SW BS: from rebels to mandos
a little less conversation, a little more action (figures)
I intended to scale way, way back on Black Series figures, but then…Ahsoka…and Black Friday.
So let’s take a brief pause from the Kollector Set for the G.I. Joe Classifed Series and look at some BS.
Ahsoka Tano (Padawan) - Star Wars The Black Series: The Clone Wars - 2023, Hasbro
I am going to take practically anything and everything Ahsoka (the character, not the show) when it comes to action figures. I’m so excited to finally get a Padawan Ahsoka. I would love for a show-accurate padawan Ahsoka (Ariana Greenblatt) as the designs were just different enough, and Greenblatt was perfect in the role.
I’m still a bit disappointed in Black Series for moving away from double-jointed knees and elbows to single joint with swivel. Aesthetically it works well, but poseability is affected.
I also wish there was a little more attention paid to Ahsoka’s lekku, so that we could get better head movement, but otherwise, Ahsoka delights me greatly.
Professor Huyang - Star Wars The Black Series: Ahsoka - 2023, Hasbro
I’ve got more gripes with Huyang than I really want (I mean, who does want gripes with their figures?). All the plastic seems really…plastic… for lack of better term. It doesn’t seem to have any sort of finish or wash on it. I really wish I knew how to do that myself adeptly. Also his backpack has his little arms, which I love, but there’s no swivel articulation to turn the hands (and if you try, something might just snap off, they’re pretty delicate). In the show, Huyang trains with Ahsoka (or was it Sabine) holding four hologram-projecting lightsabers, but he only comes with one (which itself is smaller than his hand grip, so it wobbles or falls out in certain poses). I wonder if there will be some sort of “deluxe” variant down the road with a better backpack/arms.
The other thing pointed out about Huyang, is that his ankles have some heavy detents that mean they don’t really stay in any position other than within a detent, which means he keeps falling over. It’s maddening. I want to love this figure, as I quite loved the character in the show (vocal performance by David Tennant), but ...just…arrgh.
Marrok - Star Wars The Black Series: Ahsoka - 2023, Hasbro
I ordered Marrok when he was first solicited. Hasbro said “jump” and I said “how much do you want me to pay for that jump”.
I think Episode 2 of Ahsoka had just aired. A week or two later Marrok was dead, dead, dead (if he was ever alive to begin with). Because of the double-bladed saber, I mistook him for an Inquisitor, and figured I needed him for the Inquisitorius.
He does not seem to be an Inquisitor (we really know nothing about him). So there was a bit of regret looming around this pre-order. But, in hand, he’s a good-looking figure and, hey, I can fudge him into the Inquisitor display if I want to. They’re my toys.
The lack of double jointed elbows, and limited butterfly, are really noticeable for someone like Marrok, where you’d think a double-bladed lightsaber would be a two-handed weapon. But he can’t really pose well with both hands on the sword. I don’t have a problem with double-bladed sabres in Star Wars, but at this point — with a Maul or two in the collection, and almost a half-dozen Inquisitors — I find double blades to be unwieldy in action figure form.
General Hera Syndulla - Star Wars The Black Series: Ahsoka
I don’t maintain a top 5 or top 10 list of Star Wars characters, but #1 and #2 are Ahsoka and Chewbacca, respectively, and #3 is Hera without at doubt (so I guess I have a top 3 list…). She’s the mother of the Rebels crew and the lover of a Jedi, but what defines her the most is she’s probably the best natural pilot in the galaxy (sorry Han), as well as her dogged determination. I love her so much. It pains me to see that amazing Hot Toy of Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Hera and have sworn off buying any more Hot Toys earlier this year. My consolation prize is a very nice Black Series Hera, but the likeness isn’t quite there.
It’s most definitely Hera, it’s just not quite Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Hera.
Magistrate Greef Karga - Star Wars The Black Series: The Madalorian - 2022, Hasbro
I had avoided picking up the Magistrate version of Greef because I already had the Season 1 version. But a Black Friday sale put him under $15 (Canadian) so the price was right.
I think the head sculpt on Magistrate looks more like Mando Carl Weathers, while the season 1 Greef looks more like a younger, Predator-era Carl Weathers.
I also think Magistrate is just a better looking figure all around. He’s just more colourful and stands out. A soft goods robe (or whatever you would call that drapery he has on) would be much nicer, but Magistrate Greef isn’t built for action, so no crazy poses thus his vinyl robe is fine.
If it comes down to choosing one, Magistrate is going on the shelf and Season 1 Greef is in the bin… but it hasn’t come to that yet.
Doctor Aphra - Star Wars The Black Series (Comic) - 2023, Hasbro
I have a Dr. Aphra on the shelf that I’m very happy with. I didn’t need another one, especially at the inflated Black Series “Comic” line prices. But, like Magistrate Greef, a Black Friday sale on this second Chelli Aphra figure was too good to pass up.
Out of the box, I had to ask myself, do I like this Doctor Aphra better than the last one?
Maybe it’s because I also just got a bunch of Indiana Jones figures (and surprisingly love them…guys in suits, who knew?), and I’m just in that kind of adventurer mood…but the answer is…yes?
(The Toy Kollector Problem: I started this post a month ago and, really, the only reason I haven’t finished it is because I wanted to do a side-by-side with new Chelli and old Chelli…but I have old Chelli in the perfect pose with BT-1 and 0-0-0, and I worry, like Don McLean, that I’ll never find that recipe again. So here’s just one more pic of the new one)
Honestly, she’s pretty great, I’m very happy to have her.
DOC ONDAR’S SELFIE CORNER
