May the 4th Be With You: Reviewing the Star Wars Black Series to pick our faves and who we'd like to see next!
- Mephitsu
- 7 hours ago
- 19 min read
Over the first weeks of 2026, I have found myself laid up recovering from more surgery, and that gave me time to watch the entirety of the Star Wars (live action) movies and shows in timeline order. As the binge watch began, I had the idea of looking at each movie & series and the equivalent Black Series releases, choosing my favourite figures, and then picking out some key characters that we are yet to see in the 6-inch format.
That idea has since spiralled, and it now forms the build-up to our Star Wars Day, May the 4th celebrations for 2026.
For each movie or series, I have picked out my personal favourite figure/item released to date. I have then picked a single character who has yet to appear in the line. And finally, a third pick who has to be at least 50% re-use from the figures already in the line, engaging my inner customiser without the mess. These choices will be presented by each of the key Star Wars eras starting on the 1st of April and running through to the 16th.
Within my picks are four additional wildcards for one extra brand new figure, one vehicle, one multi-pack of up to 4 figures, and a larger creature. These can be played once for any film or series, but only one Wildcard per film/series.
As we reveal our picks, you can then vote for your favourite releases and most wanted figures from our shortlist and add in some of your own picks in our 'free pick' section. These results will be collated and shared on May the 4th 2026. Voting will expand as each era is explored. You can vote as often as you like. Click here for the voting link, or it can be found embedded at the end of this article. If you want to remind yourself of all the Star Wars Black Series releases to date, then our comprehensive Collector Database is ready to help.
Fast Track to each era by clicking on the image, or scroll through for the full journey.
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To keep things simple, we will include The Acolyte in the Fall of the Jedi era. This means our first set of picks is from the divisive 2024 Disney+ series. For our favourite figure, we've picked The Stranger. For our brand new figure, we would like Darth Plagueis, as glimpsed emerging from his cave. And for our second pick, we've gone with the Mission Robes version of Vernestra Rwoh, utilising the existing head and parts from Jecki Lon. This time round, we need to get her light whip.
So, into the Prequels proper now, and The Phantom Menace, and while there are a number of Jedi and Sith releases across the series, our pick falls outside these Force wielders. Our favourite for TPM is Pod Racer Sebulba. A fantastically designed recreation of the Dug and very much unique among the BlacK Series in terms of design of the anatomy. In picking our most wanted figures, we've headed straight to the Trade Federation to request a figure of Nute Gunray. And to support him, a simple repaint of the existing Battle Droids to the commander, OOM-9.
At this point, we've shoehorned in the 'Tales Of' anthology shows, with the earliest of these set before, during and after the events of The Phantom Menace. The pick of the best figure here feels like a cheat, as the only release to date from the series is that of Jedi Master Dooku. But he is such a great release, he deserves a mention in the wider list. Including the Tales series also allows us to include Master Yaddle as a figure we'd like to see, as well as a tweaked version of Asaaj Ventress from Tales of the Underworld - a figure that could be repurposed with tweaks, and a new tunic torso piece from the existing Asaaj Bounty Hunter figure.
Attack of the Clones comes next, and the top pick was a close run thing between a number of different Jedi. Our final winner was that of Shaak Ti, an impressive releases both in terms of her features, design and overall execution and costume detailing. Our most wanted for Attack of the Clones start with Bounty Hunter Zam Wessell, ideally with both shapeshifting head options. Our second pick is a bit of a reach, but considering a Geonosian Warrior figure is coming, repurposing the basic anatomy into that of Separatist leader Poggle the Lessor might be a possibility.
The Clone Wars animated series presents a raft of figure options, and while we've had some key ones to date, our favourite is the most recent release of Jedi Quinlon Vos. Our picks for future releases are two further fan favourites from the series, starting with a full new figure of Mother Talzin. Our tweaked release feels like a relatively easy kitbash considering the available parts, providing us with Obi-Wan Kenobi in Mandalorian armour disguise.
