I’m
behind on my Masters of the Universe Classics reviews right now, but
I’m pretty excited by the Exclusives that the Disney Store has for
The
Force Awakens
and wanted to go ahead and cover this guy. Partly because of the
excitement of actually caring about new Star Wars toys, but also
because I think there’s some confusion as to what, exactly, these
die-cast figures are supposed to be.
Aside
from Micro Machine and other niche collections, that’s all that’s
being offered to the mass market now. The figures I collect are
continuing, but only at Walmart and they are over twelve bucks each.
I haven’t set foot in a Walmart in seven months and I won’t pay
more than ten bucks for a standard release 3.75” scale figure.
What
I’m saying is that I’m basically done with Star Wars; at least,
in the way that I have collected for the past twenty years. There
simply isn’t a regular product that I want.
The
Monday after Dragon Con I took the family out for a good,
old-fashioned toy hunting day. The goal wasn’t so much to buy stuff
as to just look around and see what all of the new Star Wars stuff
looked like. I had yet to see any of it in person and I definitely
wanted to give my son the opportunity to pick up a couple of things
if he wanted to.
We
went to multiple Targets and Toys R Us stores (because that’s
pretty much all there is if you’re boycotting Walmart) and it was
the same scene everywhere – the stores were out of product, but
there wasn’t much we were interested in, anyway. I’m sure my son
would’ve wanted some of the new style 3.75” figures if any had
been available, but all we saw was a Dagobah Luke.
And
then we went to the Disney Store because I had a hunch they might
have some neat Exclusives.
Right
after we walked in, my son came running up with this Finn figure. I
wasn’t too interested because it just looked like a 6” Black
Series figure, but then he handed it to me and it was heavy as crap.
I realized it was die-cast – a sort of throwback to the days when
figures were made of metal rather than plastic – and I had to have
it. Not because I wanted to start a collection of metal figures, but
because it made for a cool and different collectible to put on the
shelf as a memento of Episode
VII’s
imminent release.
All
they had on the shelf was Finn. I asked a clerk if there were more
and she gave a me a catalog of currently released and upcoming
figures. I’m not buying all of these, but I will get Boba Fett and
Darth Vader; as well as Captain Phasma because I decided then and
there that Finn and Phasma are the characters I’m latching onto. At
least until the movie comes out.
These
figures are not meant to compete with or be compatible with Hasbro’s
6” Black Series. These are an entirely different kind of
collectible – something a little more special and unique than just
a plastic action figure (and I’m not poo-pooing plastic action
figures – I own thousands of them). These are items that will stand
out on your shelf and are meant more as collectibles than toys. I
like them for that.
The
Disney Store is also carrying a range of large die-cast vehicles that
look fantastic. They are not necessarily in scale with each other and
are several times larger than Hot Wheels. They’re probably close to
the same size as Hasbro’s wonderful Action Fleet line. While the
action figures are pretty steep at $24.95, the vehicles are mostly
$9.99, which I think is a steal. There are larger vehicles like Kylo
Ren’s shuttle that cost more, but overall this seems like a very
cool and affordable line.
Regardless
of price I bought Finn because it was the first thing that felt right
as my first Force
Awakens purchase.
FIRST
GLANCE
Once
you get a look at the figure it’s obvious that it is styled
differently from the Black Series and also that it’s larger. The
sculpt looks great, but I could tell that the joints were very
limited. I didn’t care, though, because like I said – this isn’t
part of the Black Series. It’s a collectible, not an action figure.
I’m mostly curious about how they came up with the somewhat odd
idea of doing articulated, die-cast, 6”(ish) scale figures.
PACKAGING
The
Elite Series (which is strange to write when not talking about WWE
action figures)
come in these fancy window boxes that almost look like gift boxes.
This is the sort of packaging that you don’t really send to mass
market because it would get all jacked up, but it can survive at
specialty stores. The colors are light and eye-catching and that red
metallic trim is classy. The only negative is all of those twist
ties, but this is a heavy figure. It needs them.
The
back of the box puts over the line as being something special. Below
that we have the only vague bits of information we have about Finn. I
have avoided reading about The
Force Awakens
as much as I’ve been able to. I don’t want to know anything
beyond trailers and toy bios. Until I read this I had imagined that
maybe Finn was a deep cover Jedi that Luke had dispatched to
infiltrate the First Order, but it looks like what we saw in the
trailer was pretty straightforward given the “desperate to escape
his past” line. While I don’t necessarily want another “learning
to be a Jedi” story, I trust the people in charge of the franchise
until they prove me wrong. I just thought it would be much more
interesting if – for instance – that scene in the forest with
Kylo Ren leads to the reveal that Finn is a trained Jedi and an epic
duel ensues.
But
again – I trust that plenty of surprises await us on December 18th.
The
box is completely resealable. The figure can be put right back in
after being removed and look the same as when you bought it. As such,
I might display Finn boxed.
LOOKS
The
head sculpt is very good, especially the profile. They captured John
Boyega’s likeness quite nicely without giving the figure the
perpetual “I can’t believe that just happened” expression he
has throughout the trailer. I don’t know why, but I’m surprised
to see detail represented as nicely in metal as it is in plastic.
Side
Note: A major advantage that die-cast toys have is that you’re not
going to unbox them to discover warped appendages.
I
was slightly disappointed to discover that some parts of the figure
are plastic. The jacket, hands, and feet (and probably joint pieces)
are not die-cast metal. Visually it doesn’t really matter and I
don’t care that
much, especially considering that those trigger fingers would
absolutely break off is they were metal. My only real concern is that
the plastic feet and ankles might not support the weight of the rest
of the figure over time.
