Tag Archives: The Empire Strikes Back

#3857: Snowtrooper

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

SNOWTROOPER with E-WEB HEAVY REPEATER BLASTER

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

After wrapping up the first round of “Deluxe” figures, which were admittedly on the goofier, gimmicky toy side of things, Kenner’s later deluxe offerings on Power of the Force were instead more in line with the usual Star Wars toy approach of being more actually film accurate.  So, rather than heavy hitters with made up big accessories, we got characters who actually needed the larger scale set-up.  We got three figures, all kind of themed around the Hoth scenes from Empire.  I’ve already looked at the Probe Droid and the Rebel Trooper, so here’s the last of the the three with the Imperial Snowtrooper!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Snowtrooper with E-Web Heavy Repeater Blaster was added to Kenner’s Star Wars: Power of the Force line in 1997.  He was released the same year as the smaller single-card release Snowtrooper, but this one got a different accessory compliment.  The figure stands a little under 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  The standard Snowtrooper was one of the more restricted figures in the line, and this version only scales that up further.  He’s got more of a squat to him, and he’s really only meant for interacting with his accessory.  The sculpt is at least internally consistent, so he fits right in with the standard release, making him a solid choice in regards to army building and the like.  His paint work is also pretty similar in its set-up, though I think the weathering’s a little bit heavier on this release versus the single.  That was true of the Rebel Trooper as well, so there’s some consistency there.  As with most of the deluxe figures, its the accessory set-up that *really* makes a difference.  As the name of the figure points out, this guy’s main set-up is the E-Web, a recurring Imperial armament, which is pretty cool.  It’s a sizable piece, and scales well with the figure, and it works well with the figure’s pre-posing.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Honestly, I remember seeing this figure a lot growing up, but I never had one.  My cousin Patrick did, I know.  He was generally more of a Snowtrooper fan than I was, so it tracks.  This one is more of a “completing the set” purchase than anything.  It’s cool enough and very accurate, but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t the most “meh” of the Deluxe figures in the line.

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 and their eBay storefront.

#3678: Luke Skywalker – Snowspeeder Prototype Edition

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

LUKE SKYWALKER — SNOWSPEEDER PROTOTYPE EDITION

STAR WARS: RETRO COLLECTION (HASBRO)

“This Luke Skywalker is inspired by the colorful prototypes that enable the development team to look past the deco and focus on the sculpt, analyze mold alignment, and adjust for quality.”

During the action figure production process, there are a number of prototyping stages.  Once the sculpt is completed and has been tooled into a steel mold for the purposes of mass-production, the molds have to be tested to make sure they work properly.  Since you don’t want to use the plastic you’ve paid to use on final production for something that may or may not work and which will effectively be junked once the mold has been confirmed as properly working, factories will run these tests with whatever plastic they have left over from other jobs, often resulting in colorful results.  Over the years, some of the test run prototypes have surfaced, and they’re a fun little quirk of the process.  And, because it’s been determined that there’s money to be made in that particular quirk, Hasbro has jumped on mass-producing them.  Thus far, we’ve gotten six of them as part of the Star Wars: Retro Collection, and I’ve finally gotten one!  Huzzah!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Luke Skywalker (Snowspeeder) Prototype Edition is a Target-exclusive offering for the Retro Collection, as all of the Prototype Editions have been thus far.  He arrived in January of 2023, and is the fifth of the six Prototype Edition releases.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  Obviously, all of the Prototype Edition figures are re-using a mold that Hasbro’s already got in production for the main Retro Collection line, but in Luke’s case, he’s notable for being a new, actual in-house Hasbro mold, rather than a recreation of an old Kenner one.  As there were no proper Snowspeeder pilots in the vintage line, Hasbro did a sizeable rework on the X-Wing Pilot Luke from Kenner’s vintage line, bulking him a bit to add the extra padding, as well as making sure he’s got the gloves, and the modified boots.  He also brings the helmet’s visor down over his eyes, as it was more frequently seen in the movie.  For color work, these figures have no paint, instead relying on a variety of different colors for each of the body parts.  There are actually six different variations of color layouts available, with the blue, red, green, yellow, purple, and orange each being applied to a different body part depending on the variant.  This one has blue for the head, red on the torso, orange on the right arm, green on the left arm, yellow on the right leg, and purple on the left leg.  He’s packed with his lightsaber (which is molded in the same color as the head, so it’s blue here) and his grapple.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve been low-key wanting one of these since Hasbro started doing them, but not enough to really go hunting for any of them.  Likewise, I kind of wanted this mold, but also not enough to track down its original release with the board game.  This guy landed in front of me, and that made the whole thing a lot easier.  He’s very definitely a novelty, and I don’t see myself going in for any more of them (well, maybe an IG-88 if they did him), but I do like having at least one of them.

