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Review : Rebels vs Imperials 3-pack (Deathtrooper, Cassian Andor and Jyn Erso) Star Wars Black Series (Hasbro) Wave/Series : Target (US) Exclusive Released : November 2016 Price : £69.99* *£69.99 is the current import price for UK customers. We will update this review in the event of a UK official release. 2016 (Rogue One) has already surpassed 2015 (The Force Awakens) in terms of volume of Black Series 6" exclusives. I count 6 exclusives last year vs 12 already confirmed for 2016. Each of the main US retailers has picked up an exclusive, and the one for Target is the first 3 pack ever released in the Black Series range - everything before this has been 2 pack,4 pack or a deluxe figure with vehicle or creature. The nearest we have come previously would be the 2014 Target exclusive Shadow Squadron which had two figures and the speeder bike. The set is being badged as Imperials vs Rebels on the Target website, and is made up of two rebels and an imperial Deathtrooper. This is the largest box we have seen so far in the Phase 3 packaging, and while it keeps all the same design features as the single releases it isn't going to be easy fitting this into your display, although at least height wise it is a match to single packed figures. If you look at the box front then there are a few design variations that we don't normally see. First off is the use of the grey scale art work in both right and left corners. To the left corner as you look is the Deathtrooper head shot, and this is a different image to the one used on the single release. To the right is a combined picture of Jyn and Cassian. The box front also covers off the three character name. Jyn gets the same full title as her box release, Sergeant Jyn Erso (Jedha), with her outfit seemingly specific to the Jedha location. Cassian is listed as Captain Cassian Andor. The rank was used on the single carded release, and I guess the lack of a planet or location is the most obvious difference here where the blue coated version was listed as Eadu. The final character name is simply Imperial Deathtrooper, the significance here being we are told this is a Specialist within the Deathtrooper ranks, with his added pauldron and equipment. The right side spine remains bold red, but without any numbering and a simple repeat of the character names in smaller font under a hatched panel where the number would normally sit. Round the back, and sat under the Black Series logo, are three equally sized panel - each dedicated to one character. The grey scale images are repeated in each panel, with the Jyn and Cassian art split this time round. Overlaid on each image is the usual paragraph of background bio for each figure, repeated in four languages. Each of these bio's is identical to the text used on the equivalent single release. Unlike the normal boxes, this packaged opens from the side and not the top/bottom. Once the tape is released the tray slides out and each of the figures is presented in a single inner tray, with accessories either side. Deathtrooper Specialist The first figure out of the box is the Deathtrooper. This is the same base figure as the wave 7 release we saw in September. However, we've now got the addition of a pauldron and some added equipment and he now represents the Deathtrooper Specialist. He comes packed with two weapons, a small hand blaster and a larger rifle. The Death Trooper stands an impressive 6 1/4 inches high, making him the tallest Black Series Imperial Trooper to date and a replication of the tall and sleek stature we will see in the movie. Like the long line of Trooper figures before him, the Death Trooper is a lovely looking thing and well executed all round by Hasbro. The new helmet is more angular at the front and this is perfectly captured and then is really well coloured. The paint see's neatly applied silver to the front breathers and up the face plate to the eyes, and here the eyes do have a green tint to match the prop. The armour on the Death Trooper, once you get up close to it, is not as bulky as the standard Storm Trooper but does carry through the same characteristics. The shoulder straps are there, although are more defined and with an actual strap that is picked out neatly again in a brushed metal finish. Round the back is the iconic Stormtrooper back plate and further down on the rear is the circular tube on the belt. All the armour is a high gloss black, and then beneath this there is a greyer under-suit which is also sculpted to include a ribbed finish. This all meas what looks at first glance to be a shiny black figure does turn out to include a lot more depth than you would first think. The arms are very similar to the standard troopers and again are high gloss and the same applies to the legs, although here the knee pads are not included and you can see that ribbed under-suit again between the upper and lower panels. Round the waist is the aforementioned utility belt, and unlike the Storm Trooper there are some varying pouches here and a flexible rubberised strap which is the holster for the smaller blaster. The added Pauldron section is also cast in a rubber material and comprises of a pauldron that sits over the figures right shoulder. To the left shoulder is a three section ammunition pouch and both of these have a strap that goes down to a belt that holds the whole piece in place. There are no paint applications as such on this piece, although the ammo pouch does have silver detailing on each of the three clasps. The two guns included are cast in a plain grey plastic and for me don't quite live up to the quality of the figure. The smaller blaster on mine came out with a bent scope and the plastic here is a bit too soft. The larger blaster does carry a bit more detail with a red indicator panel round one side, and with it being thicker and bulkier it shouldn't bend or misshape easily. Articulation is brilliant on the Death Trooper, particularly as the expectations for me were quite low when you consider the Clone and Stormtroopers we have seen to date and how they are restricted by the armour. As the Death Trooper is sleeker and more streamlined this translates to much more movement. This all starts with the usual ball jointed head which can rotate fully and is then hinged to be able to look down as far as getting the mouthpiece of the helmet to touch the chest armour. The arms are ball jointed and rather than the shoulder panel withdrawing into the armour, on this figure the shoulder panels have a level of flex which see's them smoothly transition over the shoulder and bend to match the contours as the arms are raised. This means the arms go up a full 90 degrees to the body and can then rotate. Add in a rotating elbow joint which bends past 90 degrees, and a two handed weapon pose is a piece of cake. The torso is also jointed, hidden nicely under the chest plate. What this means is the Torso can lean forward and back and also rotates right round, adding more action poses and scope on displaying the trooper. The hips are ball jointed, and with the belt being a similar flexible plastic like the shoulders, Death Trooper can sit down and comes close to doing the splits. The knees remain double jointed and because of the wider hip movement you can easily have the Death Trooper kneeling on one or two knees and again opening him up to some dynamic action poses. The final joints are the usual ankle rockers, and these are nice and stiff and that means the Trooper is dead easy to stand up and stay that way. Captain Cassian Andor Interestingly, the figure least being talked about is the figure that is actually essentially brand new in this set. This is the Cassian Andor that we see in the Rebel base scenes of the Rogue One Trailers, a more casual look than the cold weather gear we saw in the wave 7 release. Cassian stands 6" tall and uses the same head sculpt that we saw on the wave 7 Eadu version. The look is not a bad likeness for Diego Luna but the paint is not the best, with heavy handed black paint around the eyes and the beard and hair a little one dimensional. This version does have a variant beard paint job with a much darker grey tone used on the sides of the main goatee as opposed to a lighter drybrush on the Eadu version. The goatee is also trimmer. I will revisit this review if this is the case and let you know, but I would certainly doff my hat to Hasbro if the movie has Cassian starting with a trimmed beard and it growing longer as he hits Eadu and the latter stages of the movie. The costume consists of a flight jacket which is very similar to the one used by Luke Skywalker at the end of A New Hope. It also has similarities to the jacket worn by Poe Dameron and latterly Finn in the Force Awakens. The jacket is painted a flat brown, but has a silver panel to either lapel, one with green buttons and the other styled like some form of communicator. There is a ridged trim detail down each arm, and this is painted in a further flat brown that is lighter than the jacket. The jacket, even without any paint depth, does carry off a lot of detail with sculpted panels, zips and clasps - and the two clasps round the back side of the hem are also painted in gunmetal. The undershirt is very "Han Solo" with a flat collar and folded down chest panel. It is painted a simple flat cream. Also a flat colour are the trousers, a light shade of olive. These trousers to carry a lot of creases and folds in the fabric as well as seams and panels for the pockets. The trousers are topped off with a gunslinger type belt, again very Han Solo in style. This is cast in a brown rubber, but there is a leather almost wood effect texture to the rubber. The belt wraps the waist and then hangs down into a holster which is then also wrapped to the right leg mid thigh. The final touch is the ankle high combat boots. These are similar to the ones Jyn wears in her Jedha outfit that we will look at shortly and are almost a boot with a further spat (spatter guard - I had to google this) over the top. This means the top section is a slightly lighter brown than the bottom. This makes the boots almost the most detailed paint job on the figure as they are further enhanced with darker brown straps and silver buckles. Now at this stage you have probably looked a few times at Cassian and thought "he reminds me of something/someone". This is exactly the feeling I had reviewing him, then it hit me - this costume is very reminiscent of the flight suits worn by Apollo and Starbuck in the original Battlestar Galactica. I wonder if someone on the Rogue One crew is a fan? I would say that Cassian comes with one weapon, but that is not strictly true. He arrives with a three part rifle that actually is engineered in 1/12 scale to be assembled. You start with a handgun that can be used as such and that slots into the holster we talked about earlier. Onto the front of this you can slot a larger barrel and sight. There is then a shoulder stock that slots onto the end. Each part is cast in grey plastic and then is