Review : Finn, First Order Disguise (The Last Jedi) Star Wars Black Series (Hasbro) Wave/Series : Wave 13 (Phase 3) Released : October 2017
£24.99
Pros : much improved likeness of John Boyega Cons : apart from head, the figure is reused from other sets and the paint apps are limited
The Star Wars line is no stranger to "in disguise" figures - from Luke & Han in their Stormtrooper armour, to Lando as Skiff guard and now to Finn in his First Officer disguise from The Last Jedi. What is unusual about this figure is the fact it is the first release of Finn from Episode 8, when traditionally these "in disguise" characters tend to follow later or as exclusives of box sets.
Finn is part of the 2nd Black Series wave to include Last Jedi figures, Wave 13 overall of the red 3rd phase of packaging. Alongside more desirable figures like General Leia and the Praetorian Guard, Finn has found himself peg warming a little since his release in the UK back in October 2017 - but as I write this he has started to disappear from shelves.
The box remains unchanged on the front for Wave 13 and has the newer updates such as the thicker bar at the bottom of the window and the bolder Star Wars Black Series logo up top. I personally think the artwork on the box front is one of the very best true likenesses we have seen from Gregory Titus and it captures the steely determination that is driven into Finn by the climax of the movie when he gets on board the First Order flagship. The character name in red is simply "Finn" with the "First Order Disguise" in brackets underneath.
Finn is number 51 in the 3rd phase and this is printed in bold black on the red side spine. Round the back we see a repeat of the Titus image and like all the wave 13 figures the image has been cut off half way down by a newly added panel that states "some poses may require support" repeated in numerous languages. As I have said in other wave 13 reviews, this panel makes no sense considering there are no images of Finn on the box for people to think he can do anything special. The panel appears to have been dropped again for Wave 14.
If you haven't seen the movie the short synopsis makes the First Order disguise sound and how it fits into the Last Jedi much grander than it actually turns out on screen - but it does the job of not giving anything significant away
The inner tray sits, as usual in the red cardboard inner sleeve. Finn is kept in place purely by the moulding of the clear tray and his pistol and baton sit either side of his head
The sculpt is recognisable as John Boyega, but is not as good as some of the other more recent head sculpts. The eyes, eyebrows and mouth are all well painted and the skin tone is a flat tone, and not as glossy as our images may make out.
The hat fits well and is painted grey with gloss black peak and a First Order logo front and centre applied neatly onto a raise hexagonal detail sculpted into the hat itself.
The uniform is a drab grey throughout, consistent with what we see in the movie being designed to evoke the look of the original Imperial officers and them themselves being inspired by German WW2 uniforms with the flared trousers and polished knee high boots. The uniform has some added detail including the canisters on the tunic and some trimming to the end of the left sleeve. There is also a decal here in aurebesh that is meant to translate as Dillon. We saw this on the First Order Officer two pack (with Ackbar) from Toys R Us, and there is no change to this wording on the Finn figure.
The body that Finn has on this release in "twofer" and that could explain the choice of releasing this version of Finn at the start of the Last Jedi releases. It is identical in every way to the generic First Order Officer in the aforementioned 2-pack, with a new head popped on top. What is then interesting consider the blatant re-use is that the hats on the two figures differ in size. When sculpted the Finn head was obviously smaller than the First Order Officer and his hat is a touch smaller as you can see in the above images.
The hat being removable was not advertised well on the Ackbar 2-pack, and its not mentioned on this release either. While its not tremendously tight on the head I wonder how many people will unpack him and put him on display not knowing the hat comes off? Once it is off you get a clearer look at the Boyega head sculpt and it is pleasing that the hair detail is all in place and sculpted under the hat.
While I said this is not the definitive sculpt of John Boyega, if you line this 2017 release up against the 2015 release from The Force Awakens you can see the leap in quality we've had in this line in just 2-years.
Finn has a standard 16 points of articulation starting with the head which is ball jointed and also pivoted to allow him to look up and down as well as side to side. There is a similar ball joint in his waist, hidden by his belt which then allows some similar forward and backward movement of the upper body. Sadly if you take his forward or backward lean more than a few mm's you will expose the base of the joint as an ugly gap between torso and legs.
Arms start with full ranging ball jointed shoulders. There is then a rotating elbow and pivot wrists. That allows some good weapon poses which we will look at shortly, but also the hands behind head "captured" look if you want to replicate the scene with Phasma and the Executioner Trooper.
Legs start with ball jointed hips and a thigh swivel just below that - both hidden by the skirt of the jacket. This is cast in a rubbery material so it will move with the legs and doesn't hinder them much. Knees are double jointed and can bend in on themselves for kneeling poses. The ankle rockers are tight and ratcheted and Finn stands perfectly well on his own.
Finn is packed with two weapons, the first of which is a small First Order blaster pistol - another direct re-use from the Ackbar set. The sculpt is tight and detailed with visible panels and ridges across the blasters components. While it is the same cast piece in black it is painted differently in the Finn release being now left as black with just a silver line down the one side. I cannot fathom why this would be other than cost and it is an odd choice as you would assume all First Order equipment to be standard - unless the Imperial Officer from the Ackbar pack has been "blinging" his side arm?
The gun fits into either of Finn's hand, but it is only the right that has a flexible trigger finger to slide into the trigger. When not in use it will also fit into the working holster on the belt. This is a tight fit and beware that the tunic design does force the holster, and therefore the gun, off to one side so leaving it fully in there over time may result in some warping.
Weapon number two is another "twofer". The baton has already appeared in the Amazon exclusive First Order and Gear set. It is an upgrade from the 2015 baton and now is hinged so the blades can be folded outward. There is no significant difference to the Amazon version and it is very well decorated having been cast in white plastic with detail added in silver, black and even red down the central shaft.
The new hinge allows you to deploy this open or closed and it fits into either hand and with the wide ranging movement you can get Finn into a number of action poses.
Had this Finn arrived a good few months ahead of the Toys R Us Ackbar exclusive (and that Amazon Trooper pack) then I don't think we'd have any complaints. However, having already had the generic First Order Officer and the redesigned baton land at the same time as the Finn figure it has demeaned the release somehow. My personal preference would have been to use this head sculpt and to have a Finn as we see him through most of the movie and into Canto Bight. This release would then make a perfect 2-pack with Phasma and her new staff or by adding in a BB-9E for some added value to make up for the repacking.
This version of Finn has a number of small fault for me, all of which feel like a lack of finish on the figure such as the paint decor on the uniform being a flat grey and the decal being reused on the arm and the gun decor being dialled back. I will see Finn a an average release that won't particularly excite anyone and could have been presented so much better. I score him 3 out of 5.