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 and their eBay storefront.

#3673: Mynock Hunt

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

CHEWBACCA, PRINCESS LEIA ORGANA, & HAN SOLO

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

“Fleeing the fierce Imperial assault on the frozen planet Hoth, the Millennium Falcon and the Rebel crew fly into the midst of a waiting Imperial war fleet. Unable to engage the Falcon’s malfunctioning hyperdrive system, Han Solo steers recklessly into an asteroid field. Solo maneuvers the Corellian freighter through the deadly storm, missing large rocks by mere inches before locating sanctuary in the cave of a huge asteroid. Inside the cave it become apparent that the Falcon is in danger of being ravaged by mynocks. Large, winged parasites with an appetite for the mineral and energy-rich bulls of starships, mynocks can cause critical damage to star-freighting vessels. Forced to hunt the creatures before irreparable harm is caused to the Millennium Falcon, Chewbacca, Princess leia, and Han Solo don breathing gear and venture outside. But the mynocks become a secondary concern once the Rebel crew discovers that the cave they’re parked in is not a cave at all, but something large and very alive.”

To date here on the site, I’ve looked at 9 of the 10 Power of the Force Cinema Scenes sets.  That feels pretty wrong, right?  Yeah, I definitely need to fix that.  So, you know what?  I’m gonna do that now!  Because that’s the kind of commitment I’ve got to seeing things through!  And I’m also gonna stop shouting now because it seems like a bit much for Power of the Force!  …so, yay?  Okay, well, let’s just jump into the review, I suppose.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

The “Mynock Hunt” Cinema Scenes set was added to the Power of the Force line in 1998, as a standard release offering.  Interestingly, it’s the only set in the sub-line to be based on Empire.  The set included a stand for the three figures, as well as a Mynock.  Unfortunately, as with pretty much every Mynock ever, there’s no base or anything for it, so it’s just kind of…there?  Ah well.

CHEWBACCA

Despite his lack of drastic changes in the films, Chewbacca wound up in two Cinema Scenes, putting him on equal footing with Han, and second only to Luke. That’s honestly pretty crazy. The figure stands about 4 inches tall and he has 6-ish points of articulation. 6-ish because the neck is once again kind of pointless in its implementation. Structurally, Chewy is using the second iteration of the standard Chewy sculpt from the line, placing him in line with the Boushh Prisoner and Hoth Chewbacca figures, and retroactively making the first Chewy sculpt more specifically the A New Hope version. It’s a far less bulked up take on the character to be sure. I was never 100% sold on the head for this version, but otherwise it’s not bad. He’s a bit more pre-posed for this specific release, making him, amongst other things, the first Chewbacca that can properly hold his bowcaster two handed. His paint work isn’t bad; there’s some variance in the fur colors, which works pretty nicely. Chewy is packed with his bowcaster, as well as removable breathing mask.

PRINCESS LEIA ORGANA

This was Leia’s only time gracing the Cinema Scenes sub-line, and was also notable for being the easiest way to get her Hoth attire for a good while, thanks to the single card being locked behind the fan club exclusive set-up. She stands about 3 1/2 inches tall and has 6 points of articulation. Her sculpt was new, though admittedly pretty similar to the single carded version. Like the other Cinema Scenes figures, she’s a little more pre-posed, with her arms ever so slightly raised. It’s minor stuff. Honestly, it’s a decent sculpt, so I’ve got no complaints. The paint’s a little overboard, I feel. She’s in all white, but there’s this sort of yellowish film over it all, which is…well, I’m not sure exactly what. But it’s there, I guess. Leia is packed with her own removable mask piece.