beautifully decorated in gun metal silver in strategic places. Finally an accessory to be impressed with and that harks back to those early Black Series figures like the way Darth Maul's saber could be constructed. With gun to hand let's look at articulation, and starting with the arms these are made up of the usual ball jointed shoulders and rotating single joint elbows. The arms therefore go out fully 90 degrees to the side and can be raised above the head. Coupled with a pegged hinged hand the arms can achieve a number of poses, most importantly some action poses and particularly a double handed weapon pose. The gun fits into the right hand, with the flexible plastic of the finger allowing it to be slotted into the trigger. The left hand can then cup the barrel of the longer weapon if required. Back up to the head and this is a ball joint with the same pivot as seen on recent releases. Cassian's head rotates and looks up and down, but the collar and the angle of his chin means he doesn't look up or down as far as some of the other human figures we've looked at for Rogue One. Rather than a waist joint, Hasbro have put a torso ball joint and this allows the torso to rotate to either side of the legs. This cut does spoil the look of the undershirt, but most of the joint is neatly hidden behind the jacket. That leaves us with the legs which can get into both splits and sitting positions via the ball jointed hips ad with the flexible holster moving in line with the leg. The ugly thigh swivels remain, again not adding much than swinging the legs outward if you need a more stable foot position and surely a rotating shin joint built into where the boot meets the trousers would have done the same job. There are double jointed knees to further help positioning, and Cassian can kneel on one or both knees, or get into running or firing stances - particularly with the use of a stand. The final joint is the ankle rocker that allows the feet to be tweaked and keep the figure standing solidly on any flat surface. Sergeant Jyn Erso (Jedha) Jyn arrives dressed in a grey head scarf identical to how she is packed in the single wave. Her pistol is packed to the right of the inner tray. She stands 5 1/2 inches high, matching the smaller frame of Felicity Jones and therefore scaling accurately against taller characters like Cassian, and of course K-2SO. She is identical to the standard release, albeit with some minor paint variations that are consistent with a different production run. This is disappointing for an exclusive set which is costing you upward of £60-£70, especially since the announcement was held back until after the release of SDCC Jyn and Wave 7 Jyn who are also the same figure. The facial sculpt is very generic and not the greatest likeness of Jones, and it could realistically be any number of general female characters. It is cast in the flesh tone plastic, so there is no paint apps to speak of. The eyes are pretty neatly done with a crisp white background, thin eye liner and then brown irises. The lips are also neat, but a bit too pink. The hair is a touch soft also in the sculpt at the front but redeems itself round the back where it seems to become more defined and runs round into a loose unkempt pony tail. The paint on the hair does vary in shade with some darker streaks on top of the base colour. The paint doesn't quite however fill its lines round the face, leaving an odd patch of skin coloured hair around Jyn's left ear. The outfit in contrast is a really nice design that starts with a grey undershirt with some sculpted collar detail. On top of this is a green and brown flight jacket and this is ribbed with a yellow stripe down the two arms and with ribbed detail on the front lapels and a checked quilted pattern round the back - all of this is sculpted detail. The paint on this upper torso are all flat tones and it would have been interesting to see what a wash would do across these sculpted patterns. Despite the flat tones the look is enhanced with silver buckles and zips being picked out on the jacket. The gloves are finger-less and painted brown, with the final finger details then painted and are a different shade to the head which is of course cast in flesh plastic. Jyn's trousers are slim fitting but have been made with a base texture to them and sufficient rolls and folds in the fabric to add some character. They are again flat painted in black with a slight sheen. The only details on the trousers are what appears to be a strap just under the knees on both legs. This is painted grey round one side, but left the same black as the trousers round the other. On top of the trousers is slung a separate belt and holster, similar to the one Han wears in the original trilogy. This belt hangs lob sided around the waist and is then strapped to the right thigh with a second strap. It is cast in brown rubbery plastic, but with some incredibly small studs painted in silver - and neatly painted at that. The figure ends with ankle boots, although the top doesn't match the bottom in colour and I suspect this is deliberate and the top section are more like a separate wrap. Like everything else these two pieces are a flat colour with some very small details on the boot buckles painted in a subdued gun metal. The other piece of clothing is of course the removable head scarf. This is cast in a flexible rubber and yet holds quite a bit of sculptural folds and wraps. These aren't quite as crisp as I'd like, but I guess that was the balance between a scarf that came off or a fixed piece in a harder plastic with better detail. The scarf is cast in a grey rubber, and for the first time on the figure there is some level of paint application on top of this to dirty it up slightly with a very subtly applied brown wash of some kind. The head scarf is not the easiest to slot on and off, it is a tight fit and that works to the figure's benefit as when in place it doesn't look oversized or awkward like a lot of removable head gear you see on action figures. The best bet is to turn Jyn's head to the side when slotting this on and off, but watch out doing it too often as I expect it will result in some rub or wear and tear over time. The only accessory with Jyn is her blaster. This has been cast in black plastic but, unlike a lot of guns in the Black Series, it does have paint applied on top with details picked out in silver down the barrel. The blaster fits into the sculpted right hand with the trigger finger slotting into the trigger thanks to some give in the plastic on the hand. When not in use the gun can also go into the holster on the right thigh and be locked in place by a working strap that plugs into the holster to strap down the grip of the blaster. Articulation on Jyn is brilliant, aided by her slim frame. Her head, without scarf of course, rotates fully round and can look up and down - so much so she can almost look at her own shoes. The shoulders are ball jointed moving out to the side a full 90 degrees and then rotating so they can be raised above Jyn's head. The elbows are a single joint, but do bend to a full 90 degree angle also - whilst also rotating fully. The wrists are pegged and rotate and then also pivot forward and backward, this is more evident on the left wrist where as the right is held back a little by the cut of the sleeve. There is a torso joint built into the chest, and reasonably well disguised as a fold in her bust area and this also sits and moves behind the jacket. This joint will allow Jyn's whole torso to rotate a full 360 degrees - I know this is not natural, but what this joint does do is aid more action orientated poses perhaps when running, or shooting. With the torso joint, the waist joint is skipped - not that I am sure it needs one anyway. The legs then start with ball joints that spread out to the side as well as forward and backward. The right leg is of course wrapped with the holster, but this works with the articulation and doesn't hold the leg back from matching anything the left one can do. A thigh swivel is cut into the thigh and allows you to turn the lower portion of the leg to aid in stances and posing. Anyone who knows me knows I don't like these joints too much as they ruin the look of the leg when the joint is turned, but here it doesn't look too bad thanks to the darker colouring of the trousers. Knees are double jointed and means the lower shin can pretty much bend round on itself into a kneeling position.And with the ankles also bending you can kneel Jyn on one or both knees. Despite her slim frame, and being relatively light, Jyn still stands well enough. There is a future risk that I feel the ankles will start to flop in time and that might mean Jyn has to go onto a stand at some point. Summary For me, the star of the set is the very understated Cassian Andor figure which looks as good as the Disney Elite version, and gives collectors a more casual Cassian to pose with the Jedha Jyn. The Deathtrooper is also a nice figure, and tweaked to add a bit of value. My issue is the fact that anyone wanting to army build the Deathtrooper Specialists would be highly restricted and to me that is a shame, and throwing in a standard Deathtrooper would have felt better if this then allowed the Specialist to get a single card release. I would have then replaced, update or removed Jyn altogether. Giving us a third Jyn in since July with no added value, paint apps or accessories feels lazy - particularly for a set that is setting us back at least £60 if it ever gets to UK retail, closer to £70 on import. A different figure would have added to the value for money, or as I say had they removed Jyn and made this a 2 pack, akin to the Poe and Riot Trooper from last year, then everyone would have been a winner. I kind of feel this set is one of those that has been bought, including by me, on the basis that it is a US only released and "hard to get". Essentially I've jumped on this bandwagon and paid £70 for a set that is not particularly good. My advice to anyone thinking about this set is to wait for the inevitable price reduction in the US, which should then see the UK price fall too. Or alternatively, and if you don't mind the slight scale variance, go and spend £40 on the Disney Elite Deathtrooper and Cassian, which are both identical in terms of costume to the Black Series figures in this set. I can only judge a release on what we get, how well these contents are presented and the price we pay. As a set this is essentially one new figure, one old figure and one tweaked figure and all for a price that is more than three single releases. Therefore no matter how good the individual contents are (or were as a single release) this set doesn't quite do enough for collectors and I suspect US customers at least will see this heavily discounted in the run up to, or after Xmas. As it stands at the US retail price / UK import price then it warrants a 2 out of 5. If the price does ever drop by say a third then the value for money would be vastly improved and take this to a 3 out of 5 release.

