Tag Archives: The Force Awakens

#1133: Rey – Resistance

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

REY – RESISTANCE

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS

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I think it’s about time we had another theme week.  And, since this is my site, my word is law, so here’s another Star Wars week!  (That’s code for “Ethan’s been buying a lot of Star Wars stuff lately and sometimes it’s hard to space it all out).

Star Wars has long been keen on giving us lots of costume changes for the main characters (because it’s easier to sell more toys that way), and The Force Awakens did a little of that, giving each of the three main characters (and Han and Leia) at least two distinct looks.  As luck would have it, however, the only character who could have both looks represented in the initial TFA assortments without violating Disney’s strict embargo on certain parts of the film was Poe.  Now, for Finn, you could get his second look easily enough by swapping his head onto a standard Trooper, but this left poor Rey without a second figure until after the film’s release.  To make matters worse, the assortment featuring her was held up by the second assortment not moving at retail, meaning it took today’s Rey figure as much 10 months to show up in some areas.  That seems excessive.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

reyresistance1Rey was released as part of the second “Forest” assortment of Hasbro’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens figures.  She and the other two figures in the set technically hit in February, but as I noted in the intro, they didn’t arrive a lot of places until after the Rogue One stuff.  Rey is presented here in her Resistance garb from the end of TFA.  It’s only in the movie for like five minutes or so, but it’s there for the film’s final shots, and is a pretty sharp design in general, so it was begging for a figure.  The figure stands about 3 1/2 inches tall and has the usual 5 points of articulation.  Rey is head-to-toe a new sculpt; nothing re-used from her prior figures here.  Across the board, this figure’s sculpt is a pretty substantial improvement over the Starkiller Base version.  The proportions feel a bit more balanced, she doesn’t feel as frail, and the pose seems a bit more natural.  The vest is an add-on piece, and it adds some depth to the figure.  The head is probably the best Daisy Ridley likeness in the smaller scale (only the Titan Heroes figure is a challenger in terms of all the scales).  It’s still not perfect, but it’s a lot closer, I think mostly because rather than upscale the strands of hair at the sides of her face so they wouldn’t break (and thus making them look like braids or something), they just left them off, which looks much more accurate at this size.  Rey’s paint is generally pretty good, with one caveat on my figure.  The basic scheme is nice, and matches alright with what we see on screen.  There was some controversy about what the color of her vest should be, grey or tan.  It seems Hasbro went with the color of the actual costume, and didn’t replicate the effect of the lighting from the film.  It’s Han’s jacket all over again!  The application is mostly pretty clean, but my figure’s missing most of the paint representing the bottom of the shirt at the top of her left leg.  It’s really weird, because the app isn’t missing entirely; there’s a small sliver of it around the hip joint.  Not sure how it ended up like that.  Rey was packed with the blaster given to her by Han, Luke’s lightsaber, her staff, and a piece of the build-a-whatsit.  The blaster’s definitely the coolest piece.  The saber is neat too, though she never actually wields it ignited in this particular garb.  The staff is frustrating because it’s worked into the build-a-thing, and so it’s got this big block right in the middle of it, which is really annoying.  Sure, I’ve got several of them, but not everyone does.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve been on the lookout for this figure since January, to no avail.  I refused to pay scalper prices for her, so I held out that I might find her in an actual store.  Hasbro recently announced she’d be getting a re-release in a Target-exclusive 7-pack, so I figured that would be my ticket.  As luck would have it, while I was up visiting my parents for Halloween, I went to pick up my comics, and my store had just randomly gotten in a case of this series (these would be the first Force Awakens figures they’ve gotten).  So, hey, I’ve got a Resistance Rey!  Yay!  I really hope this is a sign of the series getting a wider release, because this is probably Hasbro’s best small-scale Rey. 

