Dec 11 2017

Marvel Legends (Gladiator Hulk Wave): Lady Thor by Hasbro

Here we go, folks, today I’m opening up the final figure in the Gladiator Hulk Wave of Marvel Legends, and it’s Lady Thor! or Jane Foster Thor? or Fake Thor!?! I’m going to confess that I’ve re-written the intro to today’s review a couple of times, while waffling back and forth about how heavy handed I want to get with how the character of Jane Foster as Thor relates to the dumpster fire that is Marvel Comics these days. Ultimately, I decided to let a lot of it go, but I did just want to drop one editorial comment to Marvel here: It’s a wonderful thing to want to create more female characters as comic book A-Listers. It’s another thing to have to replace beloved existing characters with them. In the infinite world of comics, you don’t have to tear one thing down to build another. And if you do, don’t be surprised about the rage that you incur. I’d also suggest that there are a lot of great existing female characters in the Marvel lexicon that deserve engaging and well-written books of their own. And that’s where I’m going to leave it.

OK! Back to toys! And here’s Jane in the box, and once again thanks to some beefy BAF parts, we get a pretty damn heavy package. And thanks to this leg and shoulder armor, I’ll finally be able to complete my Champion of Sakaar and put him together later on tonight. But first things first, let’s get Jane out of the box and check her out. Oh yeah, I should note that like Thor Odinson, a variant of this figure was also included in the SDCC Battle for Asgarde set, which still sits over there unopened in the corner. I’ll get to it eventually.

Whatever issues I have with the character, I cannot deny that Jane is sporting some kick-ass Femme-Thor cosplay. I love this character design, that’s the main reason I’ve actually been excited to get this figure in hand, and I have to say it does not disappoint. The costume features several layers of Norse fashion starting with a painted black body suit, a skirt-like half-cape and belt cast in soft plastic, a silver breast plate layered on top of the buck, and a silver wrist guard on her left arm with individual sculpted straps and a partial black glove painted on the arm. Her lower legs feature sculpted wraps, silver boots, and separate winged pieces, like armored spats. I love the complexity here. The design really shines, and Hasbro did a fabulous job with it. The paint quality here is pretty fab as well. The silver paint they used on her armor looks great over the hammered finish. It’s also used on her boots, the studs on her belt, her arm guard, and even the tiny buckles on the straps.

Jane also sports a billowing cape, which pegs into her back and appears to float over her shoulders just like Classic Thor’s cape. There are two silver discs that position over her shoulders, but it’s a little tough to see them with her hair in the way. The cape does make her a little back heavy, but since it touches the ground in the center it also serves as a support for her.

The head sculpt is every bit as complex as the rest of the outfit. The helmet covers most of her head, leaving just her mouth and chin exposed. It’s cast in silver plastic, but it matches the paint for the chest plate fairly well. It also features a gold decoration on the front, and two sweeping side pieces that resemble wings. Jane’s eyes are represented as black with two silver pupils, which is more than a bit creepy, and her lips are neatly painted. The sandy blonde hair spills out from the bottom of the helmet and around her shoulders, but hardly hinders the neck articulation at all.

And speaking of articulation, here’s a rundown on what Jane’s got. The legs feature ball joints in the hips, double hinges in the knees, swivels in the thighs, and both hinges and lateral rockers in the ankles. The arms have rotating hinges in the shoulders, elbows, and wrists, and she has swivels in the biceps. She has a ball joint just under her chest and both a hinge and ball joint in the neck.

Of course, Jane comes with Mjolnir, which she can hold comfortably in her right hand. the left hand is balled into a fist. This is a familiar looking sculpt, and while I don’t have any of the others handy, I’m sure it’s recycled from a past Thor figure. I’ve got no problem with that, because it looks great.

In what has been a very solid assortment of figures, Lady Thor holds her own as a top contender for my favorite in the wave. The excellent character design translates beautifully to figure form and I believe I would have a lot more fondness for this version of Jane Foster if she hadn’t usurped Thor’s name and if Marvel’s current crop of writers were actually turning out compelling and entertaining reads. I didn’t intentionally save this figure for last, but it turns out to be a great way to end this look at such an excellent wave. Join me back here tonight and we’ll check out the Build-A-Figure of the wave… Gladiator Hulk!

Dec 10 2017

Star Wars Rogue One: TIE Striker by Hasbro

I’ve got one more vehicle to squeeze in today and if you haven’t sensed an overpowering theme of Rogue One this weekend, then surprise… it’s from Rogue One. What can I say, other then I loved this movie and picked up a lot of the toys, not least of all this spiffy new TIE Fighter. And it felt good, because poor reviews and high prices kept me away from the X-Wing and TIE Fighter from The Force Awakens. Suffice it to say, I’ve been jonesing for a new iconic starfighter and I was hoping this was going to be it!

The TIE Striker comes in a mostly enclosed box with a little window to show off the included TIE Fighter pilot figure. You get some exciting artwork on the front showing the ship in action and plenty of pictures of the actual toy on the back. And if you didn’t notice the Nerf logo, then you should be prepared, as this is indeed one of them Nerf Ships. I actually get a kick out of the way they incorporate the Nerf gimmick into the artwork and manage to still make it look cool. The toy does require a bit of assembly, including snapping the bottom piece onto the hull and locking both wings into their sockets. And while the box is technically collector friendly, once together this ship is not really designed to come apart again, and it sure isn’t going back into the box. Let’s start with a quick look at the figure.

I’m tempted to just say, if you’ve seen one TIE Pilot then you’ve seen them all, but I don’t want to dismiss this figure so quickly, because it is extremely well done. The sculpt is crisp and detailed, especially the helmet and the control box. You also get some nice texturing and rumpling to the flight suit. Obviously, he’s mostly black, but you do get a mix of matte black for the suit and glossy black for the boots, gloves, helmet, and vest pieces. The paint is overall very good, particularly on the chest box and the belt. The only place this figure disappoints is that the Imperial insignia on his helmet are not even. I had a similar issue with my 6-inch Black Series AT-AT Driver and it’s pretty damn frustrating. Doubly so here, because the figure came with a vehicle, so it isn’t as easy to just pick up another one on card.

The TIE Pilot does come with a standard E-11 Blaster. He can hold it in either hand, but there’s no holster for him to put it in. That’s all I have to say about this guy. If it weren’t for the insignia slip up, he’d be absolutely perfect. Moving on to the ship itself..

The TIE Strikers are experimental fighters designed to specialize in atmospheric operations and feature two wing configurations to make them more effective at their job. The above position shows the fighter with its wings locked into the regular flight mode. I have to say that straight out of the box, I was impressed and surprised with the quality of this toy. Having handled Hasbro’s fighters from The Force Awakens and experiencing the X-Wing’s tiny size and floppy guns, and the First Order TIE Fighter’s easily warped panels, I wasn’t expecting anything decent here. As it turns out, this is TIE Fighter that can hang with the best of them. The ship has a great heft to it, and measuring at 17-inches long, it probably isn’t perfectly scaled to the 3 3/4-inch figures, but it still feels satisfyingly large. If you know what it’s like to swoosh around Hasbro’s TIE Interceptor, then you’ll have a good idea what to expect with this baby in hand.