And our 'Fall of the Jedi' section closes with Revenge of the Sith, a collection within the Black Series that has grown recently, in particular on the back of the 20th Anniversary. For favourite release from ROTS, it has to be from this 20th Anniversary celebration and the 2025 release of Anakin vs Obi-Wan on Mustafar, complete with that lava platform and droid.
Continuing our Separatists theme, one of our Revenge of the Sith picks is that of Wot Tambor, a truly impressive looking character. The other pick, requiring an updated head, chest piece, and paint job over the existing Clone Trooper body, is that of Commander Neyo. I've also played my first wildcard, initially thinking that the BARC Speeder would be a good vehicle choice to go with Neyo. I then changed this to the AT-RT walker, giving us the benefit of using this for the Clone Wars era, but also potentially then getting a repainted version for The Mandalorian & Grogu.
From the Fall of the Jedi, we move to the Reign of the Empire and home to two more Star Wars animated series in Bad Batch and Rebels, the Disney+ series of Kenobi and the two seasons of Andor, and the two standalone anthology movies of Solo and Rogue One.
Working in timeline order, we start with The Bad Batch, where we have seen 18 releases to date from 2021 through to 2023, with the majority themed around the Bad Batch themselves. Picking our favourite, it was difficult to look past those defective clones, and our eventual winner was Tech from Season 2 in mercenary armour. In terms of gaps in the collection, one (or more) of the Clone X Troopers would be a nice addition. The other key character missing is Doctor Hemlock who could be repurposed using the Galen Erso figure from Rogue One with a new head sculpt and added jacket piece.
Next, from a timeline perspective, comes Solo, another smaller range of just 15 figures released from 2018 to 2019, without a single release since. The movie introduced a number of new Imperial Troopers, and our personal favourite of the line is the Range Trooper, who would go on to be tweaked and deployed again in Season 2 of Andor.
When we consider the part played by the Pyke Syndicate and Kessel in Solo, it would be great to see the Kessel Pyke Sentinels make an appearance in the line, possibly even as a Han Solo disguise release if needed to give the figure multiple purposes as either a character display or an army builder. The tweak pick would be a better figure of Qi'ra to reflect her role in Crimson Dawn, which also features in the Outlaws video game. The Crimson Dawn outfit looks possible using the Vel Sertha figure as a base where the jacket cut is very similar. Qi'ra would need a new skirt piece, and the existing head tweaked with a new hairpiece.
From the Solo movie, we head to the Disney+ series of Obi-Wan Kenobi, where we've been given 19 releases across 2022 and 2023, the pick of these being the hugely impressive 'Final Duel' Darth Vader. There are a few key characters, notably those who assist or work with Obi-Wan in the series, and the biggest of these is probably the young Princess Leia, who would be our pick for a brand new figure so the pair can be reunited on display. As a tweaked release, it would be nice to see Tala Durith in her rebel gear. Considering the newer format of adding sleeved jackets and costumes over a base torso, Tala's look from Jabiim feels like a new sleeved jacket and belt over a base figure like the coated Doctor Aphra, adding a revised head with hair piece rather than the imperial officer cap
From one Disney+ series to another now, and the two seasons of Andor, which have generated 18 figures to date, spanning Season 1 in 2022 through to 2025 for the Season 2 conclusion of the series. With a series focused very much on the might and tactics of the Empire, our pick for best release falls to Dedra Meero whose cold and calculating character was perfectly executed in the Black Series.
The 'gap' in the line, particularly after Season 2, is that of Kleya in one of her outfits from her operations on Coruscant. The final pick, to go with the Dedra figure, would be a tweaked release to give us Major Partigaz, a relatively simple figure with a new Anton Lessor headsculpt onto an existing Imperial officer body.
Happening at more or less the same time as Season 2 of Andor is the animated series Rebels. Despite running for four seasons, it is actually limited in its Black Series representation with just 10 characters/troopers released, with many of these released twice over the course of 2016 through to the latest Rebels release in 2026. The appearance of key characters like Hera, Sabine, and Ezra in live action has skewed how we view them, so a lot of the Rebels character releases now feel dated in how they were originally translated from the animated style. However, the Chopper figure has stood the test of time across three different releases and is our pick for our favourite Rebels release.
