Review : Captain Poe Dameron (The Last Jedi) Star Wars Black Series (Hasbro) Wave/Series : Wave 13 (Phase 3) Released : October 2017
£24.99
Pros : well articulated, blaster is well cast and fits into the working holster Cons : the face paint apps are wildly varying even in the same wave, the paint is basic on the outfit
Whatever you think of Poe Dameron in The Last Jedi, he has certainly accelerated from a secondary character as the "hot shot" pilot in The Force Awakens to a more central role in the new Trilogy and will likely be central to the story in Episode 9. He didn't make the cut for the first wave of Black Series Last Jedi figures - with slots here reserved for Rey, Luke and Kylo. He does join Finn, and of course his mentor General Leia, in the 2nd lot of Last Jedi figures as part of the 13th wave of Black Series phase 3 figures.
We find Poe in the standard Black Series phase 3 packaging. Being a newer release it has the wider base rail on the front and the brighter Black Series logo at the top. The Gregory Titus image on the bottom right shows a very determined and focused Poe in his Last Jedi outfit.
The character name sits alongside this in red text as Captain Poe Dameron, recognising his demotion after the incident with the First Order Dreadnaught.
Poe is number 53 in the red Phase 3 packaging and this sits on the right hand red spine in bold black. The character name is repeated under this and also on the left spine.
Round the back we have a larger version of the Titus image, but like all wave 13 releases the image is cut off in its prime by a bizarre multilingual statement that "some poses may require additional support". This seems to be isolated to Wave 13 only and has been dropped for the wave 14 figures like Snoke and Rose.
The text that sits alongside the artwork is quite brief and very vague, talking only about having "defiant coverage to stare down the threat of the First Order" and it touches on his arc in The Last Jedi in terms of "he worries that some in the Resistance leadership don't have what it takes".
As always the figure comes out via the top or bottom flap which are sealed shut with tape at the factory. Inside we find a three sided red cardboard tray into which sits a clear plastic tray containing the figure. The plastic tray is mouled to hold the figure securely in place, there are no fiddly twist-ties in use. Poe's blaster sits to the side of his head.
Poe has narrowly missed the face printing technology, which is a shame as I think it would have made this figure considering the outfit is so generic. I would strongly suggest you shop around for your Poe as there is a huge disparity in paint apps on the face. The worse, with the heaviest "stubble" seem to be the original Wave 13 releases from Force Friday. Later deliveries of Wave 13 seem to have better apps. Finn is also being repacked in Wave 15 in early January 2018 and that may present an even better paint job?
The Poe I picked up was about the 10th one I went through on shelves and to my mind was the best likeness. From some angles this is a dead on likeness for Oscar Isaac's, but from other angles he still looks off. The shading on the stubble does make or break the figure and I think the one I have is the right balance between too dark and looking dirty or too light and therefore less like Isaac's. The eyes are very intense and quite heavy and they can look to be floating on the skin tone. The hair is really nicely sculpted, but is then painted as a flat brown with some nasty bleeding or lack of coverage round the ears.
Poe's outfit is very "Han Solo" starting with a collarless shirt which is cast in an off white colour and just has the neck painted in skin tone, and sadly a skin tone that is a lot lighter than the head skin tone. Over this we have a jacket, cast as a separate rubberised piece. Again the jacket is cast in the dark colour - and I still can't decide if this is black, brown or blue. There are some silver paint apps added for buttons - and that is it. The sleeve colour is a good match to the coat piece and on the right sleeve we have a Rebel/Resistance winged decal. This is nicely distressed so it doesn't appear as though Poe is wearing a brand new shiny coat off the rack.
The trousers are quite plain and again cast in a grey single colour plastic the colour is even the same right into and through the boots with an ever so slight variance on a couple of straps. The other detail on the leg is the thigh holster in brown which is part of a belt with a second strap around the thigh - this is another separate piece.
The 2015 Force Awakens Poe Dameron was about the ugliest figure in the 2015 releases and when you compare this 2017 Poe with his 2015 counterpart (I used the one from the Argos 2-pack) you can see the improvements Hasbro have made in just 2-years. Nothing appears to be reused, with 2017 Poe being a brand new figure from the boots upwards.
Poe has 16 points of articulation, a standard for the current Black Series. The head is a ball joint with a pivot at the front. The head will rotate fully side to side and you can push the head down so the chin is on the chest or back so Poe is looking up. Down into the chest there is a further ball joint cut into the shirt/chest. This too lets the figure rotate, or lean up and down - but as you do a quite noticeable seam will appear.
The arms are ball jointed at the shoulders with full movement up and outward. The elbows are rotating joints, bending to a clear right angle as well as rotating a full 360 degrees. The wrists are pegged with a pivot also so these rotate and will bend within the confines of the sleeve.
The legs on Black Series have been getting much more maneuverable in my opinion in the past 12-months, and Poe has a very good range of leg movement. The hips are ball jointed, with a slight gap to increase the movement. This means rather than wider stances, the figure can kneel and can sit down - useful if we ever get a 6" scale X-Wing or if you feel the need to have Poe hijack your 6" First Order Tie Fighter. There is a thigh swivel to allow the legs to twist and below this double jointed knees are utilised and this means the legs can pretty much fold back on themselves for a full kneeling pose. The legs end with a ankle rocker which feel very robust with a distinctive ratchet as you bend these. Poe is really easy to stand.
Poe is armed with a small Resistance blaster, the Glie-44. The sculpt has been released twice before - first with the original 2015 Poe Dameron in X-Wing flight suit, and then again with Ello Asty (also 2015). While the sculpt remains the same, the sculpt is sharper in a harder plastic. The colouring has differed on each appearance with this new one arguably the nicest having been cast in a bright silver and with black handle detail on the grip.
The blaster fits into either of Poe's hand - but more securely in the right where the flexible trigger finger can be slotted into the trigger of the blaster.
If you don't want Poe with the blaster in hand, then you can stow it away in the holster which actually works. The gun slips in securely and holds in place, and with the arm articulation being as it is you can even get some gunslinger poses if you wish.
Poe Dameron is certainly going to be around on pegs quite a lot longer than other 2017 Last Jedi releases, and that won't be helped by his repack in the first wave of 2018. He is not a bad figure, and is one that certainly showcases the strides Hasbro have made in just 2-years on sculpt, face details and articulation. He does still suffer from a lack of any real paint apps - a wash on the jacket and some variation on the boots would have made the plain outfit pop a little. The blaster is nice and the working holster a good bonus but a couple more accessories might have been nice - hell why not throw in a BB8?
Poe falls into the category of being an "OK" release, and one I would recommend you get for your collection - but only when you find a sculpt you are happy with. Considering the basic paint apps, the single accessory and the huge variance in face detail I will score this figure a 3 out of 5 overall.
