Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,088: Morgan Elsbeth (The Vintage Collection)

MORGAN ELSBETH Sans Pole
The Vintage Collection 3 3/4-Inch Action Figure
Item No.: Asst. F7311 No. F7345
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #295
Includes: n/a
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $16.99
Availability: October 2023
Appearances: Ahsoka

Bio: Morgan Elsbeth was a Force-sensitive human female Nightsister who was instrumental in the construction of the Imperial Navy during the reign of the Galactic Empire. (Stolen from Wookieepedia.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

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

Click here to buy it at Amazon now!

Click here to buy it at eBay now!

Click here to buy it at Walmart now!

Commentary: Can I go on a tangent? I hate that spoilerphobes run the business now. Back in 2002, Hasbro released a Jango Fett figure with a decapitated head before Attack of the Clones. I could have done without that - but now Lucasfilm is keeping stuff so tightly under wraps for "surprise" or whatever that Hasbro can make a really nice action figure like Morgan Elsbeth, a character with multiple great options for accessories on the shows, and what do we get? None. In The Mandalorian, she had a beskar spear that would become a big deal on the show - no such weapon is included. In Ahsoka, she had Talzin's Sword - another significant weapon, also not included here. The character also got a significant Super Saiyan makeover which could have allowed for alternate body parts or even little clear Magick energy bits - also none of those were included here. So you get a perfectly nice figure with a superb skirt, but she's $16.99 just like the figures with alternate heads, alternate hands, and actual gear. It's just not here, there's no value, and so far the figure seems to be selling well. (Oddly, The Black Series figure's price is dropping precipitously as of last month. $10 off a new figure is a pretty bad sign, but she also had no gear.) Confidential to Hasbro and Lucasfilm: if you want to keep the accessories a mystery to us during pre-order or presentation phases, do it. Mattel used to do it. We can see what the gear is after the figure ships, rather than be charged for a figure with no accessories that I assume is unlikely to ever get said accessories. But, as I said, I digress. This is a nice figure, and I have to parse "this is a nice action figure that was manufactured well" from "what insanity is this insane pricing with no accessories." Perhaps the problem is The Vintage Collection itself - in years gone by, we'd get coins, or holographic figures, or even droid parts. Something. Hasbro could easily hide a spoilerly accessory behind the figure in the bubble, or they could take the attitude of Hasbro in 2002.

But here in 2023, you have a good figure. The hair is a separately-molded wig with multiple shades of gray. The strands are exquisitely sculpted, with tiny buns on the back, a part in the middle, and more hanging down framing her face. If there was an award for best-sculpted hair, this would probably get it - we never had it quite this good in the old days. Her face looks like Diana Lee Inosanto, complete with fantastic and tiny make-up elements. Take a look at her forehead, her eyebrows, and her lips - everything looks perfect. Her top looks great with sculpted folds of fabric and perfectly painted Ahsoka belt. Her costume did change a bit between The Mandalorian and Ahsoka, while keeping the basic silhouette and color palette. It's kind of obnoxious - sort of like Finn's costume changes between the first two movies being his pants. In Morgan's case, she has a skirt with perfect little pleats. It's really impressive - the fabric pattern is black and red, with more texture than I'm used to for soft goods. The execution is, again, tip-top.

Her articulation is good, but nowadays "good" is "nothing special." For a figure with no weapons, no reason for combat poses, and no reason to sit, rocker ankles, ball-jointed hips, and an exceptional range of motion are nice - but Hasbro could also have cut them a bit and given us a simpler figure, possibly at a lower price point. (They don't want to do this, they want to sell $17 or higher figures. And if they threw in coins I'd probably pay the extra money without a fight.) Her wrists only swivel, and her arms have a good range of movement - but the elbows stop at 90 degrees. I know some fans complain when I say this - but she could probably be a salt shaker with arms and most fans would never notice. She's just going to stand around, or be carded - there could be cost savings for Hasbro which could be put into accessories or a lower price point on the assortment.

Looking at the legs under the dress, my first reaction was "Did they announce an Asajj Ventress and I forgot?" Those could totally be reused for other figures - but we haven't had a new one in over a decade. We're about due. (She's popular and could probably also reuse the skirt, just add lightsabers and a new head/upper body.)