As for the sculpt and detail, you get plenty of panel lines, hatches, vents, and other bits and bobbins scattered about the hull. The wing panels feature that familiar black textured grill pattern seen on the other Hasbro TIE fighters. The wing panels do have a little flex to them, but not enough for them to warp easily, and mine came straight right out of the box. Now, if I were going to be storing this thing in a tote for a while, I’d take some precautions to make sure they lay flat, but otherwise, I don’t have any worries about wing warping. The front canopy is clear plastic with a sculpted framework.

When the wings are locked in the cruising position, all you have to do is flick the switch on the back to spring them down into the attack position. Yes, if you want to put them back up you have to do it manually.

The bottom of the craft has sculpted points to make contact with the ground, so the TIE Striker can be displayed in a landed position with the wings up or down.

Despite the elongated, pill-shaped body of the hull, there’s only room for one figure in the cockpit, and I’m pretty sure these were also one-seaters in the film. The cockpit features a lot of great detail in the sculpt, including the chair and all the instruments and controls flanking the pilot on both sides. It seems like there should be a control stick or steering column or something in there, but what we got still looks pretty damn good.

The cockpit offers plenty of room for the figure to fit in there comfortably. That may seem like a silly thing to have to point out, but I remember some of the ships from The Force Awakens had issues fitting the figures inside, and we’ll also see the same issue on at least one of The Last Jedi ships when I get around to reviewing it.  You also get a little notch on the top of the cockpit hatch to store the pilot’s gun. OK, I’ve put it off long enough… let’s flip this baby upside down and talk about Nerf!

In theory, I think the concept of putting firing Nerf darts on the ships is a noble one. It definitely adds play value, and I can see it adding a lot of fun to the dynamic of swooshing these around the room and dog-fighting with another Nerf equipped fighter. But my cardinal rule of toy gimmicks has always been that the gimmick shouldn’t be a detriment to the toy itself. Easy enough… make the Nerf guns detachable, right? Well, Hasbro didn’t do that. Now with all that having been said, the Nerf gimmick does not really spoil this toy for me at all.

The Nerf cannon doesn’t look too out of place on the TIE Striker, and I can just write it off as being the Proton Bomb Launcher that’s supposed to be equipped on these fighters. Of course, you also get clips on the bottom of the wings to hold additional Nerf darts. These are a little more of an eye sore, but they still look like they could be the normal type of bomb payload you would see on a real aircraft. I actually think they look better with the Nerf darts in them acting as Proton Bombs. Would I rather they left this out? Yup. But I’m not going to let it ruin what is an otherwise lovely toy.

I seem to recall the TIE Striker originally retailed around $40-50. That seemed like crazy money, especially in light of how disappointing The Force Awakens fighters were. Now that I have it in hand, I can at least say it feels like it’s in the right ballpark, because I don’t think the TIE Interceptor was much cheaper back when it was released, and the two are quite comparable in size and quality. And whether you like it or not, you have to figure that the Nerf gimmick is upping the price a bit as well. Granted, I picked up this baby on Amazon for $16, so my sense of value is going to be a hell of a lot more favorable. The bottom line, this toy feels like a return to the quality of the good old days, and it deserves a place on the shelf with some of the better fighters that Hasbro put out over the years.

And that’s going to wrap up this 5-POA Star Wars Weekend. It felt good to get a chance to pull out all of these figures and toys and finally give them their due here on FFZ. Granted, I didn’t get to cover everything I wanted to, so I may very well be extending this thing into next weekend, but on a much smaller scale as I pick up the odds and ends that I still want to look at. But for now, I’m wiped and I still have to do a couple write ups for tomorrow’s Marvel Monday, so I’ll see y’all tomorrow.

Dec 10 2017

Star Wars “The Last Jedi:” Island Journey Rey, General Leia Organa, and DJ by Hasbro

The morning has slipped away and Star Wars Weekend is drawing to a close. I’ve got just a couple more updates to do, and seeing as how I did this as a lead up to The Last Jedi releasing at the end of the week, it seemed only right to squeeze one more batch of figures from the new film. Luckily, I stumbled upon a piece of the most recent wave just a few days ago with “Island Journey” Rey, General Leia, and DJ, and I snapped them up. I was hoping to get the second version of Luke in here as well, but it just wasn’t in the stars.

I’ll say once again how much I love the packaging for this line. The character art is great, the white and red deco looks clean and sharp and is no doubt a reference to the Red Dust that we see on the planet Crait in the trailers. And in just under a week these won’t be mysteries any longer! The packages also remind us that all of these figures are compatible with the Force Link device, but having had some hands-on time with one, I doubt I’ll be buying it unless when they hit deep clearance. OK, let’s get on with the figures, and I’m going to start with Rey!

This version of Rey is dubbed “Island Journey” so it’s safe to assume she’s wearing this on the island where she finds Luke. She comes wearing a soft plastic cloak with the hood sculpted down her back. It’s more than a little bulky and none to flattering as a fashion statement. There are cut-outs so she can raise her arms while she’s wearing it. Also since the front of it ends at her belt, she can technically still sit down in it, but the back hanging down to her ankles means, she can’t wear it while sitting in a vehicle. Thankfully, this plastic garment is also removable, so let’s pop her head and see what’s going on underneath!

And we have is more or less Resistance Rey from The Force Awakens, which I just looked at a couple of reviews ago so I’ll spare you all the details again. The new deco features the pants and jacket going from tan to more of a two-tone gray, and her tunic underneath is more cream colored than light gray. Her boots have also gone from brown to gray. I’m going to go out on a limb and presume that this is meant to be the same outfit that she wore at the end of TFA, but for creative reasons, they switched up the palate on it. I actually approve of the change, because I felt it was weird how Rey would choose a new outfit that matches the coloring of her Jakku robes almost exactly. No one is that is that crazy about tan as a color. I don’t know what to tell you about the head sculpts. They keep changing them up, but they never really hit it right.

In a surprise to absolutely no one, Rey comes with her blaster and Luke’s lightsaber. The blaster is the same one that Han gave her in TFA and we’ve seen several times so far. Both Hasbro and Rey are sure getting their mileage out of that little gun! She still has a functional holster to store it in and she can also hold it in either hand. The lightsaber is the same too, with a permanently ignited blade. This version of Rey is the first figure in the line that I feel I could have skipped and not really missed out on anything. Not terrible, but not really worth hunting down, in my opinion. Truth be told, I was just so excited to find her in the wild, that I never thought twice about whether she was worth picking up. Moving on to General Leia…

I was rather surprised to find General Leia swinging on the pegs, because the distribution here often sucks and for a while everyone seemed to be hunting her. Obviously, this is not what I think of when I think of a General’s uniform, but rather stately robes that better promote her as a Princess or someone of high political importance. That having been said, it’s a pretty nice sculpt, with texturing on the outer cloak, and a little gold paint on the end of her right sleeve. I also actually think the likeness for this one is pretty good.