HAN SOLO

They sure did like Bespin Han in this line. We had four of them in Power of the Force, all pretty close to each other. This one’s a lot like the single release, but, much like Leia, the limbs are posed differently. It’s not a terrible sculpt to begin with, and this version slightly slims him down even further, so it’s not bad at all. There’s still that Power of the Force flavor, but it’s not over stated. His paint is pretty much the same. The jacket is still black, since that was the Lucasfilm line at the time. He’s packed with his blaster pistol, as well as another removable mask.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This is actually one of the Cinema Scenes I was actively on the lookout for, and it still wound up being one of the very last two that I got.  Fitting, then, I suppose that I would save it to be the last Cinema Scenes set I’d review here on the site. I suppose there’s not a lot unique about the set, ultimately, but there’s a general vibe about it that I do quite like.

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 and their eBay storefront.

#3091: Luke Skywalker and Tauntaun

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

LUKE SKYWALKER AND TAUNTAUN

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

My last Power of the Force review before my great big gap in Power of the Force reviews was a creature set.  It was, specifically, the line’s largest creature set.  So, there’s quite literally no topping that.  I guess I’ll just go to the opposite side of the spectrum, and tackle one of the line’s smallest creature sets…which was also kinda borderline one of the line’s smallest vehicle sets, I guess, depending on how you look at it.  Can a living being be a vehicle?  And, what’s the over/under on how long the Tauntauns actually live, and where that places them on this whole vehicle scale?  Eh, I think I’m going to deep on this, you guys.  Let’s just get to the actual review.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Luke Skywalker and Tauntaun were released in 1997 as part of the Power of the Force line’s creature-based sub-set, alongside Han and Jabba, the Sandtrooper and Dewback, and the Jawa and Ronto.  It was the smallest of the 1997 sets, though that didn’t mean it was any cheaper.  It was the only Empire-based creature set from the first year, and one of three overall in the sub-set (with this set effectively being split up and re-paired for the other two Empire sets the following year).

The Tauntaun was obviously the selling point of this set, having not been released in figure form since Kenner’s original Empire line.  While the vintage releases both more or less just averaged the appearances of Luke and Han’s Tauntauns, this one decidedly adapts Luke’s, so as to properly pair off with him in the set.  The figure stands about 4 1/2  inches tall and has 5 points of articulation.  The sculpt on this one was unique at the time, though most of it would later see re-use for the Han and Tauntaun pack the next year.  The sculpt is a pretty solid one. It presents a slightly more active Tauntaun than its vintage counterpart, which seems more appropriate for how we see them in the movie, where they’re frequently in motion.  The details match up pretty well with the movie prop, though it is in some ways sporting some slightly more idealized proportions than the real thing.  The detail work isn’t bad, with some passable texturing on the fur, as well as plenty of extra work going into the harness and survival kit on the main body.  The paint work on this release is mostly pretty good.  There’s a lot of attempts at proper accenting which *mostly* work.  The shading on the fur and the white flecks for snow both work out.  The odd yellow on the arms and legs, not so much.  I’m not entirely sure what the aim was on those, but it missed.  The Tauntaun’s only real accessory is its harness/lead, which clips into the mouth, and allows for Luke to more properly hold on.

It makes very little sense to release Luke’s Tauntaun and not a Luke to go with it, I suppose.  There’s of course the single Hoth Luke release, but he notably lacks in the “being able to actually sit on the Tauntaun” department.  This one aims to fix that.  He stands about 3 3/4 inches tall and has 8 points of articulation.  The extra articulation comes in the form of actual knee joints.  Pretty crazy to see those, especially on a figure of this era, but they did happen from time to time.  Check out his actual sitting action!  From the waist up, he’s effectively the same as his single-release counterpart, with one minor tweak to the left arm, so as to slightly reposition his hand.  Other than that, he’s the same, which is good from a consistency standpoint.  The paint work likewise is pretty close.  It’s solid work, with clean application, and all the major colors it needs.  Luke is packed with his blaster pistol.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I had the single Hoth Luke as a kid, and never got a ton of use out of creatures, so I never had this one.  I remember it, especially the way it lingered for a bit, but it just never really called to me.  As I’m working on a full set, I’m picking up a lot of items that I passed on over the years.  In some cases, it’s not so thrilling, but sometimes it leads to me discovering some items I really like.  This one’s part of that latter category, and I’m glad I finally got around to picking one up.