Our picks for missing figures start with Agent Kallus, and more notably, Kallus once he defects to the Rebels. While we've put this as a new figure, there is probably scope from existing Rebel hero/trooper figures to build him with a new headsculpt. The other pick is that of AP-5, who would bring the 'Death Star' Droid design into the Black Series. This would need a new head and chest section, but could probably then repurpose parts of the existing Protocol droids, or 4-LOM.
The Reign of the Empire ends with Rogue One as the Star Wars Universe moves into the Age of Rebellion. Like most of the movies/series we've seen in this segment, the output for Rogue One is small, and while there are over 30 releases, there is a lot of repetition and updated releases from the original 2016 figures, adding in face print tech. Our favourite is a figure that didn't do too well at retail but is hugely impressive in terms of the complexity of the costume, the mechanics and the features like an integrated breathing mask. Our pick for Rogue One is, of course, Saw Gerrera.
Missing characters for Rogue One tend to be those from the Rebels, with the Imperial Troops already represented well alongside Director Krennic. The first of these, which would likely need a new figure, would be Melshi in Rebel gear. We'd also love to see the Rebels further bolstered by General Draven, a character also featuring in Season 2 of Andor. We think Draven could be built on to the Rebel Hoth Trooper body with a new jacket piece and head sculpt for actor Alistair Petrie.
The Age of Rebellion takes us, of course, straight into the Original Trilogy. It is probably the most popular category of figures in the Black Series, and the stakes around which figures to pick get much higher.
We start where it all began a long time ago, in a galaxy far away. A New Hope has, by our calculations, been the source of the second highest number of Black Series figures at 97 released to date. This is just one behind The Mandalorian, which holds the number one slot. With plenty of heroes, villains, and Troopers to choose from, I ended up settling on my favourite scene from the movie in the Mos Eisley Cantina, and to reflect Hasbro's excellent record of alien figures, our pick is the Deluxe Momaw Nadon (Hammerhead).
Hammerhead was, of course, one of the original Kenner figures, and the hope that all of the original Kenner characters might eventually get the Black Series treatment swayed our choices for figures we'd like to see. Up first is the GNK 'Gonk' Droid, a droid seen in many Star Wars properties but as yet absent from the 6-inch line. Our second choice, the tweaked figure, is Snaggletooth, another original Kenner figure. We think that Zutton could be built onto the existing Kuill body with an updated sleeved robe and a new head sculpt.
I am also playing my second wildcard within A New Hope, our 'creature' pick. I agonised over this one between against the Rancor but the principle of all our picks was a figure we could see released, and after the failure of the larger Rancor as a HasLab, this pick of the Bantha would probably be as large as we might expect going forward (if at all). Like the Gonk droid, adding this into the line opens up display possibilities for A New Hope, and across other properties, including The Book of Boba Fett.
The Empire Strikes Back is the 3rd largest set of releases for the Star Wars Black Series to date, at 74 releases. The more limited cast of Empire across Hoth, Dagobah and Cloud City doesn't give as broader range of figures as A New Hope, or Jedi as we will see shortly. Our pick came down to one of our heroes, and the one that pipped them all was the 2018 Exclusive Bespin Escape Leia, a great-looking figure with much improved articulation than some of the earlier Leia figures.
We've stuck with Bespin for our other picks, our second being that of Lobot. Lobot always usually ranks high on lists like these, including the Hasbro Fan Votes when they used to be a thing. And yet, Lobot still remains a significant gap in the Original Trilogy collection. Our tweaked pick is very similar to our favourite figure, and another Kenner figure not yet having made the Black Series transition, despite it being one of the only Leia costumes from the OT left to release. The Bespin gown Leia can use the same head as the Bespin Escape Leia, and the versatile Mara Jada body with updated colour and skirt piece for the robes, along with an outer cloak as soft goods or plastic.
