Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,189: Axe Woves (Amazon Exclusive 3-Pack, Epic Hero Series)

AXE WOVES Unite the Clans
Epic Hero Series Amazon Exclusive Figure 3-Pack
Item No.: No. G0311
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: Mandalorian Warrior, Paz Vizsla, 2 blasters, fire gauntlet, blade gauntlet
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $19.99
Availability: September 2024
Appearances: The Mandalorian
Bio: These Star Wars toys feature design and detail inspired by The Mandalorian live-action series on Disney+. (Taken from the Amazon description.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at Amazon now!

Click here to buy it at eBay now!

Commentary: I held off on buying the Unite the Clans set, not because I didn't like it, but because I don't pay for Prime. It's not a bad little set - for $19.99 you get figures with 1-2 accessories each, all of which are made from existing tooling. It's not amazing, and it missed some interesting repaint opportunities, but at least it's interesting. I don't think there's any kid demand for Axe Woves but maybe I'm wrong. He did some stuff on the show, and kids glom on to surprising things.

He has no jet pack, and his two blasters are the same as the one we got with Bo-Katan Kryze (but darker.) It's pretty much what you might expect other than the missing rocket pack. The first salvo of most figure lines are usually great, and the second salvo involves a degree of repaints or retools - and this would be part of that second salvo. While you do get an extra blaster, compromises on the body and a lack of jet pack puts him on the bottom of the list for this line so far.

The figure itself is pretty interesting - he's the only figure in the 3-pack that has new tooling. He's derived from the same digital sculpts that got us Boba Fett [FOTD #3,165], but with some changes. The helmet and arms seem unaltered. The and torso use the same poses, but are different. The front and back armor is a different sculpt, the boots are new tooling, and the thigh armor seems to match the character's first appearance - so it resembles that of Mando. For a cobbled-together figure, they did a pretty good job, but you're probably not going to be buying this guy for accuracy. The shoulder armor is dead wrong, the wrist gauntlets look pretty good, but the armor on the back of the actual hands is off-model. Since the figure is more or less painted correctly, I don't think the target audience for this line is going to care if the figure is a bit more on the thick side and the boots just don't seem quite right.

From the front the figure looks acceptable. From behind you'll notice the helmet forehead stripe does not continue along the back, and he has no armor on his back either - making him a soft target. Hasbro did a nice job delivering this figure - and indeed this set - on a budget, but I don't think this is going to be anybody's favorite. Repainting Bo-Katan as Koska Reeves might have turned out better, but this is what we got, and for the price it's a pretty good set. I also think it's pretty likely this set will go on sale or wind up at a closeout store - not because it's bad, but because similar Amazon exclusive multi-packs of Spin Master DC figures were all over DD's Discounts and Ross last year.

Axe Woves has a sturdy build and feels like an old Kenner figure - and like an old Kenner figure, isn't terribly accurate. This set seems to be meant to represent season three armors, and the non-repaint parts fall short of that. But I like a weird figure, and if you ever see this set on sale for $15 or under I'd strongly recommend it. If you're a completist, I think you can appreciate that what you get for the money is pretty good and if any kids get this, $20 is a pretty good price for a gift set with this much in the box in 2024. Heck, just Paz Vizsla (with a rocket launcher) was $12-$15 earlier this year, so $20 for Axe Woves and a couple of buddies is acceptable. Not great but certainly good enough.

Collector's Notes: I got mine from Amazon.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,189: November 14, 2024

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,001: Axe Woves (The Black Series)

AXE WOVES is big and cool
The Black Series 2020 Line Look The Mandalorian Packaging
Item No.: Asst. E8908 No. F5524
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: 25 - The Mandalorian
Includes: Blaster, helmet, jet pack
Action Feature: Removable helmet, blaster goes in holster
Retail: $24.99
Availability: December 2022
Appearances: The Mandalorian

Bio: A skilled warrior, Axe Woves is loyal to Bo-Katan and is a member of a band of Clan Kryze Mandalorians striking back at the Imperial remnant. (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: Good, but no surprises! Axe Woves is Death Watch Mandalorian [FOTD #2,988] with new deco, a new head, and a new belt piece. TV shows have to reuse armor designs, props, and costumes to save money. As luck would have it, toy lines do too - so you've got basically the same figure with some changes, and now it's a new character! This is exactly how this figure should be made.

Axe Woves has a new head that looks a lot like the character on the show, complete with pretty good painted scruff. His eyes are decent, the skin is good, the scars aren't bad, and they did a nice job in making sure he looks exactly like how he should look. This figure would've blown your minds ten years ago, and today it's merely just another regular release. It's sort of mind-blowing how much better he is than those first The Black Series figures.

The costume is mostly the same. There's a new leather plate attached to the belt to give the torso a slightly different look, and it slightly alters the figure's appearance. This is good, because it's what they did on the show. The boots are the same, the armor is the same with new paint - some panels are now dark gray, and there are new and different battle damage marks. The backpack is pretty much the same, the helmet is repainted, and you still get the articulated rangefinder. The stripe on the helmet looks good, too.

With decent articulation, my only knock on the figure is I wish he had more gear. His mold-mate has two blasters, and he has one - no doubt the pennies went to the helmet and painted head, but for $25 I would love to feel I'm getting a little more value. Our Marvel brothers get 1/6 of a figure as a bonus at the same price, and G.I. Joe might get six or seven accessories plus an alternate head. There's nothing wrong with the figure itself, but it would be neat if it came with literally anything. Even just a part of a 6-jointed "trooper" display accessory statue figure or something to make these figures a little more enticing.