Review : Rey, Starkiller Base Star Wars Black Series (Hasbro) Wave/Series : Kmart US exclusive 2016 Released : April 2016 Price : £34.99 (UK Import Price) Following up from the 2015 release of their exclusive Starkiller base Kylo Ren, Kmart brought us the counter-part Rey figure in April 2016. The idea was to release a figure as well as a diorama base and that the diorama bases could be connected to replicate a larger scene from The Force Awakens. Rey arrives in an oversized box that still follows most of the design principles of the Black Series, phase 3. The box is a gloss black with Black Series and Star Wars logo and the grey scaled artwork for Rey. This is however the first release where the grey lined art and red spine are on the left hand side and not the right. This is deliberately designed so the red spine can be placed up against the red spine of the Kylo figure allowing the figures to be displayed in box while still giving the idea that the two are connected. The other difference is that the backing red card insert that frames the figure contains some additional detailing to represent tree's. This was the same on the Kylo figure and the method has been used again since on Kmart's Jyn Erso release. On the back of the box is a larger image of Rey in the grey lined art and a small quantity of text that sets the background for Rey as a "resilient survivor" and her place on Jakku as we find her at the start of The Force Awakens. This is the same text as used on the normal Rey release, with the BB8 section chopped away. This feels lazy, particularly as this is a set that is specifically designed to represent a specific place and event within The Force Awakens and yet no mention of this is made in the bio. Out of the pack and you are presented with a pre-posed Rey already standing on her half of the diorama. A second diorama section is slid vertically to the side of the packaging. Rey comes with her light saber which is already in her hand and held in place with a clear elastic band. Rey is identical to her previous releases in terms of sculpt. The head remains a little featureless and is somewhere between the paint application of the original (poor) release and the tweaked and better looking 2016 version. The face still lacks definition as without deep facial features you can't rely on natural light to pick out the facial likeness. Rey stands just under 6" high and is clothed in her Jakku scavenger gear. There is an outer sash that crosses her chest and then flows down to become a skirt of some description. Under the wrapped gown are a upper tunic and some knee left trousers, and her arms are wrapped in a similar bandage type material down to some leather braces around her wrists. Slung round her waist is a belt, which contains a pouch or bag of some kind around the rear. Boots are ankle high and fairly featureless, although there is some pattern when you get up close. As was done with Kylo, the boots are painted to look like they are coated in snow. This is not overly effective and adds little to the figure considering once in the diorama the boots are hidden anyway form most angles. Articulation, and we start at the head which is on a ball joint. It rotates a full 360 degrees, but there is almost no movement up or down which leaves Rey looking straight ahead in all poses. The shoulders are ball jointed, with her left getting up to a full 90 degrees to her body while the right sticks a little due to the shoulder sculpt. Elbows bend and swivel and there is both a swivel and joint on the wrist. This all means a good wide range of arm movement. The waist is jointed, but moves very little - springing back to a central position. Hips are ball jointed and if needed you can use these and the knee joints to get Rey into a splits or kneeling position. However, the sculpted robe does restrict the leg movement and you could argue maybe should have been soft goods, but that will always be controversial and not to every ones tastes. The previous Rey releases have all stood pretty well with articulated ankles. On this version the ankles are extremely weak and floppy and standing her outside of the diorama stand is frustrating. The Lightsaber is the same as packed with the Luke Skywalker releases to date (X-Wing, Bespin and Tatooine). This makes sense as it is essentially the same weapon. The hilt is silver with the red ignition button painted. The blue blade is clear yet vibrant and can be removed if you want to pose Rey handing over the unlit weapon - assuming we ever get a new Episode 7 Luke? It is worth mentioning at this point for clarity that Rey's staff is not included in this pack. The diorama is a chunky piece of plastic designed to look like ice and snow. It is hollow so doesn't weigh a vast amount. The foot holes are not pegged, which would have been great, and instead designed for the foot to slot into. This doesn't really hold the figure all that well, especially with the weakness on Rey's ankles. The pose is also predetermined by the foot holes, leaving Rey facing Kylo in a one handed light saber pose - something she didn't do in the film. The figure has enough articulation in the arms to hold the saber in two hands, albeit at a lowered angle and not one of immediate readiness to fight. This feels like a miss. Going back to the base itself, the colouring is also too cartoonish and not screen accurate. Rey & Kylo were fighting in a snowy forest, not on a glacier. For realism we should see also see twigs and stones as well as the snow covering. The colour also goes too blue in places, although not as bad as it was on the Kylo figure. The stand does slot into the Kylo piece, but not securely in that they don't lock together. The third piece simply pushes in behind these two pieces - but again doesn't lock in place. That means as a diorama it can't be moved as one piece and has a habit of coming apart. I do applaud the idea behind these type of diorama displays, but the implementation on this set leaves a lot to be desired. Rey is a rehash of the original Jakku figure with a bit of white paint. It needed some upgrades to reflect the version of Rey as she fought Kylo. She also needed to be posed with a two handed light saber position. Rey also carries some weak ankle joints - and there is nothing worse on an action figure designed to stand on it's own. The base is also stylised and doesn't really bear any resemblance to the environment in which the two were fighting. It doesn't feel like it would have taken much more effort to sculpt this as a forest floor. The base would have also been better with some options for foot placement, driven by pegs and not big foot holes in the snow. The way they connect to the other parts is also poor. My final issue is price and availability. While Kmart were selling this in the US for around $25 (discounting down to $15 at some points) you couldn't get this for much less than £35 in the UK via import. And the price is rising all the time. While I am not adverse to exclusives, if they are limited to one country then the rest of the world should be able to obtain them much easier and at a fairer price. Should you buy this figure? Well I guess it depends if you bought the Kylo set and if you want the full diorama. All you really get in this set that you can't get elsewhere is the base - and that is not too well executed. For £35+ there are better figures and sets to put your money towards. Having chased down this set for a number of months I am really disappointed now it is here and score it a low 2 out of 5. Buy from Amazon UK Buy from Amazon US

Review : Shock Trooper, Star Wars Battlefront Star Wars Black Series (Hasbro) Wave/Series : Walmart Exclusive 2015 / UK Import 2016 Released : US November 2015 / UK February 2016 Price : £22.95 - £24.99 (UK Import Price) The Shocktrooper was first announced way back in September 2015, and when I say announced - it turned up on some UK sites first for pre-order with a due date some 6 months later in March 2016. It transpired that the Trooper was a US exclusive for Walmart who would be selling the Shocktrooper alongside the Battlefront game when it launched in November. After that UK fans would still have to wait for the 2016 date to get their hands on it. Thank fully the trooper has landed a month or so early, and our review figure was purchased from Star Action Figures, who provided their usual top notch service and ensured the review figure arrived in pristine condition. The Trooper arrives in a standard size Black Series, Phase 3, Red & Black themed box. Unlike the main range, and any of the other exclusives we have seen to date in phase 3, the Shocktrooper comes with a variant box design where as the bottom right front box art is actually done in both grey and red lined art and overprinted with the Battlefront logo. I guess the US plan of selling this alongside the gain made sense, but I can't help wonder what the result would have been for both the figure and the game if they had been tied into a pre-order or first release package? To the right spine, the red colouring remains but there is no numbering - just the bar-code type printing with the character name. Round the back is the usual four language top line overview of the figure - on this one leading in with how the "Shocktrooper is adept with heavy weaponry". Remember that line when we look at the weapons packed in with the figure. Out of the box, and this is the same base Stormtrooper body that we first saw in wave 3 of the Black Series. There is not a great deal wrong with this sculpt, and with it being an early model it retains the original articulation - so those all important double jointed swivel elbows are still in place. This articulation allows the Shocktrooper, and its recent exclusive cousin the Crimson Trooper, to get into much better poses than say the more recent Force Awakens Stormtrooper. The issue however with this, and the Crimson Trooper, is that Hasbro seem to have gone with a cheaper plastic on these newer troopers and unlike their 2014 counter-parts the new Troopers are very soft in the legs and knee joints which makes standing the new troopers really difficult. As you will see from the review shots, most of the time our Shocktrooper had to be propped up on a stand as the legs are quite bowed, with the shins and ankles then bowing back inwards. The paint is the real difference on this figure, and the whole reason it is badged as an exclusive. Every red panel is crisp, well painted and pops off the usual white and black armour. The head in particular is extremely neat with varying panels of red making up the overall pattern. If you look at the Battlefront game characters, then Hasbro have matched every panel like for like, and the result is a very striking trooper for your Imperial garrison. It's not all great news though on the decoration as for some reason the back half of the belt seems to have been painted in a very off white, almost yellow colour. I can find no reference reason for this, so not sure if mine is an error or I am missing why this belt colour is significant? Either way, it does sadly look unsightly. I could also argue at this point for some weathering? With the Shocktrooper being an elite and battle hardened trooper you could expect some paint wear and a bit of grime on the armour - an effect Hasbro has already done to some degree on the Clone Commander Cody. The Trooper is packed with a standard E11 blaster, which is fine - cast in plain black plastic and fits neatly into either hand, or into the holster to the Troopers hip. It also comes with the DLT-20A rifle, which is a carry over from the wave 3 Stormtrooper and not really associated with the Shocktrooper. I would have rather them pack in the DLT-19 rifle that originally came with the Sandtrooper - the sculpt exists, so it would have simply needed a tray insert amendment. Or if they wanted to be more faithful to the game, gone with a unique new sculpt of the Shocktroopers rocket launcher. Ideally the trooper should have also come with a backpack, similar to that of the Sandtrooper, and the fact that this is missing and the weaponry is wrong will frustrate some fans and feels a tad lazy considering all the work that went into the paint job, As an exclusive, paint variant troopers will always go down well and the Shocktrooper will make a striking recruit to any collection. Sadly, many will be let down with those bowed hips and an inability to stand. And the purists will be further frustrated by the lack of attention to detail with the equipment, particularly if they cast a glance at the version Hot Toys will be releasing later in 2016 - yes I know there is a HUGE price difference, but it wouldn't have taken much to make the 6" version more accurate. With the stability issues, that odd coloured belt and the equipment inaccuracies I am scoring this figure a 3 out of 5. I do have a 2nd figure on order (it is army build worthy) and I will report back if the belt and leg issues continues into my 2nd figure.