We close with Return of the Jedi, probably my favourite movie and definitely my favourite sequence in Jabba's Palace and then out onto the Sail Barge. My picks certainly reflect that. Jedi sits in 4th place in the Black Series release standings, one figure behind Empire at 73 in total. Our favourite pick is also the oldest release to make our list, going all the way back to 2014 originally and Jabba the Hutt, notably the SDCC Exclusive with throne parts but no actual throne.
Our other picks are all figures to complement Jabba whose retinue in the Black Series to date is restricted to Bib Fortunna and the Gamorrean Guards. We'd love to see Hasbro's take on a Weequay Guard as a brand-new release. And we think a Squid Head (Tessek) could be built out of the Force Awakens Luke with an updated belt and chest piece, head, hands and soft goods cloak.
I've played another Wildcard for Return of the Jedi, using our 'box set' pick for Max Rebo and his band. This is one of my favourite Kenner releases, and seeing the threesome realised in the Black Series with mics and piano would be amazing.
The New Republic era is currently represented by four of the Star Wars Disney+ series to date, including the one that started it all, The Mandalorian. If we repeat this in the future, then we will be able to add in The Mandalorian & Grogu movie, but for now, we've excluded it from this process.
We start with The Mandalorian, a series that currently holds the highest number of figures released int he Black Series at 75 although a lot of them are repacks, recolours and tweaks. Our favourite figure is technically a cheat as it was released branded under the Book of Boba Fett. The Glavis Ringworld version of The Mandalorian reworked the figure with improved proportions, all round sculpt, a soft goods cape that works with a jet pack and even a knife sheath in the boots. If you are going to call us out on including it, then we will swap it out with the Mines of Mandalore version, which was a Mando release, albeit without the soft goods cape.
In terms of wants, we would like to make further inroads to the Season 1 crew from The Prisoner, and have picked a new figure of Burg, who just pipped Xi'an, to both expand that crew, but also to get the first Devaronian into the Black Series collection. For our tweaked pick, we couldn't look past Pelli Motto who has been one of the series recurring characters and while we have her droids, she has yet to turn up. While it wont be 100% accurate, we think the Osha figure would make a good base, adding in a new jacket, arms and head sculpt for Pelli.
I've played my final wildcard here also, and it's another slight cheat, because I had a lot of characters I wanted to pick for Return of the Jedi and was limited to one wildcard per movie or series. So, using our free pick of a single brand new figure wildcard, I have added in EV-9D9 as seen in The Mandalorian as a bar tender, but who would also work in a ROTJ Jabba display.
From The Mandalorian to The Book of Boba Fett, and a series that has 12 Black Series releases to its name to date. The most recent is our pick for best figure in this category. The Boba Fett (Daimyo) from 2026 enhances the older Boba with a brilliant likeness to Temura Morrison, improved articulation and a crisp look to match the show.
We'd like to pair up Boba and Fennec with their droid 8D8 as our new figure pick (there is another ROTJ link here). This former torture droid played a key role in the series and would be a fantastic addition to the collection. Similarly, the Tusken Raiders also played a huge part in the series, and while we have had the Chieftain, the impressive Tusken Warrior is yet to translate to the 6-inch scale. We feel she would be buildable onto the undersized Cheiftain base with updated soft goods, chest piece and helmet.
Ahsoka Season 1 has delivered 28 Black Series figures to date, but like the Mandalorian, this includes tweaked figures like Balon Skoll and Shin Hati, variations and specials like the Carbonized 2-Pack. Our favourite of these to date is Ezra Bridger from Peridea in his native robes.
We'd like to see the forces of Thrawn fleshed out further in this collection, and our pick for a brand new figure is one of the Great Mothers, or possibly a build-up set with heads and cowls for each of them. We'd also like to see some army build options for the Night Troopers, using the existing figure from the two-pack with Captain Enoch with a different helmet (or helmets).
