Thursday, October 31, 2019

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 2,634: D-O (Galaxy of Adventures 5-Inch)

D-O with BB-8 and R2-D2
Galaxy of Adventures   5-Inch Droid 3-Pack
Item No.:
No. E3118
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: 3 figures
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $14.99
Availability: October 2019
Appearances: The Rise of Skywalker

Bio: D-O was a droid who befriended the Resistance droid BB-8 some time after the Battle of Crait. (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: You could probably sneak in this 5-inch scale D-O with the 3 3/4-inch figures.   It looks a lot like the movie model, and the robot Cousin Oliver is basically fine. There's a ball-jointed neck and three ball-jointed antenna which are like wily hairs on the back of the head.  The design of the wheel is clever as little ridges were added to keep the figure standing upright while maintaining the integrity of the wheel-with-a-cone design.

It's a nice, simple figure that is more of an accessory.  The neck moves, it stands, and it's cute - if you want a D-O, this is nice and cheap.  I'd recommend it only because I'm a fan of the format, I'll be curious to see what else they do for D-O toys and how it will work in the canon as older fans eschew adorableness as a franchise goes on.  

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

--Adam Pawlus


Day 2,634: October 31, 2019

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 2,633: Maz Kanata (Holographic, Solo: A Star Wars Story line look)

MAZ KANATA Holographic
Solo: A Star Wars Story Force Link 2.0 Exclusive 5-Pack
Item No.:
  No. E2262
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: Blaster, also Kylo Ren, First Order Snowtrooper, Rey, Captain Poe Dameron
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: ???
Availability: Late 2018
Appearances: The Last Jedi

Bio: Maz Kanata was a Force-sensitive humanoid female who was born over a millennium before the brewing war between the First Order and the Resistance. Living in an ancient castle on the planet Takodana, Kanata gained a reputation as a "pirate queen" by allowing traveling smugglers to reside in her home—as long as they honored her prohibitions against politics and war. (Stolen from Wookieepedia.  Packaging has no bio.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at Amazon now!

Commentary:  Things don't go as smoothly as you hope.  This Holographic Maz Kanata was going to be US Toys R Us exclusive. Then Toys R Us closed - so Hasbro offered it to Entertainment Earth.  They neglected to ship it there, so then they just kind of filtered out and showed up - a friend of mine found them in those seasonal calendar stores.  I never saw them anywhere, so I got my set from a UK eBay seller.

Given how over the sequel movies most toy fans were - in part because of the repetition, repetition, and repetition in the line - I bet a lot of people don't know and don't care they're missing this set. The only truly new figure in the set is Maz, a holdover from The Last Jedi that saw release for Solo which was recast here in blue, with no paint.  This would've been a better carded exclusive - the detail is great, and the blue is darker than a lot of the holographic figures from the heyday of the format from 2005-2009.
She has 5 points of articulation, and has no problems standing or sitting.  It's a quality figure, the engineers of the old Kenner line would be proud of this one.  The backpack isn't removable, and I'd go as far as to say that this is a pretty nifty figure in a style we rarely get these days.  I probably paid too much for this set, so if you get it at a good price, you're a winner.

Force Link 2.0 Notes: "I am no Jedi, but I know the Force."  "I assume you need something.  Desperately."  Blasters. It's not much new here.

Collector's Notes: I got mine from eBay.

--Adam Pawlus


Day 2,633: October 29, 2019

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 2,632: Emperor Palpatine (with Throne, The Black Series 6-Inch)

EMPEROR PALPATINE with Throne
The Black Series   6-Inch Figure - Amazon Exclusive
Item No.:
No. E6125
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: 3 heads, 2 lightning hands, throne, cane, cloth robes
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $39.99
Availability: September 2019
Appearances: Return of the Jedi

Bio:  Scheming, powerful, and evil to the core, Darth Sidious restored the Sith and destroyed the Jedi Order.  He slowly manipulated the political system of the Galactic Republic until he was named Supreme Chancellor - and eventually Emperor -- ruling the galaxy through fear and tyranny.
(Taken from the figure's packaging.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability:  Click here to buy it at Amazon now!


