Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and its associated Black Series action figures pre-dated the use of photo-real face print technology, so in 2021 it was announced that Hasbro would be releasing a full wave of Rogue One figures - updating existing figures to the newer realistic face decor - and completing the core Rogue One crew with a new figure of Bodhi Rook. They also confirmed that two further supporting Rogue One figures would be released as Target US exclusives, and available via the Fan Channel in the UK and elsewhere.
Antoc Merrick was one of the Target Exclusives and he comes in the same themed packaging as the other Rogue One figures using a duck egg blue colour scheme on the central rail and as an accent colour to the side art. Merric is number 08 in the Rogue One series and follows on directly from Galen Erso and precedes the Jedha Patrol Stormtrooper. The artwork shows Merrick in his X-Wing gear with his flight helmet under his arm. In the backdrop we can see a trio of X-Wings. This same artwork repeats on the back of the box and sits alongside the usual character blurb.
"Antoc Merrick commands Yavin 4's starfighters before the Battle of the Death Star, flying as Blue Leader."
Merrick has a brilliant new head sculpt, capturing the likeness of actor Ben Daniels as we see him in Rogue one, complete with his moustache. The photo-real deco is applied over the sculpt for added realism - although the hair is left a single one-dimensional colour.
As the head is being fitted onto an older body from the line, we do see a return to a visible pivot joint in the neck. As the neck is cast in black then painted it stands out even more than usual with some ugly black lines visible from certain angles.
The older body in question is the X-Wing Luke Skywalker body. This X-Wing pilot piece was one f the first Black Series releases in Wave 1 back in 2013 and has been also been used on Wedge Antilles over the course of the line. It is perhaps not as well proportioned as the newer bodies with quite long legs and a short torso. As it is based on Luke, the body is also quite short. Ben Daniels stands at 6ft tall and is an imposing figure in the movie, this figure is sadly dwarfed by other Rogue One figures like Galen Erso or Baze Malbus.
The X-Wing pilot uniform is faithfully recreated with the main body cast in a dark blue plastic that makes up much of the uniform. There is a ridged stripe down either arm and a ridged flight vest, both painted in slightly varying shades of off-white. Over the vest sits the flight chest unit which is coloured in grey with black, white, and blue controls and hosing that leads back into the flight vest. The flight straps are sculpted on the midriff to the belt then come out as individual pieces that go down and wrap around the legs before returning up the back of the figure and behind the vest. Other detail includes a bandoleer of canisters around the right shin and a communicator on the left hand. There are no significant paint apps with everything neat and tidy. The arm stripes are a little dull in places where they haven't fully covered the blue - but t at works more as weathering than anything else.
Merrick comes with a DL-44 blaster. This is not the one originally packed with Luke X-Wing but the smaller version that we saw recently with Dagobah Luke. Like that release the barrel is quite soft and arrives warped. The gun is cast in black and has a silver-painted barrel end. It fits neatly into Merrick's right hand - there is no holster option included on the figure.
We now come to the flight helmet and I would urge everyone to be careful with this part as there have been many reports of the strap breaking. The issue lies with the helmet being sculpted for Luke who has a particular head & hair shape. When they then went on to do Wedge, they sacrificed some of Wedge's likeness around the head and hair so the helmet still fit snugly. For Merrick, his slightly larger head and hair stretch the helmet as it is put in place and the strap doesn't have the elasticity to stretch round the chin so simply snaps at one side.
The trick that I employed was to drop the helmet in some hot water for about 30 seconds. Quickly dry this then position it over the head and gently tease the strap under the chin. The removal also poses a risk so again I would dip the head and helmet in some warm water to give the strap a bit more stretch.
Once in place, you can see what the hairpiece is doing to the fit of the helmet as it sits a little too high and the visor doesn't quite sit over the eyes as you would like. Considering the risk each time the helmet is put on, or taken off, I would think about how you want to display Merrick and stick with that - I have chosen the helmet under the arm pose.
The helmet itself is really nice in terms of shape and design with a load of decor applied both in terms of the painted grey panels and stripes to the thinner blue and yellow piping and the applied decals and symbols including an ice blue rebel logo on either side of the central ridge. The helmet is then weathered as well with patches of dirt and rubs added all around the piece.
The X-Wing body has 16 points of articulation, all as they were in 2013 when the original figure was released. We get double joints at the knees which help in more dynamic poses and these are supported by a very secure pair of ankle rockers to keep Merrick rock steady on display.
The upper body joint is hidden away under the vest and barely moves at all. The arms use a single joint elbow and a ball joint shoulder and they move sufficiently for having Merrick aim his blaster or hold his helmet. As mentioned earlier, the neck is a ball joint pivot and is unsightly from certain angles - but it does give a reasonable range of head movement
Antoc Merrick is one of those figures that looks pretty good on his own, and the X-Wing body does still hold its own in both looks and articulation, despite its slight proportion issues. The issues with Merrick also stem from this re-use decision and he is too short when lined up with the other Rogue One characters. The big issue is the helmet which has not been thought through and is leading to damages right out of the box as collectors are rightly assuming the helmet is a perfect fit for the head. I am glad they chose not to flatten the head and hair as done with Wedge, but they should really have tweaked the helmet piece to fit.
I am pleased Rogue One is getting some Black Series love at present including the option to repurchase the original figures now with photo-real decor, and Merrick is a welcome addition to this. I suppose in the long run we have to ask would we have got a Merrick if Hasbro had to do a new body and helmet, and the answer is probably no - so here he is and as collectors, we can choose to add him to our displays despite the handful of flaws, or not.
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About Me : As a child of the 70's and 80's 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 licences - 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...