And the cloak is easily removable, by just slipping it off through the arm holes. Although I can’t say why I would want to do that, because it looks great on her.

Leia also comes with a blaster pistol and it looks like the design is trying to mimic the one she had in A New Hope. I’ll actually be surprised if she winds up brandishing a weapon in The Last Jedi, but like I said in an earlier review, I’m never going to quibble over getting an extra gun with my figures. Alright, let’s turn our attention to the last figure, DJ.

In a Universe of some pretty creative names, DJ is not one of my favorite Star Wars character monikers. I’ll hate it even more if he winds up actually being a DJ and that’s what they call him. Yes, this is the one of those figure based on a character that we know little about, and that’s a wonderful thing. I have such fond memories of that magical time speculating about Star Wars figures and what their characters will be like in the movie. For example, Squid Head was a high profile Rebel spy who was the centerpiece of all my old Star Wars adventures until I finally saw the movie and he was hardly in it. I didn’t even spot him at all until Return of the Jedi hit VHS and I could really scrutinize the scenes. Ah, but DJ is played by the always awesome Benicio Del Toro, so I’m sure he’ll be a character of some consequence. For now all we know is that he’s based in the City of Canto Bight on the planet Cantonica.

I’m talking a lot about the character because I don’t have a lot to say about the figure. He’s cool figure, but nothing outrageously exciting. He features a long trench coat with plenty of sculpted detail and some nice gold line-work on his lapels. The likeness is non-existent, but if it’s any consolation, he does come with a blaster to make up for it. Seriously, I got nothing else. I’m hoping seeing the movie will make this figure more interesting to me.

So, these are all solid figures, but so far this wave doesn’t have the wow factor of the first wave. General Leia is definitely the stand out favorite of this trio and I’m glad to see her getting a figure this time around. Did she even get one in The Force Awakens? I can’t remember, but if she did I never came across it. Second place would be a toss up between Rey and DJ and I’ll give DJ the edge just because he isn’t a repaint in a smock. I should point out here that I’ve picked up a few more figures and vehicles from The Last Jedi this weekend, so I may have to extend this to next weekend and check out some of that. Ah, but I’m getting ahead of myself, and I still have one more review to go before I can put this weekend marathon to bed.

Dec 10 2017

Star Wars “The Force Awakens:” Resistance Outfit Rey, Stormtrooper Finn, Unkar Plutt, and Tasu Leech by Hasbro

OK, folks… After dunking my head in ice water and snorting a line of coffee grinds with a crisp dollar bill, I’m ready to press on with this marathon of 5-POA Star Wars goodness. This time I’m going back to The Force Awakens and opening up another random four figures. I’m fresh out of pithy things to say in the introduction, so let’s just get to it…

I believe three of these figures were fairly late releases, but I’m not sure about Finn. I remember almost getting suckered into buying his Deluxe figure with the goofy armored head and shoulders, but then I realized he didn’t come with the regular helmet and backed off. At this point, it should go without saying that I really love these card designs. The character art is just fantastic, and if your a MOC collector, these heavy duty, multi-layered cardbacks don’t bend or crease easily. Note that each figure is color coded from when they were still releasing these as Desert Mission or Ice Mission or Jungle Mission. I was never a fan of that or the Build-A-Weapon parts, but as we’ll soon see, some of those parts weren’t all bad. Let’s start with Rey!

This figure was freaking impossible to find when it first came out and I’ll confess that I almost paid a lot of money for her. Thankfully I held off and eventually got her on clearance. And that was probably for the best, because she only wears this outfit at the very end of the film, and it doesn’t look like she’ll be wearing it very long in The Last Jedi, or at least that’s my takeaway from the trailer. The likeness here isn’t great, but it’s better than the mug on my Jakku Rey with her huge 1980’s anime character eyes. From the neck down, everything is pretty good. I like the separate vest, and the belt with functional holster. There’s some nice sculpted detail in the reinforced pads on her knees and the backs of her forearms. It’s a little weird how the color scheme matches her Jakku outfit exactly, but that’s the costume design and not the figure’s fault.

Rey comes with more than a few accessories. For starters, she has the little pistol that Han gave her and somehow I managed to not lose this one. She also comes with her staff, which in this case is a little weird. It doesn’t have the carry strap, but it does have a weird box in the middle of it. That’s so that it can be integrated into the Build-A-Weapon thing, which is a shame. Then again, I’ve already got two of these staffs from the other Rey figures. The last of the regular accessories is Luke’s lightsaber, and wow does that blade look extra long to me!

Rey’s BAW piece is a blaster rifle with a shoulder stock. It actually isn’t a bad looking weapon, but she can’t hold it very well. Maybe one of my other figures will have to inherit it. Moving on to Stormtrooper Finn…

There’s not a hell of a lot to say about this figure, except how much I’d love to hear the conversations this figure inspires in the toy aisle. “Mommy, what’s all that red on his helmet for?” “That’s a bloody hand print from his dying comrade who reached out to his friend to save him from the darkness of eternal death.” Hey, the little kids need to learn about that shit eventually. Yup, this is basically just a First Order Stormtrooper with a bloody helmet. It looks good, and he comes with his standard issue blaster, which can tab into the slot on his right leg.

Of course, the helmet comes off and we get a Finn head under it. Most of Hasbro’s 3 3/4-inch Finns have been good likenesses and this one is too. Hell, it’s probably the same head.

Finn’s BAW accessory is freaking awesome. It’s this steampunk looking blaster cannon with some nice copper paint accents. It’s ridiculously large, and the only way Finn can hold it and remain vertical is to put him on a stand. This thing looks like it would be right at home mounted on the railing of Jabba’s Sail Barge. The peg hole on the bottom suggests it has a stand of some sort. Usually, I don’t bother with putting together the Build-A-Weapons, but let’s put a pin in this one as I move onto the next figure, Unkar Plutt…

I was surprised it took so for Hasbro to get Unkar’s figure out, seeing as how he was rather prominent in the movie, and some of the initial waves of figures were aliens that didn’t even have any lines or barely appeared in the film. But here he is and he is glorious. Plutt looks a lot like the Vogons in the old BBC version of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (you know, the good one with the shitty effects. Not the terrible multi-million dollar Hollywood fiasco) and I find that to be utterly charming. I also absolutely adore the head sculpt on this guy with his bug eyes and his disapproving expression. He constantly looks like he’s judging me, and I need that in my life. He was a fun character and I wish we got to see him again when he caught up to Rey in Maz’s Catina, but they cut that scene out.

Ah, but that scene lives on in this action figure, because you can rip Unkar’s arm off, just like Chewie was supposed to have done. This also ties brilliantly into Plutt’s Build-A-Weapon piece.