Commentary:  This was a significant improvement. I didn't see much reason for Hasbro to bring back Emperor Palpatine (with Throne), but I'm glad they did.  I'm not thrilled at it costing twice as much for a chair and two heads, but that seems somewhat consistent with how Hasbro does these things.  (For $10 less, I'd say it's essential.)  It's really neat, though, and it's better than Hasbro made it out to be.

Hasbro gave us some new parts with this one - the cloth robes seem to be a new pattern, with new cloth lower robes so the knees can bend. The original release had plastic robes over the lower legs, preventing seated poses.  The other plastic elements all appear to be very similar, with a somewhat bulky clasp on the robes and some wonderfully expressive bend-and-swivel hands plus rocker ankles.   This is a figure that just plain works perfectly with the throne, too.


The Emperor's default head is the same as before with an all-new paint job. The 2015 edition had mostly unpainted skin and yellow eyes. The 2019 edition has more realistic eyes plus much more texture  highlights - almost dirty - over the skin to simulate older, decaying cells.  The Dark Side definitely hit this figure hard, and you can see it on all three faces.  There's a standard one that's great, an angry one, and an absolutely perfect smiling/cackling one that I have on his neck as I write this. They're all excellent for different reasons, and it's almost a shame I have to choose which one gets displayed.  These are marvelous options and as Hasbro rarely gives figures alternate heads, it's a real treat.

The hands are about the same - one gestures with pointed finger, and the other is designed for the cane.  New this time, though, are bonus hands with Sith Lightning shooting out of them. The sculpting is good, but like many sets of Palpatine's hands they share the same shortcoming. The paint of the fingers merges into the bolts, so it looks like he has weird morphing hands instead of hands shooting out energy. 

It's a hard look to get right, the 3 3/4-inch line was usually successful by making plug-in lightning with hands (or sleeves) with a hole in them.  This gets the job done, but admittedly, it's a weak spot on an otherwise sharp figure.
 
 The selling point is the throne itself - a very big chair with a base. It doesn't do much other than look cool.  Hasbro hasn't made a lot of these, so seeing painted detailing like control panels and little tidbits on the top of the seat were a surprise to me.  Mine had some weird silver slop on top and on the back, so it's a perfectly good accessory but it's so odd to get a brand new toy that I pre-ordered and parts of it look almost used.  Unless the scuffing was by design, in which case it's amazing - but I doubt it.  It's just a little off for a mint-from-the-box accessory.

I'd recommend you get it for an Emperor Palpatine that's probably as good as you'll get at this size around this price.  I'm sure there's room for a Darth Sidious with Lightsaber some day, but for now this is a top-notch figure and a shining example of Hasbro's capabilities.   I can't imagine we'll get too many more "deluxe" figures like this, but I hope we get a few more gems at a slightly better price.  I mean, the Speeder Bike with Biker Scout wasn't more expensive than this and I'm confident there could be a lot of fun with Deluxe Admiral Ackbar or especially Max Rebo.

Collector's Notes: I got mine from Amazon.

--Adam Pawlus


Day 2,632: October 24, 2019

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 2,631: R5-BOO19 (Droid Factory Line Look)

R5-BOO19 Disney Parks Christmas Exclusive
Star Wars Disney Droid Factory
Item No.:
No. ???
Manufacturer: Disney
Number: n/a
Includes: n/a
Action Feature: Pops apart, glows in the dark
Retail: $12.99
Availability: August 2019
Appearances: n/a

Bio: All different types of Astromech droids populate the Star Wars galaxy.  Each droid is different and has their own unique personality and colors.  This droid awaits his fate in the dark and formidable bowels of a sandcrawler.  Join R5-BOO19 on his adventures throughout the galaxy.  May the Force be with you... and your Droids!  (Taken from the figure's packaging.)
Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at Amazon now!

Commentary:  The holiday droids seem to be feast or famine - sometimes they get expensive.  If you want R5-BOO19 I would recommend getting it early, because it glows in the dark and the last glow droid got expensive.  The holiday and other special droids tend to be a mix of totally goofy or completely sensible as appearing in the movies - this is one of the latter.  Disney designers threw it in with the Sandcrawler droids, and it just plain fits.  The glowing is a bit over-the-top, but the white glow paint looks subtle enough that I wasn't entirely sure that it did glow until I took it in a dark room.  The front and back of the figure are loaded in glowing elements with lots of stripes and boxes, making for a skeletal costume over a traditional robot body.  It's brilliant.