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#1112: Rey

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

REY (JAKKU)

STAR WARS: TITAN HEROES (HASBRO)

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Let’s talk disappointment.  No, wait, that’s not quite right, let’s talk misplaced expectations and poor decision making.  Shortly after the release of The Force Awakens last year, social media became aflutter with the hashtag #wheresrey.  After seeing the film, a number of people wanted to rush out and buy figures of Rey, the film’s unquestionable lead.  Unfortunately, as far as conventional figures went, there weren’t really any Reys to be found. No figures of the main character on shelves?  Foul villainy must be afoot!  …maybe not quite.  See, it’s important to note that #wheresrey started cropping up about a week after the film’s release.  Now, right after a film’s release, it’s not uncommon for figures from that movie to become a little scarce (for instance, a week after Pacific Rim came out, the figures were gone from shelves and commanding as much as three times their retail value on the aftermarket).  On top of that, the week after the movie came out, we also had this little event called Christmas, which has a tendency to leave toy aisles rather barren.  So, maybe expecting to find a ready supply of figures of the main character of one of the biggest movies of the decade the week of Christmas wasn’t the most realistic expectation.  That’s not to say Hasbro did everything spot-on, mind you.  While they did put out a number of Rey figures, she (and all the main characters barring Kylo in the 3 3/4-inch line and Finn in the 6-inch line) was only available in the initial assortments of figures, released three months prior to the movie.  What really kicked off the whole hashtag, though, was Rey’s absence from the Target-exclusive Titan Heroes 6-pack (and really, Titan Heroes as a whole).  Now, there are a number of credible reasons she was left out of this set, but ultimately, it’s the sort of thing that Hasbro should have avoided (and is looking to avoid in the future, if Rogue One has been any indication).  To their credit, one of the earliest items Hasbro released following the film’s release was a Titan Heroes version of Rey, who I’ll be looking at today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

reytitan2Rey was released in the second round of Force Awakens-based Star Wars: Titan Heroes, alongside a Stormtrooper Finn and the Fifth Brother from Rebels.  She’s wearing her Jakku gear that she spends the vast majority of the film wearing.  The figure stands just under 12 inches tall and she has 7 points of articulation.  Structurally, Rey is rather similar to her first 3 3/4 inch figure.  The only real difference is the size and the actual materials being used.  She’s made of a much harder plastic than the smaller figures, and her torso and legs are hollow, which makes her slightly weird feeling (and also a bit creaky when you move her).  Aside from being rather stiff, the sculpt on this figure is actually pretty strong.  The head is definitely the best part, and it gives us Hasbro’s best Ridley likeness so far.  It’s really spot on, in part, I think, because the strands of hair in front of her ears didn’t have to be sized up quite as much and thus don’t look like dreads or curls or something.  The rest of the body is all pretty solid work; not Hot Toys level or detail or anything, but still solid.  The paintwork on this figure is actually pretty impressive.  The base color work is all strong, but I think the best part is the subtle accent work on the skin-toned areas.  There’s just the slightest bit of a red hue there, and it makes her look incredibly lifelike.  There are still a few spots of bleed over here and there, and it’s worth noting that the harder plastic makes this figure more susceptible to paint scuffs, but for a $10 figure, this is pretty great work.  Rey included her staff, which, thanks to the wrist swivels, she can actually hold with two hands, albeit rather awkwardly.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I have to admit, because of the whole #wheresrey thing, I ended up buying just about every Rey I could get my hands on just to prove a point, and this figure was included.  I don’t actually have any of the other figures in this style, but beyond the novelty of it being another Rey figure, this figure really surpassed my expectations, and, from what I’ve seen looking at the other figures in stores, the quality of the rest of the line as a whole.

#1107: Captain Rex

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

CAPTAIN REX

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS

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Ever since The Force Awakens re-launched everything, I’ve been on a pretty serious Star Wars kick, and it’s only gotten worse with all the Rogue One stuff.  One of the things I’m finally getting around to as part of said kick is watching Star Wars: Rebels.  I gotta say, I don’t know why I put it off for so long, it’s definitely a fun show.  One of the cool things about the show is how it’s connecting its predecessor Clone Wars with the Original Trilogy, by bringing in a few of Clone Wars’ original characters.  One of my personal favorites from Clone Wars was clone Captain Rex, who appears in Rebels during the second season.  I haven’t gotten to him on the show just yet, but that didn’t stop me from picking up his action figure!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