And we finish the New Republic era, as it currently stands, with Skeleton Crew. A surprise addition to the story, and one that led to the release of just 7 figures. While Captain Borgo ran this one close, we picked SM-33 as our favourite release, as who doesn't want a pirate droid with extendable limbs, shield arms and a rodent living in one eye socket.
There were lots of pirates seen in Skeleton Crew who'd make great figures, and our pick for a new figure is perhaps the most prominent as Vane, who crossed over from The Mandalorian Season 3 into Skeleton Crew. Our tweak pick is the Bounty Hunter Pockit, who would be the first Umbaran in the collection. Her figure could be built onto the Fennec Shand body (or Jyn Erso, although that would leave pinned joints) with a new jacket sleeve, gunslinger belt, and head sculpt.
The Sequel Trilogy kicked off in 2015, with its launch, we saw a refresh of the Star Wars Black Series moving into the Phase 3 red line packaging. For The Force Awakens, there were 40 releases, most between 2015 and 2018.
Most of these figures for TFA pre-dated the facial printing tech, so the line doesn't hold up too well compared to more modern releases and it focused heavily on the key characters and the First Order with only a couple of alien species. Our favourite figure is one that did get a facial print tech update with the 2018 release of Island Journey Rey, complete with soft goods cape, staff and lightsaber. For our Most Wanted for TFA, we look to some of those new Aliens we were introduced to on Jakku and Takodana. Up first, needing a full new figure, is junk dealer Unkar Plutt. Joining him, and we think buildable using a Kylo Ren base with new helmet, belt and cape, is the Crimson Corsair, Sidon Ithano.
We didn't originally have Star Wars: Resistance on our list, but felt it deserved a place considering our inclusion of the 'Tales Of' series. Resistance has technically had two releases to date, one of which (CB-23) was released under the Galaxy's Edge banner. Out of those two, we've gone with Commander Pyre as our favourite - a nice variation on the white of the First Order ranks.
For a new Resistance figure, we'd like to see Jarek Yeager and possibly as a build-up pack with R1-J5 if we are being greedy. Our second pick is one of the Colossus pilots, Griff Halloran, who could utilise the newer Sienar Test Pilot figure with a new head, and swapping out the arms to plain arms from the likes of Dagobah Luke.
The Last Jedi had 27 figures released between 2017 and 2019, and while there were more First Order releases, the Last Jedi line was more diverse with the figures of Admiral Ackbar, Maz Kanata, and of course, the Porgs. Again, the Last Jedi figures mostly missed the facial printing application, but one that does feature it - and looks amazing thanks to its use - is the updated Captain Phasma with smashed helmet and likeness within. Phasma is our pick for our favourite Last Jedi release.
Our Most Wanted figures are Luke and Leia, who did both get a release in The Last Jedi line, but neither were very flattering. We'd like a brand new figure of Resistance Leader Leia, and a tweaked release of Luke as seen on Craiit, using the Luke (Imperial Light Cruiser) figure as a base with updated torso sleeve and belt, new outer robes, and a new Mark Hamill head.
By the time we hit The Rise of Skywalker, we did have Facial Printing as standard but the Sequel releases were starting to wilt in terms of demand and that left us with just 17 releases once you exclude the chase White Box first day releases. Our favourite is the newly introduced character of Zorrii Bliss who looks and feels much different than the ranks of First Order figures that has dominated the Sequels.
For our most wanted, we've chosen the Sovereign Protectors from Exegol - the most impressive new Trooper type that was then overlooked for a Black Series release. We would also like to give them someone to guard, so a new Palpatine is a must - particularly as the existing Palpatine/Sidious figures could be repurposed with updated head and new robes.
Our penultimate group (there is one more bonus section to come) is for the Gaming Greats Black Series line. While many of these properties fit into the wider timeline, others are no longer canon. Our approach here was adjusted slightly away from looking at individual games and simply looking at the line as a whole. I permitted myself two picks as best figures released to date, two brand new figures I'd want to see, and a further two figures that we could make from existing parts.