The figure uses the same post-Hasbro R5 body we've been getting for years. There are no wires molded to the feet, and each limb is pretty much painted the same way - you can swap right and left legs and not notice a difference.  The black body has some silver highlights in addition to what appear to be two different glow paint colors - they look different under UV light.  The interior of the droid eyes seem more blue under UV light, while other details seem more wint-o-green.

This is a favorite.  We've had a few of these so far, and they've been pretty sharp.  We've had a glowing "ghost," a candy corn droid, and one that was... uh... black with purple, green, and orange.  I don't know what it is.   I assume we can and will see an orange jack-o-lantern eventually, and I love that we got two different glowing robots so far.  I can't wait to see what we get for 2020!   Also as I write this I found out I missed R5-D23 - I had no idea that was a thing. Well, shoot.

Collector's Notes: I got mine from my pal Shannon - who threw in an awesome set of Han's Dice in the box. Thanks Shannon!

--Adam Pawlus


Day 2,631: October 22, 2019

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 2,630: Zuckuss (The Black Series 6-Inch)

ZUCKUSS 6-Inch Debut
Galaxy's Edge The Black Series 6-Inch Figure Disney Store (later Entertainment Earth) Exclusive
Item No.:
No. E2818
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: Blaster, robes
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $24.99
Availability: Augustish 2018
Appearances: The Empire Strikes back

Bio:  A Gand bounty hunter. Zuckuss heeded the Empire's call for mercenaries to locate the Millennium Falcon and bring her fugitive crew to justice, receiving his orders on the bridge of Darth Vader's Super Star Destroyer.  (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:  You already know you need or want Zuckuss, which started as a Toys R Us exclusive. Toys R Us closed, so it became a Disney Store exclusive. Disney Store didn't take the whole run, so some wound up at Entertainment Earth and elsewhere.  It's a new mold - and new mold exclusives are scarce.  I'm kind of surprised they didn't just roll it in to the main line.  It's good - but it got marked down, probably in part because of what seems to be Star Wars ennui and/or people like me who waited to get it online because Disney Stores went from ubiquitous to inconveniently located over the past 20 years.

The figure seems to be a new body that's a lot shorter than most figures wrapped in a faux-weathered faux-leather robe.  Along with the classic gown for Leia, Zuckuss is one of very few figures covered in cloth which does a great job hiding his joints.  You can't see the double-jointed elbows, the bend-and-swivel wrists, or the laterally moving hip joints.  Thanks to this design, he can hold his rifle like in the movie with the left hand gripping the trigger area and the right hand wrapped around the barrel.  The fake-weather-printing looks wonderful, and the gloved hands look really good.  So does the head - there's a lot of detail here, with lots of gizmos and tubes and just about anything else you might want.  Hasbro and presumably Lucasfilm/Disney seem to have used significant reference to make this figure look good, with just dreadful skin on the head being recreated to look even better than your imagination thought.

A lot of work went into sculpting the plastic figure under the robes you'll probably never see - I don't want to dismantle and rewrap this, so I'll just enjoy this stable, nice-looking, correctly-scaled alien.  It does the pose I want with no fuss, and the detailing is gorgeous - I don't think it needed the $5 mark-up, but I guess that's what clearances were for.  This is a figure you'll probably buy, slap on a shelf, and never touch again - and it's a good one.  Hasbro did a marvelous job on a figure that could have been a small statue, so rest assured this is a very good execution of the character in this format.  The format, by design, doesn't do much fun but for a thing you can pose or look at it's superb.

Collector's Notes: I got mine from Entertainment Earth.    Disney Stores have had it for as little as $9.99.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 2,630: October 17, 2019

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 2,629: Vedain (Skiff Pilot, The Vintage Collection)

VEDAIN (Skiff Pilot)
The Vintage Collection Return of the Jedi Special 3 Action Figures
Item No.:
  No. E6136
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #152
Includes: n/a
Action Feature: Blaster, hat, Brock Starsher and Vizam figures
Retail: $39.99
Availability: July 2019
Appearances: Return of the Jedi

Bio: Vedain was a Kajain'sa'Nikto slave owned by the Hutt crime lord Jabba the Hutt during the Galactic Civil 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: I'm surprised we got this one - and so many flavors of Nikto!  In the 1980s we just had one of these guys, but now we've got at least four distinct versions of the species, almost all of which wear the same rubber mask - or close to the same.  Vedain has a claim to fame fighting Lando Calrissian for control of one of the skiffs during the battle in the desert, which means he's going to get fed to the giant tooth hole.

