team, but we also got the rest of the team, with the earliest of them updated to the new face-print styling that has become the standard for the line.  It was a pretty successful venture, so Hasbro has set their sites on another unfinished cast, namely the crew from Rogue One.  Conspicuously absent from the Black Series line-up was poor old Bodhi, a key character to the whole plan to smuggle out the Death Star plans in the first place.  How could you leave him out?  It’s unreasonable, darn you!  Well, it’s okay, because just like Zeb got his long overdue release, so did Bodhi, and I’m taking a look at it today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Bodhi Rook is figure 6 in the Rogue One set of Black Series figures.  Of the main line releases in the set, Bodhi marks the one truly new figure, since he’d not had a prior release, as brought up earlier in the review.  The figure stands 5 3/4 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  Bodhi’s articulation scheme is on par with the most recent of the Black Series releases.  It’s got a really solid range of motion, especially on the elbows and knees, and he’s even got the butterfly movement on his shoulders, which adds a lot to the poses you can get out of him.  Bodhi’s sculpt is an all-new offering, as expected, and it’s a really strong one.  The likeness on the head is a pretty spot-on match for Riz Ahmed in the role, and they even do a respectable job of making his hair appropriately scraggly.  The googles are a separate piece, but glued in place.  Still, it means that, unlike the smaller figure, they’re actually clear like in the movie.  The body sculpt is really scrawny and gaunt, as he should be, and helps him to stand out from the others.  His vest is a separate overlay.  It’s not removable like it was on the smaller figure, but it still adds some extra depth to everything.  Bodhi’s paint work is okay, if not the greatest.  The face is certainly the best part, since it’s got the printing.  There’s some misalignment on the hair paint, so he looks like he’s got a few bald spots.  It’s at least on the sides, so it’s not super obvious.  The work on the Imperial insignias is decent, and all of his pens are properly painted too, but the vest winds up lacking a bunch of the details on the buckles and clips, so it’s just largely an unpainted clump of brown.  Just a little bit more detailing would definitely go a long way.  Bodhi is packed with a small Rebel blaster, as well as his cable pack from the end of the movie.  The pack is a pretty impressive piece, complete with a full spool of wire, which can even be wound and unwound.  It’s a really cool piece, and helps the figure feel a lot better accessorized than a lot of other Black Series releases.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I really liked Bodhi as a character, and I ewas always really bummed that he never got a Black Series figure back with the others.  It was part of why I never bothered with the rest of them outside of the core three.  I was definitely really excited when this guy was announced, and even more so to get him in hand.  He turned out really, really well.  The updates to the line have benefited him well and the end result is honestly the nicest of the whole Rogue One team.

Thanks to my sponsors at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure for review.  If you’re looking for toys both old and new, please check out their website.

#3033: Wrecker

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

WRECKER

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“Wrecker has brute strength that makes him capable of lifting a clone gunship without any help. His muscle and size are matched only by his temper… and an equally pronounced sense of humor.”

Hey, how about this weekly Bad Batch thing I’ve got going?  Pretty cool, right?  Boy, you guys are gonna be real disappointed when I don’t actually do it next week because I don’t actually have anything more Bad Batch to look at yet.  Sorry, did I let the wind out of your sails a bit?  I don’t mean to be a downer.  Would it make you feel better if I actually got to actually reviewing this toy, instead of all this weird meta crap that I keep falling into?  Okay, I’ll get away from the weird meta crap that I keep falling into.  Away from the weird meta crap, we’re going to be talking about Wrecker, who fulfills the Batch’s archetype role of “the big guy,” by being, well, big.  Good for him.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Wrecker is figure 5 in the Bad Batch-sub-line of Hasbro’s Black Series Phase IV.  He’s a deluxe-sized figure, and is the last of the original core members of the titular team, though they will be joined by both Echo and Omega later this year.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 31 points of articulation.  In terms of movement, Wrecker is pretty similar to how Zeb worked out, meaning he’s got quite a good range of motion on most of the joints, notably the shoulders and elbows.  Given how restricted he *could* be given the nature of the design, I’m quite impressed by how well Hasbro has managed to make this work.  Wrecker gets an all-new sculpt, which is unsurprising, given how much larger he is compared to the rest of his teammates.  Like Tech, I find that Wrecker’s sculpt does a better job of hybridizing his design from the show with the real world stylings of The Black Series.  There are certainly some more animated elements on the armor design, but there’s also a good balance to how things work.  His armor is well defined, with sharp lines, as well as a little bit of sculpted damage.  As with Tech, a number of the pieces are separate overlays from the main body, which gives him a little more depth.  Wrecker, like the rest of the Batch, includes a removable helmet.  It sits quite snuggly on the underlying head, and is generally quite well scaled to the rest of the body, and does a great job of capturing the design from the show.  The underlying head has enough of that generic Morisson likeness to pass him off as a clone, but keeps his as unique as the others.  It’s a pretty strong sculpt, with a lot of character.  I love the slight smirk, and the scarring turned out quite well.  It’s probably my favorite of the unmasked Batch heads thus far.  Wrecker’s paint work is pretty decently handled.  The base work is all pretty strong, as well as being consistent with the other team members.  There’s some slight wear to the detailing of the armor, as well as some additional scraping and scuffing details.  The unmasked head gets the printing on the face, which works well with the sculpt.  In general, just a solid offering on the paint front.  Wrecker is packed with his blaster (shared with Hunter), knife, and back pack.  It covers the basics for a battle-ready Wrecker, but I wouldn’t have minded seeing his small doll, or even a set of alternate hands in fists.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve been waiting on this guy to complete my team for a little bit, since I actually got Tech a bit before I got around to reviewing him.  This guy definitely feels a lot like Zeb in terms of quality, and that’s a good thing.  Tech’s still my personal favorite, but Wrecker’s a strong figure in his own right.  After a slightly softer start with Hunter and Crosshair, I feel like the team filled out well, and I’m very excited for Echo and Omega to wrap things up!