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

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,001: February 7, 2023

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 2,984: Koska Reeves (The Vintage Collection)

KOSKA REEVES Target Exclusive
The Vintage Collection 3 3/4-Inch Action Figure
Item No.: No. F5565
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #230
Includes: Helmet, blaster
Action Feature: Removable helmet, holster
Retail: $13.99
Availability: August 2022
Appearances: The Mandalorian

Bio: A master of hand-to-hand combat, Koska Reeves is loyal to Bo-Katan and is a member of a band of Clan Kryze Mandalorians striking back at the Imperial remnant. (Stolen from Target. There is no bio on-pack.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at Amazon now!

Commentary: Unless Hasbro cranks out a Kenner-style version, this Koska Reeves is a shoo-in for my favorite version of her so far. She's basically similar in deco to The Black Series, but with the engineering of a good The Vintage Collection figure - specifically, Bo-Katan Kryze [FOTD #2,893]. While many of Hasbro's recent high-priced old-mold repaints have been feeling more and more like we're being squeezed on the line's way out, Ms. Reeves is pretty much as good as we can expect. Not perfect, but at least worth the asking price.

Koska Reeves mostly shares parts, but there's a new head and a new belt. Given that the figure is based on a character whose armor comes from a mold, this is more or less exactly what I would expect and want. The same awesome leg articulation is still here. You still have the superior elbow joints, the surprisingly dainty-yet-good ankles and wrists, and the double-jointed neck to get even more great poses out of a surprisingly lifelike pea-sized head. You get one blaster that fits in a holster, and the helmet is a swappable head - so there's no worry of it being too big, or rubbing the paint off of her face. I am still living that we're being charged $23 for a Boba Fett repaint, but this repaint/remold at $14 takes something good and changes it enough to be different, yet worthwhile, while not making me feel like a chump for having bought it.

Her armor deco paints the blue on the chest, rather than molding it in blue, and the results are hugely better. It looks like painted metal, complete with scuffs and scrapes. Her other armor follows suit, being similar to the 6-inch figure yet somehow looking better at the small size due to how it was painted. I have no complaints, except the Night Owls logos on the shoulders are still a little ugly. The same was true of Bo-Katan, so I assume this process still has some refinements. Thankfully you're unlikely to see them, but at least everything else is excellent. Her eyes are great, the hair looks good, the details are almost all exactly where they should be. Given recent weird price spikes, there's no excuse for anything to be subpar, and she's great. I wish there were more vehicles for her or maybe flame accessories, but at $14 I wouldn't expect any given Hasbro's higher-priced action figures relative to the competition in the marketplace.

I think she's worth it, and she went to clearance almost immediately - in under two months you could get her for about five bucks. It's a pity because this is a very good figure, but between Target's impatience and Hasbro's floating (or non-existing) release dates on exclusives, it is what it is. At $14 I'd say she's going to give you your money's worth, so grab one if you see her. I think this figure would have done better business had Hasbro kept pushing it to season 3 of The Mandalorian, but we'll see how that goes next year.

Collector's Notes: I got mine from Target.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 2,984: December 8, 2022

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 2,981: Axe Woves (The Vintage Collection)

AXE WOVES Target Exclusive
The Vintage Collection 3 3/4-Inch Action Figure
Item No.: No. F5566
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #228
Includes: Helmet, blaster
Action Feature: Removable helmet, holster
Retail: $13.99
Availability: September 2022
Appearances: The Mandalorian
Bio: A skilled warrior, Axe Woves is loyal to Bo-Katan and is a member of a band of Clan Kryze Mandalorians striking back at the Imperial remnant (Stolen from Target. There is no bio on-pack.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at Amazon now!

Commentary: Not yet on clearance, but abundant, this Axe Woves is pretty much the most sensible exclusive, distributed well, and sold at what is a pretty fair price. It was $14 and came out about a month before pre-orders for Vintage hit $17.99 - but just after his capsule companions Migs Mayfeld and Koska Reeves were nearly instantly blown out at 75% off. Why the quick clearance? Why isn't a new Mandalorian just selling like hotcakes? I'm not sure, but given that the original Kenner kids are all around 40, maybe the generation of collectors is starting to move on to more adult pastures. (No, not smut.)

At least one other figure uses elements from this mold, the excellent Death Watch Mandalorian [FOTD #2,926] which is the better figure. The bodies are the same, but Death Watch has a non-removable helmet, and Axe Woves' removable helmet seems to have what the kids used to call "fivehead." The dome above the visor is a little high, and it's a little smooshed. It's still a good figure, though.

Like the costume on the show, the figures share a lot of parts and a lot of colors. A lot of the blue armor is blue on both figures, except the area surviving the visor and the chest armor. Other than that, and a blue body glove, they're very much alike. And that's good! It's a mass-produced suit from a mold, so it makes sense that you get the same great ab joint, the superlative holster, and the great arm and leg movement. He stands without too much fuss and other than somewhat stiff ankles, is super easy to pose. Hasbro future-proofed the mold with holes in the jets, so you can pose him on as-of-yet not-existing stands or flame jets. Hopefully we'll see such parts down the road.

Other than the helmet's big blue sea on top, I really like this figure. The face portrait is good, articulation is great, painting is better than average, and it's the kind of figure that makes you say "I don't need the 6-inch one... sure I might buy it, but this is good enough." I'd say get it if you still see it out there at a fair price because it shows a lot of precision work went into it. The painted (not molded) hairline is one of Hasbro's best.

Collector's Notes: I got mine from Target.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 2,981: November 29, 2022