rexrebels2Captain Rex is from the towards the tail-end of the Star Wars: The Force Awakens line.  He was part of the third Desert Gear assortment, alongside Unkar Plutt and FN-2187.  This assortment technically hit back in February, but most places didn’t see it until early summer.  Rex is based on his Rebels appearance, which is a fair bit removed from his Clone Wars look, what with it being 15 years later and all.  The figure stands about 3 3/4 inches tall and has the basic 5 points of articulation we’ve come to expect from the standard 3 3/4-inch stuff.  Rex’s sculpt is unique to him, and it does an alright job translating his show design into plastic form.  I wouldn’t mind a bit more fine detailing here and there, but the overall appearance matches up pretty well.  For some reason, Rex has been sculpted with his chest puffed out bit and his neck set back.  The only way to get him to look forward is to tilt the head down as far as it will go on the ball joint, and even then he’s still sort of looking upward.  I’m not sure why they handled him that way, and it makes posing him rather difficult.  In terms of paint, Rex is certainly well executed from at technical standpoint, with most of the paintwork being rather clean.  The real issue is that he’s actually too clean.  His show design has the armor looking rather disheveled, but on the figure that’s really limited to just the bottom of his boots.  He doesn’t look terrible by any means, but he isn’t quite as cool as he could be either.  Rex includes a pair of small blaster pistols, just like the ones he carried during Clone Wars, which can be stored in the holsters on his legs.  He also has his helmet, which seems slightly oversized, but is still pretty cool.  I especially like that he still has the tally marks that he was sporting towards the end of TCW.  Lastly, Rex has a piece of the build-a-whatsit thing.  It’s a staff that fires a missile.  It’s actually not as lame as prior pieces, but still not adding much value to the figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I actually picked up Rex before starting Rebels, back during the summer.  I was in upstate New York with Super Awesome Girlfriend and her aunt and uncle on an RV trip, and I found this guy at the local Walmart.  Not gonna lie, I partly bought him because he was one of the few figures there I didn’t have, and I was sort of going into withdrawal due to not having ready access to internet and being in a town with literally nowhere to buy action figures (apart from said Walmart).  That being said, I’d been intrigued by this figure since seeing his prototype at SDCC.  I’ve always had a soft spot for Rex, and I look forward to seeing him on the show. 

#1092: Kylo Ren – Unmasked

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

KYLO REN – UNMASKED

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

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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.

#1081: Poe Dameron & First Order Snowtrooper Officer

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

POE DAMERON & FIRST ORDER SNOWTROOPER OFFICER

STAR WARS: ROGUE ONE (HASBRO)

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Last Friday was Rogue Friday, Hasbro’s second attempt at the whole “Force Friday” thing they tried last year.  It marked the official launch of all of the Rogue One-related products.  However, in light of the fiasco that was last year’s Force Friday event, most stores decided to forego the midnight opening event, with only Toys R Us participating.  Super Awesome Girlfriend and I headed over to the closest TRU last Thursday night, and I picked up an assortment of Rogue One products.  Today I’ll be looking that the first of the bunch, Poe Dameron and the First Order Snowtrooper Officer.  Why are Poe and a First Order Snowtrooper in the Rogue One line?  Well, it’s because it’s been a well-kept secret of Rogue One actually involves the Snowtrooper Officer being sent back in time to kill Jyn Erso and prevent the birth of Resistance fighter Rey.  The only hope of stopping him was the Resistance’s own Poe Dameron, sent back to protect her.

Wait. Sorry, that’s actually the plot of Terminator.  My mistake.  Right.  Yeah, Poe and the Snowtrooper are just here because TFA product is still being released under the Rogue One banner, as is the case with most new Star Wars lines!  I doubt Poe’s really going to be in the movie.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Poe and the Snowtrooper Officer are one of the three 2-packs in the first Battle-Packs assortment in the Rogue One line.  Each line has one or two Force Awakens products peppered in and these two are that portion of the Battle-Packs.

