Review : Sabine Wren (Rebels)
Star Wars Black Series (Hasbro)
Wave/Series : Wave 9 (Phase 3)
Released : December 2016
Price : £22.99
Sabine Wren, the Mandalorian teenage artist from Rebels, was a surprise runner up in the 2015 Fans Choice Vote. While Darth Revan romped home as the figure fans wanted to see Hasbro make in the 6" Black Series line - Sabine was a surprise 2nd place and when the final ranking was announced at San Diego Comic Con Hasbro confirmed that as well as the Revan figure, they would also make Sabine. Cynics may say that Sabine was also in development, but either way it is brilliant to get the third animated Rebels character into the Black Series.
Sabine arrives in the standard phase 3 box, sleek black and trimmed with that bold red spine and figure backing card. She is numbered #33 in the 3rd phase, and the official character name on the box is Sabine Wren. The lined artwork used on the front of the box has taken a more realistic "grown up" approach to Sabine, rather than how she appears in the cartoon - the same artistic licence was applied to both Kanan and Ahsoka.
Round the back and the art work is repeated and there is a short bio that explains Sabine;s background as a Mandalorian warrior and her expertise in both explosives and as a graffiti artist.
Her blister is arguably the fullest for some time, with helmet, two hand guns and her airbrush packed in surrounding her top half. We will look at all of these accessories in due course.
Sabine herself stands just under 6" high, arguably a little taller than she is depicted in the show. It is hard to judge the sculpt as it is not directly based on the animate look of Sabine in the show. Instead the face is captured in a realistic style, more natural than the sharper animated features. Whether the sculptor used inspiration from the voice actor Tiya Sircar, or from another source - the result is a good human looking head while being recogniseable as Sabine - so job well done.
This head sculpt is one of the best human heads we've seen from Hasbro for some time. I don;;t know if this is because it isn't trying to replicate an actor. The high cheek bones add some depth to the head which has been cast in a human skin tone plastic. There is then full but natural lips painted in a blush colour. The eyes are neat, just a touch cartoonish with the black linings. The hair is another great realisation of the short and angular cut Sabine sports in the show. It is combed off to the side with bangs of hair framing her right eye and flowing off onto her cheek. The front of the hair is painted a dyed orange, while the rest is a purple tone. Where they meet is a neat blend.
The armour, based on Sabine's Season 1 look, is a work of art much like Wren's armour on the show. Starting at the torso and the figure is sculpted with a tight grey under shirt which is paneled and painted in two shades of grey and with purple panels either side of the neck. Over this is the chest plate. The design on the plate calls for three distinct colours - a burgundy base colour, pink stripes to the left as you look and an orange version of the rebel eagle symbol to the other side. It is more than this though with a red central panel and some silver paint apps to add wear and tear.
The arms start with a shoulder armour panel. The right (as we look) being an orange background which has been heavily weathered and you can even see the scratches in the surface. Onto this is a wolf head logo which is a decal. The opposite panel is a black and white checked affair, and again this has been weathered and chipped to look used and battle worn. Under each panel is the grey sleeve of the T-shirt which ends just under the armour panel. The paint then changes to a skin tone, although it is a tad darker than the head. This is intended to be Sabine's arms - but it doesn't quite work being too dark, and with no discernible hem or sculptural change between the clothing and the skin. The elbows return to the grey and round the back is an elbow pad in purple that stands out from the rest of the arm and is split either side of the joint.
From these elbow pads is another short piece of sleeve in that skin tone and then we are in the long sleeved gloves that Sabine wears. These are grey as a base colour, but are then individual designed with paint splatter effect. The beauty of which is that it actually looks like some one splattered a brush and didnt just paint on a few blobs to try and replicate the finish.
The lower half of Sabine is made up of two tone brown trousers which have a equestrian vibe to them. These start with a rubberised belt from which the two holsters hang, On my figure the holsters are only connected up to the belt with two flexible straps. Other versions do have a plug at the base of the holster that plugs into the legs. The two brown tones of the trousers are neatly separate with a sculpted seam in between. Two knee pads continue the armoured theme. The right (again as we look) is plain purple, while the left is purple with a pink central stripe. The legs end in knee high boots. These are predominantly grey but we have two more purple armoured panels just above the ankle on each of them. These are again paint splattered in at least 3 different colours.