So is Morgan Elsbeth a good figure? Yes. Is she worth $17? I mean... no? You've got a well-executed barebones figure here. The fact that the lining of the dress is red and it has this nifty black pattern printed on the outside is really amazing, but all she can do is stand - and with skinny legs and lots of articulation, she might need help. I have many similar gripes about Retro Morgan, but she ain't here yet. So for now I'll say if you love the character, and you love 3 3/4-inch figures, this is your best bet... but The Black Series may be even cheaper online.

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

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,088: December 7, 2023

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,087: Artoo-Detoo (R2-D2, The Black Series)

ARTOO-DETOO (R2-D2)
The Black Series 40th Anniversary Return of the Jedi or 2023 Window Box Line Look The Mandalorian Packaging
Item No.: Asst. F6853 No. F7075 and Asst. E8908 No. F8351
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #32 - Star Wars: The Mandalorian
Includes: Four arms, two scopes
Action Feature: Neck extends for on-board arm storage, retractable third leg, opening ports for scopes in dome
Retail: $24.99
Availability: September 2023
Appearances: Return of the Jedi and Star Wars: The Mandalorian

Bio: As Luke Skywalker ushers Grogu into his Jedi training, he's accompanied by R2-D2 who is particularly enthused to encounter the foundling. (Taken from the The Mandalorian box packaging.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

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

Click here to buy it at Amazon now!

Click here to buy it at eBay now!

Commentary: In a period of weeks, Hasbro demonstrated how it is dealing with being tasked to use fewer SKUs by releasing the same Artoo-Detoo (R2-D2) figure on two different styles of packaging. As far as I can tell both releases are identical, and I opened the 40th Anniversary Return of the Jedi one for this review because the packaging arrived smashed. This new astromech droid body is a little bigger and has a different set of features from the one we got way back in 2013, addressing some issues but not others. It is a little more than just different enough to make you mad, but it is not, sadly, the ultimate R2-D2. You're still being charged a regular price for a smaller figure, but at least this time Hasbro made a few more parts move and added some features to make the most out of the budget. (They did not, however, add instructions so the average Joe can use them.)

 

BanDai did a similar figure a few years ago, and what it tells us is that Lucasfilm apparently does not have a definitive R2-D2 schematic. For those of you who bought that Incredible Cross-sections of Star Wars, Episode I - The Phantom Menace: The Definitive Guide to the Craft book, you know that R2-D2 has an extendable neck so his head pops out of the top of the ship. BanDai went with a five-piston version, while Hasbro's is one big extending piece. In terms of toy functionality, Hasbro's has a slight edge because you can store the figure's extra arms in there, if you want. The dome rotates on the extended neck, and two of the panels on his dome are removable/easily lost for you to use with the included periscope and sensorscope. What's more, R2-D2 has a third leg with an unusual feature - a foot that not only pivots, but swivels. We never get those. They managed to cram a lot in here... but not everything. More on that below.

The figure has four opening bodily compartments, without the little tabs to help get them open. On his sides, each one has three holes in it, so you can put in a manipulator arm, a datalink port, an oil-slick arm, or a utility/interface arm. Also the blue panels under his dome open, but I can't see any function to them in terms of a place to put arms or accessories. It's just a cool extra, and sign that Hasbro is making the most of its tooling budget. I had no idea those panels even opened until I got this in my hands, so you can say I'm more than a little impressed and surprised to see it. I'm also surprised two versions of this figure were released without any mention of all these features on the packaging or an instruction sheet. If you're going to put money into making such a robust droid with so many moving parts, why not tell everybody?

I haven't even talked about the sculpt yet. It's good! It looks like R2-D2 and the size seems more on the money. I like the wires on the feet, the painted blue panels, and his "bald spot" on top of his dome was actually painted this time. (Hasbro frequently leaves the circle on top silver.) They left the vents under his legs unpainted, and also and the areas around the silver greeblies on his arms were left unpainted. But they did recess the octagonal silver element on the bottom of the figure, while leaving off the blue paint in that region. The back of the dome also has a place for a long, rectangular light but Hasbro opted to leave it unpainted this time. On the front of his dome, the Logic Function displays - those little stacked rectangles - were sadly also left unpainted. Since they're hollow, I wonder if Hasbro just left a piece out?