Thanks to my sponsors at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure for review.  If you’re looking for toys both old and new, please check out their website.

#3032: Cad Bane

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

CAD BANE

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“A ruthless bounty hunter from the planet Duro, Cad Bane was the preeminent blaster-for-hire in the galaxy at the time of the Clone Wars. No quarry was too dangerous for Bane … if the price was right.”

Well, hey, this one’s actually pretty timely, huh?  Or…is it?  You know, cuz, umm, spoilers or whatever.  Introduced in The Clone Wars cartoon, and patterned on Lee Van Cleef’s Angel Eyes from The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, Cad Bane is probably one of the few examples of an attempt to create another Boba Fett actually kind of working.  He’s generally a pretty popular character in his own right, and has managed to find footing in two additional series outside of Clone Wars‘ run.  His toy coverage has been surprisingly sparse.  He got a small handful of figures during the Clone Wars run, and back in late 2020, he also got a Black Series figure.  Sure would be a shame if that thing were, like, impossible to get, or something, right?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Cad Bane is figure 6 in the Clone Wars sub-line of The Black Series‘s Phase IV incarnation.  He’s only the second Clone Wars figure to get a standard release, though he did also get a Pulse-exclusive release, which was the same core figure, but with his robot sidekick Todo 360.  The figure stands about 6 inches tall and he has 31 points of articulation.  Cad’s articulation style is of the new breed of articulation for the Black Series figures, but as an earlier release, he’s kind of at the beginning of them figuring things out, so some of it’s not quite as refined as more recent figures.  The joints are all there, but the range isn’t always.  The neck and elbows are both more restricted than I’d like.  Cad’s sculpt is unique to him.  As a character that, at the time, had only animated appearances, there’s a degree of artistic license on translating him from Clone Wars into a real-world style.  Things on this one end up adhering much closer to that animated style than any other characters to make the jump in this line, barring possibly Zeb.  Essentially, they took the animation model, ever so slightly tweaked a few of the proportions, and added a fair bit more texturing.  It ultimately works pretty well, especially given his more alien nature in-universe.  There’s a lot of actual layering going on with the assembly of his outfit, which looks really sharp, and also gives him quite a bit more depth.  The figure’s hat, bag, and breathing apparatus are all removable, adding some extra variety to his display options.  I’m not super crazy about the hat, if I’m honest.  The shaping seems a little bit off, and it doesn’t really sit securely at all, at least on my figure.  You can kind of find a decent spot to hold it a little better, but even then, it’s not going to be staying in place during any posing.  Cad Bane’s paint work is genuinely pretty solid.  There’s not a ton of variety of color inherent to the design, but they make up for it with a lot of weathering, which helps to really sell the character’s gunslinger angle.  Cad is packed with his twin blaster pistols, which he can either hold, or stow in his holsters.  It’s a shame we couldn’t also get his rifle, but given how much is going into the core figure’s construction, it’s pretty understandable.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

If you keep up with the site, you might recall that I reviewed the rest of Cad Bane’s assortment of Black Series figures at the beginning of last year, while they were still rather new.  Why not review Cad then?  Because I didn’t have one.  For whatever reason, that assortment was scarce, and Cad was the only one with no immediate re-stock, so I had to wait until they finally got the solid cases of him distributed, which took over a year’s time (hey, he did better than Bly, whose restock took almost two whole years, and happened after his packaging style had already been abandoned).  So, it was a bit of a wait.  Was he worth it?  Generally, yeah.  I’ll admit that he did let me down just a tad right out of the box, but that might have been due to the whole playing up the hype in my head thing.  I’ve had him for a bit now, and I’m warming up to him.  He’s got some issues, but I like the overall product a lot.

Thanks to my sponsors at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure for review.  If you’re looking for toys both old and new, please check out their website.

#3031: General Lando Calrissian

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

GENERAL LANDO CALRISSIAN

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“Lando Calrissian served as a general in the starfighter attack on the second Death Star, showing off his superb piloting skills by guiding the Millennium Falcon into the Death Star superstructure.”

