Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 2,902: Fennec Shand (The Black Series)

FENNEC SHAND (Debut)
The Black Series 2020 Line Look Green Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett Packaging
Item No.: Asst. E8908 No. F1866
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #01 - Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett
Includes: Rifle, helmet
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $22.99
Availability: December 2021
Appearances: Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett

Bio: An assassin and elite mercenary who has worked for all the top syndicates. Clever, capable, and cunning, she is a formidable opponent. (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!

Commentary: Since her debut in the very first season of The Mandalorian, Fennec Shand made quite an impression - and now she's here! She appeared on The Bad Batch too, showing she neither ages nor changes her clothes. Given how frequently hair and clothes change on Earth it's kind of ridiculous - but whatever, she's recognizable, and it's a cool outfit.

The Ming-Na Wen likeness is great for all you The Single Guy fans out there, with hair that's pretty much a perfect match for her Star Wars appearances - you can see ornate braids. Rather than use separately molded "wig" parts, her hair is painted on perfectly - a tough thing to get right with a strand on her face. The color looks great too, with light brown highlights for good measure.

The black costume with orange highlights is great, but has no soft goods - it's all molded plastic. She won't be sitting, and that's OK given she does very little of that. The ornate patterns in the costume are really neat - there are all sorts of folds, creases, and patterns quilted in there. What's the most important, though, is that she can hold the rifle and the helmet fits on her head without too much of a struggle. For a figure that looks good standing around, she's one of the best.

Sculpt and deco are good, but how can I not talk about articulation? All of the joints are fairly well hidden in the costume. The ab joint is in a natural break in the costume. All the ankles, elbows, shoulders, and wrists tuck in the costume nicely. Things swivel fairly freely without concern of any unsightly gaps - the engineers did a great job here. That's tough to do, and it's appreciated. Her helmet is also pretty nice, but seems a smidgen brighter and cleaner than on the show. I still like it, but version 2.0 could use some new paint.

I don't know if it's perfect, but it's close - the exaggerated orange rings on the gloves look superb, and maybe we could've used some more definition in the orange at hte bottom of her vest. For $23 it's a spectacularly good figure, and one I'd say is worth picking up unless Hasbro finds a way to make these more eerily realistic as time goes on. She's a fun character and a good figure - unless you hate this scale, it's a must-buy.

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

--Adam Pawlus

Day 2,902: February 24, 2022

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 2,901: Boba Fett (Tython, The Black Series)

BOBA FETT (Tython)
The Black Series 2020 Line Look Orange Star Wars: The Mandalorian Packaging
Item No.: Asst. E8908 No. F1879
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #165 - Star Wars: The Mandalorian
Includes: Rifle, gaffi stick, blaster pistol, robes
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $22.99
Availability: December 2021
Appearances: Star Wars: The Mandalorian

Bio: Once regarded as one of the most fearsome bounty hunters in the galaxy, Boba Fett seemingly met his demise in the Sarlacc pit on Tatooine. A survivor to his core, Fett lived to fight another day. (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!

Commentary: In the 1990s, your head would have exploded if you knew you may some day own a figure like Boba Fett (Tython). A being forged of pure marketing genius and disappointment, a generation of fans was told that this was the most important bad guy ever - and then he was little more than a glorified extra in a couple of movies, which resulted in demand for comics, novels, action figures, and more. And because of all the hype during the Carter administration, subsequent generations also believed the armored baddie was the coolest guy ever, and now he has his own TV show. Well, theoretically his own TV show.

A re-armored Boba Fett is coming as a Walmart exclusive next year, and it looks like that figure is made of a mix of this figure and Cobb Vanth. (But I could be wrong.) Vanth's helmet fits on the unmasked head just fine, but I am a little sour that the head sculpt on Tython Fett is all nice and clean. He looked like hell when we met up with him, scarred and almost like his skin was an unwrapped mummy. Having said that, it's a nice looking head - it just needs some more paint. The sculpt and expression are great, it's just missing a final layer of make-up.

The robes are a mishmash of Darth Maul-adjacent Sith robes with elements of the Tusken Raiders - which we saw on the show. He has these amazing pants with well-hidden knee joints that don't seem to be restricted in the slightest. The gloves look great, the pants are good, the boots and ammo belts are nice... it's a shame there's just so much to love under the cloth robes. You may never see it. There's even a blaster with a holster under there.