The dome has two pop-out panel slices. Sadly neither hinges up like in the movie, so R2-D2's periscope with the blue top looks like it belongs, but the sensorscope just looks like a piece fell out. It's good, but not perfect. Maybe the next one will be perfect, but it might also be at a higher price for the extra bells and whistles. (Confidentially, if Hasbro made an R2-D2 that does everything at a deluxe price, maybe incorporating some die-cast metal, I'd probably buy it.)

For those looking to replace their older figure, it's two steps forward and one step back. Fans have been asking for a do-over for R2-D2 since the first one came out, because we're hard to please. We may ask for one again as this R2-D2 lacks any sort of lightsaber storage, has none of the arm booster rockets, and lacks wheels. It is difficult to get that third leg out, and still doesn't have the key Return of the Jedi pizza cutter to escape the Ewok net. It's by no means a bad figure, but for those looking to get the best version and call it quits, it is sadly worth noting that this is also not the final definitive R2-D2. You'll probably want the old version too.

If you never got the first R2-D2, or its various reissues or deco variants, I would recommend this one. $25 or so ain't bad, and the added play features make it genuinely worthwhile. The action features are more subtle this time, and the size may be more to your liking. I just wish it was as good as it could possibly be - it's so much better, but short of budgetary reasons (or maybe a new variant with different legs next year) there's nothing really keeping those arm rockets off the toy. I shouldn't dump on it for what it isn't, particularly since what it is, is better than the 2013 version. According to the inflation calculators, $20 from 2013 would be $26.42in 2023, so you might even look at this figure as, in some ways, a decent deal. Also Hasbro still hasn't done a "disk drive" in the modern era - the 12-inch figure from the 1970s had Death Star plans you could cram in the back, but nobody has worked with the diskette from the original movie yet. Free unrequested feedback for the next one: plans, lightsaber, maybe some drink trays, and booster rockets.

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

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,087: December 5, 2023

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,086: BB Droid (Silver, Advent Calendar 2022)

BB DROID Droid Cosplay
Star Wars Droid Factory
Item No.: ???
Manufacturer: Disney
Number: n/a
Includes: Silver BB droid, Nutcracker R5 droid, Gold R4 droid, Giftwrapped Power Droid with bow, Elf R6 Droid with hat, C1 droid
Action Feature: Comes apart
Retail: $69.99
Availability: August 2022
Appearances: n/a
Bio: All different types of astromech droid populate the Star Wars galaxy. Each droid is different and has their own unique personality and colors. Open up the Sandcrawler to reveal and build 6 new droids to celebrate along with them for 25 days this season. May the Force be with you... and your droids!" This droid is optimized to function in the sparsely settled, unspoiled frontier world of Vandor. Join R6-SNO on their adventures throughout the galaxy! (Taken from the packaging. Yes, the one quotation mark and reference to R6-SNO, who is not included, was on the box in three languages.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at eBay now!

Commentary: It was Thanksgiving last week, but it's not December yet, so let's look at the Advent Calendar BB Droid. While some of you say that the gold R4 droid is a bell, I don't buy it - but I could buy this one being a bell, or maybe a snowflake, or just a riff on a traditional ball ornament. Or not. I guess I have no idea what the authorial intent is, but the author is dead so I guess I'll just say it's a nice silver ball robot.

Riffing on the BB-9E head on a BB-8 body, you get a blue-gray metallic plastic robot with painted metallic blue and matte white highlights. The design doesn't feel holiday specific - if you squint you could probably place it at another holiday, or just as a robot rolling around in a post-Empire galaxy. Since the mold is nothing new, you're buying this for the colors and I'd say they're just fine. (Maybe it's a snowflake?) There's a lot to like here in its simplicity. It's not an eye explosion like the elf or nutcracker, it's not painfully obviously Christmas incarnate. You can let this little one roll around anywhere you like, and I can admire that - expanding the universe is something Star Wars should do more often, although it can be tough to do. If you come up with something too weird it's uncomfortable, but within the context of a droid redeco that adheres to the coloring book lines we've seen before it's easy to like this droid. You can put him in a sandcrawler, or under a tree. Options are nice to have, especially if you don't celebrate Christmas and just want a nice little new droid.