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.

#3061: Han Solo – Bespin Capture

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

HAN SOLO — BESPIN CAPTURE

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE JEDI (HASBRO)

“A smuggler before he joined the Rebel Alliance, the daring Han Solo stayed alive by keeping his guard up and his blaster ready. Unfortunately, when he arrived on Cloud City with Princess Leia, Chewbacca, and C-3PO, Solo had no idea he was walking right into a trap… and a fateful confrontation with Darth Vader.”

In the wake of The Phantom Menace‘s tie-in line not quite performing the way Hasbro had hoped, they rolled what remained of that line into a full-franchise covering line dubbed Power of the Jedi, which also boasted updated takes on a few of the Original Trilogy designs as well.  The main characters got a little bit of coverage, mostly serving as a continuation of the slightly improved figures from the end of Power of the Force.  There were two Han Solos included, one of which was based on Han’s super fly Empire attire, which is the one I’m taking a look at today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Han Solo (Bespin Capture) was released during the first year of Power of the Jedi‘s run, hitting during the second round of figures.  He was the first of the two Hans in the line, and the first Bespin Han since 1998.  In the subsequent year, we’d gotten the updated Cantina Han from A New Hope, so the aim of this one was really just to bring the Bespin design up to that same quality.  The figure stands a little over 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 9 points of articulation.  While he didn’t get to keep the knee articulation from the Cantina Han, this guy still got some slightly improved articulation, with universal joints at the shoulders, as well as swivel joints at both elbows.  Han’s sculpt was an all-new one, though the head is clearly based on the same sculpt as the Cantina Han, much like how all of the late run PotF Lukes had the same updated features.  The likeness isn’t bad for Harrison Ford, especially compared to other sculpts from the same era.  The body sculpt is a pretty strong piece itself; the proportions are generally pretty well balanced, and the detailing is pretty sharp.  The jacket is perhaps a touch long for its proper length, but it’s not terrible, and the fact that it’s a separate piece does add a lot of depth to the overall look.  His paint work is generally pretty solid.  The colors are more on the subdued side, and apart from a little bit of slop on the right sleeve, the application is pretty clean.  Han was originally packed with his blaster (which can be stored in his holster) and a pair of cuffs.  Mine is lacking the cuffs, but he’s still got the blaster, which is a much smaller sculpt than prior versions.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As a kid, I remember really wanting this figure, but Power of the Jedi was one of those line’s that never really had consistent distribution, so I never saw one in person.  Over the years, I kept my eye out for him, and I eventually got a hold of one a couple of years back, courtesy of the House of Fun in New Jersey.  He’s a pretty solid little figure.  I don’t generally get Power of the Jedi stuff, but this guy’s one that feels like a nice extension of PotF, and he’s honestly just my favorite Bespin Han.

#2799: Captain Piett

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

CAPTAIN PIETT

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

NOTE: This review was written before June 6th.

“Following Admiral Ozzel’s fatal mistake during the assault on Hoth, Darth Vader promoted Captain Piett to the station of Admiral. Piett remained in command of Vader’s Executor until its destruction during the Battle of Endor.”

