I have an on-again, off-again love affair with Star Wars.
As a kid growing up in the early 80's (Jedi came out in '83), the property was like street cred with the other ankle biters. I never owned many of the toys as a child (although the 3 3/4" scale B-Wing and Chewie were both briefly prized possessions), and maybe that fed into my obsession with the property. I dreamed of Star Wars and cool Star Wars toys that I never had as a kid, and as a teen, Kenner/Hasbro's revival of the toys was that dream come true, not to mention the Special Editions of the films making their way to the theater.
Enter the Prequels. I remember that high, that feeling of excitement that came along with those new movies, the money spent on merchandise that only went on to disappoint me. I suppose the falling out from our relationship culminated with Revenge Of The Sith. I'd seen all the movies, bought many of the toys (too many!) and the last movie in the new Trilogy, the one that I'd hoped would be great from the start that would finally cement all those visions of Anakin and Obi-Wan's fateful duel, it just... fell flat. I was tired. Tired of defending the property from haters and having to say things like "Well, yeah, Jar-Jar Binks was terrible, but I can still overlook all of that because of blah blah blah lightsabers." I could go on and on about how I felt and still feel about Star Wars but this is a toy review, right?
Anyways-- I haven't given George Lucas any money since Sith, and I wasn't going to. Really, I wasn't going to bother. I still have a whole bin of SW stuff at my folks' house that needs selling, why did I need to get into a new line? Sure, J.J. Abrams' reveals of the new movie thus far have me very cautiously optimistic, but I would not get sucked in like I did with Episodes I, II, and III.
Then I ran across the Stormtrooper in the wild. I knew, as soon as picked the figure up in its package and gazed at that familiar and menacing visage, that I wouldn't be able to stop at just one.
Stormtrooper
The Good: I did a quick look of the trooper a little while back, but felt he needed a proper review. Every little detail is present that you might expect. The sculpt works great with the articulation and the articulation scheme itself is absolutely superb. I realize that the smaller scale SW stuff has been good and maybe even bordering on great in recent years, but having the same approach in a larger scale speaks to my dorkiness somehow. Maybe I'm still trying to fill the void left by DC Universe Classics, but these things are fucking hand candy.
The Stormtrooper comes with two blasters: the small rifle that is almost always their signature sidearm, and a larger rifle. Both fit perfectly in their hands (BOTH of their hands!) and the articulation with fiddling can get you some very realistic gun-holding poses. The holster for the small rifle is always a welcome addition; I'm a big fan of when figures can store accessories, particularly when it makes sense. A swarm of these fuckers would look great together on the shelf. I could only talk myself into two; your mileage may vary, now that these are plentiful and not one-per-case.
The Bad: The paint apps on both of mine aren't the greatest. They're there where it counts on the black areas, but there's some slop and scuffing on what should otherwise be a pristine set of figures. Other than that, these are great figures.
Overall: This figure is a great representation of one of the most recognizable SW icons. $20 may seem a little steep--the second trooper, ordered from Amazon, was $22.99-- but this is the world we're living in. Since 3 3/4" figures run about half that now, I'd say double the price for roughly double the scale is pretty fair. The trooper(s) scores an A.
Boba Fett
The Good: Talk about love-hate relationships. Boba here is a character that has had some ups and downs for sure, especially in my eyes. He went from badass mysterious bounty hunter to ineffective cool-looking dude once I realized all he ever did was find the Millenium Falcon in Empire and was given Han Solo by Vader before disappointing us all with his ill-fated dive into the Sarlacc. Let's not get into Attack Of The Clones.
Fett, like the trooper, looks spot-on. I'm sure naysayers and nit-pickers could find plenty of details that are off, but he looks right to me. There isn't a ding, scratch or gauntlet wire out of place, he has his Wookie pelts, gauntlets (with rocket and flamethrower attachments), his jetpack, and the little tools in his shin pouches are sculpted in. He also comes with two guns: his rifle and a pistol that also fits neatly into a holster on his leg. He holds both well in either hand and getting him to duel-wield blasters is pretty fun. There is an issue I'll get to with rifle below, though.
The paint is about the same as the trooper. It gives you the general idea, but there's bound to be some slop or fuzziness if you look close enough. The Mandolorian tampo is present on one shoulder, naturally, and the soft goods cape is also screenprinted with a stripe pattern.
Also like the trooper, his articulation scheme works pretty great.
