Folks, we’re a little more than three months away from a brand new Star Wars movie and we already have action figures on the shelves! I’m very happy to see that Hasbro is continuing the 6-inch Black Series with characters from The Force Awakens, because it’s really the only Star Wars merch that I’m collecting with any gusto. Today I’m looking at the very first figure in the series and new film protagonist, Finn. But first, let’s check out some brand new package design!

I’ve made no bones about it, I’m not a big fan of the Star Wars Black packaging. It’s serviceable, but really boring. This new stuff, on the other hand, is pretty snazzy. Sure, the box is still mostly black, but adds a red side panel with the figure’s name and number to spice things up a bit. The diagonal cut on the front with the character art is nice and the red background really makes things pop. You also get a good look at the figure inside, and in this case, I’m looking at a gun that is sadly being warped by the way it’s been fitted into the tray.

We get a little blurb about Finn on the back of the box, but not much in the way of reveals. I think it’s safe to assume that he is a First Order Stormtrooper who sees the light and joins the Resistance. Or maybe not. But, if that proves to be true, I think it would be pretty cool. Either way, I’m looking forward to seeing what John Boyega has in store for us.

As the package tells us, this is Finn from the part of the film that will take place on the desert planet of Jakku. He’s wearing a black shirt and trousers, which… maybe could be the undergarment one would wear while wearing Stormtrooper armor? Mmm? Maybe? Wow, it’s going to be fun to re-read these speculative reviews after the movie has come out. Apart from that he’s got a jacket on that at first I thought might look a lot like Luke’s Yavin Celebration jacket, but on closer inspection… nope, not really. I was just reaching on that one. I will, however, note that we’ve already seen images of fellow protagonist and Resistance pilot, Poe Dameron wearing this same style jacket.

The sculpting on the outfit is very nicely done. The shirt is textured and you get plenty of wrinkles and stitching on the pants. The jacket is the usual vest with sculpted sleeves and in this case the illusion works very well. Detail on the jacket is a little soft, but you still get plenty going on there with rumples, pockets, a red shoulder pad, and some sort of badge or insignia bar on the left breast.

The portrait is a fairly good likeness, although a bit soft. I was a little concerned about the pictures, which showed the eyes painted to always be looking up. They are indeed like that, but it doesn’t bother me so much with the figure in hand. Finn has a pretty serious expression, which matches what we’ve seen in the trailer. I think this is going to be a pretty intense character. I’ve seen enough pictures to presume that I will be able to pop off this noggin and pop it onto a First Order Stormtrooper. I guess I’ll know for sure in a few days when I open up the Stormy. Otherwise, you don’t get a whole lot of paint on this figure, rather mostly colored plastic. There’s a light tan spray on his boots and pants cuffs to suggest he’s been tromping around in the sand.

Finn’s articulation is similar to what we’ve been seeing in this line. The arms have rotating hinges in the shoulders, elbows, and wrists. The legs are ball jointed at the hips, double hinged at the knees, and have swivels in the thighs. The ankles are hinged and have lateral rockers. There’s a ball joint in the torso and the neck is both hinged and ball jointed. All the joints on this guy feel great and they move like butter right out of the package. They’re also strong enough to hold him in a number of action poses.

Finn comes with one accessory, his gun, and frankly I don’t know what to make of this thing. It’s oversized in a kind of goofy Power of the Force 2 kind of way. The silver cone barrel reminds me a bit of the blasters used by the Rebels in A New Hope, but otherwise it doesn’t strike me as a very Star Wars-y weapon. It’s also almost the exact same color as his coat and I’ll be surprised if the gun is actually in the film and if it turns out to be this color. It feels like that was just the plastic they were already using so they kept it. It has a black paint wash, but still matches his jacket pretty closely. And yes, it did warp a bit in the package giving it a slightly droopy barrel.

For a line that has been all over the place in terms of quality, I have to say that Finn here is one of the better releases. He sports a solid sculpt and great articulation, and apart from some issues with the gun, I’ve got zero complaints. He may not be terribly exciting right now, as he’s just a guy we don’t know wearing a coat, but that’ll all change in three short months. Tomorrow, the speculation continues with a look at Rey and BB-8!