The Empire’s most visible and most marketable troops are certainly the Stormtroopers, but they aren’t the ones that get to make all of the decisions.  That’s left to the far less marketable Imperial Officers.  During the vintage toyline, Kenner didn’t actually make any named officers, giving us just one generic one to cover things.  When it came time to fill things in for Power of the Force II, they rectified that by actually doing a few of the named officers.  This included one Firmus Piett, the longest lived ranking Imperial in the films, serving as Admiral over both Empire and Jedi.  But we’re not talking about that.  No, we’re going before that, when he was just a Captain.  For reasons.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Captain Piett was added to Power of the Force in 1998.  Though he’s billed as a Captain, it’s notable that the bio describes his whole career path in the film, and we also never got an Ozzel, so he might as well just be an Admiral.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  Structurally, he’s quite similar to the Tarkin figure.  It makes sense, what with them being in the same uniform, and having a rather similar build.  It’s notable that they’re still totally unique from each other, though; no shared parts at all, even the ones that are almost identical.  It’s a reasonable enough sculpt.  Like Tarkin, he’s a little bulked up, but not nearly as much as earlier figures in the line.  The head doesn’t really look much like Kenneth Colley, who played Piett in the film.  Colley has some rather distinctly harsh lines on his face, and they aren’t really here.  He’s also got a much stronger jawline than he should.  Ultimately, he just looks much more generic. Not enough that I think the intent was for him to initially be a generic guy, but enough that he’s not immediately recognizable as Piett.  The paint work is pretty standard, matching up with the other Imperial Officers from the line, and generally being pretty cleanly applied.  Piett is packed with the same small blaster as Tarkin and Motti, as well as a baton (for all that baton stuff he does), and a Freeze Frame of Piett on the Executor…from when he’s an Admiral...

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Piett’s a character I always had a little bit of a soft spot for, since it’s hard not to feel bad for the guy the way he winds up in his position.  I mean, he’s still a bad guy, like, through and through, but still.  Despite that, however, I never actually had this guy as a kid, nor did any of my cousins.  It’s probably because he’s not a super distinctive figure, I guess.  He’s not bad, mind you, and actually works pretty well as a rank and file Imperial.  So, if you want maybe a few of him, that’s maybe not the worst thing.

#2703: Han Solo – Hoth

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

HAN SOLO — HOTH

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES ARCHIVE (HASBRO)

“Han stuck with the Rebel Alliance and helped establish its new base on the ice planet Hoth. After Luke didn’t return from a routine sweep of the planet surface, Han headed out alone into the frigid cold to find him.”

Luke wasn’t the only one to get the deluxe Hoth cold-gear treatment for The Black Series in 2015, and he’s likewise not the only one to get the Archive treatment in 2021.  Both times around, Luke was accompanied by his good buddy Han, in his own set of cold-weather gear.  And I’m taking a look at that Han figure today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Han is another figure in the third assortment of Star Wars: The Black Series Archive.  Like Luke, he too was originally released in a deluxe set in 2015, where he was originally packaged alongside a Tauntaun.  Unlike Luke, he’s one one release between these two; the figure got a head swap and was packed with Hoth Leia for a two-pack in 2018.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 25 points of articulation.  Han’s articulation scheme is rather similar to Luke’s, being a rather archaic offering compared to other figures.  The mid-torso joint works a bit better on this guy than on Luke, at least, but otherwise, it’s pretty much the same, right down to the cut joints for the wrists.  Han’s sculpt is a straight re-use again.  It’s not the worst sculpt, but it’s far from one of Hasbro’s best.  The actual body’s not bad; the details are a bit sharper than Luke’s, and the proportions aren’t quite as off.  The real issues have to do with the head.  Firstly, like a number of the Han heads, it sits too high on the neck joint.  The actual head is actually made up of three separate pieces, for the head/hat, the hood, and the goggles.  This is accurate to the film, and gives the sculpt some extra depth, but introduces its own set of problems.  The main head is rather under-scaled when compared to the rest of the body, presumably to compensate for all of the other parts.  The face has an okay likeness of Ford, at least.  The hood and goggles are decent pieces in their own right, but in the case of the hood, designing it to be removable costs the aesthetics a bit.  There’s a rather noticeable seam on the back of the hood where it’s designed for removing, and due to the head sitting as high on the neck as it does, it doesn’t actually sit flush with the rest of the coat.  Since it’s, you know, supposed to be the same garment, and all, that’s kind of a big deal.  With careful posing, it doesn’t look quite as bad, but it’s still off from every angle no matter what.  It all winds up being a rather silly venture anyway, since there’s no reason to actually remove the hood, since it’s not a look that’s ever seen in the movie, and it really just ends up looking goofy.  Without an alternate head, or a hood piece pulled down, there’s no practical reason for the hood to be a removable piece.  He’d be better off with the hood permanently attached.  The figure’s paint work is a notable change-up from the original release.  In addition to getting the face printing to differentiate him from the original release, this figure also takes the opportunity to correct the jacket’s color from the blue of the original release to the proper brown.  The 2018 release made this change too, but this is the first time we’ve gotten the hood in the right color.  Han is packed with his usual blaster pistol.  It’s a little light, but it’s consistent with what he originally had (minus the Tauntaun, of course).

