Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 2,509: Doctor Aphra (The Vintage Collection)

DOCTOR APHRA Fan's Choice Winner
The Vintage Collection Special Action Figure Set - Doctor Aphra Comic Set
Item No.:   No. E1628
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #68
Includes: Blaster pistol, 3 figures, removable panels
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $54.99
Availability: July 2018
Appearances: Darth Vader, Doctor Aphra comics

Bio: In a mission gone wrong, Doctor Aphra finds herself at the hands of the formidable Sith Lord, Darth Vader.  A rare survivor of such meetings, Aphra is recruited by Vader for her skills in reprogramming droids and her apparent lack of remorse for breaking the law to get what she wants.   After a brief checkered partnership with Darth Vader, Doctor Aphra escapes from the control of her dark supervisor and his clandestine agenda.  Free of her obligations to Vader, Aphra ventures out with her assassin droids, 0-0-0 (Triple Zero) and BT-1 (Beetee), and Wookiee bounty hunter Black Krrsantan in search of new opportunities, leal and otherwise.   Though unafraid of using whatever means necessary to get what she wants, Doctor Aphra is careful to avoid additional entanglements with Darth Vader, understanding all too well the vast reaches of his unflinching power.  (Taken from the figure's packaging.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at Amazon now!

Commentary: A Fans' Choice winner, Doctor Aphra is a pleasant surprise.  We don't get a lot of women in the action figure line, and it's worth noting that when none-male-types are up for Hasbro Fan's Choice polls - including Transformers - they tend to win most of the time.   The interest in women in toys is strong, and it's usually best when there's one big toy line instead of "girls" and "boys" splits within a brand.  

26 points of articulation makes this a winner.   Hasbro has really been upping its game with super-articulated figures since The Black Series, especially since Jyn Erso and the like introduced the now popular thigh cut joint.    She doesn't have bend-and-swivel wrists, but given how tiny they are I have no problems with that.  They swivel, and they're jointed at the gloves.  That's good.  I love the articulation range on this one, because I was able to easily get her to ride some toy dinosaurs I just bought.  You see, I like a nicely articulated figure, but what usually matters to me the most is if something is a fun toy.   We've had so many super-articulated toys that can't sit on a toy monster that I'm usually pretty ho-hum on them.  Knees and ankles don't mean much if the figure's hips can't budge enough to sit in a vehicle, so a figure with pretty much a full range of movement is always welcome.  What's more, the removable vest does a good job covering the waist joint under her breast - which is kind of an eyesore.  Remember when they used to just joint the figure at the belt?  Wasn't that great?  Anyway.

Deco is good - the colorful figure has a fun hat with goggles, a sporty haircut, and a nifty circuit pattern tattooed on her arm.  It looks great, and it makes the figure look like she could have inhabited the same early-Empire, pre-Star Wars times of Thall Joben and Jord Dusat.  She's kind of a colorful not-quite-punk character, and her face sculpt is perfect.  The eyes are painted on precisely right, with on-mark lips and eyebrows.  These are hard things to do correctly, so while this figure costs more I'd say it's certainly better-than-average.  She even has a working holster for her blaster, which I should add has a silver barrel.

I don't get to say this much, so take note - Aphra's about as good as it gets.  Hasbro does good 3 3/4-inch work when working from existing stories and reference, rather than brand-new top-secret movie things.  It shows how much they really do care when they have the ability to give us the very best, and I'd say they've done it this time.   Her gloves are painted better than some toys I've bought.  They sculpted stripes on her pants, and painted them too.  I wasn't super pumped over Snoke, so this second new entry in The Vintage Collection has me giddy with the possibilities for the future.

Collector's Notes: I got mine from Hasbro as a sample, but it was sold at San Diego Comic-Con and also HasbroToyShop.com.  It will be sold on The Vintage Collection packaging later this year.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 2,509: August 21, 2018