While some will undoubtedly feel slighted to see Boba Fett without his helmet - or armor - this is a good representation of a neat figure. (I'm also in the tank for more Tusken toys, so.) He has a big custom gaffi stick, a cool rifle, and unique robes that are probably better than we've had for any Jedi figure. Given that the big combo meal at Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers is $14 now, $23 doesn't seem like too much to ask for this much plastic (and cloth) in a package with a nice face paint job. Hasbro clearly saved a few cents on the lightly-decorated robes under the cloth piece, but it's still an impressive figure. Unless you're over Disney-era Star Wars (or live in a future with a 3 3/4-inch version), go get this one.

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

--Adam Pawlus

Day 2,901: February 22, 2022

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 2,900: G4-5B (Droid Factory Mystery Crate)

G4-5B  Mystery Crate
Droid Factory Single Droid Action Figure
Item No.: ???
Manufacturer: Disney
Number: n/a
Includes: Crate package/stand
Action Feature: Comes apart
Retail: $15.99
Availability: January 2022
Appearances: Galaxy's Edge
Bio: n/a (Packaging has no copy and no Star Wars logo.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Weight in sealed package: 103 grams.

Commentary: Oh, you better believe we've got a lot of droids on deck. G4-5B is a curious one on so many levels. If you like green robots, we've had a bunch - Hasbro put out R4-J1 in 2008, Disney had a couple of part bin R4 green robots, and there's a color-change one too.   You probably have one or more droids that look a lot like this.

The patterns and colors, while familiar, are all different.  The green has a bluer tint to it, and this particular hue doesn't closely resemble anything I had in my visible droid pool. (It's a lot of droids, I may have missed something.)   It's still green, and you have green, but at least it's a new green.

The pattern on the droid is new too - you can see a white body with neat green markings, green feet, and some light wear on the droid's person.

There's certainly a weird contrast at work here.  You have a snow white, bright body that has some dirt on it, and there's no way a dirty used droid should have factory-white plastic on it.  It's certainly visually striking, but it doesn't make a lot of sense - Hasbro's R4 worn droid from 14 years ago looked a bit more lived-in.

Having said all that, I still like it.  It's familiar, yet different, which seems to be the mantra for Disney Star Wars these days.  As a mystery box droid it's fine.  It's not amazing, and you've got a lot of options, but I like it enough.

Collector's Notes: I got mine from Shannon who got them from Disneyland. Thanks Shannon!

--Adam Pawlus

Day 2,900: February 17, 2022

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 2,899: JB-9 (Droid Factory Mystery Crate)

JB-9 Mystery Crate
Droid Factory Single Droid Action Figure
Item No.: ???
Manufacturer: Disney
Number: n/a
Includes: Crate package/stand
Action Feature: Comes apart
Retail: $15.99
Availability: January 2022
Appearances: Galaxy's Edge
Bio: n/a (Packaging has no copy and no Star Wars logo.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Weight in sealed package: 110 grams.

Commentary: A friend of mine got me a smattering of Droid factory Mystery Crates, which seem to be utterly terrible packaging - I assume these will tank unless they have an amazing point-of-sale display. It's a $15 gray box with no mention of Star Wars or what's inside. Upon getting these I sorted them by weight, with these generally being about 103 grams (astromechs) and 110 grams (BB droids.) JB-9 is the latter, heavier thanks to the weighted ball.

The figure comes packaged in a stackable, connectible crate. When you open it, the base has a place for a name plate sticker. A black "Droid Depot" bag holds a figure and the sticker, and your robot comes in pieces - this is the first time Disney BB droids were sold in a way where the end user has to assemble the parts. The core ball has some blue lights painted on it, but it's mostly plain gray. Assembly is easy - connect the two shell pieces over the weighted ball, and plug in the head. Simple.

JB-9 doesn't exist in the movies or streaming shows - so far as I know - and currently supposedly only exists as something at Disney parks around Galaxy's Edge. I've never been to it, so I can't say if it's true. That would make this yellow, gray, and silver souvenir a copy of something that you might have seen if you went to the right spot of the theme park, but to most fans, it'll just be another robot. And it's OK - but the pictures make the real deal look cooler, with school bus yellow painted parts and darker, more metallic panels around the vents. This isn't to say it isn't any good, but it's almost a different thing. The gray plastic doesn't really register as bare steel or anything like that, but it looks decent.

