Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,013: Doctor Aphra (The Black Series)

DOCTOR APHRA Now with coat!
The Black Series Publishing - Shared Exclusive
Item No.: No. F7002
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: Blaster, hat, scarf
Action Feature: Blaster fits in holster, hat fits on head
Retail: $27.99
Availability: February 2023
Appearances: Marvel Comics

Bio: Unpredictable rogue archaeologist Doctor Chelli Lona Aphra is one of the galaxy's most daring treasure hunters. Despite questionable morals and equally bad judgment, her luck hasn't run out yet! (Taken from the box flap.)

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 Doctor Aphra figure is a retool of the 2019 Doctor Aphra [FOTD #2,848], herself a retool of Jaina Solo. As such, it stands to reason that this figure is pretty good and manages to deliver fans a new figure, that's a lot like the old figure. The arms, coat, and scarf are new - everything else is reused and in some cases, recolored.

While the same tooling was also used for a new Mara Jade (where it looked fine), it's more appropriate here. She still has her fingerless gloves, the holster is the same as before, the removable hat with goggles has for-some-reason red goggles and while that does look goofy, at least they're goggles. The new arms and coat plug in the body just fine, but also restrict movement a bit - obviously, she won't be doing as much sitting now. The elbows bend nicely, the hands have no problems gripping the blaster, and most important of all, her mid-torso joint and ab-crunch actually aren't obtrusive. A lot of recent releases just look awkward, but thanks to the coat and colors used it isn't nearly as ugly as these joints are on some wider human male figures.

Everything works well here - I'd love to know how far in advance they planned to reuse this body. Thanks to continued demand for the character, I assume this figure will do well. I don't know that it's worth the $3 "exclusive tax," but it's a heck of a lot cheaper than the original figure on the secondary market. It is, very much so, better than nothing - so I'd recommend her. She looks like herself, the outfit is nice, and her cool red shirt and brown coat stand out as looking different than your many other hundreds of Star Wars action figures. At retail price, I doubt you'll be disappointed if you're a fan of the character or just want a perfectly nice new figure. (Also she's way more interesting than some of the troopers and nonsense from the comics that are getting toys.) It's a figure you might actually care about, rather than buy and toss on a shelf or in a box.

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

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,013: March 21, 2023