Captain Cardinal is a character from the First Order era who has only appeared in novelisations, most notably "Phasma" and more recently in "Black Spire Outpost" - the first book from the Galaxy's Edge series - although in this adventure he had foregone his First Order roots and was going by the name Archex. It is this tentative link that has brought Captain Cardinal into the Star Wars Black Series as a Galaxy's Edge release exclusive to Target in the US and via the Fan Channel elsewhere.
The 2020 Target Galaxy's Edge figures utilise the Phase 4 packaging dimensions and base design and artwork. We have a cut in circular panel to the right of the window that states that the item is has been transported directly from Galaxy's Edge Trading Outpost. The Titus artwork is in place in the bottom right, with a greyscale illustration of Cardinal in his cloak - although the impact is a little lost without the colour of his red armour.
The usual red side spine on the right hand side of the box (as we look) has been replaced with a dull sandstone effect with an orange Star Wars Galaxy's Edge Trading Outpost header. At the base of this side section is a First Order symbol.
The back of the box continues to follow the Phase 3 format, with a repeat of the front illustration of Cardinal and a short piece of background text.
"Served as Armitage Hux's personal guard, as he was among the orphans that Brendol Hux took in to create the First Order from"
The figure opens in the plastic tray which sits in a dark coloured backing card, this further adds to the dull aspect of the packaging and doesn't have the dynamic look of a bold colour accent as used on the new Galaxy Collection or on the Gaming Greats line. The soft goods cape on the figure is very tightly folded and stuffed behind the figure rather than spread out in the tray, this creates issues when unpacked.
2.5
The difficulty in commenting on the accuracy of the figure is that we are talking about a character who appeared in written form in his red armour, and therefore there is always an element of licence that Hasbro can employ with the figure. There is one official image of Cardinal that was released on a Barnes and Noble poster and this gives us an idea of what we should expect from the figure.
Essentially Cardinal uses standard First Order Stormtrooper Armour coloured in red, and therefore the base figure is simply the Last Jedi Stormtrooper released in 2017 and again in 2019 for The Rise of Skywalker. Each element is cast in the gloss red and then assembled with black used for the body suit segments. Everything is bright and clean and the overall look is very similar in aesthetics to the Sith Troopers.
Cardinal's rank and statement allows him to wear a cloak, the same status as awarded to Phasma This is recreated on the figure in soft goods black with a silver trim - most likely the same one used on the Last Jedi Phasma figure with baton, although while Phasma had a red trim, Cardinal gets a silver trim. The soft goods work OK and they hang fine on the back of the figure without impeding any movement. Due to the way Hasbro choose to pack the cape, it arrives very creased and shaped by the way it was stuffed into the box. You may need to dampen it and flatten or even iron it gently to get the shape one that works on the figure.
If we reference the image from Barnes & Noble's poster then the cloak is on the wrong side, as its illustrated in this image hanging on the right shoulder. There is also no coloured trim, just a simple black cape.
It is also worth noting the Barnes & Noble image shows an un-helmeted Cardinal, and that look would have been a huge improvement and selling point over and above the Red Trooper - although I do appreciate that these sublines are built on repacks and repaints only.
3.0
Cardinal comes armed with two First Order blasters. The first is the smaller hold out blaster as released with the general First Order Troopers since 2015. This is cast in black with red painted on the shaft and grip to match Cardinal's armour.
It fits into the right hand, where a trigger finger slots into place. When not in use it can be stowed by way of a peg on the side of the blaster that fits into a slot on the right thigh armour.
The larger Blaster Rifle is executed in the opposite way with a red cast piece painted with black elements. This is the nicer of the two weapons and fits again in the right hand with trigger finger, and allows the left hand to cup the barrel for two weapon posing.
4.0
Cardinal has a total of 16 points of articulation which provides him with a base level of movement, but also some restrictions.
Head : ball joint pivot neck
Body : torso ball joint
Arms : Ball joint shoulder, single joint rotating elbow, wrist pivot
Legs : Ball joint hips, thigh swivel, double joint knees, ankle rocker
The upper torso movement via the ball joint in the midriff is good and supports the arm movement for weapon posing with one or two hands. The arms an be raised without issue, with the upper shoulder armour withdrawing under the chest armour as the arm is raised. We do only have single joint elbows that bend to 90 degrees and that is enough for using the two guns provided, including raised weapon poses with the helmet looking down the scope of the larger blaster.
Leg movement is hindered slightly at the hips by the thigh armour that hits the belt as the leg is raised. Other than this the legs articulate well and the joints tight enough so not to need a stand in most circumstances.
The ankle rockers are a touch on the loose side and may be an issue in the future, the same issue existed on the other First Order Trooper figures.
4.0
The release of Captain Cardinal feels more down to the fact he is a simple recolour of an existing figure than the characters relevance in the Star Wars Universe. Cardinal does not have the same excitement or following of other Galaxy's Edge characters like Vi Moradi and the link into Galaxy's Edge park is still quite tentative.
What we end up with a reasonable execution of a figure, although changing the cloak to match the only illustration of Cardinal would have been nice. An Archex head would have also been nice, but never on the cards for a subline like Galaxy's Edge.
The boxes for Galaxy's Edge are not exciting or particularly visual at all compared to other packaging in the line, and the choice of how the soft goods was packed is bizarre - unless it was cost related and saved the need for another tray insert as they could use the First Order Trooper box?
Everything about Cardinal is OK, just not spectacular and therefore the overall score is a just above average 3.0
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...
action figures, reviews, review, articulation, star wars, black series, hasbro, galaxy's edge, olgas cantina, DJ rex, R-3X, exclusive
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