Now if that isn’t the most ridiculous and yet coolest thing I’ve ever seen. I now picture an entire movie taking place after The Force Awakens where Unkar pursues Rey throughout the galaxy with his giant comical robot claw arm. This is the stuff 80’s Saturday Morning Cartoons were made of. Oh yeah… this piece also happens to be the much needed stand for Finn’s cool cannon.

Hot damn, look at this beauty!

Unkar also comes with a very small pistol, and like Rey’s, I’m amazed I haven’t managed to lose it yet. He can hold it in either hand, but there’s no where to store it on his person. Unkar is a great figure and I rate him 9 out of 10 portions. Moving on to the last figure… Tasu Leech!

While I understand a lot of fans didn’t take to it, I actually loved the scene where Han got caught between The Guavian Death Gang and Kanjiklub. Unfortunately, The Force Awakens line was inconsistent with the figures and so we got the Guavian Death Gang Enforcers, but no Bala-Tik (at least not until The Last Jedi line) and on the flip-side we got Tasu Leech, but no Kanjiklub soldiers. Tasu is a pretty cool little figure, but there isn’t a whole lot to him. He has some sculpted detail on his armor pieces, belt, and a leather-like smock that hangs down below his belt. The head sculpt is very basic, but not a bad likeness. My big issue with him is that he’s pretty difficult to keep standing, especially if he’s holding any accessories.

Tasu comes with a blaster rifle, which is certainly a unique design and made even more distinctive by the fact that it’s cast in tan plastic. Of course, he also comes with a BAW piece…

And it’s a cool looking rifle, which he cannot hold in any convincing manner. He can’t even hold it at all without a figure stand, because it weighs about as much as him. It does, however, split apart to become a rather large pistol, which he can hold. This is one of those BAW pieces that makes for a great weapon all on its own, but is probably better suited going to one of the more articulated lines in this scale, which is really the only reason I save all of these. One day they may wind up getting issued to my GI JOE or Cobra Forces.

And there we go… that’s four more figures down. All of these are pretty solid, with the one glaring issue being Hasbro’s inability to get Rey’s likeness right in any of the figures in this scale. Of all of these, however, I’m actually surprised at how much fun Unkar Plutt is and how great he looks displayed with some of the other aliens from Jakku. I remember having more or less written off this line by the time these figures were coming out, but I’m glad I decided to double back and pick these up.

Dec 10 2017

Star Wars Rogue One: Rebel Commando Pao Vs. Imperial Death Trooper 

Hey, it’s YOU! Welcome back to installment number who-the-hell-knows of my 5-POA Star Wars celebration weekend. Did you know The Last Jedi comes out at the end of the week? Did you know I’m getting pumped by doing a gazillion 3 3/4-inch Star Wars figure reviews this weekend because I’m batshit crazy and I love the Star War? This time I’m stopping by with a quickie look at this two pack that pits Rebel Commando Pao against the Imperial Death Trooper! And remember, if you’re getting tired of this shit, just think how I feel, because I’m writing it!

Here’s the Rogue One packaging We’ve seen it a bunch of times this weekend and as always it has some awesome artwork. These two-packs will always have a special place in my heart and… OH MY GOD, I’M SO TIRED! Let’s just rip this box open and check out the figures.

Pao is my Boba Fett of the Rogue One film, and by that I mean he did very little, but it was love at first sight when I first saw him screaming with that huge mouth in one of the promo clips. Not only is he one of the stand-out aliens of the film, He was also one of the brave Rebels who volunteered to go on the suicide mission to Scarif and try to get the plans to the Death Star. No doubt he deserved a figure, and he got a pretty damn great one. The detail on this fellow is absolutely superb. He’s got all kinds of cool gear sculpted onto him, including equipment on his belt, what look like rockets on his wrist bracers, and there’s plenty of wonderful little flourishes sculpted into his fatigues and his vest. You also get some nice little paint touches on the figure, including the silver belt buckle and the yellow striping on his arm missiles.

And holy shit… that articulated jaw! How crazy is it that we’ve seen two figures with articulated jaws this weekend? With Admiral Raddus it was just a neat gimmick, but for Pao, it was practically essential. Opening his mouth wide and screaming is his signature move. I’ll also take this time to remind you that this is an articulated jaw on what is otherwise a 5-POA figure. Elbows and knees? Pffft! Who needs em? Hinge in the jaw? YASSS! The head sculpt is pretty amazing and includes that rather distinctive tanker-style hood that he wears.

Pao comes with a removable backpack, which looks a lot like the ones the Rebel troops wore on Endor in Return of the Jedi. It’s sculpted to look like its wrapped in cloth coverings with some components sticking out. I’m assuming this is some kind of equipment, like a radio or something as it features an antenna coming up off the side. He also comes with a pretty cool rifle with a scope, and what looks like a compressed air cartridge mounted under the barrel. I love this figure so much and as soon as Star Wars Weekend is over, I’ve got to start writing my Pao FanFic about how he survived the destruction of Scarif, BECAUSE HE DID!!! OK, let’s move on to the Death Trooper!

With all the time I spent gushing about Pao, it’s probably for the better that I don’t have a lot to say about the Death Trooper. Oh, he’s not a bad figure at all, but how much is there really to say about him? He reminds me of the First Order TIE Pilot that I looked at ages ago. A solid figure, a fine sculpt, but he’s mostly sculpted black plastic and not a lot else. In this case the Death Trooper features some silver paint hits on his belt buckle, his shoulders, and what I assume is a range finder. He also has those two eerie lights on his helmet painted green, and they pop very nicely against all that black plastic.

The Death Trooper comes with his blaster carbine. But sometimes a blaster isn’t enough to get the job done and you need something with a little more firepower. That’s where this thing comes in handy…

Oh YEAH! Forget about the fact that there’s enough plastic here so that Hasbro could have tossed two Death Troopers into the box if they left this behemoth out, because billions of dollars worth of research into toy science tells us that “The Kids” love improbably large missile launchers. This beast sits on the Death Troopers shoulders and has two hand held launcher grips. There’s a respectable amount of sculpted detail on this weapon and some silver dry brushing too. Pressing the left or right sides of the button on the back fires either one of the green day-glo missiles. Smash em both and they’ll fire in unison. This thing is straight out of those ridiculous old Deluxe Power of the Force 2 figures and I kind of love it.

This is another great Versus Pack, and as usual the only thing I can complain about is that packing a specific character with an army builder isn’t very economical to collectors. But with that having been said, the Death Trooper did get a single carded release as well, so you could still buff your armies that way. This one may lack the sheer awe of the excellent Moroff Vs. Scarif Squad Leader set, but thanks to Pao, I think this one is currently my favorite of the Rogue One Versus packs. You know the drill. I’ll see you back here in an hour or so for more Star Wars Weekend.