Sabine comes with her Mandalorian helmet and this is sculpted just as well as the rest of the figure. There are sharp angular lines and the iconic cut out Y shaped visor. The top section of the helmet is painted purple, while the bottom is grey. The visor is a deep glossy black and there are also a coupe of black shapes painted to either side. A further orange symbol adorns the band on the back. The range finder is there, and looks a tad thick - but it does actually work and rotates fully.
The helmet is designed to fit onto Sabine's head, the same approach they applied to Jango Fett. The helmet for Sabine is not quite as pliable as Jango, and is an extremely tight fit over the Sabine head - so much so that you will get paint rub and damage after just a few goes. Once on, the helmet looks a touch over-sized but this is more down to it being a teenage girl wearing a Mandalorian warrior helmet. When not being worn the helmet can be held in her hands, which is a great compromise. Would Sabine have been better with a swap out head - possibly - but you have to admire the desire to make the helmet workable without it looking out of proportion or without giving Sabine a pea sized head.
Sabine also comes with her matching blaster pistols. These are cast in a grey plastic and do hold some decent detail considering the size. The whole gun is dry brushed heavily with silver so much so that they end up looking more like silver than grey. The guns sit neatly into both of Sabine's hands including the trigger fingers fitting in the trigger. They also slot into the holsters, and thanks to the slim arms and articulation you can also have Sabine drawing them out of the holster and preparing to fire.
The final accessory is her airbrush and I wonder how many action figures in the past few years can say they've come with that as an accessory. While an odd choice on paper, it is perfectly suited to her character and plays an important plot point in the show. It also kind of gets me wondering what a Sabine diorama could look like with an imperial or generic wall over which we have a part graffiti-ed design. Cast out of grey plastic and with no paint apps, the airbrush still carries five dials / switches an the nozzle (yes, we have got it the wrong way round in our image - doh!)
Articulation on Sabine is brilliant, helped by her slight figure and thin arms and legs. The head is ball jointed and hinged, which means the head rotates and like the new Rogue One figures can also pretty much look down on her own feet.
The arms are ball jointed at the shoulder, and by including a softer plastic to the shoulder panels the joint allows the arm to rise up fully to 90 degrees and then rotate to hit most positions in between. The shoulder pad does bend a bit unnaturally the higher the arm goes, but as a compromise to not moving the arm at all it is a good one. The arms also include a rotating elbow joint and rotating and pegged wrists. This means Sabine can reach a lot of action and firing poses, including my favourite - the gunslinger one as she is drawing her guns from the holsters.
Sat under the chest piece is a torso joint which allows the top half of Sabine to twist and bend. The legs then start with ball jointed hips. These hips don't spread outward as much as some other figures we've seen recently, allowing her to put in a wider stance. The holsters and belt move with the hips being a softer plastic. There is a thigh swivel (euurghh) which when swiveled ruins the lines of the trousers and throws the look out completely. The knees are double jointed which allows Sabine to kneel on one of both knees. The feet finish with ankle rockers. My only gripe with the leg articulation is how loose the legs feel at the hips. This is a common issue on other female figures in other ranges and I just hope Sabine doesn't loosen up any further or standing will become an issue.
Sabine Wren is one of the best figures the Black Series has produced to date. The sculpt and look is perfect, as though the cartoon Sabine had been translated to an appearance in Rogue One. The paint is brilliant with some many designs, techniques and applications. This also frustrates me a little when you consider how any Black Series figures have been let down by a lack of paint finish. The helmet, albeit tight, works well and looks good and the weapons and airbrush are neat little pack ins and feel like we are back to the multiple accessories the Black Series initially promised us in 2013.
Sabine is easily a 5 out of 5 figure. There is so little to fault. I only hope that Hasbro can do Hera the same justice, and will then continue the Rebels to a point where we can at least line up the 6 core characters in a Black Series display.