The head is molded in gray with yellow painted panels, while the body is molded in yellow with some silver and grey paint. Also, some excellent brown weathering on the body - it's subtle, and they did a good job with it. The display stand has four indentations - three for astromech feet, and one for a BB ball. It's a really neat package overall, with too much packaging and arguably a too-high price tag for a mystery figure. (After all, Hasbro recently sold us 2 BB droids for $10 as Target exclusives.) I think robot completists are going to love these, but there are so few left after Disney pulled it's 1:4 astromechs in that ride vehicle - heck, even I haven't been able to get those yet! But I like this, and if you can get it at or around $15, you may want to add it to the droid pool.

Collector's Notes: I got mine from Shannon who got them from Disneyland. Thanks Shannon!

--Adam Pawlus

Day 2,899: February 15, 2022

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 2,898: Hondo Ohnaka (The Vintage Collection)

HONDO OHNAKA Realistic Flavor
The Vintage Collection 3 3/4-Inch Action Figure
Item No.: Asst. E7763 No. E9394
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #173
Includes: Blaster
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $12.99
Availability: October 2020
Appearances: ...good question, probably Galaxy's Edge

Bio: A former colleague of Jango Fett, Hondo Ohnaka won fame during the Clone Wars when he kidnapped Count Dooku, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Anakin Skywalker, and tried to ransom all three for a big payout. (Stolen from the 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! 

Commentary: This Hondo Ohnaka was sold both as a The Vintage Collection release and a Millennium Falcon pack-in. (The one you're seeing in the pictures came from the vehicle.) This figure came out two years ago and was a royal pain to find - but should probably be appealing to fans of The Clone Wars, Rebels, and the theme parks. this figure seems to be a mirror-flipped version of the theme park design, which itself was based heavily on The Clone Wars version with the fancy jacket. The 6-inch figure is remarkably similar, with less-saturated colors and the holster hanging over the left hip. I can't explain it. This 3 3/4-inch figure seems closer to the overall look of the Disney costume, minus the holster issue.

I have no idea why this was put on a Star Wars (1978-1979-style) cardback rather than something specific to the park, or The Clone Wars, but I assume you can blame Disney. I mean, it's just a good place to start at - they approve this stuff. Th figure's flowing coat si sculpted to make room for his holstered blaster, plus it's open so you can see his legs - and so his hips can swing forward. The bend-and-swivel wrists are good, the boots look nice, and his pirate symbol - hard to see as it may be - appears on both his cap and his belt buckle.

Hondo's sculpted outfit is great - the shirt is tighter than on the Disney robot, and it looks better. The bright red jacket's texture is wonderful, with lots of wrinkles and unique ornamentation on the back that is probably better described by someone with the vocabulary to describe clothing. "It's neat" doesn't cut it, but it is - and the lapels look marvelous. On his forearms are some swell vambraces, but they seem to lack the electronic doodads we'd come to see on Rogue One and The Clone Wars characters. They just look like he slid them over his coat sleeves, and they're fine. The gloved hands? Also fine. What really stands out, though, is his wry smile and his mischievous eyes behind his (oddly lensless) goggles. These may distract you from other details, like the panted rings in his braided hair. Hasbro did a nice job with this one.

The hat is a separately molded piece, but it's not an accessory - the only thing meant to be removed is the blaster from the holster. It fits! It fits in his hand too.

While I did find the bend-and-swivel hips a little stiff (as many of this style are), I love the figure's detail and personality. He just looks like he's up to something, in the grand tradition of alien scoundrels like Quark. (And who doesn't love Quark?) If you can snag this figure for a fair price, you should.

Collector's Notes: I got mine from Entertainment Earth. And the one from the vehicle came from Target.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 2,898: February 10, 2022

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 2,897: Migs Mayfeld (Morak, The Black Series)

MIGS MAYFELD (Morak)
The Black Series 2020 Line Look Orange Star Wars: The Mandalorian Packaging
Item No.: Asst. E8908 No. F1874
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #15 - Star Wars: The Mandalorian
Includes: Blaster, helmet
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $22.99
Availability: December 2021
Appearances: Star Wars: The Mandalorian

Bio: A hot-headed ex-Imperial sharpshooter, Migs Mayfeld was once the leader of a gang of criminals. Mayfeld's skills and old ties help The Mandalorian on his mission to rescue Grogu from Moff Gideon (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!