Review : Luke Skywalker, Farmboy (A New Hope) Star Wars Black Series (Hasbro) Wave/Series : Figure #20 (Phase 3 Wave 6 / Wave 2 2016) Released : April 2016 Price : £22.99 Since it's announcement, the Luke Farmboy figure has done nothing but court controversy. And even now in hand it continues to split opinion across collectors. Luke is the first Original Trilogy figure to be included in the phase 3 red & black packaging, but is due to be followed later this year with A New Hope Princess Leia, who will almost be a companion piece for this figure in a way and gets fans one step closer to a line up of the original heroes from the original movie (C-3PO still being an absentee). The box is standard fare for phase 3 with Luke number 21, and released in what we would term as Wave 6 or 2016 Wave 2. The bio on the back is in the usual 4 languages and is a very top line of the situation in which Luke finds himself in A New Hope. Out of the box and Luke stands 5 3/4 inches high, so accurate in terms of how he stands shorter than Han Solo. The head sculpt, or certainly the hair, is a new sculpt with the face being similar to the Stormtrooper Luke from phase 2. The facial element is a decent enough likeness to Mark Hamill, but suffers from being too glossy and also quite basic in paint applications - something that has deteriorated over time with the Black Series. I say this in nearly all my Black Series reviews now - "I would love to see what a talented painter would do with the sculpt". The glossy skin tone continues into the chest and arms and these are covered by the controversial soft goods tunic. There will be loads of arguments to and for soft goods for this type of clothing. Purists will want no soft goods at all, or just reserve them for capes/robes. Others will applaud Hasbro trying something different - and how it helps cover unsightly joints without holding back the articulation. I've taken a few days to consider how I feel about the tunic. It is a light enough material so holds a decent shape across the body - but is too puffy on the sleeves. The longer edges are stitched, but the sleeves and the bottom are not and look very susceptible to fraying at some point. My biggest issue is that I think it is too white - it needs dirtying up a bit. Out of the box it looks like Luke is advertising Tatooine's version of Daz. The belt does a good job holding the tunic in place and is pretty well detailed with a darker wash over the brown and then various implements and pouches hanging down. I do find myself frustrated here though where they can apply washes and highlights to a belt, but not to a characters face. The trousers are a pale sand colour and up close do have a bit of texture to them, although the paint is a plain colour so there is no attempt to bring out the texture. The boots on the other hand are weathered to look like they are sandy and dirty - which then makes the difference between boots (dirty) and tunic (Daz white) not make any sense. Articulation is pretty awesome however, one of the better Black Series figures in phase 3. The head moves freely and can rotate fully as well as look up and down. The arms are pretty amazing, with no constraints from clothing or robes thanks to the soft goods. The ball jointed shoulders rotate fully and go up and down, and the elbows - well wow - these can actually fold back on themselves so Luke can easily get into double handed light saber action poses. He can even touch his own chest if he feels the need. A torso joint also sits neatly under the tunic allowing Luke to bend back and forward and rotate his torso. Legs are fully maneuverable at the hips, again un-encumbered by the lower part of the tunic. There is then a thigh swivel, which is probably a bit unnecessary, but is hidden behind the tunic also so isn't a detraction. Knees are double jointed, and the ankles are on a ball rocker so not only do they point forward or back but they also move side to side which means Luke's feet can always be planted flat to the floor despite how wide his stance is. Accessories are a light saber and the binoculars that Luke uses in his pursuit of R2-D2. The saber fits well into either hand, as well as being held double handed. The blade is clear coloured plastic, perhaps a little pale than I would like and on mine there was also a flaw which is a shame. The blade comes out from the hilt, and the hilt can then be hung on Luke's belt if needed. The binoculars are also well done - cast in black plastic with painted silver details. They fit into either or both hands, and thanks to that awesome arm movement you can pretty much get Luke into a pose so that he is looking through the binoculars looking for Sand people. And here is my big issue with this figure, not the head sculpt, not the soft goods - but the lazy lack of accessories. Had this figure come 3 years ago at launch we would have had a wealth of options to allow us as fans to choose which Luke from A New Hope we had on display. For an ultimate collectors figure then this Luke should have also come with his Tatooine head gear & rifle, training ball and helmet from the Falcon and perhaps even the Stormtrooper belt from the Death Star escape. With Hasbro unlikely to re-release this figure any time soon with different accessories this is a big miss and economically could have generated additional sales for Hasbro as I for one would have bought at least two to display with different options - the way I did with Anakin and Darth Maul, back when this range had accessories that gave fans display options. In summary Luke is fine and its pretty much what we have come to expect from phase 3 figures. As prices go up however (I paid £24 for this one) and accessories and paint jobs go down then there will be a point where this range becomes too rich for many collectors, and that is where the likes of SH Figuarts will clean up if they can get their figures to market in the US and UK and in greater numbers. Don't be put off by the soft goods, it does work and I guess over time on display it will grime up nicely if you don't have an airtight display. Articulation is top notch for a Hasbro figure and it is only really what you don't get that cost Luke a 4 out of 5, and instead comes in with a middle of the road 3. Buy from Amazon UK Buy from Amazon US

Review : Ahsoka Tano (Star Wars Rebels) Star Wars Black Series (Hasbro) Wave/Series : Figure #20 (Phase 3 Wave 6 / Wave 2 2016) Released : April 2016 Price : £22.99 It is safe to say that even though Ahsoka Tano has not appeared in any of the live action Star Wars films, she has reached cult status among a large population of Star Wars fans. From her teenage years as Anakin's Padawan in The Clone Wars, to her new role as mentor and Rebel leader in Rebels, Ahsoka continues to grow with the franchise - and who knows when and where she will turn up next. It is probably fitting then that Ahsoka marked the first animated Star Wars character to be announced for the Star Wars Black Series 6 inch line, and a testimony to Rebels itself that Hasbro have turned over 2 slots in a 6 figure wave to Ahsoka and her fellow Rebel, Kanan Jarrus. Wave 6, or wave 2, 2016 depending on how you are tracking your figures, hit US stores in March 2016 and UK independents in April. The 6 figure wave contains three new figures in Ahsoka, Kanan and the Tatooine Luke Skywalker. Force Awakens Han gets a repack into wave 6, and the other two slots are made up with the First Order Snowtroopers - a figure yet to officially hit the UK as we are all still waiting on that elusive Hux wave (wave 3). Ahsoka is number 20 in phase 3, and arrives in the now familair black box with red trim. The rear of the box has a slightly more in depth bio than usual, talking about her role in The Clone Wars and her re-emergence in the fledgling Rebellion. Out of the pack and Ahsoka stands 6 inch tall, measuring up to the highest points of her head tails. When we are looking at what is essentially a cartoon character sculpted as though she appeared in live action, it is difficult to say if the sculpt is a good representation or not. In this case I think the fact that this is how I would imagine Ahsoka to look in "real life" and in that respect the sculpt should be applauded. Facially this is certainly an older and wiser Ahsoka and much more solemn, exactly as we see her in Rebels season 2. Around the face, the head tails are shaped really well and hang naturally both front and back. Sadly the paint application on the face is a bit too basic, and a tad too glossy for my liking. The face markings are neat but my Ahsoka has a splash of white on her nose, and some bleeding on the silver of her headpiece into the head tails. The head tails are neat enough from a distance, but up close are very "mucky" with the blue smudging onto the white and the whole thing looking like it has been handled too often by dirty hands. The outfit is a good representation of the one we see in Rebels : Season 2 and is crisp in both sculpt and paint application. Across the chest plate their are some very small painted yellow & red detail, and the same in yellow on either arm. The skirt section is trimmed neatly in silver with a dark brown belt. Under this is the only soft goods on the figure, a material skirt, which reaches to half way down Ahsoka's thighs. The boots, knee high, are two tone but here again the paint is messy with a smear right across the right hand boot. With Ahsoka not being a particularly bulky or armoured figure, her articulation is probably one of the strongest sets of movement we have seen for a while in the Black Series. The legs move well, aided by the material skirt which doesn't overly restrict the hip movement like a plastic version would have. The knees are double jointed and there is good movement in the ankles and therefore Ahsoka can both kneel and adopt some fairly action orientated stances. There is no waist swivel, but instead a torso joint build and hidden under her chest plate, this allows her entire torso to swivel well to either side - again adding the facility for more dynamic posing. Arms are jointed at the shoulder with a ball joint that can extend out fully to the side and above the head. The elbows are single joint with swivel, and as the arms are quite slim they can hold a light-saber with two hands if you wish - especially thanks to the maneuverability of the wrists which seem to be upgraded somehow with a side to side pivot as well as a swivel. The only downside on the articulation is the head, which as I think most of us expected is fixed in place due to the head tails. Ahsoka comes with her two new neutral light sabers from Rebels. One is longer with the curved hilt, and the other a straight hilt and slightly shorter. Like previous releases with light-sabers, the blades are removable and both saber hilts can then be hung on hooks on Ahsoka's hips. The sabers fit neatly into either hand, although both hilt and hand feel very soft in terms of the plastic and I wonder how many times you will get away swapping the weapon in and out of hand before the plastic is too stretched. On the whole, Ahsoka lives up to the expectations. She isn't quite perfect with paint flaws being the biggest issue and that will vary from figure to figure, so if you have a chance of comparing 2 or more in the wild (and yes I know that is a challenge in itself) then inspect carefully. The issue with a good sculpt under average facial paint continues and like many humanoid figures before her, I would love to see what a talented painter could do with the sculpt. For £22 the figure is probably what we now expect - whether this is good value for money is a wider debate. With the paint flaws I will knock Ahsoka down by one star and award her 4 stars out of 5. Buy from AMAZON UK Buy from AMAZON US

Review : Han Solo (The Force Awakens) Star Wars Black Series (Hasbro) Wave/Series : Figure #18 (Phase 3 Wave 5 / Wave 1 2016) Released : January 2016 Price : £22.99 Thank you to Kapow Toys, from whom we purchased this figure for review. Wrapping up wave 5 of the Phase 3 Black Series is Han Solo, as seen in The Force Awakens. After Chewie, Han is the 2nd figure of the original characters and is number 18 in the Phase 3 Black & Red boxed releases. The original promotional images of this Han release looked particularly stunning. Yet some early figures that sneaked out of the factory (or likely were rejected through quality control) were particularly poor. The actual release comes in somewhere in between and although not a bad figure, it just doesn't sit right for me. Let's have a good look at Han and see what's what. Han stands a smidge over 6", putting him perfectly in scale considering Harrison Ford is just under 6ft 1. Facially, this is one of those odd figures that looks great from one angle, and hideous from another. In the main, and if you look beyond the paint, it is a good sculpt and captures the extra years that Harrison was carrying in the Force Awakens. If anything, and a common problem, it is the paint applications that have let down a decent sculpt. The eyes are neat enough, but after that there is no other paint on the head. Just a subtle darker skin tone wash into those features would have drawn them out and a tad of colour on the lips would have brought out that mouth which can be both smiling, smirking and mad all at the same time. The hair doesn't help as it is more brown and the brown paint doesn't come far enough down the fringe, leaving bits of the hair skin coloured. There is flecks of grey in the hair, but not enough and they needed to be much more heavy handed with the gray to capture the older Solo. The Nerf-Leather jacket (yes, checkout the TFA Visual Guide) is sculpted as a separate piece and then added over the torso. It is nicely done, and includes visible panels within the jacket as well as button holes and those three capsules of whatever that sit on the left breast. The arms carry on the leather look of the jacket. In those early factory figures, there was a huge variance in colour between jacket and arms. Thankfully this has been rectified to a greater degree on the release figure, but you can still see a difference up close - more so in "glossiness" rather than colour. The end of the sleeves are meant to be the shirt sleeves popping out, and that is achieves with a cream paint adding to the very end of the sleeves. The hands are standard enough, and having seen some very nicely detailed hands recently on some Game of Thrones figures I kind of wanted to see an older hand sculpted with some visible veins and callouses. Under the jacket is the collared shirt, decorated in an off white. Again the folds of the cloth are well done and you can see the buttons and button holes clearly. Down to the belt and this is very similar (if not the same) as the belt that came with the original Han Solo from A New Hope. This one is much better painted, with a weathered leather look and a grimier metal finish to the belt buckle and rivet fasteners front and back. The belt connects to the holster and this is strapped again to the thigh of the right leg. The trousers are plain and tuck into the boots at knee height. The boots themselves are really nice, with a reptilian texture to them (think crocodile skin). The trousers are finished in a mute brown, with the boots a very similar shade but gloss finish. Aside from the head, the sculpt is one to be applauded and the rest of the paint from the neck down is well done and I am perfectly happy. I have a niggle that the figure looks a little bow legged, and the legs are almost a little long too which throws off the look. Articulation is standard fare for the Phase 3 figures. The head is jointed on a ball and can be spun fully round, and then look up and down - down almost so his chin touches the chest. Unfortunately, from certain angles, the head joint is pretty ugly so I would avoid turning Han's head too far to either side. The shoulders, ball joints as usual, allow a full range of movement to the arms. As they go up they retract back into the jacket, but as the arms raise it does reveal the white shirt underneath. This is a shame as it does make a firing Han look unsightly, or rather that he has a ripped jacket. All it would have needed was the brown of the jacket painted on that part of the shirt underneath - but hey ho. There is a torso joint and although that puts a visible joint into a white shirt, it does mean you get some variety in the poses for the upper body. Offsetting the torso to either side of the leg position just gives a bit more of a dynamic look. The hips feel a tad loose, but nothing overly concerning at the moment. The have a full range of movement, not blocked by the jacket tails or the belt & holster. The knees are the usual double joint affair, and we finish up with the ankle rockers that are my pet hate on recent figures. Again, like so many others, these ankle joints feel too loose and on Han mean he often over balances too easily if his arms are out and therefore the weight isn't directly over the ankles. Another pet hate of mine recently is this idea of packing the guns already in the figures hands. Like Jango in the same wave, Han comes with his blaster in his right hand. And like Jango before him it came out of the packet horribly bent. So much that even hot water has yet to straighten it sufficiently. As figures go, and particularly if you compare him to his younger wave 2 version, Han is a great figure. Yes, his head sculpt could have done with a touch more paint - and yes the joints do feel a bit loose. I think my feeling of him looking off is just one of posing, and I had that with the original W2 Han also - once I hit a "Han Solo" pose I will be more than happy. I never give half scores, and on a figure like Han that means I have to make a decision on a score which is more than a three out of five, but not necessarily a four. Having now lined up Han with Chewie (sorry it's the original one at this point) and played around with him on display I am going to give the benefit of the doubt and give Han a 4 out of 5, but only just... I hope that perhaps, and as we have seen on other repacks, that a future release of the figure can upgrade the head paint (think Rey). I also predict right now to see this figure again with a cold weather jacket from the Starkiller Base scenes of TFA.