The Bad: Boba's range of hip movement is a tad lacking because of the big pouches on his belt. You can still get plenty of cool poses, but having him sit down is probably out of the question. The cape is a bit cumbersome due to the stiffer fabric used for it, which is made worse by the screenprinting on it. It can seem more in the way some times than it should, and a softer material with no printing might have been better.
The biggest issue I have with the figure is his rifle. It looks accurate. It looks great in his hand. But if you try and pose him holding the rifle in a proper "looking down the sight" pose the plastic on the stock and barrel begins to bend. Now, this is preferable to less forgiving plastic for certain, but it makes me think the scale might be off on the blaster or that Boba would have benefited greatly from up-and-down movement in his right wrist (like the trooper) instead of a lateral joint. This isn't exactly a huge deal-- the pistol and the fact that both hands have trigger sculpts, giving you options, almost makes up for it--but not having a Boba Fett who can convincingly shoulder his weapon when the Stormtrooper can is a bit frustrating.
Overall: While I think the Stormtrooper spoiled me with better wrist articulation, Boba is still a phenomenal entry into this line. The Fettster here gets an A-. A different wrist joint probably would have gotten him a higher score.
Luke Skywalker
The Good: After hunting in vain for a few weeks now, I have yet to run across a Jedi Luke. While Empire is my favorite SW, Luke in his Jedi outfit is still my favorite look him. But anyways-- I got tired of waiting and snagged Luke this morning before finishing this review. Here he is in his Dagobah/Bespin outfit, and it's a very nice rendering of the look. He comes complete with his blaster, which is actually a different blaster than Han's, and his dad's lightsaber with a removable blade.
I'm kind of blown away by this figure, something I didn't expect. The head sculpt is pretty well-done, actually, and looks quite a bit like Mark Hamill. All the seams and pockets and the weird puffiness to his boots are all there, and his belt is a separate piece-- in fact, all of these figures sport their belts as a separate overlay rather than part of the figure's sculpt. The pistol fits in his holster and has a strap with a peg to keep it in place, nice touch. The lightsaber blade pops out of the hilt and has a hook to hang it from his belt.
He's very proportionate, being the smallest of the figures so far (since Mark Hamill is actually a little guy), and looks great with Vader towering over him.
He poses nicely, except for one important stance required of every lightsaber-wielding character...
The Bad: Luke has a hard time holding his saber in both hands. It can be done, mind you, but it takes a little more effort than I'd like. He lacks a bicep joint, opting instead for "elbrows"-- elbow joints that also turn laterally. I've grown accustomed to these on G.I.Joes, but most Joes don't need to hold a sword two-handed. Combine that with the gummy plastic used for his saber handle and you're talking worse warping than Boba's rifle, which is a shame. Other than the two-hand grip troubles, I've only one other major gripe with Luke: the plastic used for his flesh tone combined with the grey/beige coloring on his outfit wash him out a little too much. A warmer flesh tone would have probably looked better, but all that's pretty minor compared to the saber holding.
Overall: While not my preferred look for him, they still didn't skimp on the figure. The Son of Skywalker scores an A.
Han Solo
The Good: I wasn't initially going to pick up any 'human' characters in this line. Much like their 3 3/4" offerings, the likenesses for their on-screen counterparts seemed lacking. But once I picked up Chewbacca, I couldn't leave him all alone with some Empire goons. And my Toys R Us credit gives me 10% off on Thursdays, so I figured picking up Han on discount (even if only a tiny discount) was worth it.
I'll put aside the likeness issues for the moment. The costume, like the trooper, like Fett, all seems just right. The paint applications on Han seem improved, but there's much less to do and a tampo for his leg striping. His articulation is also good, sporting elbrows like Luke. Unlike luke, he doesn't have a saber to hold, so they serve their purpose much better.
Han, who could easily be light on accessories, comes with his trademark blaster (which also has a usable holster, huzzah!) and again, everything looks accurate to my memory on the belt and pistol. The kicker is that he also comes with an extra set of gloved hands (which I think are from one scene in Star Wars) as well as an extra Stormtrooper belt and trooper blaster that fits into a holster. They totally could have cheaped out on the accessories, and I'm glad they didn't. I love display options with my action figures, and Han has that in spades.
The Bad: Harrison Ford's likeness is infamous among toy collectors at this point for being almost impossible to nail. Having said that, they tried. Okay, it's not even close, really. But everything else is there, and there is no mistaking who the character is supposed to be, especially paired with other characters from the line. I really do like the figure, but the likeness being an afterthought scores Captain Solo a B.
