Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 2,354: Chirrut Imwe (Rogue One Line Look)

CHIRRUT IMWE Projectile Firing
Rogue One   Basic Figures
Item No.: Asst. B7072 No. B7276
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: Staff, projectile, launcher
Action Feature: Launching arrow
Retail: $7.99
Availability: October 2016
Appearances: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Bio: Deeply spiritual, Chirrut Îmwe believes all living things are connected through the Force. His sightless eyes do not prevent him from being a highly skilled warrior. Though he lacks Force abilities, this warrior monk has rigorously honed his body through intense physical and mental discipline.  (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: This is a good one - and for a time, was surprisingly easy to get.  One of many surprises in Rogue One, Chirrut Imwe brought the blind martial artist trope to Star Wars.  Well, the first explicit nod to it - Han Solo got a taste of that role in Return of the Jedi, but it was generally more slapstick in nature.  Chirrut got to be funny, but generally for other reasons.   Like the larger figure, he has a great head sculpt, a generous amount of armor and bandolier bits, and blued-out "blind" eyes.   Also surprisingly, his lightbow accessory is actually inspired by something on screen.  This wasn't necessarily obvious when he came out a full two months before the movie, so the swing-out elements and a decent firing mechanism were a nice touch.

Articulation more or less normal for this era, giving us a figure that reminds me a lot of the very first 1984 mail-in/POTF Anakin Skywalker.  The robes are cut down the middle, allowing his legs to swing forward.  Due to the bulk of the costume, you won't be getting him to fit in many vehicles.  Due to the lack of vehicles in this line, odds are this would never be a problem.   He can easily hold his staff - which is painted in a couple of spots - in either hand.  The bow clamps on his hands without too much fuss, but gravity is gravity and it's not like you're probably going to have him do a lot of aiming unassisted by hand.

I love the robe sculpting, I appreciate that they used extra tooling to separate his left hand from the sleeve, allowing both to be molded in plastic.  For a brief time I saw this figure sitting a lot, which is a shame because he's a great character and an above-average figure.  If you saw this movie and didn't like Chirrut, I don't even know what I'm supposed to say to you.  He was cool, the movie was fun enough, and Hasbro did a really good job with this figure given their current direction from whoever directs these things.  I know a common argument going around is "Wouldn't this be a better figure if it were completely different?"  Sure.  But it's not - this is the figure.   And it's a great figure given the circumstances surrounding its release, so do yourself a favor and grab it before Hasbro stops shipping them and someone charges you $50 for it on Amazon.  It's not going to be today, but I don't assume Hasbro will keep Rogue One characters in circulation once the line reboots for The Last Jedi come September.

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

--Adam Pawlus

Day 2,354: March 23, 2017

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 2,348: Chirrut Imwe (The Black Series)

CHIRRUT IMWE Is One with the Force
The Force Awakens The Black Series 6-Inch Figure
Item No.: Asst. B3834 No. C1365
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #36
Includes: Lightbow, staff
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $19.99
Availability: January 2017
Appearances: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Bio: Deeply spiritual, Chirrut Imwe believes all living things are connected through the Force. Though he lacks Force abilities, his sightless eyes do not prevent him from being a highly skilled warrior  monk. (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:  When people walked out of Rogue One, it would seem the characters left a bigger mark than the film itself.  Depending on what you brought to the table, you got a huge kick out of Chirrut Imwe for any of many possible reasons.   Some fans saw him as half of a couple.  Some saw him and Baze as a sort of new R2-D2 and C-3PO.  Others enjoyed seeing a Force religion beyond Jedi.  And of course, more still just loved seeing the classic Zatoichi archetype adapted for space opera.   Not only was he a baadasssss of the first order, but he got to be a decent comic character that got to send up the classic kidnapping convention of throwing a bag over somebody's head.   That alone was worth the price of admission.

The smaller figure (which I had neglected to review) is awesome, but the big one?  Even awesomer.  (Which, by the way, is a word.  It's also a great album.)   Hasbro delivered the goods here with a fantastic portrait of the actor Donnie Yen, marvelous-for-Hasbro deco, smart use of soft goods, and a better-than-expected Lightbow accessory.  The staff is a staff - two painted silver bits - but the lightbow is pretty gorgeous.  It has two grips, both of which he can easily hold.  The two bits fold in nicely, and I assume - as I don't have all the reference books - it was made by Baze.  According to some early stuff, a gimmick for the movie was that Baze was some sort of gun genius and he designed all sorts of awesome weapons - which is not what I saw in the final cut, so who knows?     The deco is sharp and the parts all move nicely - there's even a joint on the front to rotate the tongs around if you're so inclined.

The figure itself is good too!  It looks closer to the actor than some figures, and the skin tone isn't as waxy or translucent as some other figures.  Specifically, Baze.   The blind eye deco is sharp and so is the stripe on the cloth part of his robes.  Everything seems to be in order quite nicely, from the bandolier to the wrist armor.   Articulation is on par with the bulk of the better Disney-era characters, with double-jointed knees and rocker ankles and bend-and-swivel wrists.  He has no problems aiming his bow - which I am very surprised to see - and the mixed media robes hang quite nicely.  The red cloth looks gorgeous, and the black plastic mixes with the black cloth well enough that I don't think you'll be upset by it.     The eyebrows could probably be improved a bit - if you get close, you might notice that parts of the sculpted brow weren't painted.   The funny thing is the figure looks pretty fantastic even with this in mind, so I'm not sure if it would be better or worse with fully-painted brows.   Of course, you probably won't see him in the store anyway, so it's not like you're going to have a chance to find out without buying one online.  (Or so is my guess.)

I like this one a ton - I really dug the characters in the movie and it came with everything I could want, with the articulation he needs, and better than expected accessories.   Hasbro definitely hit the high notes and delivered a figure that meets my needs.   I can't wait to look at Baze!  ...who is also here on my desk.

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

--Adam Pawlus

Day 2,348: March 2, 2017