Review : Flametrooper (The Force Awakens) Star Wars Black Series (Hasbro) Wave/Series : Figure #16 (Phase 3 Wave 5 / Wave 1 2016) Released : January 2016 Price : £22.99 Thank you to Kapow Toys, from whom we purchased this figure for review. From the moment the First Order Flametrooper exploded onto the screen in the trailer I wanted one. When Disney revealed their Elite range of 7" figures I nearly went all in just so I could have this figure on display. Thank fully I restrained myself, and just a few months later my patience is rewarded with the Hasbro 6" version of this First Order specialist trooper. The Flametrooper is part of Wave 5 of the Phase 3 red packaging, or wave 1 2016 as per the Hasbro codes on his shipping case. He is number 16 in the 3rd Phase, and comes in the black and red Phase 3 packaging. Slid out of the tray, the Flametrooper comes "disassembled" for want of a better word. The figure itself is packed in the centre of the tray with the gun to his right and the backpack to his left. Before we assemble, let's have a close look at the actual body of the figure. The sculpt, like most of Hasbro's armoured Imperial / First Order troops is really good. The helmet, which is a brand new design for this trooper and kind of an amalgamation between normal First Order trooper and the Snowtrooper is smooth and well proportioned with only the smallest hint of a seam running over the crown. The eye slit is neat and straight across the helmet. And it is just a shame that the lines and the breathing valves are a bit untidy and not as crisp as perhaps I would have liked them. The helmet is cast in gloss white, and there is an indication in certain lights that it is a different shade/material to the rest of the armour. Nothing hugely noticeable unless you have very bright spotlights on the figure. The vision strip is painted black, as are the lower lines of the helmet. Just above these are some gray linings around and a couple of these on mine are smudged and not as crisp. You would be forgiven for expecting that you would find reused parts on the Flametrooper carried over from the earlier First Order Stormtrooper. I was certainly expecting some, but to my surprise I can't identify any directly re-used elements. The chest plate is similar to the standard trooper, but with a variation in the panel design and a wider bulkier look around the neck area. Under this is a lower abdomen panel, and this is again a different piece almost a girdle with a separate piece further up that tucks in behind the chest plate. The arms start with shoulder pads and go down to wrapped panels on the biceps and then into wrist guards and the armoured hands. There is a black belt, again different to the FO Trooper, and on this is simply one white pouch to the left hand side. The code piece is wider and bulkier and then down from this the legs start off with thigh panels, of which the right one has a thigh strap. If you spin them round they also separate into two panels just before the buttocks. Each knee panel is different, with similarities to the New Hope Sandtroopers. The thighs armour is thicker again and the boots/shoes are also bulkier. All the amour pieces are cast in white gloss plastic and these all sit over a plain black under-suit. To that end there is hardly any paint applications on the figure itself. But where the black meets the white the lines are in the main crisp and neat. The articulation is fairly similar to that of the First Order trooper. The neck is a ball joint and the helmet on the Flametrooper sits higher and allows a wider range of movement and if you want you can spin this fully round the body. Shoulder articulation is the standard ball joint, with the shoulder withdrawing into the torso and therefore you can get the arms of the flametrooper out to the side and up above his head. Elbows are a pivot that also spins, and this is crucial a little later when you hook him up with his flamethrower that has to be held two handed. The torso joint is hidden away under the chest plate, but still allows the torso to almost fully rotate vs the leg position. Legs are jointed at the hips on another ball joint. You can use these to sit the Flametrooper down, and that means that in conjunction with the double jointed knees you can achieve that wide legged firing stance we see on the film. The ankles are the only weak spot as they are quite loose, that means that my Flametrooper has already taken two shelf dives. With such a bulky and relatively heavy figure the ankles have to be robust enough to hold his weight and stand him firmly - sadly this is an ongoing issue across all the First Order troopers to date. So time to assemble the weapon. And even though there aren't any instructions, it isn't hard at all to work out. My advice is to get the gun into the hands first. The right hand holds the grip and this slots in reasonably easily. The left hand, which holds underneath the barrel, is a bit tougher and I had to prize the fingers out and open and then let them close back up on the gun. Thankfully they are flexible enough to do this. Once gun is in hand, then the back pack slots into corresponding holes on the reverse of the trooper. The back pack is not as tight a fit as I would like, but it stays on and once in place you take the flexible hose and bring it round to attach to the socket on the grip of the gun. With everything assembled you can then tweak the arms into a firing position. The articulation and design of the gun will satisfy most people in getting the relevant poses out of the figure. So to sum this one up, the Flametrooper is a great figure and I think will be a fan favourite and sought after even if he is packed two per case in the wave 5 assortment. The negatives are a few clumsy paint apps on the helmet, the left hand grip on the gun and the ankles being a tad too weak for the weight and bulk of the figure. I score the Flametrooper a 4 out of 5 and I look forward to probably adding a 2nd at some point to bolster my First Order forces even further.

