Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 2,267: Rey (Resistance Outfit, The Force Awakens)

REY Resistance Outfit
The Force Awakens   Jungle and Space Figures
Item No.:
Asst. B3445 No. B5667
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: "Combine" staff and blaster, regular pistol blaster, vest, lightsaber
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $7.99  
Availability: January 2016
Appearances: The Force Awakens

Bio: Rey is a resilient survivor, a scavenger toughened by a lifetime of dealing with the cut throats of the harsh desert world of Jakku. (Taken from the figure's packaging.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

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

Click here to buy it at Amazon now!

Commentary: The Rey toys are sort of a marvelous example of what happens when demand exceeds supply - especially this one, which currently commands a premium due to not saturating.  Heck, most of the post-movie figures are still somewhat scarce - Hasbro decided to pack all figures at even case ratios, so the Rhode Island toy maker put out as many Resistance Reys as Old Man Han and Hassk Thugs.   The idea was you'd buy all three to build a weapon.  You didn't.  The cases also had 50% reshipped product, which was not wise - you could fill it with Reys and probably do OK.  Hasbro played it safe and didn't over produce, so that means we could see things swing the other way for the next movies.  The smart money is always on the bad guys, as that's what collectors will gobble up if kids won't.   Now kids are buying - new fans, too!  They love Rey, and why wouldn't they?  This is her second costume form the movie, and it's one you want.  And can't find.

With a removable vest, it's a good replica of what you saw on screen.     I assume you'll see it in the next numerical movie, unless it skips ahead and whatever planet Luke is on has a lot of people selling pants.   (I suspect not.)  The figure can stand and sit, and she'll even fit in your Millennium Falcon despite not having perfect hip joints.  I appreciate this.   With 5 joints, she's about as good as her other figures - but she has a lot more gear and a nicer head paint job.  The hairstyle looks a little better, the eyes are a bit sharper, and she's even got the pistol in her holster that she got from Han Solo.   If that weren't enough, she has a new lightsaber sculpt with a loop on the end, plus her "Combine" weapon is a two-part staff and blaster.   With four weapons, no figure on this line is as likely to be as good as this Rey.  Heck, after looking at the whole line I'd say this is the big winner - I hope Hasbro reissues her.

The bonus accessory is a... what is it?   I guess it's a staff and a gun you can combine to make something that sort of looks like a longbow?  The secret message in many girl toys since The Hunger Games was that everybody is an archer, and maybe it's a stretch - but I certainly got that feeling from seeing this figure with this weapon.  You can combine it with a backpack and another gun to get another awkward weapon that you don't need.  I just feel the combine weapons got less interesting as they progressed.   I am hoping we have seen the last of them.

With decent wrist wraps, pants, shoes, belts, and a working holster, this figure is as good as you should expect from this series.  It will not knock your socks off, but as toy figures go she's pretty great.  I'm sure a lightsaber hilt and a belt on which to hang it would make her even better, but I suppose that's what remakes and sequels are for.   If you see her under $10, snag yourself this one - or wait and hope a better one is coming September of 2017.

Collector's Notes: I got mine from Entertainment Earth.

--Adam Pawlus


Day 2,267: August 31, 2016

Friday, August 26, 2016

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 2,266: Hassk Thug (The Force Awakens)

HASSK THUG or Varmik
The Force Awakens   Jungle and Space Figures
Item No.:
Asst. B3445 No. B5668
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: "Combine" backpack,  blaster
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $7.99  
Availability: January 2016
Appearances: The Force Awakens

Bio: Hassks are primitive aliens that prowl the shadowy alleys of spaceport towns. The Hassks were ill-prepared for the evils of advanced technology or off-world vices, and many travel with their littermates as roaming thugs, itching to make trouble.  (Taken from the figure's packaging.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

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

Click here to buy it at Amazon now!

Commentary: The Hassk Thug is one of a few of this species in Maz Kanata's castle, although there's at least one named one - Varmik.   He's a triplet and they all look alike - an instant army builder, if you could find any.  Each of their outfits are a little different, and the actual creatures look a  bit different from the final toy.  Their eyes are way creepier, their teeth sharper.  Their bodies have full male-pattern baldness.  This guy looks a bit cleaner, like an ape werewolf.  The color is pretty good with trying to convey what we saw in the movies, but "thinning full body hair" isn't exactly something I think could easily be done.  As such, it ain't perfeft, but it's not like you've got options - and Funko's isn't disgusting either.

The movie design looks like a recently deceased creature whose hair is falling out and who, I assume, has a touch of vampirism or lycanthropy.   The figure itself is quite hairy, with grey and browns mingling in a way that doesn't quite match what we saw on screen.  It looks more like an aging and greying Wookiee, which I suppose 20 years ago would open the door to a new 3-pack of all 3 brothers with exposed skin and thinning hair as an exclusive.  Today, it wouldn't shock me if this were the only Hassk figure we ever see just because the figures-per-year are generally confined to  window of September to March and then naptime until the next movie, which will no doubt focus on the next movie.

His face look more like an ape to me, with rounder, hairless features and lacking fangs.  The deco is good - I love the wrinkles, the eyes, the individually sculpted teeth, and the pink interior to the mouth.  The factory did a bang-up job making the sculpt look good, but the sculpt doesn't look very good - and it wouldn't entirely surprise me if this was a result of the assets granted to Hasbro to develop the figure.  In many respects, the figure feels a lot like the 1979 Cantina aliens - they were kinda close, kinda wrong, and a lot of fun.   And we can do better.  But we love them anyway.