POE DAMERON

snowtrooperpoe2I kinda love Poe Dameron.  He’s easily my favorite part of TFA.  So, I was pretty happy to see another Poe pop up with all the new figures.  Of the three new main characters, Poe ended up with the most distinct looks.  So far, we’ve gotten his jacketed look from the beginning of the film and his pilot look from later.  The only one missing is his dress uniform from the very end of the film, which is the look this figure replicates.  It’s admittedly a somewhat obscure look, since it’s really only seen in the one shot, but it’s cool to get it nonetheless.  The figure stands a little under 4 inches tall and he has the basic 5-points of articulation that everyone should be accustomed to with these new Star Wars figures.  Poe gets an all-new sculpt.  That means we get yet another attempt at Oscar Isaac’s likeness for the head.  It’s still not perfect, but I think this is the best version we’ve gotten from Hasbro yet.  The rest of the body does a good job of snowtrooperpoe5translating the uniform we see on screen into action figure form, at least from the few reference shots I’ve been able to find (seriously, this is a short-lived look).  One thing I do really like is that, even with it being a totally new sculpt, the pants and boots here are clearly the same ones on the jacketed figure.  That’s consistency!  The paint on this guy is alright, but not without issue.  Sadly, most of those issues are on the head (again), mostly dealing with the hairline (again).  It’s far from the worst paint I’ve seen from Hasbro, but it could definitely be better. On the plus side, at least he’s not as pale as some of the prior Poe figures!  The paint on the body is pretty solid, as well, which is good.  Poe includes a blaster pistol (the same as the one that came with his X-Wing pilot figure).  He is also the figure in this set who gets the big honking missile launcher.  Because Hasbro.

FIRST ORDER SNOWTROOPER OFFICER

snowtrooperpoe3Befitting the “VS” nature of the new two-packs, Poe’s pack-mate is a First Order Snowtrooper Officer.  He’s pretty much the same figure as the First Order Snowtrooper (reviewed here), but with an added shoulder pauldron.  That means he’s still about 4 inches tall and has those same 5 points of articulation as everyone else.  The Snowtrooper wasn’t a bad figure, but I’ve never been super into the Snowtroopers in general, so getting yet another isn’t exactly blowing my mind.  Seeing as Poe’s a pilot, wouldn’t a Tie Pilot be more appropriate?  I don’t know.  This guy has the same accessories as his predecessor, a blaster with an extended stock and a back pack.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, as noted in the intro, these guys came from Toys R Us’s midnight event for Rogue Friday.  Last year’s event was kind of a bust, so I wasn’t really sure what to expect this time around, and only even decided to participate a day or so in advance.  Super Awesome Girlfriend and I showed up at the closest TRU at about 11:30 last Thursday night, and we were only the third people in line.  I had a very pleasant conversation with the two guys in front of me (both older fans who were amused that someone my age was out for such an event).  At 12:01, the doors opened, I made my way to the action figure aisle, and picked up most of the figures I wanted, this set included.  I even got a free t-shirt!  A hugely improved experience over last year.

As far as the actual figures?  Well, the Snowtrooper’s kind of blah, but I like the new Poe figure a lot.  He might actually be my favorite of the smaller Poe’s we’ve gotten, even if he is in his briefly seen outfit from the end.  Silver lining: now my TFA Leia isn’t all lonely in her final scene outfit!

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#1072: Poe Dameron

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

POE DAMERON

STAR WARS: ELITE SERIES (DISNEY)

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Man, it’s hard to believe it’s been over a year since The Force Awakens product started hitting shelves.  This Friday, we’ll be seeing another midnight release, this time around for the products from Rogue One.  With Force Awakens, there was a lot of product being released in a relatively short span of time, so it was a little difficult to keep track of it all.  The main characters were available in a variety of scales, from a few different manufacturers.  Of course, I’ve looked at Hasbro’s 3 3/4-inch and 6-inch lines, but the Disney Store also got in on the action, offering a line of die cast figures (die cast is just all the rage right now).  The line more or less slipped under my radar.  I knew it existed, but wasn’t quite aware of the depth of the line until rather recently, which is why I’m only just now reviewing my first figure from the line, Poe Dameron.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