For those of you who don't have any BB droids from Disney, they're sort of like Weebles. The round ball robot cracks open like a plastic Easter Egg with a weighted ball inside. Curiously, the weighted interior ball has a lot of silver paint that you'll never see after you assemble it. I'm sure a lot of collectors will express admiration for attention to detail, but I'd rather not pay for paint applications I'll probably never see after I buy it. I wouldn't mind if Disney started to mold these things in color so we can - I hope - put off a price increase a little bit longer. (The exterior paint is perfectly good, don't change a thing, Disney.)

Somehow this figure is more interesting as a "Christmas" droid that's not very "Christmas" than it would be as a random grab of parts out of a bin. The silver top of the head and bright white around a big black eye give him just enough life that it seems he could go beep at any second now. For you reading this in the future, he has no given name. How you'll find it on eBay I don't know - Sandcrawler Advent Calendar BB Droid? Blue Silver BB Unit? Good luck. But do find one, if you are so inclined. He's part of a big set that's arguably worth getting if you swing that way, and I'm more willing to accept a droid with open arms if it's smaller and more reasonably priced. And this one is.

Collector's Notes: I got mine from some guy on eBay for a lower price!

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,086: November 30, 2023

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,085: Chopper (C1-10P, The Retro Collection)

CHOPPER (C1-10P, Kenner Style)
The Retro Collection 3 3/4-Inch Action Figure
Item No.: Asst. F6874 No. F7307
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: Removable third leg
Action Feature: Dome clicks, third leg removes
Retail: $11.99
Availability: October 2023
Appearances: Star Wars: Ahsoka

Bio: The Star Wars Retro Collection features design and detailing inspired by the original 1970s Star Wars figures and features original figure design and detailing! Continue your collection from a galaxy far, far away. (Stolen from the marketing copy. 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! 

Click here to buy it at eBay now!

Commentary: Arguably a big, exciting improvement! Chopper (C1-10P) is a new figure of a familiar face, which is what I find to be the most exciting thing about Star Wars: The Retro Collection. I love the format so much, even a lesser figure is elevated! But we'll get to them later. Today I'm here to talk droids, because I was delighted to see how this one would turn out. Hasbro's packaging is still, sadly, quite thin but they did really tone down the ugly fake "shelf battle damage" markings, with only a few unsightly white splotches. Which aren't thinks you tend to see on old cardbacks - bends, sure. Tears where the price tags were? Yes. But not weird white blobs. That's just peculiar. The "Retro Collection Kollektion Colleccion Serie" sticker is, sadly, still there and costing Hasbro money for a feature fans don't actually want. "Drop the package sticker already" is what I'm saying.

As soon as I got this guy off the cardback I ran to my 1983 Y-Wing Fighter to see if he fit in the R2-D2 droid socket. He doesn't - the feet are a little too wide. I'm surprised! I mean, I'm not surprised that Hasbro didn't test a 2023 figure against a 1983 ship - that's just silly to expect unless you're LEGO, or Playmobil, or maybe Hot Wheels - but I didn't anticipate he wouldn't be the same dimensions as R2-D2 and R5-D4. He does, however, fit in the Y-Wing Scout "Mini-Rig" from Rebels and The Clone Wars... and fits best if you have the one with the booster seat. His dome does indeed click, and there's a little screw under the body holding it in place, just like R2-D2. You have to pull out the removable third leg to see it. He has no problems standing up, and that third leg is a snug fit - that's how you want it. As a toy, it's a lot of fun to fidget with him and I don't think there are any other features you could reasonably ask for out of a 1980s-style Chopper Kenner figure. This is it, they nailed it.