Dec 10 2017

Star Wars “The Force Awakens:” Rey’s Jakku Speeder by Hasbro

OK, I’ve had some sleep, the coffee is on, and I thought I’d kick off the second half of 5-POA’PALOOSA with a vehicle. Rey’s Speeder was one of the first toys from The Force Awakens line that I remember seeing on the pegs. This thing was everywhere, and yet somehow I never managed to buy it. I may have been observing a vehicle-buying moratorium at the time due to lack of space, but those never last very long. Like the First Order Snowspeeder that I looked at yesterday, this toy was re-issued and subsequently clearanced out pretty cheap and I eventually buckled and bought the damn thing. Was it a good move? Let’s find out…

The speeder comes in a pretty good sized box and is designed to either sit on the shelf or hang from a peg. Let’s take a moment to drink in that fantastic artwork on the front. Some people will have you believe that great box art died in the 80’s, maybe the 90’s, but Hasbro has really been killing it with some of the box and card art lately, and this is a prime example of that. Rey is speeding away from an explosion. It’s colorful, it’s kenetic, and just looking at is making me so pumped to open this thing up right now and start having crazy adventures. The front panel also has a window that shows off the Rey figure that’s included. And just like the Speeder I looked at yesterday, this one comes in a re-issue box branded on the top with the Rogue One art. This one doesn’t require any assembly, and comes out of the box all ready to go, but let’s start with the figure.

This is Rey in her full on scavenger gear, which is supposed to be mostly the same as the regular Rey only she’s wearing her head wrap and goggles. It appears to share most parts from the carded Rey, but there are some notable differences besides the shoulder wrap and head coverings. This one features sculpted gloves on her hands, and there’s some nice detail in the pack on her belt. I think they did a nice job on the coverings for her head and shoulders, although it does maker her a bit taller than regular Rey and it nixes one of those five points of articulation. She also has a weird orange thing coming off her left shoulder and I have no idea what the hell it’s supposed to be. I don’t ever recall seeing it as part of her outfit, and it’s certainly not part of my Hot Toys figure.

Rey comes with one accessory and that’s her trademark staff, which appears to be the same one that came with the single carded figure. Overall, I think this figure is pretty solid, albeit not exceptional. It’s also a good pack-in for the Speeder, as the only other way to get a masked Rey in this scale is to go for the 3 3/4-inch Black Series figure, which gave you the best of both worlds. I never bothered to dip into that line, because I can’t be bothered to go to Walmart and hunt them. Maybe when they start showing up on Vintage Cards, I’ll pick some up. Anyway, on to the Speeder!

Straight away, I’ll point out how much more visually pleasing this thing is than the Snowspeeder. I don’t want to make this review all about comparisons, but this one just feels like Hasbro put a lot more work into it. I guess that makes sense, since I’d regard this as the first iconic vehicle from the film, whereas the Snowspeeder is mostly from a deleted scene and its design is instantly forgettable. The sculpt here is quite nice and features some sharp panel lines, rivets, the front grill, and a lot of wires and hoses snaking around under the pilot seat. There’s also a big dent in the front that’s reminiscent of Luke’s Landspeeder from A New Hope. I also dig how they made it so the vehicle can stand on its own without a separate piece, although a clear plastic stand to make it look like it’s hovering would have been a cool bonus.

There’s a soft plastic net that pegs into the side to hold all of Rey’s scavenged junk. The junk is sculpted all as one piece, so there’s really no reason to take the net off. Some additional paint apps on the net would have been cool, but I still think it looks pretty good. What’s that big button for? We’ll come back to that. There are also clips above the net to store Rey’s staff when she’s driving. The dashboard features some sculpted detail, but no paint apps or stickers. The windscreen is cast in clear plastic and at first I thought it had a dusting spray effect, but it turns out it was just a film that developed from being in the box so long! It’s worth noting that the panels on the back do articulate slightly. I’m not sure if that’s intentional or just a byproduct of the construction. I guess they could be rudders or assist in breaking, but generally I think they’re just supposed to be stabilizers.

The coloring here is where this little Speeder triumphs over the nearly non-existant deco of the Snowspeeder. The orange plastic looks great, and you also get some lighter orange paint in the border lines, which run around the edges of both sides of the main body. The driver area features both bare gray plastic, as well as some silver and brown paint, and you there’s some dry brushing to look like paint wear on the rear flaps and the main body. The weathering certainly isn’t high art, but it’s nice that they did it and I think it adds a lot to the vehicles character.

For a 5-POA figure, Rey sits surprisingly well on this thing. There are foot pegs on the pedals, so all you have to do is plug her feet into them and clip her hands onto the handlebars. Not bad!

So, that button on the net controls the only real play feature on this speeder and that’s a hidden missile launcher. Press it once to have it deploy from the top of the body, and press it again to fire off the missile. I hear tell some folks had issues with this added gimmick, but I really dig it. Granted, it’s probably not canon, but it doesn’t really hurt the toy if you don’t want to use it. On the other hand Jakku looked like a dangerous place, and that cannon looks like it would have come in handy on plenty of occasions.

I’ve got to say, I really like this little speeder. I seem to recall this toy launching at about $25, but it was almost always on sale or rollback or some other shit around here for $20. Like the First Order Snowspeeder,  I picked up this Rogue One-branded reissue on Amazon for $9. Unlike the Snowspeeder, I would have been perfectly fine paying full price for this little vehicle. It’s fun, it doesn’t take up much room, and it’ll look great on my Episode 7 shelf if I ever get around to actually displaying my 3 3/4-inch Star Wars figures again. In the meantime, I’m going to grab another mug of coffee, and if you’ll join me back here in about an hour, I’ll have some more content for Star Wars Weekend!

Dec 9 2017

Star Wars Rebels: Darth Maul, Seventh Sister Inquisitor, and Princess Leia by Hasbro

I’ve got one more set of reviews in me for today and I’ve lost track at what update this is for 5-POA’PALOOSA. I can tell you that I have four cigarette burns on my arm to keep me going. What’s that? No Rebels love yet? OK, let’s remedy that right now. For the life of me, I can’t understand why Hasbro has had so much trouble getting this line off the ground, despite the series spinning a rich tapestry of characters ripe for the action figure treatment. The original line was short lived and difficult to find, to the point where I still can’t find Agent Kallus for under twenty bucks. In the meantime, Hasbro continues to pepper whatever the current line is with s smattering of Rebels releases.

Case in point, both this two-pack and single carded figure were marketed under the Rogue One line, and these aren’t repacks, but rather their first releases. As always, I’m loving the artwork on these packages. Let’s start off with the Versus Two-Pack and The Seventh Sister!

I would not have believed this character design would have lent itself to a 3 3/4-inch figure very well, but Hasbro sure proved me wrong. She’s magnificent and this is an instance where the 5-POA style really suits her. I couldn’t imagine working additional jointing into her super thin arms and legs without compromising the look of the figure, let alone have the figure be stable. It’s crazy that she can even stand by herself, which is a gripe I’m going to have with one of today’s other figures. There’s a decent amount of sculpted detail on her outfit, but it’s the paint that really carries the day. I love the contrast of matte and gloss black used here, plus some silver and white, as well as the Imperial emblems stamped on her shoulders. The head and helmet are about as perfect as I could expect in this scale.