Commentary: I think this is the first time a stand-up comic whose record is in my bins has been turned into a Star Wars toy. (And I thought the honor would've gone to Brian Posehn.) Migs Mayfeld (Morak) takes the mudtrooper Han Solo body and adapts it to this new character. Hasbro has been expertly retooling and tweaking figures to make the most of existing assets for years, often coming up with very good releases that definitely work as close enough - and this is one of them, with one little problem. The arm.

Bill Burr's head is seen here with a shaved head and a good amount of scruff Weirdly packaged wearing his helmet, the bright-eyed ex-Imperial sniper looks really good. I don't know why Hasbro decided to hide it - the newly-tooled helmet is no slouch either. At first glance this figure looked like a Rogue One-era redeco, but now. It's a Solo redeco, minus a lot of the "redeco" part.

I'm being a little unfair, but this is one of the few times Hasbro could've made a better figure by saving some money. The 2019 Han figure had a lot more accessories for less money, but also a lot of paint applications. This new figure uses that same body, changing up the battle damage a bit and changing the scuffing slightly. Most of it appears in similar positions - no big deal - with minor modifications. The one place it really fell short was the right bicep - you'll notice Mr. Mayfeld has a red armor piece with three yellow squares. The element on the TV show was devoid of such hues, and a plain grey arm would've been more accurate. (Weirdly, Mando does have a red sleeve.) Sticklers for on-screen accuracy should probably hope Hasbro does Mando in this costume and screws it up too - maybe a simple head or arm swap could result in better figures down the road.

There are always going to be concessions when you make a new figure from existing tooling, but the paint job shouldn't be one of them - Hasbro could've got this one right and saved some money at the same time. I still like the figure because of what it is. If I didn't collect Star Wars I'd probably be amused enough by a Bill Burr toy that I'd want to buy it anyway - it's a good likeness and a nice trooper with a blaster that fits in his holster. Maybe we'll see a fixed variant some day. but until then I can only say that this is almost a great figure. The sculptors did a wonderful job on the new head, and it looks great on the old body. The scuffs are nice! The blaster is fine! The helmet fits just fine. They just need to fix the arm.

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

--Adam Pawlus

Day 2,897: February 8, 2022

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 2,896: Captain Cassian Andor (The Black Series)

CAPTAIN CASSIAN ANDOR Second Edition
The Black Series 2020 Line Look Green Rogue One: A Star War Story Packaging
Item No.: No. F2890
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #02 - Rogue One: A Star War Story
Includes: Blaster, front end of rifle, back end of rifle
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $22.99
Availability: December 2021
Appearances: Rogue One: A Star War Story

Bio: An accomplished Alliance Intelligence officer with combat field experience, Captain Cassian Andor commands respect from his Rebel troops with his ability to keep a cool head under fire and complete his missions with minimal resources. (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!

Commentary: When The Black Series first started, the figures were considered pretty good. The heads looked sharp! But by the time Rogue One came out, some of the new heads looked... OK. You can tell the sculpt was good, but the paint job didn't necessarily deliver the goods - some were better than others. This Captain Cassian Andor (2021 rerelease) is an example of one that finally nailed it. Looking at the Target exclusive 2016 3-pack release... just throw it in the trash. It's dead to you now. You can see the sculpted stubble with a brown line painted over part of it, and it looks like garbage. The 2016 figure's body was perfectly good, and the sculpting job was perfectly good, Captain Cassian Andor [FOTD #2,319] turned out to be a poor deco job of a good figure. I wrote "I dislike the head. It looks like the sculpt might actually be pretty good, but the iffy plastic, terrible facial hair, and not as good as they could be eyes bring it down."

The new figure is less pasty, has more lively eyes, and the facial hair actually looks like the actor. It's good! It's amazing to think it's the same sculpt, and just a few pennies of paint transforms it into something that's really, really good for $23. It's not Hot Toys good, but it's probably one of the very best human heads I've ever seen at this price point.