 But how accurate is(n't) it? Also perfect! Getting it wrong is getting it right. Hasbro dropped the dome arms, as I suspect Kenner would have done as well. The legs are different, but not very different - the "shoulders" are changed, but the rest of the legs are pretty much the same minus the piston running down the side and the colors. It's like they made it from an incomplete picture, which is how the very best Kenner figures got made. (For the record, I'm talking about the Class of 1979 - the Cantina Aliens, Power Droid, Boba Fett, X-Wing Luke, and Death Star Droid. In the words of the great Carly Simon "nobody does it better," baby.) You get an R2-D2 style body sticker and everything. If anything Hasbro may have made it a tad too good - the extra paint on the dome for the black and blue eyes, plus a yellow stripe and a beige dish seems generous. The dark leg also has some subtle gray paint on it that seems like a luxury - but he's a tiny guy, so Hasbro probably had some budget left to trick this guy out a bit. Everything and I do mean everything is molded in color, so from where I sit this seems like a very Kenner-flavored take on the character. I believe this is how Kenner would have done it, and it feels and looks like a real 1980s toy.

 It's figures like this that touch the spot in my brain that remembers what it was like to be playing with toys in my parents' house over 40 years ago. He feels like he could have been held by the Great Heep or just was part of some phantom toy line Kenner put out after Return of the Jedi. It's 100% what I want in a toy figure, and I would give it about as high of a recommendation as I can to anybody who buys Retro or Kenner-style action figures. If you were a Kenner kid, go buy this. $12, $20, whatever - just get it. And Hasbro, if you're reading, please don't give up on this format. 10 or 12 new figures a year is perfect (I know we got more in 2023, no complaints) so keep them coming.

 

Collector's Notes: I got mine from Target but also have the case on order at Entertainment Earth. (I couldn't wait.)

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,085: November 28, 2023

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,084: Admiral Motti (Imperial Officers set, The Vintage Collection)

ADMIRAL MOTTI Imperial Officers Set
The Vintage Collection 3 3/4-Inch Action Figure Hasbro Pulse / Shop Disney Exclusive
Item No.: No. F8300
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: Blaster, 3 additional figures
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $59.99
Availability: October 2023
Appearances: Star Wars

Bio: Imperial officers fought against Rebel forces in an effort to maintain the Empire’s stronghold over the galaxy. Add these four unique figures to your collection, including two new officer portraits; Admiral Piett (with his admiral rank badge); and -- for the first time in The Vintage Collection -- General Motti. (Stolen from Hasbro marketing copy. It says "General" Motti on their page.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at eBay now!

Commentary: You'll probably want Admiral Motti. He comes in one of those odd white boxed sets, and as of my writing this isn't planned to be a part of the carded line so far as I know. He's not the first Motti figure - we got one in the CommTech line over 20 years ago, and he got repacked in The Saga Collection as part of a big Imperial Officers gift set. Since then he's been dormant, but now you can get one loaded with articulation. That's good! But he doesn't have that "tugging at the collar" hand we saw previously, so you may want to get both releases. The 2023 one is objectively better overall, but it also illustrates how we've gone forward and back. Yes, the new figure is loaded with articulation and is one of the best-jointed Original Trilogy figures Hasbro has ever made. However, it comes at the expense of a figure's personality, a pose and a simple joint that gave you everything that this character was about. Breathing problems.

If you want a figure to sit at a table (that Hasbro has never made), this is it. He can sit! The skirt piece is a little stiff but he has those new ball-jointed hips that give him a tremendous range of movement. The knees and ankles move, the shoulders move, the elbows move, the wrists bend and swivel. It's a very good mold and one they're using for Piett, Thrawn, and undoubtedly many more figures in the years to come. I'm glad they gave Motti the right rank badge and code cylinders, because some Imperial Officers just get hand-waved as being "good enough" without every last change. (Admittedly, it would be better than nothing.) I should also note that he has no problems holding his blaster, even though we never saw the character with a sidearm.

Hasbro's sculptors did a great job here. The scowl looks amazing, the hair is fantastic, and the uniform is nice and crisp. It's the kind of figure that would make you run back to your giant Death Star playset, if Hasbro made one, which they still have not. While you have to assign the figure's personality by posing the otherwise generic male Imperial stooge body yourself, it's nice to have the option. It's so rare that we get new minor human character in this line that I'd say, overall, it's great. Hasbro needs to maximize its tooling investment, which means that somehow we wind up paying more for more articulation and we trade away a little personality. I think most adult collectors will prefer this The Vintage Collection release, but I'm not going to be getting rid of my The Power of the Force Motti. There's an element of charm I would lose in the upgrade, and I can't have that. As such, I recommend both figures. At current prices, they're still affordable.

