Author Topic: The Black Series 3.75" - Wave 4  (Read 28316 times)

Offline Brian

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Re: The Black Series 3.75" - Wave 4
« Reply #60 on: July 31, 2014, 09:29 PM »
I just got notice that this wave (or some of it anyways) is on its way via Amazon.  I know this wave hasn't exactly gotten rave reviews, but it is just exciting to have some new 3 3/4" figures on the way.  As I've been cleaning up the display and condensing storage this summer, I realized I don't remember the last time I added a new 3 3/4" figure to the display.  Its been awhile...

Offline Rob

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Re: The Black Series 3.75" - Wave 4
« Reply #61 on: July 31, 2014, 10:22 PM »
Mine shipped from Amazon yesterday.

Agreed that it's not the most exciting wave, but I'll be damned if I'm not excited that there's at least one brand new, never made figure in it.

Offline Jeff

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Re: The Black Series 3.75" - Wave 4
« Reply #62 on: July 31, 2014, 11:08 PM »
Saw a few "classic Amazon shipping" photos on Facebook tonight - Here's a great one of a Dagobah Luke and Yoda folded up to fit in a DVD mailer box.  ::)

Feel bad for the carded collectors but with Amazon's track record, anyone expecting MOC from Amazon is dreaming anyway...  :-X
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Offline Jesse James

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Re: The Black Series 3.75" - Wave 4
« Reply #63 on: July 31, 2014, 11:53 PM »
I'll second that...  If you wanted mint, why didn't you order from EE or BBTS?

You buy Amazon, you get Amazon.  I'm not a carded guy so I'm maybe not being very thoughtful, but I am an "I'm tired of paying so much for figures" guy, and I'd rather not see the $35 nets you free shipping deal go away on "collectibles" or something.  I just want to open the stuff and get a reasonable price.
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Offline Greg

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Re: The Black Series 3.75" - Wave 4
« Reply #64 on: August 1, 2014, 12:16 AM »
I got five Snowtrooper Commander figures in the mail from Amazon today. It was funny getting them on the estimated shipping date (7/31). I only opened one so far, but I really like it! No quality issues that I could see and relatively clean paint apps on all five. The figure itself is really nice and very well-sculpted. It looks great "leading" the VTAC Snowtroopers. 

Offline Jesse James

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Re: The Black Series 3.75" - Wave 4
« Reply #65 on: August 1, 2014, 01:38 AM »
I have 2 Snowie Commanders, 2 Farrs, 1 Luke, 1 Yoda, and I believe that's it, on the way.

I also have a complete set sans Dak coming from my local bud, so I have a pretty nice little group.  Plus I have 2 of each of the Goons coming once Sept. gets here I guess.
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Offline Rob

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Re: The Black Series 3.75" - Wave 4
« Reply #66 on: August 1, 2014, 09:29 AM »
At this point it should be pretty common knowledge that if you care about carded condition, you don't buy from Amazon.

Offline Dave

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Re: The Black Series 3.75" - Wave 4
« Reply #67 on: August 1, 2014, 10:31 AM »
These are available to order on HTS.com right now as well.

Offline Pete_Fett

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Re: The Black Series 3.75" - Wave 4
« Reply #68 on: August 1, 2014, 05:50 PM »
I'll second that...  If you wanted mint, why didn't you order from EE or BBTS?

You buy Amazon, you get Amazon.  I'm not a carded guy so I'm maybe not being very thoughtful, but I am an "I'm tired of paying so much for figures" guy, and I'd rather not see the $35 nets you free shipping deal go away on "collectibles" or something.  I just want to open the stuff and get a reasonable price.

Agreed - I only ordered some Stormtrooper Commanders from Amazon so I could get a few more openers of him - and that's exactly what they will be - openers. My MOC ones came from the case I ordered from EE.
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Offline Phrubruh

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Re: The Black Series 3.75" - Wave 4
« Reply #69 on: August 5, 2014, 09:49 AM »
Luke and Yoda came from Amazon yesterday. I like both figures. Luke has a nice exhausted look on his face and Yoda has a little personality in his.

