Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 2,441: Poe Dameron (Resistance Pilot, The Last Jedi Line Look)

POE DAMERON (Resistance Pilot) with Force Link
The Last Jedi Basic Figure Orange Assortment
Item No.: Asst. C1503  No. C1507
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: Helmet, blaster
Action Feature: Force Link sounds
Retail: $8.99
Availability: September 2017
Appearances: The Last Jedi

Bio: Poe Dameron was a human male pilot who served as a commander in the New Republic and, later, the Resistance during its conflict with the First Order.  (Stolen from Wookieepedia.  Packaging has no bio.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

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

Click here to buy it at Amazon now!

Commentary:  We got a lot of Poe Dameron figures for The Force Awakens, and this new one is also just different enough to make you mad.   For the last movie we got a carded pilot with an opaque visor, an Armor Up figure, a jacket figure with a non-removable helmet, an X-Wing pack-in with removable helmet (which is a lot like this one), a The Black Series exclusive version, another Armor Up version as a Toys R Us exclusive, a 2-pack Resistance Officer outfit version... I could go on.   This new figure is squarely in the middle of them all.   The best version is The Black Series version, which has some good scruff, extra helmet deco, and top-notch articulation.

This figure is the basic 5-joint body, but has swivel wrists as well as enhanced textures from the last movie.  That's it, really.  The helmet lacks some of the stripes of The Black Series version and is a darker black, the blaster is nice and fits in the holster, and there's a sound chip.  Oh - and all the folds on the suit seem to be the same as The Force Awakens, too.   The figure is pretty redundant, which is my big complaint about The Last Jedi as a whole.   I understand you need to make a new Poe figure, but the best one is a pack-in with the Ski Speeder.  This one is just like 4 other orange pilot suit versions on the market, and aside from the Force Link it's really not any better or different.     It's the first individually carded pilot Poe with a removable helmet, but I don't necessarily see that as a virtue since very similar figures are packed in with the 2015 Poe's X-Wing and 2017 Poe's Boosted X-Wing.  There's no scruff on the face, but the eyes are painted nicely.  His likeness is OK, the skin is a little pale but mercifully not translucent.   The buttons on his chest are pretty clean, however the various buckles on the straps of his flight suit are unpainted.

While a Poe Dameron figure is essential in any collection, which one you get may be open to interpretation.  As he's not significantly different from the previous versions, he's for Force Link fans or completists only.  Otherwise, you've probably got this figure or one close enough to it to make you happy.   If you have no Poe figures, it's perfectly nice - he can stand, he can sit, the helmet fits, the holster stows the blaster, and Hasbro in no way made a mistake or screwed it up.  It's just horribly boring.  Hasbro talks a lot about how they need to pick figures carefully, as to not waste a slot, but this is a new tool with new copyrights, the Force Link mark on the boot, and some barely perceptible changes.  Given the relatively small line and significant levels of "Don't I already see another figure just like that?" Hasbro really let us down  by spending a slot on this particular Poe instead of a different costume, or a new alien, or some other hero or villain.   It's not a failure of engineering or licensing, but it's certainly a letdown by either Hasbro management or the powers that be at Disney that approve (or dictate) the characters in this line.  Had Hasbro given us a figure with ungloved hands (as shown in the photo on the packaging) I could at least say they made one minor change and that's visually interesting, if not particularly significant.   As your parents have undoubtedly said to you - I'm not mad.  I'm just disappointed.

Force Link Notes: "I'm Poe, Poe Dameron." "I can fly anything." "Let's light it up." "We're gonna do this."  "Take my lead." It's clearly a soundalike.  Also a smattering of blaster sounds.

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

--Adam Pawlus

Day 2,441: December 27, 2017