In terms of the best the Gaming Greats line has to offer, we could not look any further than the impressive Darth Malgus release from 2023, based on his appearance in the Old Republic game. Our second pick is Starkiller from The Force Unleashed, a figure that captures the likeness of actor Sam Witwer in character - either in the impressive original 2023 Hasbro Pulse Con Exclusive release, or in the Galaxy Collection single release from the same year. A figure that may end up being surpassed by itself when the Lord Starkiller figure finally arrives in 2026
While there are loads of Gaming characters and Troopers to choose from, I've tried to keep my 'Most Wanted' to some of the newer properties, which therefore are canon and also that I have played most recently. The first of these is to take a step closer to the full crew of the Mantis from the Jedi games with a figure of Greez Dritus.
Our second pick is more of a personal connection I have to the divisive Star Wars Outlaws game that I played extensively last year, recovering from a previous surgery. I would therefore like to see a Kay Vess figure, along with Nix, join the Black Series.
My tweak picks stick to the same two games. Up first is ND-5 from Outlaws, who feels like a figure that could be developed from the existing Commando Droid with a new, damaged chest piece, gunslinger belt and soft goods coat. I'd also like to expand Cal's crew again with Cere Junda. Cere could certainly use the Mara Jade body, including arms, with an overlaid soft plastic upper tunic and robes and a new head sculpt.
Our original plan did not include figures from the Publishing Series, but as we moved through the journey and looked across my own personal collection, it was clear that we needed a slot for Expanded Universe or comic figures that sit outside the Gaming Greats series. To that end, this final set of choices covers all the releases that originate from the Star Wars Novels, comics, or the old Expanded Universe.
Like the Gaming Greats, I've picked two favourites from those released so far, the first being Prince Xizor from Shadows of the Empire, an impressive alien who dominates on display. Alongside Xisor, my second choice is Doctor Aphra - the second release in her longer coat. While Aphra remains Canon rather than EU, the lack of a live-action or animated appearance makes her a perfect choice in this section.
When we move to figures we'd like to see the choices are enormous, with a lot of characters only appearing in the written word rather than visually on a page. To make my choices, I've thought about both the stories I was invested in, and also the visual element of certain characters, which are easier to imagine translated into the Black Series. Our first choice is Darth Talon, a regular character cropping up on wishlists and very much one that would be in keeping with other EU Sith releases. The second choice for a brand new release is Nom Amor from the New Jedi Order. This book series was one I was heavily invested in at the time of release, and I'd love to see at least one Yuuzhan Vong represented in the Black Series.
The final two choices of our entire journey are Publishing figures we think could be tweaked from existing releases. The first being Chewbacca as Snoova from Shadows of the Empire. The existing Chewier could be enhanced with fitted armour and given a new head with that flattop haircut and bionic eye piece. Our other figure took a while to decide upon, but considering her role in the EU and a lack of Imperial Remnant figures in Black Series, our final choice is Ysanne Isard, a relatively simple reworking of the female Imperial uniform but in deep red, and with a new head sculpt.
Vote Now
So now it's over to you... Between now and the 3rd of May, you can read our list and pick your favourites from the shortlist I have drawn up. You can also use the two free text options to record your personal most wanted figures and your current favourites. We will dissect the results and share the final list on May the 4th 2026.
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About Me : As a child of the '70s and '80s I grew up in a golden age for action figures and in my youth bought and sold myself through collections of Star Wars, G.I. Joe (Action Force), and M.A.S.K. while also dabbling in He-Man, Transformers and Ghostbusters. Roll forward and I am now reliving that Youth with the action figures of today and am a collector and fan of the larger 6-8 inch figures from my favourite movie and TV licenses - including the ones mentioned above, but also the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Doctor Who, and the Aliens. I launched The Mephitsu Archives in 2015 with a view of creating a UK-focused site or these figures where fans can pick up the latest action figure news, read reviews and get information on where to buy their figures and what is currently on store shelves. I hope I am delivering that to you guys...
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