KYLO REN (Throne Room, with display base)
The Black Series 6-Inch Walmart Exclusive
Item No.: No. C3222
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: Metal lightsaber hilt, metal helmet, lightsaber, display base, cloth cape
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $30-$35
Availability: March 2018 (wide, showed up a few months earlier in limited numbers)
Appearances: The Last Jedi
Bio: After a stinging defeat by the scavenger Rey, Kyo Ren refocuses his efforts on destroying the Resistance. Though his powers in the dark side have increased Kylo still has much to prove to his shadowy mentor, Supreme Leader Snoke. (Taken from the figure's packaging.)
Image: Adam's photo lab.
Availability: Click here to buy it at Amazon now!
Commentary: After more than a small delay, this
Kylo Ren 6-inch action figure finally started to hit Walmart. There's no indicator as to whose exclusive it is - perhaps they weren't sure during production - but there have been exceedingly few exclusives in recent years that were ultimately hard to find in the long run. This one is like the other "premium" Luke and Rey, in that the faces have more paint, they all have big display bases, and there are cloth and metal parts now. It's better - mostly. If you got the main line's
Kylo Ren [FOTD #2,454] you've already got the same body and the premium price may not be sufficient for you to double-dip. But if you don't have either? Try to get this deluxe one.
The base figure has a brighter silver belt buckle and slightly deeper, richer blacks on the body. He still has the same great elbows, wrists, ankles, and other joints that make him very flexible and great for posing in numerous poses. The main changes on the core figure are the head - it has a sort of transitional paint job that's not quite as good as the printed 2018 figures, but it has more going on than the 2017 figures. The scar looks fresher and redder, especially against his slightly darker hair and fairer skin. The eyes have a little more shading around them, and while I believe it to be the same sculpt it seems like a sharper output. It might also just be an illusion from the lighter plastic, but he looks a little lumpier and more realistic. You can see more ridges and bones - on every level, it's a harsher production piece and all the better for it.
The metal bonus parts were selling points for me. The die-cast metal helmet looks great and feels wonderful. It has silver highlights on the front and scuffing on top that looks decent. It's clearly fake scuffing, but it's nice enough and the painted helmet looks better than the molded-in-black helmets. The interior is molded plastic, and it's a tight fit over the neck peg. What's more, the lightsaber hilt is more silvery and also metal - it plugs in his belt much more easily than the plastic one last year.
The basic lightsaber is the same basic one as the regular figure, but with more light silver on it. It looks better. The only accessory here I don't prefer is the cape, since the cloth over-the-shoulder and no-clasp cloth accessory looks a little cheap and doesn't drape as well as the plastic one. It needs more to grip his neck or shoulders, so the end result isn't as good as what we had before - you may want to mix-and-match parts to make the deluxe Kylos Ren of your dreams.
The big exclusive piece is a 3-part throne base made of grey and blue plastic. It's super glossy and is going to show your finger prints, so keep that in mind. I'm sure fans will do special things to light it or make it look otherwise cool, and it works well with the figure for displaying. I need to crack open Snoke so I can connect them together still. The form fit is great and it's a wonderful design, so Walmart got a good one here. It's a pity it couldn't be a launch item so fans could make smarter decisions as to which figures to buy, when, and for which features. If you dragged your feet, go ahead and get this set - if price isn't an issue, it's a lovely improvement (and a helmet is a cooler metal extra than a hand.)
Collector's Notes: I got mine from Walmart.
--Adam Pawlus
Day 2,482: May 16, 2018
No comments:
Post a Comment