Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,156: Nash Durango (Crimson Firehawk Pilot, Young Jedi Adventures)

NASH DURANGO Crimson Firehawk Pack-in
Young Jedi Adventures Vehicle Pilot
Item No.: No. F7878
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: Crimson Firehawk vehicle, RJ-83 droid figue
Action Feature: Articulated opening lid
Retail: $44.99
Availability: August 2023
Appearances: Young Jedi Adventures   

Bio: Nash Durango was a female human pilot and mechanic from the Outer Rim planet Tenoo who lived during the High Republic Era. She befriended Jedi younglings Kai Brightstar, Lys Solay, and Nubs. (Stolen from Wookieepedia.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

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

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Commentary: I haven't watched Young Jedi Adventures yet - I assume most of you haven't - but I started looking at the vehicles on clearance once my pal Seth said "hey, you can put 3 3/4-inch figures in these." That's why I got The Crimson Firehawk with Nash Durango and RJ-83 - it's a big sturdy toy vehicle, the kind of thing that we might still be getting for movies and Disney+ shows were the line not infatuated with adult collector dollars exclusively. It's bigger than most recent vehicles (save for HasLabs) with big wide seats that can fit a lot of figures - admittedly, they're a tiny bit too big, but your kids could cram pretty much anybody in there. At $45 I don't think collectors would have much reason to buy the set, but on clearance prices this is good enough that I'm looking at the other ships. I probably won't buy the entire line-up, but it proves what I've long suspected: Hasbro is capable of making toys for children. They just tend not to do so.

Nash is a 4-inch figure with a giant head, and you can see a lot of influences from other sources. The articulation is very much like Imaginext, with a unileg design, swivel wrists, and those great shoulders that can swing forward and out. She stands as tall as a lot of other figures - in other words, she's kind of huge - with detailing that seems appropriate for any kid's line. The boots are painted, the hands are molded in color, and she has the best Star Wars hair this side of Thall Joben, Jord Dusat, and Kea Moll. And if you don't get the reference, go watch Droids, and come back later.

The details are from a Star Wars pilot playbook a brown jacket over a blue shirt has shades of Poe Dameron or Han Solo, with cargo pants and a belt. It's a decent outfit for a character who is clearly a child, and for some reason, has carte blanche to fly around the galaxy fighting pirates with other children. Maybe it would seem less reckless if I watched the show, but "unsupervised kids in space with lightsabers" sounds unlike much of what we saw in the movies. Even Luke had Obi-Wan over his shoulder for a while... but again, I haven't seen the show, so perhaps it all makes sense.

For clearance prices (under $10 on Amazon last I looked, that's a sponsored ad link, your price mileage may vary) this set is really impressive - the droid figure is nothing special, but the figure is sturdy and despite coming from Disney's house style of "giant eye big head shows for preschoolers," it stands up better than most collector figures. I have nothing bad to say about the quality of anything in the box - Hasbro did a good job, and it pains me a tiny bit to see how much we've traded away for "collector figures." Her articulation would be enough to make me happy in a kid's line, and if I could get a $50 3 3/4-inch vehicle that's as big as this, that could seat 3-4 figures with a giant cargo bay in the back, I would be over the moon. Not that the $35 N-1 ship is anything to sneeze at, but this? This is really impressive and I hope Hasbro brings this kind of design and engineering back to Epic Hero Series vehicles down the road, whenever it makes sense.

This line has only one legacy character - Yoda - in standard and holographic (Walmart exclusive) flavors. Most of the line is kids from the show and vehicle-specific variants. It's not a bad line-up, but the toy design lacks the whimsy of the rubber masks from the movies and ignores the aspect of a human face and an alien face would probably cost about the same to animate. But hey, that's not my department - all I can tell you is that this is a neat toy, and I'm really going to be curious if these things are worth a small fortune down the road when today's kids go back to collect them. Hasbro did a good job - I have no idea how the show is doing with actual kids, but given I'm the kind of fan who wants to see pretty much everything and I haven't seen it... I assume you're also in the same boat. As soon as this stuff seems to go from "family or at least tween-friendly space adventure" to "preschool show," no amount of brand loyalty can swing the average adult fan over to "ages 3 and up" product even if it is sturdy, well-designed, a match for its source material, and a perfect fit in the vehicles.

Collector's Notes: I got mine from Ross. It was on clearance for a shockingly low $7.49. 

 --Adam Pawlus

Day 3,156: July 23, 2024