Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 2,117: Clone Trooper Sergeant (The Black Series 6-Inch)

CLONE TROOPER SERGEANT 6-inch debut
The Black Series 6-Inch Basic Figures
Item No.:
Asst. A4301 No. B1065
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #07 (Blue Box)
Includes: Blaster pistol, blaster rifle
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $19.99
Availability: November 2014
Appearances: Attack of the Clones

Bio: Clone Trooper sergeants are genetically engineered and trained to command Clone Trooper squads in the Grand Army of the Republic during the Clone Wars.  (Taken from the figure's packaging.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at Entertainment Earth now!

Commentary: While Yoda is something of an obligation and the TIE Pilot is good overall, the Clone Trooper Sergeant is somewhere in the middle.   In order to make army builders and bean counters happy, repaints - or any use of existing tooling - are a great way to reuse an existing figure while giving fans something new.  Or new-ish.
The sculpt is the same basic white clone trooper that you may have found didn't find in a store near you as part of the orange box line in wave four.   So it's good, a little chunky but that's OK.  What's most exciting about it is that one of the many color arguments in action figures continues, although it seems that the answer is now a bit more consistent.  You see, in 2003 Hasbro insisted that the Sergeants were a green color - and they also say that's what Lucasfilm told Hasbro they should be.  Since the color wasn't plainly visible in the movie not a lot of fans complained, but the 2004 Gentle Giant bust of this armor was this brownish green color.   Despite this, Hasbro continued making the figure in a brighter green color for each new release up until 2012, when they finally gave the brown one a try, despite various official renderings and other licensors continuing to make it in the brownish olive green color.  Why?  I have no idea.  Remember, in the 1990s Lucasfilm told Galoob that Han Solo "always wore black" so the Hoth parka was made as a black micro figure.  Welcome to the fun world of licensed products - if you ask me, these color changes are a big part of what makes it fun.


Anyway, so what's new here?  Paint.  The armor has shoulder stripes and rank pips on his chest. His helmet has a few stripes on it. The guns each have some grey on them, while the previous all-white version was unpainted.  The longer rifle - a DC-15a for those wondering - is closer to the movie reference than before, but could probably use a few more details to get it right.  The smaller blaster - the DC-15S - looks a bit different depending on which reference you examine.  I would say that the ammo clip has more grey paint than necessary, but given the level of customization or damage any trooper could have it certainly doesn't bother me.  I'm at a point where I'd rather have something that's balls-out incorrect or fabricated than the same old thing for the dozenth time.

This figure has 24 or so joints, depending on how you feel like counting today.  It stands fairly well, although after a few days gravity can tip it over.  I would suggest using the rifle as an added support (tripod) unless you are using a small-scale doll stand.  This is a perfectly good figure and I'm quite happy that the oft-avoided olive/brown-green deco was the first ranked 6-inch Clone out of Hasbro, mostly because I'm hardly sick of seeing it yet.   Here's hoping we get the other ones, and if they ever do a tripped-out exclusive boxed set with "wrong" color figures based on popular error action figures of the past, a grassy green redeco could be on deck.  I'd buy one!

Collector's Notes: This figure is in major online and brick-and-mortar stores in the USA now.

--Adam Pawlus


Day 2,117: December 31, 2014

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 2,116: TIE Pilot (The Black Series 6-Inch)

TIE PILOT 6-inch debut
The Black Series 6-Inch Basic Figures
Item No.:
Asst. A4301 No. A6521
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #05 (Blue Box)
Includes: Blaster
Action Feature: Holster can carry blaster
Retail: $19.99
Availability: November 2014
Appearances: The Empire Strikes Back

Bio: TIE Fighter Pilots battle Rebel starfighters during the Battle of Yavin.  These elite Imperial pilots deploy from the Death Star Battle Station and blast the Rebel fighters with laser cannon fire.  "Look out!"  (Taken from the figure's packaging.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at Entertainment Earth now!

Commentary: While Yoda was a good figure but a bad figure for the price, there's no such question that Hasbro's TIE Pilot is actually pretty good.   You don't get as much stuff in the box, but presentation counts for a lot and there's really nothing bad about this figure.  You get 20 or so points of articulation - depending on how you feel like counting them - on a nice frame with a non-removable helmet.   You may also be curious to note that this is Hasbro's first complete overhaul of the TIE Fighter Pilot sculpt in any articulated size since about 2004.  3 3/4-inch releases retained the Saga sculpt with a few minor tweaks, so this is Hasbro's first fully-sculpted figure with ankles.

The sculpt is basically as good as the best 3 3/4-inch figures and is also just as good as other 6-inch "trooper" figures in this line.  There are ample sculpted wrinkles on the body suit with double-jointed knees, bend-and-swivel wrists, and of course the famous helmet with the tubes leading to the chest device.   His arms stick out a tiny bit, but unfortunately that's par for the course with most of Hasbro's super-articulated figures in nearly any scale.  As such, you can't get that "at attention" pose that troop builders often demand, and, ironically, can only get on the 5-jointed figures when Hasbro deems it worthy to make them that way.

His holster is notable in that it's a loose, rotating piece like the ones added to the 3 3/4-inch TIE Pilots around the Legacy (2008-2010) era.   It gives the figure a little more heft, and it means you don't have to keep him holding his gun all the time - a plus when it comes to figures of this size.

With glossy black boots and gloves plus silver highlights here and there, this is a TIE Fighter Pilot you can be proud of for twenty bones.  It has no problems standing, and it feels sturdy and pleasingly chunky.  However, he can't sit well due to the crotch formation blocking the legs from swinging forward to a 90-degree angle.   Most of the figures in this line share this problem, and it either says to you that a) there won't be vehicles, or b) like G.I. Joe 25th Anniversary figures they lacked foresight to prepare figures for hypothetical non-bike vehicles down the road.  So when you make your scratch-built 6-inch scale TIE Fighter, remember to get a second pilot figure and shave down the hips a bit.

