Review: Star Wars Black Series The Stranger (Qimir) from The Acolyte, Galaxy Collectuon Wave 23 (2025)
- Mephitsu
- Oct 30
- 7 min read
“I have no name. But the Jedi like you might call me… Sith.”
The Stranger was the key antagonist of the 2024 Star Wars series The Acolyte on Disney+ while acting as himself or as his alter-ego Qimir influencing Mae and supporting her on her journey. His identify and full appearance were kept secret for much of the show's promotional activity and his full role not unveiled completely until Episode Five. That made the development of him as a Black Series figure difficult until the show have aired and while the first Acolyte figures were released in the Autumn of 2024, we have had to wait a full year to add The Stranger to our collection.
The Stranger is released as part of the main Galaxy Collection and is part of Wave 23 alongside the Revenge of the Sith figures of Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Lieuteant Galle, and the new Imperial Sandtrooper from A New Hope. He is the 10th figure from The Acolyte, and uses the deep red accent colour on the text and the side artwork that depicts the masked, and cloaked, Stranger looking back over his shoulder with lightsaber in hand. This art connects directly to the Deluxe Kelnacca who proceeded him in the series. The rear of the box covers the top line information for the character and his alter-ego. The cardback sat within the box and behind the figure is the same red as the artwork and text, and also incorporates an image of the jungles on Khofar where the Jedi first encounter him and do battle.
The figure of The Stranger includes, as you break it down, a variety of different looks that we see in the various episodes of The Acolyte. We start with a large, soft plastic robe that sits over the figure and encompasses much of the body leaving the arms visible and accessible at either side. These arms are a bare skin tone and covered in grime and dirt as seen on screen.
The left forearm includes the sculpted Cortosis bracer, a rough textured piece with incorporated battle damage. It is cast in grey and painted with a mix of copper and bronze to add the metallic texture with two clasps also picked out in silver. While this is a sleeved piece, it cannot be removed even after the left hand is popped off.
The head sculpt for ‘Qimir’ is an excellent likeness to actor Manny Jacinto and incorporates his light moustache, deep set brow, and the mop of dark hair which hangs in strands around his face also adding a level of shadow to the right hand side.
To move past the larger robe you must pop off the head which will come off attached to the neck which is a key element of the figure as we will see shortly. Under the rubbery plastic robes are a second set of soft goods robes. These are not overly tailored and form a tabard of sorts with the head hole fitting over the head & neck to create some softer goods layers beneath the outer robe, on their own they are useable particularly to provide the figure a robed look while maximising articulation but they do hang flat and are relatively lifeless.
Beyond these is the base sculpt with The Stranger wearing a Jedi-esque upper robe in black with cross pieces tucked into a belt which is a textured scaled affair. The legs, also cast in black are relatively plain trousers and a plain pair of boots, and these are then enclosed in a second soft goods pair of trousers, fixed at the waist, and covering all of the leg. These are accurate to The Stranger’s outfit on screen, and choosing soft goods over sculpting such a voluminous leg continues to support the figures articulation.
So we have had three different looks so far with the two robed variations and the base figure in his inner robes. You can then change these further by swapping out the head with that of the masked Cortosis mask. Despite executing some excellent wearable helmets in recent years, the decision here is to use an alternative head allowing both the head and neck to be changed to match the onscreen appearance. This is easily done and positions the Stranger mask securely into position in any of the robed configurations.
The mask itself is a bronze base colour with a metallic finish. Scratches and repairs are evident in darker grey with the narrow eye slit given a black finish, and the ‘teeth’ across the extended jaw section painted in silver.
While the head & neck are intended to be swapped as a single piece, it is possible to remove the neck from the head with a bit of heat treatment and a gentle pull to disengage the ball joint. The benefit here is for the masked head, freeing it from the neck and while The Stranger cannot wear it, it then becomes an accessory of sorts to hold under his arm.
The actual accessories are two lightsabers, packed into the box as two individual items. The first is the main bladed weapon, the second the Lightdagger he uses to kill Jecki Lon. While not specified on the packaging, I was so pleased to find that the hilt of the two blades combine into a larger hilt for the main blade, replicating the hidden dagger section we see deployed on screen. Both halves of the hilt are black with basic scupted panels and components, but no additional paint work.
The saber can be held in either or both hands, but there is no holstering option. The two blades are translucent red and clip into their respective hilt sections securely, the larger blade clicking into place with a lighter connection on the smaller dagger hilt due to the duel nature of the socket to connect it to the blade and the larger hilt.
The Stranger boasts 21 points of articulation in total. The legs still feature a thigh swivel, which may be included because it is hidden behind the soft goods as it is not an obvious re-use from another figure. This combination of leg joints and soft goods still facilitate him kneeling, crouching and wider fighting stances, although they are diminished when the outer robe is added.
The arms have a relatively full range of motion with butterfly shoulders helping bring them into two handed lightsaber positions. The hands are on ball joints rather than pivot pegs which does give them a wider range of overall movement, but with that movement more restricted and the risk of them popping out if forced too far over. The neck, as we know, is duel jointed so this and the central torso joint add in some additional movement to lean him into poses and to move and tilt his head to add further mannerisms incorporated into the role by Jacinto.
This is by nearly every definition of the Black Series an excellent figure with a good likeness to the unmasked head, a good replication of that original helmet design in both sculpted and colour, and with outfit choices to give you further options. I get the decision around the helmet as a swap out head rather than wearable considering The Stranger’s messy hair style, I do just wish the neck was a bit easier to disconnect as well so you can use the head more as an accessory to hold. That aside the accessory choices are excellent and to even engineer a working lightsaber dagger that detached from the main hilt is a nice touch.
In terms of the outfit, the mix of soft goods and sculpted continues to be blended well by the design team and who knew soft goods pants would work so well. That being said, the figure in its unrobed position is how we meet The Stranger on his unknown planetary base and while this is the most poseable configuration, in the series he doesn’t really do much in these scenes and in this outfit version.
Where he does battle the Jedi initially on Khofar and then again on Brendok he is in full robed mode and doing this on the figure does lock down some of the articulation. The clever part is there is technically an alternative soft goods inner cape which will open up that articulation for those that want the Stranger in full robes and helmet and still in those dynamic lightsaber duel poses.
All of this does mean that I, like many others I’ve seen commenting online, I feel I need to buy this figure again to show him in at least a couple of varying outfits to match his defined looks during the run of the show. To that end I can see him selling pretty well in the mid-term. The Stranger feels like a conclusion to The Acolyte Galaxy Collection considering no further seasons are incoming, although I do dare Hasbro to add one more in the shape of the teased Darth Plagious to finish the set.
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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...
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