I also got hoth headset girl. I swear this is just a hoth Leia body with a new head and accessory. I do like her though.

Also got the Japanese carded version of Darth Plaguious. I love this figure!
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Offline Rob

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Re: The Black Series 3.75" - Wave 4
« Reply #70 on: August 5, 2014, 10:01 AM »
I got this wave a few nights ago.  Overall I like it, but Luke's arms are even worse than I thought they'd be.

Offline Jesse James

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Re: The Black Series 3.75" - Wave 4
« Reply #71 on: August 6, 2014, 08:25 PM »
Got mine today...  I got 2 Torryn Farr figures, two Snowtrooper Officers, Luke, and Yoda.

-Torryn Farr...  A great figure, if not simply a headswap.  Hasbro going the removable earmuff route is really a nice nod from them, and the kind of thing that makes a collector figure special.  :)  I am planning a headswap, hopefully, and may buy more to do other swaps.

If there is a gripe, it's the badge has a sort of sloppier paintjob to it, and who knows how accurate, or not, it may be.  It is a minor quibble.  Some may cite ankle articulation lacking...  On a $10-$11 figure, I would agree on that point but at this stage I'd rather see no (or rare) ankle joints to save money and improve paint apps.  Speaking of, her hair has a nice wash giving it multiple colors and really stands out in a time when Hasbro doesn't do nice washes on figures.  Her eyes and lips are also painted really nicely, giving her a nice but simple expression.

-Luke Dagobah...  Everything I wanted.  I personally would've preferred ball jointed elbows, but I appreciate where Hasbro was going with the double-hinged elbow, and for what it is, it does perfectly hold the straps of the backpack Yoda comes with.  OTC exists so people don't have to gripe like this figure is the end of their world.  I get what I want, and others long ago got what they wanted, and so I'm pretty pleased.

If there are gripes, it's paint apps and the elbow joints obviously.  The joints are visible.  Ball joints COULD have achieved this with the right design behind them, but the effect is really good the way they accomplished it IMO.  Again there's another Luke without these, and most of us own it.  I'd say Luke could've used a paint wash on the hair as well.  Mine has perfect hair and eyes though, and a heavy wash on the shirt costume.  I just feel the hair could use a little to give a less mono-chromatic (right use?) of the hair color.  Luke's hair wasn't dark so the lack of wash stands out even more on him than say on Han Solo or Leia's darker hair.

I'd tack a minor gripe on the light saber hilt NOT clipping to the belt as well.  A doable thing they overlooked and which I'll fix with a quick custom bit but which would've been nice had Hasbro done it in the first place.

Oh, one more gripe, almost forgot it despite it being my biggest about this figure... The "flesh" colored pins on his hips are distractingly noticeable, and I'd say his upper leg portion was part of the same mold the arms were molded in because the ankles are molded in the proper color.  Those hip pins are really noticeable though.  Fixable with the right paint, but that's tricky and a friction point so wear is an issue unless you're good at bonding paint to plastic.  I find that far more annoying than any other issue, elbows included, and would re-buy this figure in a heartbeat if it had the pins fixed.

-Snowtrooper Commander...  They're Lieutenants IIRC, but yeah anyway they're ok.  I like everything about both my samples from paint to articulation, EXCEPT two points.

Point one is the plastic skirt...  At this stage of the game, why would you go that route and not cloth?  It's a collector figure, and the plastic obviously negates the usefulness of the leg articluation.  The TVC Snowtrooper was outstandingly well done and featured cloth that looked just spiffy fine.  I'm disappointed hasbro did an about-face here and opted not to use cloth.

And Point two would be that both my samples have right hands that fall off easily.  This is a design flaw, contrary to popular online opinion that all figures with posable hands have this issue.  If the ball inside the hand's post were larger, it would plug into the socket on the forearm, and would not pop out easily.  That's disappointing, and something that shouldn't occur.