We've had precious few new Return of the Jedi aliens in recent years.   What makes this figure amazing is that it's not entirely new - the head seems to be adapted from a previous release.  The arms are from Nikto (Skiff Guard), the legs are from a Weequay, but the torso is seemingly new.  Hasbro managed to give us a repaint with a minimum of new pieces to scratch the itch of "new figure," which would be impressive if it weren't forced with two other existing figures in a set.  A lot of fans will want all three, but as a group it's not terribly exciting and stands as proof we'll shell out for one good new figure, even if it isn't all that new.
 Complete with 2011 copyright stamps, this is a nice figure - but not as nice as 2019 releases like Klaatu and Yak Face.  You don't get the swivel thigh joints or lateral leg joints, it's standard 2010-ish fare with 22 points of articulation mostly cleverly hidden in clothing creases.  It's remarkable from a product development standpoint, as we got what we wanted - a new Skiff Guard - and Hasbro got what it wanted - a repaint.  It's a good compromise.  It's halfway happy.
The figure has no problems holding the blaster or wearing what appears to be a new hat.  My sample stands just fine.  I'd love to say something catty about the figure itself, but can't - the hands are painted well, the outfit is a good use of existing parts, and it's a new Jabba thug.  These are all things I like.  I hope we can see more between now and when the line becomes completely unprofitable.

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

--Adam Pawlus


Day 2,629: October 15, 2019

Thursday, October 10, 2019

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 2,628: R2-D2 (Galaxy of Adventures 5-Inch)

R2-D2 with BB-8 and D-0
Galaxy of Adventures   5-Inch Droid 3-Pack
Item No.:
No. E3118
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: 3 figures
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $14.99
Availability: October 2019
Appearances: The Rise of Skywalker

Bio: R2-D2, pronounced Artoo-Detoo and often referred to as R2 (Artoo), was an R2 series astromech droid manufactured by Industrial Automaton with masculine programming. A smart, spunky droid serving a multitude of masters over its lifetime, R2 never had a full memory wipe (apart from a partial mind-wipe by Cad Bane during the buildup to the senate hostage crisis) nor has he received new programming, with these factors resulting in an adventurous and independent attitude. Oftentimes finding himself in pivotal moments in galactic history, his bravery and ingenuity saved the galaxy time and time again. (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: Once again, I am infuriated by how good this is - and by a common, repeated error.   This R2-D2 figure would be a killer introduction to Star Wars toys for kids and even for collectors.   It's a simplified, cuter animated design with Hasbro's most commonly repeated problem - the circle on the top of his head is silver here, rather than blue like in the films.  Once or twice is a mistake, but Hasbro is doing it consistently enough that I am unsure how or why it keeps happening.

Once you get beyond that, the figure is pretty awesome.  While probably a bit overpriced in a 3-pack, you're probably going to want it.  It's solid.  The dome spins, the arms rotate, and you can pull the central leg out manually without a clicking mechanism - I think this makes it about as good (albeit different) from the Black Series release.   Detailing on the body is a bit simplified, as you'll notice details missing on the arms - but everything else is pretty darned close.  Most shocking of all are the droid feet.  For the first time ever, R2-D2 has ball-jointed ankles with some very nice black wheels on the bottom. He's even got the gold cables.  I would argue that means that this R2-D2 has the best articulation to date, as you could pose him better on sandy mountains, snowy wastes, or outside a swamp house so he can be a peeping Tom.

He's packed with two more droids and we'll look at those individually because we can.   R2-D2 is a redeco away from perfection - I hope Hasbro does another take with "battle damage" or a chrome/metallic silver-painted top with the blue panel filled in.  The silver plastic shows a lot of swirls, which may not be good for longevity - time will tell.  A painted dome might look incredible, as would one in Droids animation colors - hey, I can dream!    If you just want a good, chunky, and surprisingly solid R2-D2 toy I'd recommend this one.   I don't assume Galaxy of Adventures will last forever, so just go ahead and pick them up as you find them because they're good so far.  (The other droids are simple, but you wouldn't chuck them in the garbage.)