Lest you may think that Hasbro has given up on the Original Trilogy coverage for The Black Series, have no fear, our one token OT item is here!  It’s time for another Lando that people will beg for and then not buy once he’s actually available, until he sells out and they claim that Hasbro didn’t make enough.  Ooh, sorry, there might be some in-built aggression there.  When last I was discussing Lando, in the summer of 2020, I had brought up the character’s general’s gear from the end of Return of the Jedi.  Well, would you look at that?  I’m gonna be looking at that one again!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

General Lando Calrissian is figure 07 in the Return of the Jedi-sub-set of Black Series Phase IV, placing him right after the deluxe Boba Fett numerically in the sequence.  He’s the last figure in the late 2021 assortment for the line, and, as noted in the intro, the only Original Trilogy-based figure in this round of figures.  The figure stands just over 6 inches tall and he has 27 points of articulation.  In terms of movement, Lando feels like a bit of a step back.  The range on the joints isn’t terribly, but they’re not particularly well worked into the sculpt, and he misses a number of the steps forward on how the joints are assembled.  In a lot of ways, he kind of feels like an older sculpt that was sitting around.  That being said, his sculpt is an all-new one, even if it doesn’t necessarily feel it.  The head gives us another stab at the Billy Dee Williams likeness.  It’s not as good as the Disguised Lando, but it’s better than the initial Bespin version.  None of them have really been all that bad, so he’s generally made out alright in this category.  The body sculpt captures all of the design elements for his uniform. Pretty much, it does exactly what it needs to, and leaves it at that.  Not a ton of detailing or anything, but it looks decent enough.  While the Bespin Lando got a plastic cape, this one goes for a cloth piece, and it looks decent enough.  It’s held in place with a plastic clasp, which has trouble sitting just right.  It’s certainly an improvement on how the Vintage Collection release handled things, though.  Lando’s paint work is pretty straight forward stuff.  The printing on the face works well, and all of the base color work on the uniform is what it needs to be, much like with the sculpt.  Lando is packed with a blaster pistol, which he can either hold, or stow in his shoulder holster.  It feels a bit light, but that’s really just Black Series these days.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Of all the figures in this assortment, Lando was the one that excited me least.  He feels kind of overdue at this point, I guess, but it’s also not like we haven’t seen this look in plenty of other styles.  With a bunch of actually new offerings for the rest of the set, and this not being one of my personal favorite looks for the character, he just doesn’t thrill me.  The figure’s fine.  He does what he needs to, and he gets Lando back out on shelves, which is far from the worst thing.

Thanks to my sponsors at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure for review.  If you’re looking for toys both old and new, please check out their website.

#3030: Koska Reeves

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

KOSKA REEVES

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“A master of hand-to-hand combat, Koska Reeves is loyal to Bo-Katan and is a member of a band of Clan Kryze Mandalorians striking back at the Imperial remnant.”

The Mandalorian‘s first season crafted a lot of new lore (or at least lore that was new to a wider audience) for the Mandalorians, leading some people to question how this would fit with the lore established in the likes of Clone Wars and Rebels.  The second season in turn brought that previous lore to the forefront, reintroducing Bo-Katan, and with her, a few other Mandalorians from her version of the culture.  Introduced alongside Bo-Katan’s live action debut were her two lieutenants, Axe Woves and Koska Reeves.  Koska seems to have been the one to take off a little bit more, since she re-appeared alongside Bo in the second season finale, and she’s also the first one to get a figure, which I’m taking a look at today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Koska Reeves is figure 12 in the Mandalorian sub-set of Hasbro’s Black Series in its Phase IV incarnation.  She’s the second of the two Mandalorian figures in this particular assortment, and is thus far the trickiest to acquire from this particular round, likely due to her being the short-pack for this set.  The figure stands just under 6 inches tall and she has 27 points of articulation.  Structurally, Koska is largely the same as Bo-Katan.  It’s not a surprise, nor is it unwarranted, since the two sport very similar designs.  Apart from some small details here and there, notably the collar of her jumpsuit, that aren’t quite spot-on, but it’s overall close enough to justify a little re-use.  The belt has been modified, downgrading her to one holster, rather than two.  It’s otherwise pretty much the same.  Koska’s helmet is an all-new piece, slightly different in its shaping than Bo’s.  It sits lower than Bo’s, which also guards the neckline a bit, covering up that one spot of inaccuracy.  Underneath the helmet is an all-new unmasked head sculpt, which is an okay offering, but doesn’t have quite the spot-on likeness for Sasha Banks you’d hope for, given the overall upward trend on Black Series likenesses recently.  Still, it’s a distinct sculpt, and gets a lot of the character down, even if the likeness isn’t quite there.  The paint work on Koska is okay.  It’s more in-line with the on-screen color scheme than Bo-Katan’s was, and it’s actually pretty bright and eye-catching.  Unlike a lot of this set, she actually gets a fair bit of accent work, especially on the armor.  Koska is packed with her jetpack and two blaster pistols, even though she’s only got a spot for one.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Since we’d already gotten Bo-Katan, it really was only a matter of time before we got some of her back-up.  Koska being the first makes a lot of sense, and I’m glad Hasbro didn’t opt to drag things out on this one.  She’s a pretty straight forward figure, banking on a lot of re-use, but it generally works out pretty well, and she fills out the roster pretty nicely.

Thanks to my sponsors at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure for review.  If you’re looking for toys both old and new, please check out their website.