The Seventh Sister also comes with some pretty cool accessories. First off, you get her little probe droid. The head can plug into the circle on her back. Take it out and plug in the legs, and he can hang out on her shoulder or go off scouting. It’s hard to believe that Hasbro was able to make this work at this tiny scale.

She also comes with her mask. It simply goes right over her face and tucks under the helmet to hold it on. This thing looks great and holds in place very well. Once again, a pretty cool feature for a 3 3/4-inch figure!

And finally, she has her lightsaber, which she can hold in either hand. It’s got the same circular ring design to the hilt that we saw with the previous Inquisitor figures. Moving on to Maul!

To know me is to know that I’m no fan of Darth Maul. I thought he was a non-character in The Phantom Menace, and while various aspects of the Star Wars Expanded Universe had tried its best to flush him out and make him interesting, I just can’t give a crap. Needless to say when he turned up in Rebels, I really wasn’t impressed. But, I’m not going to hold any of that against this figure, because it’s pretty damn nice. The pants feature a nice texturing, he’s got sculpted knee pads, gloves, and a shoulder strap. And while all that is well and good, the best thing here is the crisp paintwork for his chest and arms. The black and red pattern is sharp and snappy and looks great. The head sculpt is also a winner, right down to tiny horns on the top of his head.

Maul comes with a hood, which fits right over his head and looks pretty good on him. It shrouds his face pretty well, although a little light in there really brings out how creepy he looks.

He also comes with his double-bladed lightsaber. Pfft. Remember when this thing was the coolest thing ever? It’s only fitting that he show up on Rebels where all the Inquisitors carry them like it’s no big deal.

And we can’t look at a Versus Two-Pack without some goofy big weapon and Mauls is so damn big that I had to bust out a figure stand just so he could hold it without toppling over like a jackass. This thing looks familiar and I’m sure it’s been recycled from another set. And god help me if I don’t love it. Oh, I think it looks stupid on Maul, but I’m sure I can find someone else to put it on. I really dig this Versus pack and while I would have guessed it would have been really popular, it seems to not be selling all that well. The Target in town had dozens of these and it’s been deeply discounted at a lot e-tailers. And speaking of figures that you can pick up for stupid cheap… let’s move on to Princess Leia!

I seem to remember this figure being crazy hard to find at first, but now she’s everywhere. Last I checked you can get her as an Add-On item through Amazon for less than three bucks. If you want to do conversion on that, it means that I would need to trade like seven of these Leias just to get me one Agent Kallus. That’s crazy! I’m not sure why that’s the case because I don’t think she’s a bad figure at all. She’s wearing a very McQuarrie-esque costume, and I think the head sculpt is great. The downside is that she will not stand on her own, which makes no sense to me. If The Seventh Sister can stay vertical, I don’t know why Leia can’t.

Leia comes with two accessories: A standard E-11 Blaster and a zipline accessory, which struck me as being very familiar, but it’s actually not the same one that came with Cassian Andor. Hey, I don’t care what you say, I would have loved to get one of these as a kid. I was always ziplining my figures all over the damn place with string. I think this thing is pretty damn cool.

It’s a shame we have to get by with table scraps thrown into other lines in order to get our Rebels action figure fix, but quite frankly, I’m just glad Hasbro is still releasing them here and there. All three of these figures are no-brainers and I’m happy to have them in my collection, even if nobody else seems to want them. Yes… even Maul! OK, that’s going to do it for me today. I’d like to say I’m going to rest up, but in reality I’m off to do my actual paying job that allows me to buy all this shit! Come on back tomorrow morning, and we’ll start fresh with a whole bunch of more figures!

Dec 9 2017

Star Wars Rogue One: Galen Erso, Jyn Erso (Imperial Infiltrator), and Admiral Raddus by Hasbro

Congratulations! If you’ve stayed with me this long then you’re a real trooper. Unless you’re just finding this review at random and then you’ve missed out on watching a grown man grinding himself down to a weeping nub from reviewing too many action figures in a very short period of time. And this show is just getting started. Right now, I’m going back to Rogue One with an assortment of figures that I didn’t pick up until the very tail end of the line. Actually, Rogue One figures were mostly off the pegs by the time I got around to getting this trio.

Here are the packaged shots, which I borrowed from Hasbro’s official images because I opened these a while ago. Note Jyn’s image has her helmet on in the package, but she actually came with the helmet beside her on the tray. Otherwise, there’s not much else to say about the cards, so let’s jump right in and start with Galen Erso…

For a while it looked like we weren’t going to get a figure of Galen at all, but I’m glad Hasbro delivered in the end. I’m not so happy that the figure isn’t that good. Granted, I didn’t expect him to be the most exciting figure around, what with him just being an older guy in an variant Imperial uniform. The tunic is fairly familiar, but it’s colored teal around the shoulders, perhaps signifying he’s in the Engineering Corps? The belt is standard Imperial issue and he has a patch on his shoulder that is unfamiliar to me. The head sculpt might be halfway decent with a better paint job, but it looks like the work of a bad custom job. What a shame!

Galen comes with a pistol, although he has nowhere to store it. I don’t recall him actually having a sidearm in the film, nor would I expect Krennic to allow him one, but I’ll never scoff at getting an extra accessory.

And speaking of extra accessories… Oh, look! It’s another zipline! We’re going to see at least three of these before the weekend is over. What’s crazy is that this is entirely different than the one that came with Cassian Andor. I can’t believe that Hasbro is actually creating different versions of these for different figures! The fact that Galen comes with one also makes me believe that there were even more deleted zipline scenes in Rogue One than I had originally imagined. Like maybe Galen didn’t die on that landing platform. Maybe he ziplined to safety! I guess we’ll never know.

Oh yeah, Galen also comes with this rather large mouse droid. Yup, it’s the same one we just saw with General Hux from The Last Jedi. I’m guessing at this point Hasbro was just tossing whatever they could in there to make a scientist figure more attractive to the kids. I’m surprised they didn’t make the mouse droid actually fire the zipline. If you can’t tell, Galen is a little disappointing, but in the end, I’m still glad to have him in the collection.  Moving on to his daughter…

This is Jyn in her Imperial Ground Crew disguise while infiltrating the Scarif Base. And as you might expect, this is the exact same figure as the regular Ground Crew figure, only with Jyn’s head popped on top of it. She also comes with a soft plastic removable helmet, which fits really well and looks good. If you passed on the Ground Crew figure, this is a nice pick up, because she really can double as either figure. It’s also a pretty damn nice sculpt.

Jyn comes with the same batons as the regular Ground Crew figure as well and she can hold these in her hands or they can store on the slots in her back. I couldn’t remember whether they were supposed to store with handles up or down, so I may have them in wrong. I suppose I could have checked a shot from the film, BUT GIVE ME A BREAK I HAVE A LOT OF GOD DAMN FIGURES TO REVIEW THIS WEEKEND!!!