I
suppose I need to address the painfully visible screws on this
figure. If you’ve been reading Needless Things for any amount of
time, you know how picky I am about the aesthetics of action figures
and how important a streamlined profile is. Obviously these screws
are terrible. Or at least, they would
be terrible if I were judging this figure by regular action figure
standards. But I’m not. I’m judging this as a die-cast
collectible. What that means is that, by necessity, it is constructed
differently from plastic figures. There’s no other way to join
die-cast pieces securely. If you’re buying a die-cast action
figure, you’re getting these screws, so it would be absurd to
criticize them. I feel like they were placed as smartly as they could
be. Again – this is not meant to be part of Hasbro’s Black
Series, though some will inevitably relate this line to that one.
The
jacket has a great sculpt and fantastic texture paint. I love how
worn it looks. The detail paint is thick and vibrant, but isn’t
placed all that well. The red portions are off-center and don’t
cover all that they should. The silver parts and straps are, however,
just fine. Also, I quite like this jacket and would totally wear it.
I’m sure prop replicas will only run around $500.
The
sleeves match the jacket nicely, though in these pictures they look a
bit lighter. There’s piping down the sides and straps on the cuffs
that give it a little more definition. The hands are both posed to
hold blasters and look good.
Under
the jacket Finn is super dull. While I appreciate that the guy just
has clothes on and the wardrobe doesn’t go too far in being
outlandish, it does result in Finn seeming to lack personality. I’m
picturing a closet full of grey shirts and trousers. Even some cargo
pockets would be nice. But the sculpts are well done and the joints
have a lower profile than I expected from metal. All of the folds and
wrinkles in the shirt and trousers look good, once again surprising
me that metal can hold as much detail as plastic. The torso seems a
bit wide. I don’t know if it’s just me or if it’s a necessity
of the materials used.
Finn
has weird space shoes. These are easily the strangest and most “not
from this galaxy” thing about him. They sort of look like golden
croissants. The light color is a bit odd as well. In person it almost
looks like he has white shoes on and that’s weird. I mean,
obviously they don’t have Labor Day in a galaxy far, far away, but
I think good fashion sense transcends federal holidays. The paint on
the soles is a bit rough, but if it weren’t for that Finn’s
footwear would look even more bizarre, so I’ll take it.
You
might notice a rough spot of paint on the outside of the right calf.
It’s not very noticeable in person, but it’s definitely something
that shouldn’t be there.
ACCESSORIES
Finn
comes with a very cool blaster that, depending upon its prevalence in
The
Force Awakens (and
successive films), could replace Han’s DL-44 as my favorite from
the franchise. I know that sounds like heresy, but I’ve always
really liked guns that were just a bit too big to seem like
one-handed weapons.
I
was disappointed that this, too, was plastic. The sculpt is excellent
and there are spots of darker metallic paint that look very nice.
Visually, this is a great accessory.
These
figures also include a stand. I’m not normally a fan of stands as
accessories, but again – this is not just a line of action figures.
They’re collectibles. I like the wide circumference of the stand
and the design is nice and simple. The “Star Wars” logo in the
middle of riveted plates looks good. I do wish there were two pegs,
though. I get that the one peg is supposed to allow for greater
variety in posing, but Id’ feel a little better about stability
with two pegs. I’ve got tons of 25th
Anniversary GI Joe figures that are posed in a very strange manner
because one peg stands don’t get the job done.
FUN
This
is probably the category where how you define this figure comes into
play the most. As a collectible its articulation far exceeds
expectations. As an action figure – well, it’s still pretty good,
though nowhere near what the plastic Black Series provides.
Since
this is a new style of thing here on Needless Things, I’ll run down
the joints:
Head
– ball joint
Shoulders
– swivel/pivot
Elbows
– pivot
Wrists
– swivel
Waist
– swivel
Hips
– ball joint
Knees
– pivot
Ankles
– pivot
That’s
fourteen points of articulation, which is not bad by any means. These
could have been statues or limited to five points of articulation,
which would have made them significantly less interesting to me.
Again – I’m very curious about the process that led to these
being produced as they are.
The
usefulness of some of those joints is debatable. While the hips look
good, Finn can’t sit down. And the arms have a decent range of
movement, but he can’t hold his blaster with two hands. Otherwise
the figure can achieve most poses within a basic range of human
movement. Even though I’m just going to stand it on a shelf in a
relatively neutral pose (if not just put it back in the box), it was
fun to play with the figure and discover the limits of its
poseability.
OVERALL
Finn
is more fun than a statue and less fun than a super-articulated
action figure. But the significance of the figure as a collectible is
the strong point for me. I like knowing that this is a special, new
style of thing that represents a sort of rebirth of one of my
favorite franchises of all time. Plus, in the midst of a massively
underwhelming (for me) toy launch, this line of die-cast stands out
as something cool and different.
The
$24.99 price tag is high. I would probably collect this line at
twenty bucks apiece, but for twenty-five I’m going to be pretty
picky. The good/bad is that since I am essentially not collecting any
other Star Wars toys, this will be all that I am spending my money
on. Although the die-cast vehicles are pretty tempting. Heck, I’d
even be buying the Micro Machines if the playsets weren’t so
expensive.
If
you want a cool and different collectible, then these figures will
make you happy. If you want something to stand alongside your Hasbro
Black Series figures, you need to wait for more Hasbro Black Series
figures. This is a different thing. Either way, I suggest you pay a
visit to your local Disney Store and see if anything catches your
eye.
4
out of 5
No comments:
Post a Comment