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Han’s original release was the same deal as Luke, being more difficult to find, lower quality, and just a bit too expensive at the time.  I did *almost* get one during Amazon’s first Prime Day, when he went on sale, for something silly like $5 off, but, again, it was hard to make it worth my time.  I mostly snagged him because I was getting Luke.  Honestly, he’s not as good as the already rather mediocre Luke figure.  The hood and head is a huge issue, and in general, he’s just not a terribly fun figure to mess with.

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

#2702: Luke Skywalker – Hoth

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

LUKE SKYWALKER — HOTH

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES ARCHIVE (HASBRO)

“While on patrol, Luke and his tauntaun are attacked by a vicious wampa. The creature hangs Luke upside-down in its cave, but Luke uses the Force to escape.”

Luke has been no stranger to variants in Star Wars: The Black Series.  As a rather major character in the franchise, I guess that’s pretty fitting.  His major variants largely hit earlier in the line’s run, generally a good deal before the rest of the others in their matching attire.  That has a tendency to drive the prices of said matching looks up a bit.  Fortunately, with the introduction of the Archive sub-line, Hasbro’s got an okay way of getting them back out on the market.  One of the more notable looks that gone without a follow-up was Luke’s cold weather gear from Hoth, which is the Luke variant for the latest round of Archive figures.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Luke is from the third assortment of The Black Series Archive, re-releasing a figure that was originally put out in 2015, packaged alongside the Wampa in the deluxe portion of the Blue Line iteration of the brand.  The figure stands about 5 3/4 inches tall and he has 25 points of articulation.  Luke’s articulation scheme is rather on the archaic side compared to newer offerings.  The range on a lot of the joints is far more restricted, and they tend to break up the sculpt a lot more than on recent figures.  The arms in particular suffer from both a lack of proper elbow movement, and from a curious lack of anything beyond cut joints for the wrists, which is just unheard of for the line.  A lot of this is due to the figure’s nature, beign built out of parts that are over five years old at this point.  Moreover, Luke is unfortunately from the line when it was kind of at is lowest, before Hasbro really found their footing again.  It’s rough to say the least.  The actual sculpting work’s not awful, at least.  Luke’s seen here post-wampa attach, so his goggles are missing, and he’s got some sculpted scarring on his face.  The face has a pretty decent likeness of Hamill, especially for earlier in the line.  The detail work on the gear is passable, though a touch softer than more recent releases tend to be. His head scarf is a cloth piece this way, which works better from a posing stand point, though it does wind up looking a bit flat and devoid of detail.  Luke’s paint work is generally pretty basic.  It could probably stand to have a little extra accent work, to bring out some of the sculpted details a little better, bit everything important is there.  There’s some slop on the edges of a few spots.  The belt buckle’s slightly misaligned and the skin tone of the the neck doesn’t quite cover the whole area it’s supposed to.  Luke gets the face print set-up in place of the original paint scheme, which is in some ways better, but not quite as hefty an improvement as it usually is.  Notably, it misses out on the blood detailing for the scarring, which was on the prior release.  Additionally, the eyes just don’t look quite right.  At first, I thought I just got a misaligned copy, but all of the ones I looked at were the same, so it looks to be line-wide.  It looks alright from a distance, but up close it looks weird.  In terms of pack-ins, Luke is obviously without the Wampa he was originally packed with, but he gets the lightsaber and blaster from the prior release.  The blaster’s pretty decent, but the lightsaber is of a notably lower quality than other versions; the hilt is molded in silver rather than painted, and the whole thing is a softer plastic than usual, causing the blade to pop out a lot easier.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Luke’s original release marked the period when the line was hardest to fine and generally at its lowest quality, which made it rather hard to stay invested at the time.  That, coupled with the higher Deluxe price point had me steer clear of this guy the first time around.  With all of the other Hoth figures as of late, I’d been hoping for an update or something.  Here’s an “or something”, I guess.  Given the era of the line this sculpt comes from, it’s about what I’d expected.  The articulation’s not ideal, and the sculpt could probably stand to be a little sharper.  In general, he just feels sort of half-formed.  The new paint does a little bit to dress him up, but ultimately, it feels out of place in the modern line.