Review : Jango Fett (Attack of the Clones) Star Wars Black Series (Hasbro) Wave/Series : Figure #15 (Phase 3 Wave 5 / Wave 1 2016) Released : January 2016 Price : £22.99 Thank you to Kapow Toys, from whom we purchased this figure for review. Wave 5 of the Black Series, Phase 3, was a scheduled release for 1st January 2016. The wave contained 4 new figures, and a repack of the highly sought after Captain Phasma. The wave signified the first time in Phase 3 that we got a character who was not from The Force Awakens. And it is that figure we look at here. The source of all Clone-kind, Dad of a fan favourite, and the man prone to lose his head in the presence of Samuel L Jackson. Jango Fett is #15 in the Phase 3 releases. Even though he is not from The Force Awakens, he arrives in identical Phase 3 packaging which cements Hasbro's plan to now integrate figures from all 7 movies and the Rebels TV show into mixed waves going forward. After so many TFA figures in the red & black box since the 4th September, it feels a bit surreal to now see Jango against that intense red backdrop. And I guess it will take a while to sink in. Jango arrives packed with helmet off. He has a gun packed ready in his right hand, with another packed to the side alongside the helmet. Starting at the top the head sculpt is a really good likeness for Temuera Morrison, and I suspect we will see this head again in the future within some clone releases. Like so many head sculpts though from this wave, the paint job does it no favors. The skin tone is pretty good, but one tone and therefore doesn't pick up the facial details. The eyebrows and eyes are also too heavy handed, looking more cartoonish. The mouth remains unpainted. The hair is quite basic, and looks to be sculpted too far back around the ears. In the movie Jango had the start of sideburns but this sculpt cuts them too high and therefore Jango looks like he has had a run in with a very dodgy hairdresser. The helmet is a tight fit, but does sit well once on. I suspect there will be paint rub the more you use it and longer term you may end up wanting to buy two Jango's so you can display both versions. Being made to be removable, the helmet is larger than Boba's and has a thicker set Aerial. There is still a dent, but it is further back on the top of the helmet. The blue on the helmet is neatly painted onto the silver, and where some have complained it is too bright I think this is due to the camera settings as in hand it is a good match to what you see on screen. The silver of the helmet is dirtied up with some sporadic black dry brushing, but without going too far. My only criticism of the helmet is that is it cast/molded in two halves so you do suffer a seam right across the top and down each side. With helmet on Jango stands 6 1/2 inches high from boots to the top of his aerial - an exact match for the wave 2 Boba Fett, which is good considering they are clones. Moving down to the body armour now, and it is pleasing to see that there appears to be no re-use of any significant parts from Boba Fett. The shoulder/neck piece is angled differently and the chest piece is slightly wider and with wider gaps between each of the three pieces. Jango comes with shoulder armour panels, which Boba doesn't have, and the wrist pieces are also different - with Jango's being more detailed and are even sculpted with a hinge from where the pieces snap over the wrist. All the armour pieces are painted silver and then dirtied up with black dry-brushing. The wrist pieces have some additional black and red details, and from the wrists there are sculpted wire pieces that snake up into the upper arm. Jango wears a pocketed belt from which there are two holsters that are then strapped round either thigh. These holsters will hold both pistols easily. The belt is a separate cast piece and is done so in a dark brown rubber material but then has detail picked up in a darker shade which is almost indistinguishable, but is there. The legs are armoured with thigh, knee and shin panels, all of which are again silver painted and then weathered in black. The boots are a similar finish. Beneath all of this armour is a dark blue/purple flight suit and this is creased and folded to match real cloth behaviour, and is painted in one shade and dry-brushed in a lighter finish. Round the back of the figure the jet pack comes pre-attached, but can be popped off if needed. It connects by means of a central plug, and two pins to keep it level. There match up very neatly to the back of the figure and it sits in place tightly enough, although just a few mm away from the body rather than a snug fit like you get with Boba. The jet pack has three different paint applications from a grey and silver base colour, to some brighter silver panels and then a dark blue trim. Unlike the armour, there is no attempt to weather the jet pack. To sum up the sculpt and paint, I am really impressed. The sculpt captures everything it needs to and looks stunning. The paint is pretty nice too. As I said earlier, the head sculpt has not been maximised, but the rest of the armour is painted neatly and dirtied up nicely. I found just one smear of silver paint onto the inner flight suit (factory error), everything else is crisp and with no real bleed from the end of one colour to another. Articulation on the figure starts with a ball jointed head. The head can look fully left and right, and also up and down, and this works with helmet on or off. It does however mean there is an ugly looking joint if you have Jango looking too far to either side without the helmet. And round the back of the head the skin tone joint goes too far into the neck piece. Jango is an armoured figure in essence, and therefore you would assume this would have a bearing on his articulation. Not to start with, as the shoulder armour slides neatly into the torso when moved, so Jango can get his arms out into a shooting position or rotate them above his head if needed. Jango has a bicep swivel, which is something I haven't seen before on a Black Series figure. The reason for this addition seems to be because the bend and rotate elbow is restricted by the wiring I mentioned earlier. Adding the bicep swivel still allows the movement, and is a nice touch (well done Hasbro) rather than simply letting the elbow rotation be lost. Both wrists are on a pivoted peg, and can be swiveled and moved up and down if needed. There is no torso joint as this would have ruined the look of the armour, but Hasbro have added a waist joint to allow the top of the body to swivel independently from the hips - again a well done for Hasbro here as like the bicep swivel they could have just left it off. The legs are where articulation dries up a little. The thigh ball joints can move out and to the side, but not enough either way to allow for sitting or crouching because of the belt and holsters. The double jointed knees are hidden really well behind a knee armour plate, and these will let Jango kneel. The feet remain pivoted and can be angled to either side or back and forward to keep the feet flatly planted when posing Jango Where Jango's articulation, particularly the legs, comes to the forefront is if you invest in a flight stand like THIS ONE. As you can see from the pictures, you can recreate Jango's scenes from Kamino or from the Geonosian arena. Jango will look great in a diorama against the wave 3 Obi Wan, or if Hasbro ever get to him a Mace Windu. Not including the helmet, Jango's accessories are his dual pistols. These are a a bit soft in the sculpt and predominantly silver in colour, although if you look closely there is a varying shade on the stock. My issue with the guns is a real pet hate with a lot of recent figures and that is when they are packed being held by the figure then they almost always bend and come out misshapen. This is evident on Jango more than most as you will find the right hand gun that he is holding int he pack is bent, while the other is quite straight. I really like Jango. I think he is particularly good looking and a striking figure on display. The head paint is lacking, but the majority of fans will display him with helmet on. Articulation is good, in fact it is more than good considering Hasbro have improved on the usual articulation by adding bicep and waist swivels to make up for where other usual articulation can't be used effectively. I score Jango a 4 out of 5

Review : "We're Back" Ray Stantz Ghostbusters Select (Diamond Select Toys) Wave/Series : Series 6 (Ghostbusters II) Released : February 2018 £24.99 Pros : Plenty of accessories including a PKE Meter and a Ghost Trap Cons : The head sculpt is odd with a huge forehead. Quality issues included scratched diorama piece and flimsy and breaking parts on the Proton Pack Series 6 of Diamond Selects Ghostbusters line see's the releases switch from the 1984 original movie to that of the 1989 sequel. Ghostbusters II will run for Series 6 to 8 and give us 9 figures from the film. In this first of the GB2 waves we get our hands on Vigo the Carpathian, a new figure of Louis Tully in his Ghostbusters uniform and the figure we are reviewing here, the "We're Back" Ray Stantz. While the packaging remains reasonably consistent with the first 5 series of figures, you will see some subtle updates on the front such as the change to the GB2 logo and the addition of a yellow & black hazard line round the base. The triangular flash which used to show an image of the character has now moved to be an extension of the card back and wrap and carries a silhouette of the New York cityscape along with the character name. And as Diamond are celebrating their 15th year of Select figures we get a blue celebratory badge too. The biggest change to the card is the artwork on the side spine. Up to now this has been a movie image, but now it has switched to a picture of the figure. Round the back and there is a redesign to the card reverse with a more dynamic layout on a black background with hazard tape trim. We have a larger image of the figure included (Rey) with the two others in the line to the side. Above this is a bit of background text which sets up where we find the Ghostbusters at the start of the sequel. The final image on the card back is that of the build-a-diorama, the Firehouse facade which you will build once you collect all 9 parts from the Ghostbusters 2 waves, and 6 more parts from the final two series which will be Real Ghostbusters based. Once the pack is opened we find Ray tied into the inner tray with the usual array of bands and twisty ties. He is surrounded by a plethora of equipment, a real contrast to Vigo who came with nothing . Behind the main tray is the diorama piece which we will look at later. When I reviewed Walter Peck and Slimed Peter from the earlier releases I applauded Diamond for moving away from a neutral head sculpt and going a little way towards what NECA do on a lot of figures in that they sculpt them with an expression that is consistent with the character and the movie (or part of it). This approach seems to have been taken again with the "We're Back" Ray, but unlike Peck and Slimed Peter this one fails miserably. The likeness to Dan Akyroyd is passable, but it is the very weird expression that ruins the head. My son describes it as creepy, and that is not a bad description when you look at it. The whole thing is very forced and almost a caricature and an exaggeration of how we see Ray in the movie - for example, look how large that forehead is? Face and hair are painted basically with one paint tone for each, and the skin colour is also very glossy. Everything below the head is a complete re-use of the original Ray figure. While the "We're Back" title will go on all these figures, it just means a repaint to a darker grey as we see in a few of the montage scenes midway through the movie. There is nothing wrong with re-use, and in fact I do like the dark grey. We also have some nice updates like the GB2 logo on the shoulder and the removal of the pipe work that used to go from the left leg round to the back pack. Everything about the costume is painted well, with the suit having some subtle weathering. Articulation on any GB figures to date has been slim. 16 points of articulation is standard for a Select release, so there is nothing unexpected in how and where Ray can be posed. Stances (excuse the pun) will be limited. While the legs are jointed at the hips, thigh swivel, double jointed knees and ankle rockers there is not a great deal you can do beyond some wider stances. The ankle rockers are flimsy and floppy and Ray doesn't stand well. In contrast the knees are stiff and feel stuck and I had to heat them to open them up. Arms are made up of a joint at the shoulder, a single elbow joint and what should be a pegged pivot hand. For me this is not enough for the poses I want out of my GHostbusters and I'd have swapped the knee and elbow joints round to make the arms double jointed to help Ray fire his Proton Beam more naturally. There are a multitude of hands for you to chose from - both uncovered skin tone and black gloved. As with the earlier figures, the glove hands also have a clever rubber sleeve which can be taken off to make the gloves look longer or shorter. Final joints are the ball joints in the head and chest. Ray is not short on equipment this time round, and gets pretty much one of everything - where as earlier releases seemed to spread out things like Traps and PKE meters too scarecly. The only PKE meter we've had to date was with Egon so it is nice to give Ray one. This is cast in black plastic with painted silver antenna and a painted green screen with a couple of coloured buttons. It fits neatly in Ray's hands and if needed can slot into the belt (although this is designed for the Walkie Talkie). The Walkie Talkie is back, and like all those before it is cast in plain black plastic with just a few sculpted details visible. When you have Ray holding the Walkie Talkie and the PKE meter you start to see the limitation in that elbow bend, and a more natural look would be to have these closer to the face either to check the readings or speak into the Walkie Talkie. When not in use the Walkie Talkie goes into the belt slot. The Proton Pack and Thrower are identical to previous releases. Being a different run there are some minor paint variances with the colouring changing on some of the bundled wiring. There is also quality issue that the pipe connecting to the Proton Pack is extremely fragile. This has broken on my Louis figure, and is already snapping on Ray as you can see in the image - and yet was never an issue on the other earlier figures? The thrower will clip onto the back pack, the triangular clip design seeming to be working a lot better than earlier releases. We have the FX proton streams back in this release, and these clip into the end of the thrower with ease. My criticism remains the same on these that they are too matt and solid in colour. Make them glossy with some transparency (checkout the ones Playmobil did) and they'd look loads better. Another inclusion is the Ghost Trap. To date we'd only had one of these with Winston - and now we have two more in the mix with one included here, and another with Louis Tully. The trap is well done up to the coiled wire. The wiring fails to unwind in any way and springs back into a coil. That makes it great for clipping on Ray's belt using the socket and peg build into both, but not so great for having it slung out and ready to trap a ghost. Once again the Playmobil solution is superior to what Diamond have given us. When clipped on the belt you do have to be a bit creative with the foot pedal and coil which I just sort of stuff down between the back of the figure and the proton pack. The final accessory is actually a saving grace for that creepy head sculpt. Each of the "We're Back" figures will come with a Santa hat to recreate the Christmas scene during the montage. The hat is cast in hard plastic and is shaped to Ray's head and will only go on one way. Once in place it is slightly oversized as the fur is very thick. It does however soften that huge forehead and softens Ray's expression to something more palatable. The hat is cast in the red plastic by the looks of it, with the white then added. This means the coverage is not brilliant and red is showing through the white - particularly round the back of the hat. Through Series 6 to 10, collectors can gather 15 parts with their Ghostbusters figures that will combine together to build the front fascia of the Ghostbusters firehouse. Ray comes with a single piece, one of the panels of the main doors with a smaller door set in. The piece is cast in hard plastic that is crisp, but quite light. It is coloured a dark grey with a painted keyhole and handle in gold paint. The inner door actually opens, which is a nice touch and this works pretty well - clipping back to a closed position tightly. The only issue is that of quality again, with my diorama piece from Ray having a scratch on the door - I had the exact same problem with the opposing piece that came with Louis Tully. This means unless I can source replacements (reached out to Diamond but as yet no luck) my diorama will have to big gouges on the front and I wonder how many further pieces will arrive with issues? In summing up there are sadly more negatives with "We're Back" Ray than positives. The face and head is odd and disproportionate, but that can be addressed by having him wear the included Santa Hat. There are quality issues with the proton pack piping and the diorama piece and that is a shame. On the plus side the figure has a wealth of accessories and parts and looks much better value for money than say Vigo who doesn't have a single extra piece. am going to give Ray a below average 2 out of 5.