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

--Adam Pawlus


Day 2,628: October 10, 2019

Tuesday, October 8, 2019

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 2,627: First Order Driver (Galaxy of Adventures 5-Inch)

FIRST ORDER DRIVER with Treadspeeder
Galaxy of Adventures   5-Inch Vehicle Pack-in
Item No.:
No. E3030
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: Blaster, projectile, Treadspeeder with pop-off panels
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $19.99
Availability: October 2019
Appearances: The Rise of Skywalker

Bio: No bio on the box - that must be why it looks so good. Let's say The First Order Drivers are pretty good at their job.  They start learning their craft at an early age, as a baby driver.  Unfortunately that has been used as a name for a movie already, so we will not see a Star Wars Baby Driver movie.

Image: Adam's photo lab.

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

Click here to buy it at Amazon now!

Commentary: Behold, the lost promise of the 1990s.  When I first saw this upsized Galaxy of Adventures line-up, I saw things that seemingly didn't make it out - but the First Order Driver and this new 5-inch scale is pretty fantastic.  The only thing it has going against it is that you've already got dozens, hundreds, or maybe thousands of figures in other formats.  If Hasbro sticks to its guns and makes this a new "kid format," I think it has a lot of potential - but we've also seen limited tenacity with most new toy expressions.

Since and including 2005, Hasbro has had tons of formats in circulation.  Unleashed (7-inch), Unleashed (2-inch), 3 3/4-inch (basic, vintage, Titanium, and so forth), 12-inch Titan Hero Series, Galactic Heroes, Jedi Force, the new line called Galactic Heroes that used to be called Jedi Force, MicroMachines, 6-inch Black Series, 6-inch basic/value, and more - plus more from other manufacturers.  Any new format probably results in collectors clenching their backsides, squinting, untrusting of a new format.  And rightly so - even The Black Series was greeted with derision before achieving significant popularity around wave 3, at which point the old guard hated it.  You can't succeed for winning, I guess.

At press time I managed to get my mitts on this 5-inch not-a-Stormtrooper early... and I hate myself for liking it.  Back in the 1990s, action figure fans generally loved Kenner's 4 1/2-inch-ish  Batman and other lines as well as Playmates' then-transcendent 4 1/2-inch Star Trek lines.  For $5-$6 you got a good figure with a gaggle of accessories, possibly a display stand, and maybe a trading card on nice packaging.   Kenner went with a smaller format, which seemed disappointing given other companies gave you more plastic for less money.   Hasbro has been giving you less plastic for more money ever since, with 3 3/4-inch figures seemingly selling at a premium mark-up.  These new guys are about $10 with 10 or more points of articulation - this trooper has 23 points of articulation, and a vehicle.  I can't help but feeling I was hornswaggled in the other formats.  Hasbro gives you a figure with decent deco and frankly superb articulation at a price I can't complain about.

The mostly white figure has a few markings, and is basically a sort of Scout and Trooper hybrid. There's a double-neck joint barbell piece, so there's superb range of movement there.  You have wrist joints, rocker ankles, a waist joint, elbows, knees, lateral hip movement... it's dang near perfect and better than most 3 3/4-inch figures we've had over the last 41 years.  You might not like the stylized proportions, but I don't notice them on this trooper.  The only things I didn't love on the figure itself were the quick-draw mechanism (it works, but there's no way to lock it or turn it off) and the fact the blaster can't plug into the figure's hip. An extra groove in a thigh and an extra tab on the gun don't cost more money - Hasbro could've done this easily and at no added cost.

The bike itself is perfectly fine, large and goofy with big treads and no on-board weapon storage.  (Yes, this is an issue for me.)  It's simple and looks like something Kenner would've come up with if its Mini-Rigs line continued another 2-3 years in The Power of the Force lines - either one, really.   The packaging is attractive with lots of dots, bright colors, and minimal plastic - it's impressive.  I wanted to hate this toy, and even not write about it.  But once I got it in my hands and played with it, I can only say that it's really good and I wish we lived in some miracle era where this could be a new standard for kids and collectors, rather than splitting the line, or that it were the line we got in the 1990s instead of POTF2.  It's good, it's priced fairly, and my only real complaint about the line as a whole is that it lacks cohesion so far.  I hope Hasbro sticks with it long enough to give us 100 or so of the best characters.

