Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 2,415: Rey (2-Pack, The Last Jedi Line Look)

REY (Jedi Training) with Elite Praetorian Guard
The Last Jedi Deluxe Action Figure 2-Packs
Item No.: Asst. C1242 No. C1243
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: Bladed weapon, Lightsaber, Staff, Blaster, Millennium Falcon-inspired Backpack, Rey figure
Action Feature: Force Link sounds
Retail: $14.99
Availability: September 2017
Appearances: The Last Jedi

Bio: Rey was a human female scavenger and Force prodigy who discovered her latent Force-sensitivity while on a journey to find the legendary Jedi Master Luke Skywalker and bring a new hope to a galaxy on the brink of war. (Stolen from Wookieepedia.  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!

Commentary:  In 2015, Rey started getting hot in December once people that the marketing and toy line did a good job of hiding who the hero was in The Force Awakens.  She could be bought relatively easily, but only had one regular 3 3/4-inch action figure pre-movie.   (More would follow.)  This time around, we got two of her in basically an identical costume, but with minor sculpting tweaks, at launch.  Grumble, grumble.   This figure comes in a 2-pack and was made in Vietnam - it has a better range of motion.  The single figure comes from China, and it has more detail but a worse range of motion.  To the naked eye, they're identical - but they have different Force Link sounds, too. 2-pack Rey has a silver blaster, painted.  Single Rey has a grey one.

As always, Rey has 5 points of articulation.  The 2-pack figure has a slightly rounder, more doll-like face than the single counterpart with an outfit that combines Jedi robes with her desert rat wear.   Obviously, the islands of Ahch-To are likely lacking in tailors for Padawan clothing ("Padawear")  Everything looks consistent with her existing fashion choices, like she may have cobbled this together herself - and it fits.  The arms swing out a little bit thanks to the angled cut of the shoulder joints, and she can actually swing her legs forward because of how the factory cut the robes.  (The single, China version can't do this.)  The textures are good, but there are bands in her clothing that are difficult to discern as fabric patterns or un-smoothed print lines from a 3-D printer.  

Her accessories are interesting - the silver pistol fits in her hand or holster without a fight, and her staff or lightsaber can fit in her hand nicely too.   A clip-on backpack mashes up an Endor/Hoth Rebel Trooper backpack with a Stormtrooper belt and a quad cannon to give her some added firepower, and its own sound chip - you get some shooty, rockety sounds from it.  It's a nice bonus, but it's not as visually impressive as the gear from the Rogue One 2-packs.   I should also note that the lightsaber of this 2-pack isn't as detailed as the single one - you'll see sharper details and added sculpted elements on the single release.

I can't say this figure, in its current form, is doing much for me - I really wish she was super articulated just because of what I assume her role will be in the movie.  Luke can stand around, sure.  Poe just needs to sit in a vehicle and I'm happy. But Rey? She's got a lightsaber - she needs to be able to be posed to fight!   Still, she's pretty good, and with the guard you'll want to get this set.   Without a side-by-side comparison and a very sharp eye, other than the skirt cut, I doubt most fans will tell that there's a difference.

Assortment Notes: The 2015 line gave us a couple of weird plussed-up figure packs - one was "Armor Up" figures, a basic figure with a helmet for an added $5 upcharge.  The other was a Deluxe 2-pack, which gave us two figures with normal accessories plus rocket launchers and big weapons for about the price of two regular figures.  This movie's two-packs are somewhere in the middle - you get 2 figures for $15, which is good.  The bonus accessory isn't as neat as what we got for Rogue One (giant rocket launchers) but are about as sensible as what we got for The Force Awakens - only we get a secondary sound chip instead of an action feature.  Minus things like duplicate figures you might not want, these are a decent value.

Collector's Notes: The 2-pack version from Vietnam (which we review here) says "I'm with the Resistance."  It also says "VIETNAM" inside her skirt flap.   I got mine from Entertainment Earth.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 2,415: October 9, 2017