And lastly, she comes with this ridiculously large missile launcher, which she can’t even hold without putting her on a stand. It’s a great looking sculpt and a cool design, and I may wind up giving it to one of my 6-inch figures. It did come with a purple blast effect missile, which shot into the other room the moment I took it out of the package. Normally, I’d go look for it, but I’m in the middle of a review marathon here. I like this figure a lot, but that’s not surprising, since I liked the Ground Crew figures enough to buy a couple of them. I really wish we got this version of Jyn in the 6-inch Black Series. It’s hard to believe that Hasbro passed on doing a 6-inch scale version, but Hasbro did it in Sixth-Scale. Craziness! Next up… Admiral Raddus!

Yes, I saved the best of this trio for last. I’m never going to turn down a chance to pick up a member of the Mon Calamari brass, and this is such a great little figure! I love his short and stocky build. It makes him look like an old warhorse. I picture him walking the battle lines like a fishy version of Rommel, barking orders to the troops! The uniform features some wonderful detail, including ribbed sections behind the knees, behind the biceps, and on the shoulders. But the real draw of this figure is the superb head sculpt, and the fact that the jaw is hinged, bringing him to a whopping SIX points of articulation. Want to hear something even crazier? This won’t be the last time we see a hinged jaw on a 3 3/4-inch figure this weekend! What are the odds of that, eh?

Raddus comes with a pretty beefy blaster pistol, but for when the shit really hits the fan, he also has this giant rifle that shoots a bolt of hot flaming death out of it! Like Jyn, Raddus also can’t hold his missile launcher without putting him on a stand.

All three of these figures are fairly solid releases, but Galen easily comes out on the bottom thanks mostly to some terrible sloppy paint on his head. I like Jyn because she harkens back to some of the past Kenner figures we got of our heroes in disguises. But Raddus is the star of this show, and the fact that he got such an excellent figure in this scale almost makes up for the fact that he didn’t get the 6-inch Black Series treatment.

Dec 9 2017

Star Wars “The Force Awakens:” First Order Snowspeeder by Hasbro

What? Did you think it 5-POAPALOOSA was going to be all figures? Nope. If it’s 3 3/4-inch scale and I haven’t reviewed it, then it’s fair game for this weekend. And right now I’m about to open up the First Order Snowspeeder from The Force Awakens! A couple of these speeders were used in a chase sequence on the surface of Starkiller Base, which was never finished and cut from the film. It was, however, included as bonus content on the Blu-Ray release. I gotta be honest, I wasn’t terribly interested in the toy because it wasn’t featured in the actual the film. But when it was re-issued and clearanced for dirt cheap, I couldn’t resist.

The Snowspeeder comes in a fairly large box with some bitchin artwork of it in action and manned by a pair of First Order Snowtroopers. There’s also a window that shows the First Order Snowtrooper Officer that’s included inside. Note that the top strip of this re-issue box is branded for Rogue One and it simply says Star Wars. Inside the box, you get the vehicle, the figure, a bag of parts, and a folded instruction sheet. Assembly is very simple. You just snap in the tops of the seats and the two railings, peg the cannon onto the stand and place it in the vehicle. But before I get to the vehicle, let’s take a quick look at the figure.

As expected, the Snowtrooper Officer shares the exact same sculpt as the regular Snowtrooper, however, there are a few paint variations, mostly confined to his chest armor. The biggest difference here is his orange pauldron, which can be removed by popping off the head, if you’d rather have a regular rank-and-file trooper. He also comes with the same backpack and rifle as his squad-mates. This is a great looking figure, I really dig how glossy the helmets are, and I’m certainly happy to add him to my ranks. Moving on to the Snowspeeder…

Let me start out by saying that I think the design of this thing is very utilitarian and really lacks the iconic charm of the more familiar and fan favorite Star Wars vehicles. I don’t dislike it, but it’s not something that’s going to stick in my imagination like the Snowspeeders from The Empire Strikes Back. I just don’t feel like they poured a lot of love into the design. At the same time, the function over form here makes it look like a pretty credible and realistic vehicle. There’s a lot to like about what Hasbro did with it, but also some things that could have maybe been done better.

The overall sculpt is quite nice and there’s a good amount of detail on display. From the panel lines on the body, and the texturing on the seat cushions, to the molded supply containers stowed in the front of the cabin, there’s a lot of neat stuff to look at here. There’s grating on the floor panels, little hatches and rivets, and front and back of the engines look good.

What works against it is the feel of the plastic and the lack of paint. I don’t think the quality is poor here, it’s a pretty rugged little toy, but the Speeder has a light and insubstantial feel to it, as it basically just a hollow shell. The only moving part on the Speeder is the fold down landing gear, and while I’m not a big fan of play gimmicks, this thing really needed a couple more features. There’s a panel on the back that looks like it was meant to open at one time, but it doesn’t. That would have been neat to be able to store guns and backpacks back there.

I’m not usually a fan of this swirly gray plastic, but it works OK for this craft. Most of the coloring variations on the toy are subtle and achieved by using different colored plastic. The supply containers are teal, the seats are molded in a pale blue, the railings are cast in a paler gray, and some of the components of the hull are cast in a more coppery color. As for actual paint hits, there’s just a little bit of silver and black here and there. I’m not so sure that this is an instance of Hasbro being cheap, but maybe the design just not warranting it. Still, I would have liked some dry brush weathering, insignia, registry numbers, or anything to help it along.

The Snowspeeder is designed to carry two figures, one in the driver seat and one in the passenger seat, and I think it’s scaled very well. Hasbro has a habit of shrinking down vehicles, but in this case, I think they did good. Technically, the figures will sit OK with their backpacks still on, but it works much better if you take them off. One word of caution: There’s a hollow space under the steering column for the driver’s feet. Try not to loose any guns in there, because getting them out again can be a real bitch!

Of course, the passenger can also man the cannon. There’s a peg to hold him in place, but if you clip his hands onto the cannon handles, he should stay put pretty well. The cannon mounts by tucking the base into a slot. It stays in there pretty good, but the post can disconnect from it fairly easily. Of course, the cannon also features a firing missile. And if you want to set up a ground defense, you can remove the cannon and stand from the vehicle and set it up on the ground.

I like this vehicle, but I don’t love it. It’s kind of fun in a very simple way, and it looks great when it’s decked out with a couple of Snow-Stormies. At the same time, it feels kind of rushed and unfinished, or maybe like a Playmates vehicle from a franchise far less prominent than Star Wars. Keep in mind, I picked up the Snowspeeder for eight bucks and at that price it was worth the figure alone. But the original MSRP of this thing was $30. THIRTY DOLLARS!?! That feels outrageous to me for what you’re getting and if I had paid that I would have been pretty pissed off.

Dec 9 2017

Star Wars “The Last Jedi:” Luke Skywalker, Jedi Training Rey, C-3PO, General Hux, and Kylo Ren by Hasbro

Star Wars 3 3/4-inch Weekend is cruises onward. This is the third installment of what I’ve decided to call 5-POA’PALOOZA, I’m on my second pot of coffee and feeling one with The Force and maybe a little jittery from all the caffeine. Tired of Rogue One stuff? Ok, we’ll take a breather. For now, let’s fast forward to five more figures in the initial assortment from The Last Jedi.