Collector's Notes: This figure is in major online and brick-and-mortar stores in the USA now.

--Adam Pawlus


Day 2,116: December 30, 2014

Monday, December 29, 2014

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 2,115: Yoda (The Black Series 6-Inch)

YODA Dagobah Outfit
The Black Series 6-Inch Basic Figures
Item No.:
Asst. A4301 No. A9011
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #06 (Blue Box)
Includes: Green blade, lightsaber hilt, snake, flute, belt, gimer stick
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $19.99
Availability: November 2014
Appearances: The Empire Strikes Back

Bio: On the remote swamp planet Dagobah, Jedi Master Yoda teachers young Luke Skywalker the ways of the Jedi and the power of the Force.  "My ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is."   (Taken from the figure's packaging.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at Entertainment Earth now!

Commentary: Generally speaking, a Star Wars action figure review writes itself.  Within seconds I can tell you if a 3 3/4-inch action figure fits within established parameters for "good," and while some aspects may cause controversy - specifically, if one or two bad elements make a figure bad or not - generally the reaction is pretty good.  I trust my gut.  My gut didn't have an immediate positive or negative reaction to the 6-inch Yoda, mostly because unlike the similarly small R2-D2 he didn't demonstrate value.   While we as a group have come to accept that 3 3/4-inch scale figures are now generally $11, those figures usually have a decent array of accessories and there's really no competing Hasbro Star Wars product delivering a similar product at a better value.  Not so with the 6-inch line.  Due to his shorter size, Yoda is, for all intents and purposes, a 3 1/4-inch action figure.  This means that Hasbro's decision to ask $20 of him is either a result of cynicism (i.e., "those people will buy anything,") or perhaps poor planning.   I have no doubt this figure costs less to make, although it's possible even the factory (which Hasbro doesn't own, if you weren't familiar with how things in China work) could have said "all 6-inch figures are $X" and as such, Yoda fell under a goofy pricing structure.  Since there are no half-sized 6-inch assortments or plussed-up gift sets, this price is what it is - faulty.


As collectors, we are quite often suckers for the things we love. We bite the bullet, shell out our money, and ultimately get what we want.  Since Yoda will sell even at secondary market mark-ups and the sculpt is good, it's sort of an issue and it sort of isn't.  This figure could fit in a 3 3/4-inch package pretty easily, and seeing that he's short, with a similar to 3 3/4-inch piece count, the price really does sting.  This is, simply put, not even big enough to be a 3 3/4-inch figure yet because it comes in a big box, we pay twice as much without hesitation.   Not every figure in this line is perfect, and some like the Sandtroopers offer a lot of stuff for your money.  With Yoda, you're opting in on paying the Yoda toll.

There are no foot holes in his tridactyl feet, but the ankles are jointed as are the hips and an upper thigh-swivel.  But why offer both ankles and a thigh swivel, when no knees are present?  It just adds more parts, which takes more engineering and assembly, without offering additional functionality or value.  With 16 points of articulation the figure is neither impressive nor bad - the lack of knee joints at this scale is somewhat baffling, and at the same time a decision to not simplify it to sell it as an accessory to a Dagobah Luke (for example) is also a little strange.  What we have here is a figure that would be average as a 3 3/4-inch release, and also would fit within the confines of that assortment.  There are no bend-and-swivel wrists, but you do get completely unnecessary double-jointed elbows - the cloth garments don't let you get the most out of them and it isn't like Yoda is super-bendy as a character in the first place.


His sculpt is good - it looks like Stuart Freeborn's sculpt, which itself looks a bunch like Mr. Freeborn.   His green skin feels darker than most Yoda figures, but it gets the point across.  His soulful eyes remain, and the paint on my sample is mostly good although there's a little too much white on this particular figure's left eye.   It's a pretty good recreation of a latex puppet, and I can't complain about the quality of his jacket either.  Unlike the 3 3/4-inch scale Yoda released earlier this year, it is a bit more tattered and worn - and looks like it actually fits him.  The belt is good, and the banded snake is also very nice.  His cane fits in his hand loosely, while the prequel-inspired lightsaber seems a smidgen large for his tiny hands.  (And it's also an added, unnecessary cost here.  A blue backpack for Luke would have been more fun, but it is what it is.)

Because it's a 6-inch scale Yoda with a good sculpt, I can't say this is a bad figure.  However based purely on the criteria of the 3 3/4-inch line, it's clearly not a good deal.  It also doesn't matter to this series' bottom line, so Hasbro doesn't need to fret.   Hasbro's line of 3 3/4-inch figures are taller, similarly articulated figures with a piece count that's sometimes similar to Yoda here.  For a figure that's only an inch taller than a standard Hasbro/Kenner Yoda he's sort of a bitter pill to swallow, but Yoda figures have been historically smaller and overpriced since the line started.  Of course, usually we were dealing with figures in the $3-$7 range, now that he's $20 it's impossible to ignore that there's not enough plastic here to warrant the price tag, nor is this figure twice as big or twice as good as a typical 3 3/4-inch tall Hasbro Star Wars figure.  It's not bad either - and this is very important - this figure's only flaw is that he doesn't deliver sufficient toy for your money. Hasbro's Deluxe-class Transformers are $15 and are roughly twice the size. If money is not an issue for you, or if you just love Yoda, this is a wonderful figure at a price I can't get behind.  You can get bigger, better, more impressive figures in this line for the same price, but you won't because we just like Yoda too much.

Collector's Notes: This figure is in major online and brick-and-mortar stores in the USA now.

--Adam Pawlus


Day 2,115: December 29, 2014