Thursday, May 11, 2023

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,028: Reva (Third Sister, The Black Series)

REVA (Third Sister)
The Black Series 2020 Line Look Obi-Wan Kenobi Packaging
Item No.:
Asst. E8908 No. F4362
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #03 - Obi-Wan Kenobi
Includes: Double-bladed lightsaber, 2 single-bladed lightsabers
Action Feature: All four blades are removable
Retail: $24.99
Availability: July 2022
Appearances: Obi-Wan Kenobi

Bio: Obi-Wan Kenobi is set years after the dramatic events of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith where Kenobi faced the corruption of his friend and Jedi apprentice, Anakin Skywalker turned Sith Lord Darth Vader . (Yes, this useless copy is taken from the 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:
"Did Hasbro make too much?" is a common query in my Q&A column, and for the assortment - not necessarily the figure - featuring Reva (Second Sister) the answer seems to be "yes." There's limitless demand for Darth Vader toys - he'll sell eventually - but everybody else in the wave tended to sit around a bit in my neck of the woods. And there are good figures in there too - this one, packed at one per case, is no slouch. As I write this in April, she's $17.77 on Amazon. That's usually a sign of production exceeding demand, and the reaction of fans to the character before the show was, as always, even-tempered and sensible. (I'm kidding, of course, because people are monsters.) Hasbro did do a good job of ensuring Reva as out as a Retro, Vintage, and Black Series just after the show was on - and you need to do that for these things, lest the attention span wander. Sadly late is late, and having a ton of arguably identical 3 3/4-inch Reva product was a bit too much at once, despite the fact they're all excellent.

 There are a lot of middling figures, but Reva turned out really well. She stands nicely, the joints are all cut well, the outfit accurately replicates what we saw on-screen, her face looks like Moses Ingram, and they even did a good job getting the hair about as good as I would expect on a painted figure of this size. Her lips are well-painted, her nose plastic is just the right translucency that a little bit of light passes through it (making it seem more lively), and her eyes shine nicely. In case it isn't obvious, I'm looking for things to nitpick, and can't find any. Hasbro did well here.

Her costume is great, with an Empire brand on her right arm and the shoulder armor plus separately molded pauldrons. The range of arm movement is excellent, from the rotating shoulders to the better-than-average bend in her elbows. And while looking at her gloves, you can see a couple of buttons on right left wrist that didn't get painted. Odds are most fans won't notice nor care, but it's the kind of thing you'd like to see fully decorated if you shell out $25 for an action figure given mot of her is molded in color. Her cape sits nicely too, with a new, simple cut that just lets gravity do its thing. The boots are great, too.

I took a while to open this figure - and a lot of figures - and that's no knock on it's quality. There's just too dang much coming out right now. Hasbro should be applauded for cranking out what may well be the definitive release of the figure the first time, because it's unlikely the show or its characters will be making a heck of a lot of return appearances given how the anticipation quickly resulted in a wave of indifference. If you have any love for the show and this character in particular, this a good figure that interacts with her accessories well and is easy to keep standing up on my desk. It's a low bar but with this line, "doesn't fall over" and "can hold lightsaber" are things we don't always get.

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

--Adam Pawlus


Day 3,028: May 11, 2023