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

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,084: November 23, 2023

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,083: General Hera Syndulla (The Black Series)

GENERAL HERA SYNDULLA (Live Action)
The Black Series 2023 Closed Box Line Look Ahsoka Packaging
Item No.: Asst. E8908 No. F7109
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #06 - Star Wars: Ahsoka
Includes: Blaster
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $24.99
Availability: October 2023
Appearances: Star Wars: Ahsoka

Bio: Set after the fall of the Empire, Ahsoka follows former Jedi Knight Ahsoka Tano as she investigates an energing threat to a vulnerable galaxy. (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!

Click here to buy it at eBay now!

Commentary: I have some outstanding pre-orders still on the books, so figures like General Hera Syndulla are still coming - and are pretty good. It looks like someone painted Mary Elizabeth Winstead green... which is someone's lifelong ambition, I'm sure. The figure gives you a high-quality take on the Rebels character, as seen in the live-action connective tissue limited series that will get you to the next one. The costume designers did a great job bringing the CG outfit to life with enhancements like a cool jacket - which is good enough for me.

She still has orange pants and a brown top, but now there's a Rebel general bomber jacket with a cool painted logo on the back. This is a figure that looks like Hasbro saw the $25 budget and made the most of it, with those shrug-forward shoulder joints, the double-jointed neck, and a waist joint at the pants - rather than mid-torso, which looks like garbage. Hasbro cut the joints nicely, so she can easily be posed to grab her blaster in her holster, or adjust her goggles - a separately-molded piece that does not actually rotate. The jacket looks gorgeous, with a fluffy collar and painted patches. And a painted rank badge. And largely unpainted pants, so the orange color is consistent throughout. I'm looking for reasons to complain, and I don't really have one. She stands, she sits, she has an easy-to-find center of gravity.

The figure's head is amazing. Her lekku are molded green plastic with painted details, just like her face, and the brown flight cap is molded in brown. It looks way better than a paint job, but that isn't to say the paint used on this figure aren't great. The painted face turned out very well, with glossy eyes and a wry smile. With no human skin tone to match, Hera looks eerily realistic. Obviously it's not a high-end Hot Toys figure, but for the low price she does almost look like she might start talking.

The one thing I don't love is how her blaster fits in her holster - the little tab doesn't quite lock in because the blaster gets in the way. She can hold it perfectly in her flexible fingers, and it's worth noting that the blaster has multiple colors of paint on it to make it look like more than a toy accessory. It's great - you're paying for it, but at least you can't fault its quality.

While I'm planning to stop buying the 6-inch line in the very near future, mostly because of cost and space considerations, Hasbro's quality seems to be going up with each new wave. Any newly-designed figure looks amazing, poses well, and has so much personality in the face I can't not recommend it to a fan, or as a gift for someone who loves the character. You will like this figure, but this format isn't necessarily as fun if you want to buy a lot of figures. Like I said, she can stand and sit - but she'll never pilot a vehicle. You can't ask for a better figure to display on your desk, but I need a smaller figure to play around with and thankfully, we're getting two soon for Vintage and Retro fans. Even though I don't have them in-hand yet, I can't deny that this 6-inch one is going to be the best-looking of them.

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

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,083: November 21, 2023

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,082: R6 Droid (Advent Calendar 2022)

R6 DROID Droid Cosplay
Star Wars Droid Factory
Item No.: ???
Manufacturer: Disney
Number: n/a
Includes: Silver BB droid, Nutcracker R5 droid, Gold R4 droid, Giftwrapped Power Droid with bow, Elf R6 Droid with hat, C1 droid
Action Feature: Comes apart
Retail: $69.99
Availability: August 2022
Appearances: n/a

 
Bio: All different types of astromech droid populate the Star Wars galaxy. Each droid is different and has their own unique personality and colors. Open up teh Sandcrawler to reveal and build 6 new droids to celebrate along with them for 25 days this season. May the Force be with you... and your droids!" This droid is optimized to function in the sparsely settled, unspoiled frontier world of Vandor. Join R6-SNO on their adventures throughout the galaxy! (Taken from the packaging. Yes, the one quotation mark and reference to R6-SNO, who is not included, was on the box in three languages.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at eBay now!