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

#2519: Snowspeeder (w/ Dak Ralter)

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

SNOWSPEEDER (w/ DAK RALTER)

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“While stationed on Hoth, the Rebel Alliance modified T-47 airspeeders to become snowspeeders. The snowspeeder was a two-man vessel, with a pilot and rear-facing tailgunner.”

The larger scale of Star Wars: The Black Series may be good for the quality of the actual figures, but the one slight downside of it is the relative difficulties of getting accompanying vehicles on the market.  Hasbro first dipped their toes in the pool of vehicles with the smaller-scale speeder bike, which went pretty well.  They then jumped all-in with the Force Awakens TIE Fighter, which went maybe not quite as well.  The then returned to smaller vehicles with a Landspeeder, which seemed to okay again.  Now they’re trying that slightly larger vehicle thing again, this time with a Snowspeeder, just in time to tie in with Empire‘s 40th Anniversary celebration.  And I’m taking a look at that bad boy today!

THE VEHICLE ITSELF

The Snowspeeder is part of Hasbro’s Empire Strikes Back 40th Anniversary subset of The Black Series.  As of right now, it’s the only vehicle of the year.  It also seems to have ditched the numbering scheme that was started with the TIE Fighter in 2015, which I suppose is appropriate given that the whole line is ditching the numbering set-up.  While the last few Star Wars vehicles I’ve grabbed from Hasbro have had some necessary assembly right out of the box, the Snowspeeder just needs the front guns clipped into place, making it a much simpler set-up.  The Snowspeeder measures 18 by 15, and while it doesn’t have quite the footprint and height of the TIE Fighter, it’s still quite a sizable piece, and appears to be properly scaled to the figures to boot (a big deal, since that almost never happens with anything larger than the smaller speeders).  You’ve got an easy time getting both figures into the cockpit, which is really the most important thing.  The detailing on the sculpt is all pretty darn solid.  The aforementioned cockpit is fully detailed inside, with fully formed seating, seat belts, and controls for the two occupants.  The exterior’s about what you expect for a Star Wars ship, with a lot of clean plates and such.  The drag fins can be lifted and extended, as seen in the film, and I really like how they work, so as to not cause any accidental damage when used.  There are additional fins on the lower rear of the ship, obviously for steering purposes.  There is also a removable panel on the ship’s right wing, exposing some of the inner workings beneath it, I guess for maintenance purposes?  Or perhaps even a bit of battle-damage in a pinch.  It’s a cool touch regardless.  There are a few other details hiding in the ship’s standard mode.  It’s got some landing gear, which works in pretty much the same way as the gear on the Vintage Collection X-Wing.  Also hiding is the ship’s tow-line, which they use to take down the AT-ATs.  It can be pulled from the back, and then you pop open a hatch on the underside of the ship to pull it back in.  It’s not very mechanically impressive or anything, but it also won’t be prone to breakage over time, so I can kind of see Hasbro’s angle on this one.  The paint work on the speeder is pretty solidly handled, with not only the base level details, but also simulated wear and tear, as well as smaller insignias and the like.  It looks quite cool.  The accent color scheme feels off in my mind, because I always think of those stripes being orange, but that’s prior toys coloring my view, I guess.  The Snowspeeder is packed with the grapple that Luke uses to get up to the AT-AT he takes down, as well as what I can only assume is supposed to be a grenade or something.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

“Dak Ralter, an eager young rebel pilot assigned to Hoth’s Echo Base, Dak served as Luke Skywalker’s tailgunner during the Battle of Hoth but was killed by Imperial fire that struck the back of the snowspeeder”