poedamdiecast3Poe is from the second round of the Disney Store-exclusive Star Wars: Elite Series.  He was released to coincide with the movie’s release back in December, and was the last of the film’s three leads to make it into the line (Poe’s absence from the first series of so many of the lines is a bit odd, especially given how popular the character proved to be.  Perhaps Disney under-estimated his appeal).  The figure stands about 7 inches tall (placing him roughly in scale with most of NECA’s output, as a reference), and he has 16 points of articulation.  He’s also reeeallly heavy, thanks to all that metal.  His torso, pelvis, arms, and legs are all metal, with plastic being used for the head, hands, feet, poedamdiecast4belt/tubes, and a few of his joints.  Poe’s certainly constructed from a lot more metal than a lot of die cast items, which is actually pretty cool.  It results in the figure being a little less posable than I might like, but the sheer heft of this guy is pretty nifty, and you can still manage some decent poses.  As far as the sculpt goes, Poe’s overall not bad, but not without a few issues.  On a whole, the details seem a little soft.  I’m not sure if it’s the sculpt or the paint, but he’s got a certain animated feel too him.  I’m also not really a fan pf the left hand, which looks a little like it was replaced by an inflated latex glove, due to the weird, puffy absence of a palm.  Possibly the most notable issue is more a construction thing than anything.  In poedamdiecast2order to be properly assembled, Poe needs to have 9 visible screws on his back, apparently.  That seems a little excessive to me, but I could be wrong.  At the very least, they aren’t visible from the front.  Moving past those issues, I think Poe’s actually got a pretty decent sculpt.  In particular, the head, I feel, is a better Oscar Isaac than we’ve seen elsewhere.  It’s still not perfect (it would appear he’s the Harrison Ford of the new trio in that respect), but it looks pretty good.  Poe’s paint is alright, though it’s kind of basic in terms of color, and a little sloppy in more than a few areas.  It’s also quite thick.  Plus, I’ve already noticed one or two chips on mine, which is slightly frightening.  I’ll be interested to see how it holds up in the long run.  Poe included his small blaster, his helmet, and a display stand.  The blaster and the stand are both pretty cool, but the helmet is a slight letdown, due to the opaque nature of the visor, and the fact that Poe actually can’t wear it. 

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got Poe from the Disney Store that was in the same mall as the Apple Store where I was buying my new computer.  I actually wasn’t aware that they had made a Poe in this line, so he was a nice surprise find.  He’s not a perfect figure but I think he might be my favorite Poe straight out of the box (my amalgamation of the two Black Series Poes is still my favorite overall, though).  Poe is still my favorite part of TFA, so it was really cool to find a new Poe to buy.

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#0997: Captain Phasma

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

CAPTAIN PHASMA

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

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With the dust very definitely settled from The Force Awakens, it does seem that people went a little crazy over Captain Phasma. She was a perfectly entertaining character, and she definitely had a cool design, but there wasn’t much more than that. Which definitely upset some people. I had no real expectations, so I wasn’t let down. I would like to see more of her in the next one, though (especially after catching up on Game of Thrones and finding out just how awesome Gwendoline Christie can be), so here’s hoping. Phasma’s gotten at least one figure in each of The Force Awakens’ many lines, with the latest being from the smaller Black Series line-up.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

PhasmaSmall2Phasma is the last of the three figures that make up the fourth series of Walmart’s exclusive 3 ¾-inch Star Wars: The Black Series. The figure stands a pretty sizeable 4 ¼ inches tall and has 26 points of articulation. Her design is quite similar to the First Order Stormtrooper, but the actual figure is a fair bit sturdier than the smaller Trooper, which is much appreciated. There’s plenty of great fine detail work (the helmet once again stands out), and the proportions are pretty nicely balanced. My only complaint is less about ther sculpt and more the way the figure was packaged: her shins are quite bowed, which makes keeping her standing quite difficult. The cape (which is a sculpted add-on) is thinner and less obstructive than the larger figure’s cape, which is good. It’s a little odd, since the aesthetics of this series so far have dictated cloth capes and such, but I can’t say I mind the sculpted piece. Like her two previous figures from Hasbro, this Phasma goes for flat silver paint, in place of the more chrome stylings of the movie. I’m still a little bummed by that, but it’s a little more acceptable on a more articulated figure such as this one. In spite of the flatter finish, the paintwork here is pretty solid. There’s a bit of bleed over on some of the black/silver changeovers, but that’s all pretty minor. Phasma is packed with her usual custom blaster, which she can hold much better than the troops she commands could hold theirs.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As with Han and Leia, Phasma was purchased for me by Super Awesome Girlfriend. As with all the Phasmas I’ve looked at so far, I really like this one. I think the 6-inch one is still my favorite of the three versions, but this one’s still really solid, and I think she’s my favorite of the Series 4 figures!