Commentary: The holidays continue! This Advent Calendar R6 Droid is elfin, complete with belt buckle deco and hat. Unlike the last one, this one's a bit more obvious with a green body, black feet, plus other highlights. For all I know I have it wrong, but I'm going to say no, I don't. As always, it keeps the same basic build with removable arms (and third foot), a removable dome, and a hole for an optional hat. You know them, you love them, probably.

I liked most of the holiday droids because they didn't seem too Earthy - this one veers more toward a holiday decoration, something you probably couldn't actually work in to a shelf of normal action figures. This is the one you put next to your Holiday S.L.U.G. Zombies or your The Black Series holiday edition figures. It's vibrant, charming, and as a nice hat - there's a lot to like here in terms of creativity. It makes sense that there would be figures that use the droid body as a base on which to make decorations or artist figures, and I'm surprised there aren't actually a lot more of them yet.

The paint is nice and thick, so there's not a lot of plastic showing through The details on the dome are few and far between, with a painted eye, a blue light, and a red line around the neck - because the rest of the figure got all the paint. I really do like the vibrant colors, and the artist behind it came up with a good color layout. But what do I do with an elf droid on December 26? That I haven't figured out yet as the parts don't particularly lend themselves to other environs. I think it's an admirable design but if it weren't part of a bigger set with other, more normal droids I could see letting this one go. I probably sound pretty wishy-washy here, but it's a hard figure to recommend if you want to collect figures that belong in the Star Wars universe. This is one for your holiday displays, and little else.

Collector's Notes: I got mine from some guy on eBay for a lower price!

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,082: November 16, 2023

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,081: Wicket W. Warrick (Ewoks Cartoon, The Vintage Collection)

WICKET W. WARRICK cartoon version
The Vintage Collection 3 3/4-Inch Action Figure Fan Channel 2-Pack
Item No.: No. F8300
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #283
Includes: Spear, bag, hood, coin
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $36.99
Availability: October 2023
Appearances: Ewoks

Bio: Wicket's friendly, adventurous, and mischievous nature makes him a leader among the other young EWOKS. (Stolen from Hasbro marketing copy. There is 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!

Click here to buy it at eBay now!

Commentary: There are a lot of things Hasbro makes where I don't know who the audience is going to be, but I do know that this Ewoks cartoon Wicket W. Warrick was made for me. If you were a kid in the 1980s, you may have watched these shows on Saturday mornings for a couple of years, and then saw them at Kay-Bee for a buck. What's interesting about Wicket is that he's a remake of a character from 1985, while Kneesaa never actually came out until now. (There's still hope!) Back in the early 1990s and late 1980s, nobody wanted those figures - I got them super cheap and their relative scarcity was in large part because nobody cared to sell them. As such, if you didn't have the then newly-sculpted cartoon-specific Ewoks, you can get these now.

This figure takes the 2010 The Vintage Collection movie mold - which also had a movie hood, and was only $10 - and adds the requisite collector tax mark-up, giving you a reissue of the coin (freebies in the $6.99 line in 2017) instead of a hood at what is basically a 85% mark-up. If you just had the orange hood, rather than the green hood, I'd probably say no - but since they gave you the season two hood first, this is interesting. On the actual cartoon, it was an orangey brown. On the old licensed merchandise and package art, Wicket's hood was usually a dirty yellow. The bright orange of the final figure is a rung below neon, and seems much more saturated and bright than the relatively muted product photography. The mold isn't new, but it's good - Hasbro is excellent at making the most of its existing tooling library, and gives you a handy pouch for sunberries on the side. This accessory is why I pre-ordered the figure, but I'd be lying if I said it turned out like I expected. The cartoon one was brown, while Kenner's preschool Wicket was that yellow color. As such, this is different enough where Hasbro has wiggle room to make another couple of cartoon Wicket figures if they really wanted to do so.