Review : Black Panther Marvel Select (Diamond Select) Wave/Series : Disney Store Exclusive Released : 29th February 2016 Price : £19.95 My collections is essentially one themed around my favourite movie's in either 6" or 7" scale. Within this I chose to go with the larger 7" Marvel Select Cinematic figures over the 6" Marvel Legends from Hasbro. Although Marvel Select are brilliant, anyone who collects them will probably agree their turnover of figures often feels too low as it is locked to limited numbers of releases per year and per film in line with their licencing agreement. That often leaves fans with missing figures from the MCU - most recent examples being no Select release for Ultron and the Hulkbuster, two of the biggest (literally) characters from Avengers : Age of Ultron. So as a collector I am now finding myself picking up selected Comic book figures from the Select range to compliment the MCU figures, and this new Disney Exclusive Black Panther is a perfect example where he will stand in perfectly in my MCU collection until such time as Diamond get round to giving us a Black Panther which I am guessing won't be until maybe 2018 (if of course at all). Black Panther, being a Disney Store Exclusive, comes in a slightly slimmed down box than the usual Select figures - depth wise at least. Like all Select figures the box is a huge clear blister around which is wrapped a side panel and card back. Like all Select's the side panel is the true star of the packaging with a full image of an almost blue Comic Black Panther against a vibrant comic book yellow background. Round the back and the imagery changes to that of the figure, which dominates almost the full card back. There is no bio or background info or any checklists of "other figures". Out of the box, Black Panther stands at dead on 7 inches high and is packed in one perspex tray, with a second tray underneath containing the stand/diorama piece - we will look at that in a bit, but first the figure. The sculpt is pretty strong, and is not particularly over exaggerated as you may expect from a comic figure. The head, even though it is a mask, is very expressive with furrowed brows above those white eyes. The body is muscular with texture and ribbing throughout the suit although it can't seem to make it's mind up whether it looks like flesh with veins and muscles, or whether it is a more padded and armoured suit? Although you would assume the figure is fully black, Diamond have applied a very dark blue paint effect to the figure. This at least breaks up the colour and creates some variation, but the blue doesn't look to be strategically placed to bring out certain detail. It also seems to be over painted on the groin piece which in some lights then looks a different colour to the rest of the body parts around it. The eyes are the only real colour variation anywhere on the figure. They are OK, but have a bit of bleed and aren't bright enough for me as though they should have had another coat Articulation has been moving at pace recently with Diamond figures, and the Black Panther is possibly the most articulated figure to date in the line, helped of course by his slimline body suit with no armour or bulkier parts blocking movement. The head is ball jointed and rotates fully and can be cocked from side to side, or looks up and down. Ball jointed shoulders followed by swivel biceps allow a wealth of arm movement up, down and out to the side. The elbows are then jointed followed by a forearm swivel and pegged hands that not only rotate but flex up and down to sit 90 degrees to the forearm. The hands are positioned in a open palm claw pose and it is a shame that Diamond didn't include other hand options to bolster the figure look further - similar to how they tackle Spider-man for example. The chest is jointed at the torso and can twist a few degrees either side. Although it then looks like there is a waist joint, this does not move. The infamous Select hip joints are back, and are still a bit loose. They do however work to allow Panther to sit down or get down to almost do the splits. Down from the hips is a thigh swivel. Personally I think this is a joint too far as the split is unnecessary and once twisted ruins the sleek look of the figure. Knee joints remain double jointed, and the leg almost bends fully back under itself. Another swivel at the shin is executed a bit better than the thigh, but again I question how useful it is. The figure then finishes with jointed ankles - and sadly these are the weakest and loosest joint on the figure so he has a habit of toppling over as the joint is not strong enough to not buckle under the weight of the figure. That being said the articulation gives you some good action poses for Panther, and if Diamond are going to go more down this articulated route then I think they should consider some form of action stand to support more dynamic poses? Panther would look great in a leaping motion or jumping to attack. For a Select release the lack of any accessories/swap out parts is disappointing. And for me so is the base. I get how it is Wakanda themed, but it just feels too small. Blow it up another 50% and I would have been much happier. In summary, the weak joints continue to be a bug bear on Diamond products - and the ankles on this one are even more frustrating than the usual hip problems. I am also not overly enamored by the base or the lack of any swap out hands or other parts. In his defense though this is a good looking figure which at 7" scale still comes in sub-£20 at a time when the smaller Legends figures are marching towards £23. As a release he is also cleverly thought out and timed in that he will satisfy comic fans in this his debut appearance in the line. And will also please a lot of Marvel Movie collectors at the same time. I have bounced back and forth during this review between scoring Black Panther a 3 or 4. I do love the figure, but it has faults that can't be ignored. After much deliberation I am going to give him the benefit of the doubt and go with a 4 out of 5 rating.

Review : Avenging Captain America Marvel Select (Diamond Select) Wave/Series : Disney Store Exclusive Released : 29th February 2016 Price : £19.95 Anyone who follows the site, and my reviews on a regular basis will know that the general principle behind my collection is mid-range Movie & TV figures - and by mid range I mean both in size (6-7 inch) and in price (£20-£25). My Marvel figures were all, up until recently, based on the Marvel Cinematic Universe as controversially I am more a fan of the movie's than the comics. With all the great stuff Diamond Select Toys do, they aren't particularly over generous with their Marvel 7" releases - tied into a limited number in any year with there licence. That has initially led me to enhancing my collection with comic figures who don't have a movie costume release - Deadpool and Black Panther being two I have bought so far. And now I find myself drawn to this Captain America.... so much so I picked him up last week. Avenging Captain America is a Disney Store Exclusive, released alongside Black Panther and a number of re-releases to give Disney a Civil War related figure range in their stores for collectors. Captain arrives in a sligtly slimmed, depth wise, Select packaging with Cap's shield logo on the bottom left of the card front and a cartoon panel of Cap right down the left hand side. On the back is a full view of the figure itself but without any form of bio, background or any "also available" images. Out of the box, Cap stands 7 1/4 inch high and is based on Rogers look from the modern Cap comics with similarities to the costume seen in Captain America : The First Avenger. The figure is executed with a realistic look to the sculpt in terms of body shape etc this Cap will still fit in neatly with your movie figures if needed. You will also notice how heavy this figure is, it smacks of quality material vs some of it's peers in a similar price bracket. The sculpt is brilliant with a good look of Steve Rogers about the chin and nose area that are visible under the mask - from some angles he also has characteristics of Chris Evans. Paint application on the head is top notch with the A and wings picked out neatly in white. The face has shading around the nose and mouth and the eyes are really well done considering they are tucked away behind a mask. There is a touch of bleeding of blue paint at the ears, but only on very close inspection. The body sculpt is just as good, with crisp definition in the body shape and the clothing over the top. The torso is dominated by the white star and around this is a leather strap which is brushed for detail and with the clasps and buckles picked out in silver. The lower stomach are has clear definition between the red & white stripes - but sensibly they have gone with a dirty white to show a weathered Captain, not one that has just stepped out of the launderette. Each shoulder has a further star emblem, this time this is clearly a decal. And the arm changes from blue to white and then ends in some burgundy glove which is again defined really well with a dark wash to bring out the folds and seams. The legs are plain blue, but are painted in an almost denim pattern with a lighter drybrush across it to make it look worn and ruffled. The boot area are black and brown with a silver buckle on both sides and even a sculpted tread on the bottom of the boot. Articulation is really good, and Diamond are getting better and better with their joints. The ball jointed head has plenty of movement and I like the fact it can cock side to side. The ball joint shoulders can't quite get to a full 90 degrees out to the body, but go far enough. They are supported with a bicep swivel and a standard 90 degree bending elbow joint. The gloves then swivel and the hands are on a peg which can rotate and move up and down. The left hand is sculpted in a fist, and the right is obviously perhaps a re-use from somewhere as it seems to have a trigger finger and yet Cap comes with no gun - it does still grip the shield perfectly well. The torso joint is hidden neatly in the gap between the blue chest and the red/white stomach area and can move a good half inch to either side - with the straps cleverly moving with the chest joint, Hips are jointed so they can go out to the side to an almost full splits position, but then also rotate to come out forward to sit Cap down. This is the latest Diamond Select figure I have bought to feel much tighter in the hip joint - historically an issue with weak joints - so perhaps that particular issue is now behind us. There is no unsightly thigh swivel - hurray - but then you find there is an upper leg swivel nearly disguised by a joint in the trousers just above the knee. The knees are then double jointed and finally the ankles sit on a rotating rocker. The shield is Cap's sole accessory. Compared to other shields I have seen, this one feels a bit dull with a very matt finish. Behind the shield there are two working straps, both of which have been painted so well done there for attention to detail. The shield fits on either hand, but only the right one with it's open hand will hold the strap. Despite numerous requests in Ask DST sessions and online, this figure does not allow the shield to be mounted on Cap's back - so the wait goes on. Cap comes with a really nice diorama stand which is a Hydra logo as a ruin. Compared to what we got with Black Panther, this one is pretty chuncky and has a fair bit of weight to it. The paint is good with a realistic stone effect, and mud and debris on the base area. There is one peg which fits into Cap's foot and allows him to stand on top of the display base - looking really good when he is posed. Avenging Captain America is a figure with so many great things going for it, and hardly any negatives. He looks good, he poses well, his paint is neat and detailed and best of all this is still a 7 inch figure, with a base, that is priced under £20. You won't find better value for money in any other figure range. Disney store also do regular discounts, particularly online, so I suspect you wouldn't have to wait long to get this with a 10%, 15% or even 20% - and that makes him a bargain. I have no option other than scoring Avenging Captain America a 5 out of 5. And I hope that the partnership with Disney & Diamond Select continues and brings us similar figures of this quality either in comic book (yes I may be converted) as well as movie figures.