#0996: Han Solo

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

HAN SOLO

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

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Continuing off of what I said about Leia and Han yesterday: given the sizeable role of Han in The Force Awakens, it was no shock that he was the first of the pair to get added to the toyline.  It was a bit surprising that he was not offered in the higher-end 3 ¾ inch line, though.  However, that’s something that Hasbro has now amended, if perhaps not quite in the way we were expecting.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

HanStarkiller2Like Leia, Han was released in the fourth series of Walmart’s exclusive 3 ¾ inch Star Wars: The Black Series.  This is the second Han in this line (though the first one was from Jedi) and the third Force Awakens Han overall.  So, how is this not quite the Han we were expecting?  Well, in case you hadn’t noticed, he’s wearing his cold weather gear, which Han has for (parts of) the attack on Starkiller Base.  It’s not a look that he has for long, and it’s certainly less of a signature look than the black jacket. With that being said, it’s far less of an issue with Han than it was with Leia, since this isn’t Han’s first figure from TFA and it’s also not a bad look.  The figure is about 4 inches tall and has 24 points of articulation.  The sculpt isn’t quite as good as his 6-inch counterpart, but it’s not bad.  The body definitely gets the best work, with tons of really great texturing on the jacket in particular.  I’m also glad that the holster can be plugged and unplugged from his leg, allowing for some additional movement that the prior Han did not.  I’m having trouble seeing much Harrison Ford in the head, but I think that may have more to do with paint than anything else.  Structurally, the head sculpt doesn’t look too far off from the 6-inch version, which was pretty good.  So, about that paint.  It could definitely be better.  The body isn’t bad, but the head is a bit of a mess.  Ignoring the brown hair (which seems to be a licensing thing), the application on the eyes is just off.  They’re not properly placed and they’re at least twice as big as they should be.  Han’s definitely got the crazy eyes going on.  The brown hair and larger eyes also have the misfortune of making him look far younger than he should, which is not what you want from an old-man Han.  Han includes his blaster pistol, which is nicely sculpted and very well painted.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Just as with Leia, I didn’t find Han at any of the Walmarts near me.  In fact, I didn’t find him at all: Super Awesome Girlfriend did!  Han’s a figure that could definitely use some improvement.  He had a high bar to clear after the truly amazing 6-inch Han, and he didn’t quite do it.  That being said, he’s certainly not a bad figure.  I’d be curious to see if a better paint job could breathe some new life into him.

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#0995: Princess Leia Organa

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

PRINCESS LEIA ORGANA

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

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When the initial few waves of The Force Awakens product hit, the old guard of characters were largely absent, despite the large role of Han Solo in the film, and the decently-sized (and certainly incredibly important) role of Leia Organa. Around February of this year, Han found his way into both the 3 ¾ and 6 inch-scale lines, but Leia was still noticeably absent. Until now, that is!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

LeiaTFA2Princess Leia was released in the fourth series of the Force Awakens-themed 3 ¾ inch Star Wars: The Black Series, a line which remains exclusive to Walmart. So, first bone of contention with this figure: the name. In the movie, it’s kind of a point that Leia’s not really royalty any more, and she’s almost exclusively referred to as “General Organa.” It’s a small thing, but it’s an important change for her character. The fact that the box just lists her as “Princess Leia Organa” is kind of annoying (and doubly so, since there’s already another figure in this line with that *exact* name, which is just confusing everybody). Of course, the name’s pretty easy to move past, since I didn’t keep her in the package. What’s a little less easy to move past is the costume choice. Leia spends most of her screen time in a military uniform, which is not unlike her look from the Endor scenes in Jedi. She then spends about 5 minutes at the very end of the movie in a blue dress. We got the blue dress look, which I can’t say is my favorite. Alas, I don’t work for Hasbro, so I guess I’ll just deal. The figure stands about 3 ½ inches tall and has 22 points of articulation. She can get some decent motion out of her arms and neck, so that’s good. For what it’s worth, there’s a full body sculpt under her dress (she’s keeping it modest with a full-body stocking), articulated legs and all. The legs are rather limited, both by the obtrusive dress piece and by the decision to only give her cut joints at her hips.  Just as in the movie, her dress has a two-piece design, with the outer “jacket” being made from soft plastic and the under dress being real cloth. They mesh together pretty well, and it’s sort of a best of both worlds thing, preserving look and some of the movement as well. Issues with the design aside, I will admit that this is a pretty solid sculpt. The head captures Carrie Fisher pretty nicely, and I like the small texture details on the sculpted parts of the dress quite a bit. Leia actually doesn’t have much paint, with most of the dress being molded in the same blue. She gets some paint on her head, obviously. It’s not terrible, but it could certainly be better, especially the eyes. Leia includes no accessories, which is a bit of a bummer.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve not had much luck with getting the Walmart-exclusive Black Series figures in my area, so I’ve yet to see any of these figures near me. However, Super Awesome Girlfriend is not cursed like me, and ended up just finding Leia by accident one day. Yay for me! I’ll be honest: this isn’t the Leia figure I was hoping for. Her other Force Awakens look is far more action figure-worthy, and would just make for an all-around better figure. With that said, this figure isn’t terrible, and I’ll definitely take this over no Leia at all. Here’s hoping the other version’s on the way.

