Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 2,918: Baze Malbus (Photoreal Redux, The Black Series)

BAZE MALBUS Second Edition
The Black Series 2020 Line Look Green Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Packaging
Item No.: No. F2898
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #05 - Rogue One: A Star War Story
Includes: Belt plug-in gizmo, backpack, blaster/cape, cable
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $22.99
Availability: December 2021
Appearances: Rogue One: A Star War Story

Bio: The harsh reality of his Imperial-occupied home world has hardened Baze Malbus into a pragmatic soldier and a crack shot with his heavy repeater cannon. (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 it comes to reissues with improved portraits, I'm always a bit torn - on one hand, this Baze Malbus has a stunningly good portrait and it's one of Hasbro's best. On the other, Hasbro is asking you to spend another $23-$25 on more or less the same Baze Malbus from 2017 [FOTD #2,349] that offers little beyond giving you a head that actually has some life to it. His previous release had a head that was good for 2016 and 2017 - nice sculpt, everything is where it should be. You couldn't begrudge it for being pretty much as good as Hasbro could do at the time.

The new version comes to life with much more painting and shaded detail. The eyes seem to be gazing with purpose, the facial hair seems a bit more realistic, and the skin tone is much more like that of a person. If Hasbro had a bit more time in 2016, I bet they could've done a much better job the first time, but not quite as good as this one. If you're looking to buy a 6-inch Baze and you don't know which one to get, this is the one you should get. The other one? Not worth keeping around unless it's valuable to you for some reason, because the new aesthetics are what you really want.

Accessories are more or less the same, except I noticed the grey on the blaster is a bit darker and the body suit is more saturated. (More accurately, some of the parts of the 2017 Baze are more saturated - the 2021 model seems more uniform.) Articulation is the same as before, but mine did have issues getting him to pose standing up. He kept wanting to flop over.

If you simply must have the best, this is it. If you bought the original version and never gave him a second thought, consider that with the realistic face repaints, Carbonized figures, Credit Collection, and so forth, you've potentially paid several hundred dollars to re-buy different versions of characters you already own. It's inevitable with long-running properties, but even though I can't stop singing the praises of Hasbro's Rogue One rereleases in terms of realism and life, it's also about a hundred bucks to re-buy figures that I didn't really have any reason to buy again until Hasbro said "here's take two, check this out." And that makes me feel bad. But at least I now have something in my hands that I can look at and say this is so good, I have no reason to buy another Hasbro 6-inch Baze Malbus figure for as long as I live. Collector's Notes: I got mine from Entertainment Earth.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 2,918: April 21, 2022