Review : Star-Lord Diamond Select Marvel Comics Wave/Series : Disney Store Exclusive Released : March 2017 Price : £19.99 When the original Guardians of the Galaxy movie was released in 2014, Diamond Select didn't release any characters from the movie or any related comic book characters - much to the disappointment of fans who only had the 6" Marvel Legend figures to choose from for their Galactic Heroes. With the unprecedented success of the first Guardians movie, and the hype over the sequel this year, Diamond are now going all out to catch up Select collectors with Guardians. We know that Star-Lord & Rocket and Drax & Baby Groot are coming later in the year based directly on the Vol. 2 movie. What we didn't expect was for Disney Stores to go to Diamond and commission a full wave of Guardians figures based on their comic book (Marvel Now) appearance. The new Guardians range gives you all 5 of the main characters across 4 releases - with Rocket & Gamorra doubling up in her pack. Here we take a look at Star-Lord. Like most Disney Store Select exclusives, the packaging is slimmer than what you would normally get from Diamond. However, the rest of the design principles survive with a large blister over-wrapped to the left by an art panel. On the front of this we see the Marvel Select logo and then a lovely illustration of the Guardians as seen in the current Marvel Now comic series (and on TV in their Disney XD show). This team image runs the full length of the card side, ending in a GOTG logo and a new Disney Store exclusive badge which now contains the Disney Castle. From this side panel projects a triangular piece out ontop of the blister. This is a light blue and purple star field with another repetition of the GOTG logo. The character name sits in a silver, purple and yellow design - replicating the colours of the Milano. To the left spine of the box we find the now familiar full art panel, depicting Star-Lord in his helmet. Returning to the front and through the blister you get a good look at the figure surrounded with his element guns, alternative head and crystal. You can also see the stand sat back behind the figure and the diorama base. Spinning the card fully round, the back is not your usual Select fare as it skips any text or background information in favour of a large image of the figure and to the side of this the other figures in the series atop their assembled diorama base. The card back is trimmed in the same yellow and purple with the Guardians shield to top right and lower left. Out of the box and you will find the figure and accessories secured into the inner tray with a wealth of twisty ties. The diorama base sits separately behind the inner tray. Attached to the card back is a Diamond mini catalogue in a plastic baggie - be careful not to dispose of this as it contains the connecting clips for the diorama base you will need in the future if you are collecting the full set of Guardians. Star-Lord stands 7 1/4 tall, and looks pretty impressive as he comes out of the box with his helmeted head and rocket boot effects (we will look at them shortly). Starting at the head and the helmet is really well detailed with plenty of panels, ridges and grills. The helmet is painted in a gun metal finish. The two eyes are perfectly circular and are a bright orangey red tone. The hair is well sculpted with individual strands that flow up and over the helmet and add some dynamism as though the wind is rushing through the hair as Star-Lord is in flight. The colouring of the hair on this head is perfect for the comic version. From the head the muscular neck leads into a muscular tight t-shirted chest which is sculpted to show chest and ab detail. Its painted a flat grey. This ends in a grey belt with silve buckle and then goes down into some tight grey trousers complete with silver knee pads. The legs end in knee high brown rocket boots with black painted between the segmented panels. Of course there is then coat, which is a lovely deep red and cast in a rubbery plastic to give it some flexibility. To Star-Lord's left shoulder is an added shoulder pane in gun metal grey and there is a second panel across the left forearm. The coat contains some very nice parts such as the sculpted zipper, with gun metal colouring. There is also buttons, seams and paneling. In areas the coat is also weathered with some darker red rubbed areas. The arms end in brown gloves with black fingers. The two hands packed on the figure are designed to hold the Element blasters. These take some manoevering but once in place are gripped securely. Each blaster is a gun metal finish with gold detailing. When not in use, Diamond have designed a peg either side of Star-Lords thigh into which you can plug the blasters. While this is a nice idea, the peg is a little obtrusive being so visual when the guns aren't holstered. While not listed as an accessory, there is also back pack that hooks over Star-Lord's shoulder and hangs over the back. This comes in a soft rubber to aid flexibility and is coloured in two brown tones. It is designed to have a closing clasp, but the rubber is too flexible for the clasp to hold - which is a shame. I am also not sure what the idea was behind this satchel being designed to open as there is nothing in the set that can go inside? Star-Lord of course comes with a separate unmasked head. The head pops of easily and so swapping is pretty simple. My issue with the separate head is that it looks nothing like Star-Lord, in fact it looks more like Captain America. For one its clean shaven, when Star-Lord is usually depicted with stubble. The hair is the wrong colour too being too blond, and the fact it is a completely different colour to the hair on the helmeted head is just plain bizarre. Another swap out part is the left hand. Here you can pop off the weapon holding hand and swap in an open palm. The swapping is far too easy, so easy in fact that the hands pop out with the least movement - very frustrating when trying to pose. The open palm hand is designed to hold the purple crystal, which is cast in a clear plastic and isn't a bad design. It fits into the hand, but there is no peg or grip so it has to sit unsecured - be careful therefore if it falls out on display, particularly with the wrists being so weak. Articulation on Star-Lord is a standard 16 points of movement that we see on most Selects. This starts with a ball jointed head with a good range of movement to either side as well as up and down. The arms have a ball jointed shoulder, bicep swivel and joined elbow. This lets you achieve a good range of poses, from firing to his hands up in surrender. The wrist joints will rotate as needed, but as I mention above watch out for the left hand popping out. The torso has a torso joint and this helps for action poses, allowing the torso to twist and giving a touch of forward and backward motion. The legs are the t-joint hips followed by a thigh swivel and double jointed knees. There is then an ankle joint to finish. All of these leg joints are incredibly loose, the worse I have seen on a Diamond figure for quite a long time. While Star-Lord will stand up straight it is tough to get him balanced right. You get more joy from a wider stance, and if you wish you can pose him kneeling. What you will probably find however is your Star-Lord spends most of his time in a flying pose. To support this you get a two piece flight stand. The bar fits into a hole on Star-Lords back. This hole is usually hidden by the satchel which is less intrusive than say the weapon holsters. Ensure you slot the stand into the hole in the back of the figure, and not just through the hole in the coat - this can take some wiggling to find the hole and line up. Once the bar is fitted you can slot the bottom section into the circular base. From here the stand will take the weight of Star-Lord in most flying poses. It can start to unbalance if you have too much weight out to the sides - for example having the arms out in a firing pose while the legs are out in the same direction. One of the best parts of the release is the two rocket effects that come to help enhance the flying pose. These are cast in a clear plastic and start orange at the base and seem to variate out to a yellow flame at the tapered end. These slot into two holes on each boot, and once in place hold there really well - a nice tight fit. Star-Lord fits scale wise with most Select figures - both movie and comic based. You can see him in our images with Doctor Strange and Ant-Man. He also scales with the Marvel Legends BAF Groot (if you choose not to go to the comic book Groot). The diorama base is a solid piece that is designed to look like a mix of asteroid/rock with a metal platform. The rock is a little soft and not a great paint finish, while the metal section is angular with more gun-metal grey paint work. There are no peg holes or stands, and so this is simply a scenery piece. Like the way the Avengers Facility was engineered, this piece works well on it's own - or if you get them all will connect up (remember those connections I said to put safe) to the other bases. The base also works with the flying option as you can stick the flight stand at the back and have Star-Lord blasting up off the platform. This Comic Star-Lord looks stunning with the helmeted head and the flight effects. Price wise you cant argue with the RRP of £19.99 and with the diorama and flight stand to boot. It does however have some substantial flaws. None more so than a poor unmasked head that looks nothing like any comic book rendition of Peter Quill. The lower joints are really floppy to the detriment of posing. The left hand pops off to easy. And I don't like the pegs used for the guns - I'd rather have seen a hole on the thigh and peg on the gun. Balancing up the RRP, visual looks and the flaws that probably puts Star-Lord at a 3 out of 5 result