#0965: Takodana Encounter

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

MAZ KANATA, REY, FINN, & BB-8

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS

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It’s hard to believe it’s been six months since The Force Awakens hit theatres. What’s harder to believe is that finding the figures from the film hasn’t gotten any easier, despite Hasbro putting out several new pack-outs of figures. It seems like every store I go to has the same 6 figures they’ve had since last October. Fortunately, there are a few new products trickling in, giving us a few characters who were missing from initial assortments. One of the film’s more popular additions to the mythos was Maz Kanata, a well-traveled bar owner who seems poised to be the next Yoda (well, if Luke doesn’t beat her to it!). She’s been mostly absent from the various toy lines (she was in a Lego set, but that’s it), but Hasbro’s finally put out their own figure of her. Of course, you have to buy three other figures to get it, but that’s not the point.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Takodana6Maz, Rey, Finn, & BB-8 were released in the “Takodana Encounter” set as part of Hasbro’s 3 ¾-inch line of Star Wars: The Force Awakens figures. Maz is the only new figure included, and the other three are re-packs. Rey includes a lightsaber that her single release didn’t have, but other than that these three are the same figures I reviewed here, here, and here.

MAZ KANATA

Takodana2Maz stands about 2 ½ inches tall and she has the standard 5 points of articulation. Her sculpt is 100% new to her, and it does a pretty admirable job of translating her on-screen appearance into toy form. The head should perhaps be a touch larger than it is, but other than that, they’ve got her pretty much down. Despite her smaller stature, this figure still has quite a bit of detail work, especially on the shirt and vest. Perhaps the only minor drawback I can think of is that the goggles aren’t articulated. They’re still separate pieces, so she’s got fully detailed eyes under there, the lenses are just fixed at the sides. As it stands, the goggles are just the slightest bit misaligned, which a tiny bit annoying. Maz’s paintwork is decent, if not quite as good as the sculpt. The colors are a little TakoDana3brighter than what we see on screen, but not so much so that it stands out as a bad thing. While areas such as the face and feet are quite expertly detailed, there’s some rather noticeable slop right around her belt, where the green of the shirt goes down too far and the yellow of the belt is rather thinly applied. All in all, though, she looks pretty good. Maz includes a blaster, an unlit lightsaber, and a box of junk for the saber to be placed in. That’s a pretty great assortment of pieces, and I love that we finally got a 3 ¾-inch Force Awakens figure without a useless build-a-thingy piece.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This set was given to me by my friends Cindy and Lance Woods as a graduation gift, which was very thoughtful of them. I had been wanting to pick this set up, since Maz is one of my favorite parts of the new movie. Maz is undoubtedly the main focus of this set, and I personally feel the whole purchase was warranted just for her, but I can understand why others might feel a little taken advantage of. For new fans, this is a fantastic starter set. For fans who have been following the line the whole time, being forced to buy another Rey, Finn, and BB-8 is probably a little frustrating. That said, one can hardly fault Hasbro for offering another way to get Rey, and I can’t imagine it would be too had to find someone who wants the three repeat figures.

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