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

--Adam Pawlus


Day 2,627: October 8, 2019

Thursday, October 3, 2019

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 2,626: Sith Trooper (SDCC Debut, The Black Series 6-Inch)

SITH TROOPER Convention Debut
The Black Series 6-Inch Figure - San Diego Comic-Con International
Item No.:
No. E4073
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: Blasters and added gear
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $32.00
Availability: July 2019
Appearances: The Rise of Skywalker

Bio:  Sith troopers were a stormtrooper variant that served the First Order during its war against the Resistance. Named after the Sith, an ancient order of Force-users devoted to the dark side of the Force, these troopers were the next evolution of Imperial/First Order stormtroopers. They wore red-colored stormtrooper armor and wielded a type of black and red blaster rifle.[ (Taken from the figure's packaging.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability:  Click here to buy it at Amazon now!


Commentary:  Combining elements of various Stormtroopers and the Elite Praetorian Guard, this Sith Trooper came out as an SDCC-exclusive preview figure, as many have before it.   With no context, it's also only vaguely interesting, just like the others that come before it.  I and many others come to (and stay with) this hobby because we love Star Wars - and this isn't quite Star Wars yet.  It will be, but right now it's just another figure in a box that I don't have much emotional attachment with beyond "hey, new toy."   "New toy" wears pretty thin after a while, so it's good that hasbro made a worthwhile figure - even if it is somewhat packed with riddles.

It's not far off from the ridiculous goodie bag that was Amazon's First Order Stormtrooper a few years ago, as this one has two blaster rifles, a grabber of some sort, a sword, and what I assume is a grenade launcher or flame thrower.  I don't know weapons, and while it looks more or less like the released photographs there's not much we can say about its overall personality beyond "yup, it's a trooper, and it's pretty cool."  There's a camera-like dongle on the right shoulder, the helmet has a ton of grooves - as does the chest, and you can see influences from previous troopers everywhere.  The belt looks a bit like the First Order troopers and so does the "OII" on the back.  Heck the "O" looks a bit like a Death Star now, and for all I know that's significant to the plot as we know a crashed Death Star works into the new movie.  He also has asymmetrical knee armor, not unlike the original trooper.  There also seem to be more greeblies than usual, which reminds me of the Scout Trooper.  There isn't a ton of precedent for red Stormtroopers, but the Crimson Stormtrooepr [FOTD #2,249] comes to mind.
The engineering of this figure is great.  The elbows have a wonderful range of motion, and the hands can grip the weapons.  The knees are double-jointed, and Hasbro put in each point of articulation in an inconspicuous location.  The chest cut works.  The shoulders have added rubbery pads to hide the joints on the black body glove.  Hasbro even improved the hip joints, allowing the figure's limbs to swing forward without looking like the t-crotch vintage Kenner toys.

The accessories are a bit of a mystery - the two blasters are great, with black and silver highlights. They can plug into the trooper's thigh as with previous releases.  The blade doesn't seem to plug in anywhere, and it looks pretty sharp with a silver element to it.  This weapon looks cool, maybe it's significant to the movie like the riot baton was.   The grabber claw is also an oddity - the claws open, but why is it here?  To reach canned items on the top shelf?   To grab something burning with Sith magic?  Is it a discarded concept, a red herring?  That remains to be seen!   The big gun is a bit awkward, but he can get his hands on it and look like he's not a complete goofus carrying it around.  I think.  It really is a bit large.

The bonus accessories make for some added fun, probably, but I am unsure what role they play in the film yet.  I wouldn't say it's worth the $12 bonus cost - or more on the secondary market - but I'm glad to have them as I'm obsessive about such things.  I would recommend getting yourself a 6-inch Sith Trooper, even if it isn't the comic-con version.

Collector's Notes: I got mine from Hasbro's San Diego Comic-Con 2019 booth shop.  One lighter on accessories should be in stores near you today if not tomorrow.

--Adam Pawlus


Day 2,626: October 3, 2019