As will be the case for a few of these 5-POAPALOOSA Reviews, I opened these figures a while ago, so I cribbed these official packaged shots from Amazon, which is only fair because that’s where I bought them. I’m also pretty sure I’ve paid for at least one of their warehouses, so it’s about time they paid me back a little. Anyway, I really dig this package design. It’s white and clean and some of the character art is wonderful. Look at that picture of 3P0! I think that’s borrowed from some vintage art, because I remember obsessing over a very similar piece of art when I was young. Also, I finally had some time to play around with that Force Link thing, which they were demoing at Target a few weekends back. Can’t say I’ll be buying one anytime soon. And with that ringing endorsement… Let’s start with Luke Skywalker!

It was both cool and frustrating, how difficult it was for me to find this figure on the pegs. Cool because I love that the figure is so popular, frustrating because he shouldn’t be that hard for kids to find. I eventually gave up and bought him online with the rest of these. This is a very simple figure of Luke as we saw him at the end of The Force Awakens. He’s in his light colored robes and cloak and I think it’s just fabulous. The head sculpt and paint are particularly solid, I love that they added gray to his beard with some halftone printing. There’s even some detail in his tiny mechanical right hand.

The plastic cloak fits the figure quite well by just resting on the shoulders. It comes off easily to reveal all the little details sculpted into Luke’s outfit. Again, for a simple outfit, they did some nice texturing to the fabric and some different shadings. The belt has a silver buckle, a sculpted pouch, and a tiny hook for the lightsaber hilt that he does not come with! In fact, the only thing he comes with is his robe. I’ve got nothing else to say, except I love him! Next up… Rey!

Rey sports her somewhat new-looking costume. Actually it strikes me as mostly the same as her Jakku costume, only gray instead of tan. I’m glad I didn’t pop for the Hot Toys figure of her outfit from the end of The Force Awakens, because it doesn’t look like she’ll be wearing it much. I do, however, have the 3 3/4-inch version and maybe we’ll see that before this weekend is over. Anyway… The sculpt here is very well done, with a number of different textures and details on display. The paint on her costume could have been a little tighter in some places, but it’s not bad. I do think the likeness is a big improvement over that initial release of Rey from The Force Awakens. I realize that’s a back-handed compliment, but I don’t think this one is too bad. Unlike Luke, some of Rey’s costume is cast in softer plastic and layered onto the figure itself and some of her hip articulation is hindered by that. But then if you’re after good articulation, these figures aren’t for you, anyway.

Also unlike Luke, who came with bupkis, Rey comes with three accessories: Her staff, her pistol, and Luke’s lightsaber. The pistol fits into the holster on her right hip, and I can’t show it to you because I lost it, goddammit! In my defense, it was very small and I recall being pretty drunk when I opened these. Then again, I think I may have lost the same gun for each of my 3 3/4-inch Rey figures. The staff is similar to what we’ve seen before, with a plastic shoulder strap. It is a new sculpt, but I’m guessing it’s supposed to be the same staff.

The lightsaber has some nice detail in the hilt, and it does have a ring, so theoretically you could hang it on Luke’s belt, but the blade is not removable, so in practice you can’t. All in all, I think this version of Rey is decent, but probably not the star of this show. This version of Rey was also released as a two-pack with the Praetorian Guard. Will we be seeing those this weekend? Maybe! Next up… Goldenrod!

I actually never picked up the 5-POA C-3PO from The Force Awakens, so this is my first figure of him in this scale in quite a while. I’m not sure if this is that same mold or not, but I will say it’s a fantastic little sculpt, the proportions are great, no details are missed, and the coloring is superb. Even the paintwork on the wires in his exposed midsection is super clean and precise. It’s nice to see he got his gold arm back. Or did he have that at the end of The Force Awakens? I think he did. It must be time to watch that one again!

Another nice bonus is that articulation isn’t as important with 3PO because he isn’t all that agile in the films. I barely even miss it here. I honestly didn’t expect to be this blown away by a 5-POA 3P0 figure, but if you’re in the market for one, this is a great one to get. I actually like it loads better than the allegedly premium Vintage Collection release, and I’ll just go ahead and say that it’s my favorite version of Goldenrod in this scale. Moving on to the bad guys, cue the Imperial March… here comes General Hux!

The Hux figure from The Force Awakens was pretty good, but this one is better! The most obvious difference is that he’s not wearing his officer’s cap and the likeness is far superior. This is a damn fine head sculpt for this scale. He’s wearing the same uniform with black trench coat, but this time Hasbro took a different approach with it, but sculpting the coat out of soft plastic and sculpting sleeves on the arms. This is the method they used for the 6-inch Black Series figure and it looks fantastic on this little guy. On the downside, you probably won’t be able to get him seated in any vehicles, because of the coat.

Hux comes with a blaster pistol, but sadly no holster to store it in. That was a gripe I had with TFA version too. Where does he keep that thing when he’s making those spittle-spewing speeches? He also comes with a mouse droid. I’m sure this guy is recycled, but I’m not sure if I own the previous release or not, so I’m happy to have this one. OK, that’s four figures down and one to go. Let’s wrap it up with a look at the biggest asshole in Star Wars history…

Kylo Ren is back and apparently now that he’s murdered his loving father in cold blood, he doesn’t have to hide behind a mask any more! His outfit has changed a little. He’s traded in his longer black robes for something more like a tunic. It has the same overall texture as the original Kylo figure, and the same sculpted belt. In addition to losing his mask, he’s done away with his hood and now has a cape that he wears on his shoulders and it’s easy to take off for when he needs to throw down. The cape looks great from the front, but it gives him a hunchback look from the back. I think the likeness here is pretty good for this scale. They did a nice job accentuating his scar, although it doesn’t have the creepy metal mesh, it’s just a red line. Still, neat though.

In addition to his cape, Kylo comes with his wicked and now very iconic lightsaber. He can hold it in either hand. Before I wrap this up, let’s take a look at the new versions of three of these figures with their counterparts from The Force Awakens.

Like I said earlier, Rey’s likeness on TLJ figure may not be a masterpiece, but she’s a huge improvement over the first TFA release. I think the Hux is a huge improvement from head to toe. Both Kylo Ren figures are pretty solid, but I’m surprised at how bad ass he looks without the helmet. I’m going to enjoy that in The Last Jedi.

The last time I visited with The Last Jedi 3 3/4-inch line I was notably impressed, and that impression remains with these figures. I guess I can understand collectors dismissing these out of hand because of the limited articulation, but these are all very solid sculpts and great looking figures. 5-POA or not, the appeal is clearly still here for me, and I’m looking forward to grabbing up more of these! For now, I’m going to splash some cold water in my face and be back in a little bit and get back to Rogue One!