The bonus accessory is a backpack which you can plug guns on to make a backpack with guns.   Why you would want this, I do not know.  I know the reasoning is usually "kids like it," but most of the weird bonus accessories serve more of a purpose.  If a figure has a gun, a second gun isn't going to do much for anybody - but one that shoots?  OK, that's something.  A backpack can be used with other figures, and the green deco looks good.  It's clean.  I just don't need it, and the combined mode leaves me wondering what I should be doing with it as it's not very Star Warsy.  If or when Hasbro reissues this figure, they will no doubt leave this out and you won't miss it.

Because there are precious few aliens in this movie line, I'd consider this a required purchase.  The designs of The Force Awakens which made their way to the toy line are a mixed bag, but at least are different enough from previous toy lines that I can say it's different enough to be neat.  If you want to wait around for something more authentic I do not blame you one bit, but I assume you'll be waiting a long time.   For now, I'd say buy the Hassk Thug if you can find it for $10 or less - it's better than the alternative.

Collector's Notes: I got mine from Entertainment Earth.

--Adam Pawlus


Day 2,266: August 26, 2016

Thursday, August 25, 2016

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 2,265: Kylo Ren Unmasked (The Force Awakens)

KYLO REN Unmasked
The Force Awakens   Desert and Snow Figures
Item No.:
Asst. B3963 No. B6949
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: "Combine" scythe, hood, lightsaber
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $7.99  
Availability: January 2016
Appearances: The Force Awakens

Bio: A dark warrior strong with the Force, Kylo Ren commands First Order missions with a temper as fiery as his unconventional Lightsaber.(Taken from the figure's packaging.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

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

Click here to buy it at Amazon now!

Commentary: He's back! And so am I! Kylo Ren both granted and robbed us of something great upon the removal of his mask.  We got to see that the bad guy in the movie was Han and Leia's kid, a hardcore original trilogy fanboy, and not quite as strong as his ancestors.   While clearly no one at Hasbro was taken aback by the character's popularity, I don't think Poe, Finn, and Rey went exactly as planend - so fans did jump on a lot of the figures, eventually.  The unmasked 3 3/4-inch Kylo Ren came and went in a rush, and for all I know there are more out there waiting to ship.   Heck, I'm almost sure of it - the secondary market price of this one us oddly high.   He shipped along with Nien Nunb and a Stormtrooper Squad Leader, with weapons that combine and form a... I don't know what.  These things are ugly.

Kylo Ren isn't much of a fashionista, wearing effectively the same thing in every scene plus or minus a helmet and a small hood.   Hasbro could have saved some money by taking one of the two previous sculpts and just swapping out the head, but they didn't - this new Kylo Ren has a different pose, different torso, different head, and pretty much different everything.   I admire their taking no shortcuts, but if ever there was a time where it would be appropriate it was this.  New tooling is short and Hasbro repackaged a few figures with new gear in this line - including from older lines - so why not here?  Are we really going to notice the fact that the robes are moved so you can get a better look at his boots and pant legs?   Is it obvious that he's making a Force-gesture with his left hand?  Does anyone - and I mean anyone - notice that the robes around his crotch were spread apart a tiny bit to account the new pose?  Probably not - but I admire Hasbro's attention to detail when doing something different.

The figure has a head that seems a tiny bit larger than others - no doubt to not make it seem small on the figure's frame - and in real life he's an inch taller than Harrison Ford.  I have no doubt the scale was done in part because Movie Magic, but he is a bit on the large side.  If you don't collect them all this won't be a problem, he's consistent with other Kylo Ren figures, but he stands almost a head above Finn - and the height difference between actors there is about three inches.   Of course, size issues in movie years are pretty normal - it's when they get 'em wrong decades later that I get annoyed.  Those seeking a perfectly sized Kylo Ren may wish to wait for the next movie, because - let's be honest - he's gonna be back.  We love him too much.

His face is partially obscured by a hood, but you can pop that right off to see the Ken Doll take on Adam Driver.  The dude's got a distinctive head, to say the least - this downplays many of its more interesting features with clean, clear skin and hair that doesn't quite live up to the promises of a shampoo commercial like in the actual movie.  But that's totally his face, if a little paler than it could be.  The eyebrows are angry - a good fit for a villain, but when we see his face he's not always furious.  That's what the mask is for.   It's a good representation of Mr. Driver, but I have no doubt a few pennies could throw in a mole (or beauty mark or whatever) or two, perhaps a little more color on the face.  But it's not like his predecessors in this scale usually had such minor features, so what am I complaining about?  It's pretty good.   Also making this figure desirable, this is (to date) the only unmasked Adam Driver head in this scale - meaning if you want a Matt the Radar Tech figure, you're going to need to sacrifice one to the toy gods.  (An official one appears to be a licensing impossibility at the moment.  Plus the joke sorta ran its course, solid as it was.)

His bonus weapon stands alone nicely, but it's also completely ridiculous.  It's basically a cybernetic Grim Reaper scythe that shoots a missile.  Why?  I don't know.  But it does, and you can get it, I guess.  If you connect it to the other two weapons, you can build a big, ugly pile of weapons that shoots.   I assume someone was challenged by a manager to do this, and the end results are challenging indeed.   If you threw this in a parts drawer never to be seen again, you'd likely not miss it.  It's not a bad accessory, it's just something that adds to the cost of the figure and doesn't do the collector - and I would also argue the child - any favors.

You have every reason to buy this figure if you can find one - unless there's a better one coming for Episode 8, you will want to be sure you get this one when the chance comes.  At this point I would bet a small amount of money that Ross or TJ Maxx will get him.   I wouldn't necessarily pay the current secondary market asking rate, but then again I wouldn't want to go without him.   I can't wait until he has a vehicle!   This figure can stand and sit, but his wide stance will no doubt make vehicle compatibility an issue down the road.

Collector's Notes: I got mine from Entertainment Earth.

--Adam Pawlus


Day 2,265: August 25, 2016