As to the body, it's 2016 chic - the arm joints don't have quite the range we have today, the double-jointed knees are pretty good, and the hips have an excellent range of motion for the time. The costume itself is fundamentally the same paint job we got last time, so if you like the original portrait there's no need to upgrade. (The figure. Your sense of aesthetics would have to be truly broken if you can't see how much better version 2.0 is.)

The 3-part gun is great - you get a pistol that fits in the holster, and two pieces to slap on it to make a sniper rifle. It's fun and easy and it works. Not only does it fit in the holster with no fuss, but assembling the "super mode" is easy.

If you missed the first release, this is essential - skip the original. If you have the original release, go ahead and take your comparison photo and sell or give away the 2016 release. It's trash. I didn't think I'd really like these photoreal upgrades - I really rolled my eyes when K-2SO showed up in the mail and the first announcements left me shrugging - but dang if Jyn and Cassian didn't turn out to be some of Hasbro's very best work and upgrades that are actually worth the money. (Haven't got Baze as of my writing this, Chirrut is not bad.)

I skipped Hasbro Pulse's Luke and Han upgrades on 1995 The Power of the Force cardbacks so far, but now I'm wondering if I should give them a look. $27 per seemed too steep for me, but if you got any hi-res head shots to look at I'm all ears. But I digress. Go buy the Andor upgrade.

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

--Adam Pawlus

Day 2,896: February 3, 2022

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 2,895: Bib Fortuna (The Vintage Collection)

BIB FORTUNA Re-re-redux
The Vintage Collection 3 3/4-Inch Action Figure
Item No.: Asst. E7763 No. F4463
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #224
Includes: Cloth robes
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $13.99
Availability: December 2021
Appearances: Return of the Jedi
Bio: Those attempting to do business with Jabba the Hutt first needed to maneuver past his pasty-faced majordomo, the Twi'lek Bib Fortuna. (Taken from 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!

Commentary: Existing most likely thanks to his cameo and exit from The Mandalorian's second season, Bib Fortuna is the fifth 3 3/4-inch action figure we've received. For those keeping track, they came out on 1983, 1997 (with a repaint in 2004), 2006, and now 2021 - so about every 9-15 years. Each revision tended to offer some minor improvement, like changing his accessories or changing the figure's functionality in some way. This is the first version of Bib Fortuna to have cloth robes in 38 years.

He's good, but not great. The sculpt and articulation is pretty good for a recent-ish figure, using the old bend-and-swivel hip joints. Those are pretty awful under the robes, mostly because they're tough to manipulate if you don't have tiny fingers. The arms have a perfectly good range of motion, which is important for Bib specifically. Most of his communication in Return of the Jedi was done with a lot of arm gestures, moving his fingers, and generally being creepy - and this figure can replicate that nicely. (The previous figure was a chess piece with swivel shoulders, elbows, and wrists - which was also a good figure given all I needed from him was to stand and not fall over.)

Hasbro did a good job articulating the legs, but that sort of thing is kind of worthless given his armor vest gets in the way of legs moving, and his robes cover so much of the figure that you're unlikely to ever want him sitting anywhere. The "salt shaker" figure of 2006 was good, and with new arms and a new head would have been fine - this one allows you to do more. But will you take advantage of those joints, is it worth the 100% price increase with no accessories? That's up to you. The face has a better sculpt this time around, but the eyes are almost crossed and the mouth without the lower teeth looks like he's mocking someone or something. The deco is great, the sculpt is very good, and the personality comes close to what you want - but it's not perfect. I assume a repaint of the head could result in something extraordinary. (The recent 6-inch figure had rubber robes and a better face, we'll get to him soon.)

I love getting new figures from Jabba's palace, but I'd love for them to be new. This is my fifth version of this figure from these scenes, and he doesn't have a knife or staff or blasters like previous releases - but at least he works better as the JabbaMart greeter we need him to be. (2006 Bib will likely remain on Jabba's Sail Barge, though.) If you have a Bib Fortuna that makes you happy, I wouldn't deem this one essential - but it's good if you can find one for a fair price, and this figure's current retail price is still roughly half of what the 2006 one will set you back. Also I should note Hasbro did a good job with the robes - they hang well and seem cut nicely, not too thick, not too thin, and certainly not something that obstructs mobility. Good hunting to you when it comes to this one.

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

--Adam Pawlus

Day 2,895: February 1, 2022