“We’re fighting against the dark.”
Vel Sertha was released as part of Wave 11 of the Star Wars Black Series Galaxy Collection. The wave was a mix of figures from Star Wars properties including three from Obi-Wan Kenobi, and a pair of Gaming Greats from The Old Republic. The wave was plastic-free and windowless with artwork of the figures used on the box. The packaging uses a deep red accent colour as assigned to Andor and this is present on some of the labelling and the side artwork. Vel Sertha should be #09 in the Andor series, following on directly from Cassian Andor from the previous wave. Unfortunately, a packaging error has labelled her as #08, the same as Cassian.
I picked up Vel Sartha at the same time as Luthen Rael and Cassian Andor as I rounded off my Andor series figures. Out of the box I was struck with her diminutive stature as she stands a full head shorter than Luthen and at least half a head shorter than Cassian. The sizing is however accurate with Actor Faye Marsey listed as 1.57m tall, which translates to the 13.3cm height of Vel in the Black Series. She is wearing her combat uniform as seen on the mission to Aldhani and this is made up of her brown dual front jacket which appears to be a rubberised sleeve over a more generic female torso. Paint apps here include some darker trim to the jacket front and a lighter brown to depict the shirt underneath. The trousers are cast in black with no further decor, and the outfit is completed with a pair of knee-high brown boots. Vel is wearing fingerless black gloves, and her left hand also features a sculpted and painted wrist communicator.
The head sculpt is a reasonable likeness to Marsey, but like the Fourth Sister from the same wave the sculpt quality and said likeness are not as good as what was originally shown in the promo art. A more bronzed skin tone doesn’t help, and neither does the glossy finish to the face. Facial details include the photo-real application for Vel Sartha’s eyes, and there are also details picked out on her lips and an earring in her right ear. The hair is initially sculpted with the head, painted in sandy brown. The ponytail is an individual piece plugged in at the back of the head and made to flow around her left shoulder. This is a lighter tone to the bulk of the hair, with some transition blending between the two, but this is lost when looking at the figure face on and the two shades don't quite work together and would have been better left as the same tone muted down and with a bit of a wash.
Vel is armed with a single blaster that is not initially what we see on the front of the box. The reason is some built-in ‘articulation’ for want of a better word with a foldable rear stock that pivots outward, and a barrel that sits within the body of the gun until pulled out and extended. This gives the gun a few different looks if you want to go down that route while it is also reasonably well-detailed cast in its dark grey plastic and even comes with a torch of silver painted detail on the top of the main barrel.
The gun fits into the right hand with a bit of a squeeze with Vel’s hands being quite small. Getting the stock to work is also tricky, but worth it for firing poses - although it will slip out of its pins if you aren’t careful. The left hand can grip the barrel for two-handed poses.
Articulation weighs in at 19 points in total with the inclusion of butterfly shoulders under the jacket sleeve and a dual joint neck. The joints all work as they should and support various poses including kneeling and more dynamic stances with or without the blaster rifle - although the latter can be frustrating in finding the sweet spot of articulated pose and keeping the blaster in a natural position via the smaller hands of Vel Sartha.
The release of Vel Sartha within the Andor series adds a further supporting character to any display, building out the worlds and scenes of Andor. As a figure, Vel Sartha ticks most boxes positively, although the head likeness is not quite right and the skin and hair tones are too orange and really needed to be paired back. The gun is fun but can be frustrating in slotting it, and all its moving parts, into a posed position. This aside, the articulation is at the highest level we now expect in the Black Series, retaining the butterfly shoulders that had been dropped on other figures in the same wave like the Fourth Sister. Vel Sartha is a relatively new release and remains available. She is a recommended addition for Andor fans, looking great in a wider display - and we can hope to see more of the Aldhani rebel team join her in the future.
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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...