-Yoda...  OK, so I came into this wanting to hate this figure, yet I can't.  People online are whining up a storm about him, and I wasn't pleased about the articulation cuts either.  That said, here's my view...

My sample's paint is flawless and detailed.  The eyes are great, the hair is perfect, the nails are all applied well, all of it...  The sculpt is simply perfect, with the best possible expression chosen.  It is miles superior to all other Yoda's on the market in that regard.  Plus his costume under the robes is exactly what you'd expect even though you don't see it ever.

His accessories are plentiful...  Aside from a snake, how can you not like the cane and the perfectly sized removable belt?  The backpack is a bit too big and I agree with that complaint, however I've heard NOTHING about the buckle in the front that actually works, nor the awesomely accurate blue striping along the pack itself!  I'll be shrinking the pack down eventually by seam ripping it and resewing it a little more snug.  Easy peasy fix if you know how to sew at all...  If not, eh, sorry?  Lastly the flute is cool, fits him well (not too large or small), is decoed...  Great.

The obvious gripe is articulation.  And that some folks want super articulation, which I actually disagree with on this figure.  I agree he needed more than he got.  Namely, elbow joints and wrist joints.  With just those two (4 total) points added to the figure, I'd have been over the moon and he'd be my top figure of the wave.  His legs are fine as is, and he's an example of, for once, me saying a figure did NOT need knee articulation, nor ankle articulation.  This figure's fine and friggin' dandy without it.  Elbows and wrists I feel are legitimate complaints, and my honest to god only complaint on an otherwise flawless figure. 

Frankly I'm shocked at this point at the complaints being as strong as they are from the folks who already got theirs.  I love mine.

I didn't get Dak yet, and I didn't get anyone else...  I don't need Bastilla Shan or anything like that.  I'd like Daks but not for $10.  Anyone selling Daks for less, I'm all ears.  ;D

I'm going to wind up probably buying two more Lukes and possibly another Yoda or two as well.  I like custom bits to be around.  I also may get more Torryn Farr, and ironically I'm done on Snowtrooper Commanders.  For my money he's the weakest of a great wave (him included.  He's a solid figure, just not perfect which he could've been).

Luke, I could see doing quite a few customs of/with.  I have a quasi-pattern for a coat, and I'd like to see him with that on.
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Offline Jesse James

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Re: The Black Series 3.75" - Wave 4
« Reply #72 on: August 6, 2014, 11:43 PM »
Got my Luke to stand on 2 hands in under a minute.

Got him to stand on one hand in less than 2 minutes.



Heard people bitching they can't get him to stand on two hands at all.

Those people probably can't crack an egg without it flying all over the place.
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Offline Matt_Fury

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Re: The Black Series 3.75" - Wave 4
« Reply #73 on: August 7, 2014, 01:23 AM »
I received the Luke, Yoda and Snowtrooper Commander today.  I like all the figures, glad to see I'm not the only one whose Snowtrooper has a hand that falls off!

The Yoda is way better than I thought he'd be!  I'm very please with it!

I can see the gripes about the Luke with the elbows, but I don't hate it.  Of course I'm having him do a one-handed hand stand on my vintage Dagobah playset.

In addition to those three I also picked up a Bastilla Shan (finally).  Great figure!
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Offline Jesse James

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Re: The Black Series 3.75" - Wave 4
« Reply #74 on: August 7, 2014, 01:41 AM »
Matt, both my Snowtrooper's right hands pop off.  One's far worse than the other so mileage may vary, but that strikes me as something of coinkydink that two had the issue, now yours...  Smacks of factory error, not Hasbro should stop making articulated figures because their arms pop off.  :-X ;)

The Luke and Yoda impressed me enough I'll buy more Lukes than I'd intended to now.  I was leaning to just two, but now I'm likely to get 3-4 of him.  Yoda's a definite 3 figure purchase for me though.  I want one for the gear, one for customizing with an extra TVC one, and one to just leave be.
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