Chewbacca
The Good: The figure is fucking HUGE. Some have commented that maybe he's a little too big, but I'm fine with that. Isn't Peter Mayhew like eight feet tall, or something? Chewbacca was the biggest character from the original movies, so him being the biggest figure is automatically something done right.
The sculpt is great. Usually I'm not a fan of screaming faces on my action figures, but if they have to have one, I'm glad they went with Chewie. The layers of fur can restrict some poses, but the articulation is pretty great for the most part. He can hold his bowcaster with two hands and shoulder it much more convincingly than poor Boba. Pictures of and words about this figure honestly do not do it justice. It's fucking Chewbacca, and a very cool Chewbacca too boot.
The Bad: Again, the sculpted layers of fur can restrict articulation, specifically the head. The only other nit I can pick is that the fur covering his hands looks odd due to the way it was sculpted defying gravity in certain poses. Chewbacca Vookie (say it in a German accent. It doesn't get old) scores an A+.
Darth Vader
Vader is our second biggest figure so far, and is appropriately larger than any of the troopers but smaller than Chewie. He looks imposing, as Darth Vader should, and once more all the iconic details you expect are present on the figure. There's very little paint slop, but then again there isn't much paint. The buttons on his chest, his belt, and the chest and shoulder armor are about it, and there's this strange red-brown on his eyes which takes a little getting used to. Given that this is apparently Vader from Jedi, the eyes make little sense but don't detract much from his overall appearance.
His cloak and inner robe are voluminous to the point where they border on too much. I'll get back to that.
His articulation scheme is what we've come to expect from the Black series, and works well. His hand holds his lightsaber well-- I use the singular of hand because the other one is in that "I am your father" pose, which looks pretty good for force choking or doubling up over his other hand holding the saber.
The helmet comes off to reveal Anakin's scarred visage. Like Solo, the likeness isn't really there, but you know who it's supposed to be, even with his eyebrows removed like in the Special Edition. Although I didn't realize it at first, the helmet does separate into two screen accurate pieces: the mask even has all the sculpted detail on the top where it gets covered by the helmet. His pimp chain-- er, cloak clasp is actually metal and looks pretty snazzy. He's undeniably hand candy like all the others reviewed today.
The Bad: The helmet comes off way too easily. Seriously, you can barely move his head without the damn thing coming off. While I appreciate the removable, two-piece helmet, I can't help but wonder if a solid Vader head would have been a better move. No doubt Hasbro is going to release several Vaders in this line, one to match every on-screen appearance (although to my eyes, Empire and Jedi Vader are pretty much the same), so I'm puzzled to why they went all out with the first Vader they did. I'm not saying they shouldn't have, I just would have thought they'd take awhile to get to the penultimate Vader look from the films.
The soft goods on the cape and inner robe, while nice, can be a bit much when posing the figure. you almost have to remove the helmet and toss the capes aside to pose him, especially the legs. I took the liberty of shifting his inner robe around a bit so that he wasn't stepping on it all the time, but I think less fabric would have been better. It's not awful and still looks good, but it can be a pain to fudge around with the figure without worrying that A) The helmet falls off, B) the chain doesn't get lodged in the chest armor, and C) the cloaks are out of the way and he's not trampling them. There's just a lot going on with the figure.
The outer cloak is attached to his shoulders at the chest armor via thread. It does a good job of making the cape 'drape' over his shoulders (something most companies can't even do with Batman!) but the threads tend to show depending on how he's posed.
His knees seem to be made of a gummier, more pliable plastic than the rest of him, which makes his legs seem looser than they actually are, almost to the point of being wobbly. But he holds poses pretty well unless you come by and jar him.
The last problem I have with Lord Vader here is that he has nowhere to put his lightsaber. You give everybody else a holster for their gun or hook for their lightsaber, and not Vader? It's a weird choice on a figure full of weird choices.
Overall: I really do like Vader despite any shortcomings. The volume of the cloaks and robes, while maybe not accurate or to scale, does make for an impressive toy. Vader would score an A- due to my love for the character, but Chewbacca is the clear winner of this bunch, demoting Lord Vader to a B+.
These are showing up just about everywhere now, save the newest wave that contains Vader, Chewie, Jedi Luke, a Sandtrooper and a white Boba variant, who are all currently exclusive to Walgreens, of all places. They cost $20 apiece, which isn't a great value, but compared to most mass market toys that are littered with re-use (sometimes understandably and necessarily so), these seem worth the cash. Between Vader and Chewie alone, I haven't felt like I've gotten my money's worth on toys in a very long time.
Smoke 'em if you got 'em, kids. Til next next time.
-Swift
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