The spear is fine, and he can hold it with both hands since they did a good job designing him. Having said that, you won't feel you got your money's worth with swivel ankles, jointed hips and shoulders and ankles, and a jointed neck that won't move much. Combined, the two-pack has about as many parts as a modern full-size figure (give or take) so I'm sure Hasbro is making a good return on this mold investment - and it's a nice figure. The eyes are painted to be sort of like the movie while also being vaguely like the cartoon. The fur patterns are much cleaner than the movie version, and I actually kind of prefer it. You can move the legs so he can be posed standing without falling over quite nicely.

This figure is very much for a specific kind of fan. I'm sure completists will grouse, and even though this is something I very much want I do feel a little stung over the price tag. I assume we'll never see another Ewoks cartoon figure, but I like it enough to say that old Kenner kids might want to look into getting it. It's also worth noting the bonus coin feels a lot like the original, minus a sharper sculpt that seems a smidgen off from the real deal while paradoxically looking almost identical save for revised copyright markings. I bet it could pass for a genuine original if a fan wasn't intimately familiar with the years being stamped on the Kenner versions. Recommended if you like this sort of thing, and don't mind spending the equivalent of $18.50 for a repaint of a figure you may own already given the obscure nature of this release.

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

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,081: November 14, 2023

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,080: Ahsoka Tano (Padawan, The Black Series)

AHSOKA TANO (Padawan)
The Black Series 2023 Closed Box Line Look The Clone Wars Packaging
Item No.: Asst. E8908 No. F7100
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #13 - Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Includes: Lightsabers
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $24.99
Availability: October 2023
Appearances: Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Bio: Ahsoka Tano, a young Togruta, was the Padawan learner to Anakin Skywalker and a hero of the Clone Wars. (Taken from the packaging.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

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

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Click here to buy it at Walmart now!

Commentary: I can't complain about Ahsoka Tano (Padawan) as the figure is a great "live action" recreation of the season 3 cartoon costume, which also appeared on the Ahsoka TV show, and looks more or less like that. But maybe older. This is what the figure should look like - for long-time fans of the cartoons, this is pretty much what you would have in your head and the people at Hasbro did a nice enough job that you'll see this at $25 and go "OK, I want that."

The costume looks like what you saw on TV over ten years ago. She lost the tube top for a sleeveless number with gloves, arm bands, boots, and ventilated pants - which I guess may not seem Star Wars-y, but having left my house and seen airports I can assure you that the young people still do wear pants with rips in them. Functionally, it's probably pretty similar. How it works out for sword fighting, I have no idea. I sit at a computer for a living. Much like The Vintage Collection figure, she has two lightsabers. You can plug them into her belt if you like! Her belt fits well, the sculpting all turned out well and it seems multiple molded color pieces were stitched together to keep her looking her best for the longest possible time. You want things molded in color - paint scrapes. If the head is white plastic and pink plastic, at least those parts will stay nice if it falls and dings on the ground.

Since this figure is $25 I'm always torn between "do something to get the prices down" and "maximize the quality to make it worth $25." Ahsoka seems to be the latter. She has an extra joint to allow for extra arm movement, so inside her torso is an extra purple piece that connects to her arm and leets her have a bit more room. The figure's pose is pretty good too - her left hand has fingers extended in a "Force user" pose. The designers sculpted her to have a good center of gravity, so she actually stands on my desk while I hammer out this review. I didn't have a problem getting her into some neat poses, and I had no problems getting her to hold her lightsabers either. Hasbro even snuck in a surprise bonus joint - not only do you have rocker ankles, but the top of the boot is a swivel joint. I assume it was done because it helps keep paint costs down, but you can rotate that boot if you want. I don't think it's necessary but it is wonderful Hasbro budgeted it in there so nobody can complain that they didn't.

As I keep writing, I'm cutting my pre-orders for the 6-inch line and probably won't be buying a heck of a lot more - but I like this one a lot. I don't know if I'll keep her (and indeed them) forever, but she'll be one of the last to go. It's a pity the Anakin and Obi-Wan were really hard to get, because it would be great to have them to go with her - but maybe there's still room for Season 3 redesigns as figures, to keep things going. Hasbro did a nice job here, and if you are a fan of Ms. Tano I highly recommend getting this figure and watching The Clone Wars. (The Ahsoka show, well, if you have some time on a plane, sure.)

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

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,080: November 9, 2023