Luke’s ill-fated gunner Dak hasn’t been quite as privy to action figures as other characters, but is nevertheless an essential piece of any proper Snowspeeder set-up.  Without Dak, who’s gonna get shot in the face and get stepped on by a big robot camel take on the whole Empire himself?  Dak stands 6 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation.  Dak’s largely a re-use of the Snowspeeder gear Luke that was just single released.  It’s a sensible option, given that it’s a uniform, and Luke and Dak are supposed to be roughly the same height and build.  It also means that Dak makes use of a really solid sculpt that’s a lot of fun.  The one main change-up is, unsurprisingly, the new headsculpt.  He’s still got the insulating cap like Luke, though I feel it makes a bit more sense here.  The face looks to be a respectable recreation of Jon Morton’s likeness as seen in the film.  The paintwork for Dak is pretty much the same as Luke’s, albeit with the expected change to the face and to the insignias on the helmet.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Snowspeeders are one of my favorite OT vehicles, and I’m always down for a good toy version.  After the soft performance of the TIE fighter, I wasn’t really expecting to see the Snowspeeder show up in Black Series form.  I was definitely happy to see it crop up with this year’s Toy Fair showings, and was even more excited when Dak was shown alongside it.  Definitely one of the items from this anniversary collection that I was most anticipating.  It’s a fun piece to be sure, and I think has a little more intrigue to it that the TIE Fighter.  Hopefully others feel the same way.  Is it wrong for me to want an alternate color scheme speeder with a Wedge and Janson?  That’s not entirely crazy, right?

Thanks to my sponsors at All Time Toys for setting me up with this whole thing for review.  If you’re looking for Black Series, or other toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#2493: R2-D2 – Dagobah

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

R2-D2 — DAGOBAH

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

Can you believe that in the 133 Black Series reviews I’ve written, I haven’t yet looked at R2-D2?  That’s crazy, right?  Well, okay, not really, since I got my Series 1 figure a couple of months before starting the site, and obviously didn’t pick up the subsequent re-release for the 40th line.  They finally opted to actually do a slight variant to the character, so I can totally justify buying another figure, and I have the drive to actually review the mold.  Yay!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

R2-D2 (Dagobah) is another figure from Series 2 of the Empire Strikes Back 40th Anniversary sub-line of The Black Series line.  He’s the last “new” figure in the assortment, but as I touched on above, new is sort of relative here, since he’s just a repaint of the first R2.  He’s a little under 3 1/4 inches tall and has 10 points of articulation.  The movement is a little different on this figure.  He’s got fairly typical joints at the top of the legs and at the “ankles”, as well as an opening door on each side of his front, each with an articulated arm inside.  The head turns as well, but it’s connected to an action feature that drops his third leg down.  It’s surprisingly gimmicky for this line, and makes posing the head a little tricky, since getting it set just right can be a little counter intuitive.  I think leaving the feature out may have ultimately been better, but I suppose it’s not the worst concept.  Otherwise, the sculpt is a pretty impressive representation of R2.  It’s a solid rendition, and pretty sharply detailed.  The main selling point on this release, of course, is the paint, which this time around replicates R2 after he falls into the swamp after landing on Dagobah.  He’s pretty sufficiently grimy and gross.  My only gripe with it is that the third leg doesn’t get fully painted, so it’s slightly jarring when extended.  That said, I don’t believe R2 has the third leg out while on Dagobah, so I guess it’s technically accurate this way.  I think the grime helps to showcase the strengths of the sculpt a little better than the original release’s paint, so I definitely dig it.  The original R2 had quite an accessory assortment, covering attachments from six movies.  This one’s not quite as impressive, getting only the periscope attachment from the first release.  It’s not a huge surprise, given it’s the one we see him use in the movie, and this is supposed to be a specifically Empire-based and all.  You can still remove all of the panels and swap them with the accessories from the prior release as well, but he does end up feeling a touch light given that he still holds the same price tag as the original release.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As I’ve picked up more versions of the core OT cast in The Black Series, I’ve arrived at the point of having multiple displays with them from each film.  However, I still only had the one R2, and at the going rate for the standard, I certainly wasn’t picking up a second.  Fortunately, this guy came along and solved that problem for me.  He’s a little light on the accessories front, but I like the new paint job for sure.

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