So Revenge of the Sith has come and so has the launch of the accompanying toy line. With that, Hasbro has let loose upon us what has easily amounted to what I personally feel are some of the best figures the modern line has ever seen. The previous year’s “Original Trilogy Collection” was a great sign of things to come (repackaged figures aside) as Hasbro’s given Collector’s a nod even with their routinely kid-oriented figures in the infamous “Collection 1” of figures.
But enough of the gushing over Hasbro… It’s not what most folks, who know me anyway, know me for. I just feel I have to give the Hasbro team credit though, as I think the new line does deliver where the toy lines tied to the previous Prequel films did NOT deliver much, save for some headaches. And we’re going to take a look at the first figure I got from the Revenge of the Sith (ROTS) line right now, Agen Kolar, who I actually picked up quite some while ago.
Agen’s quite an interesting fellow, as he ideally shows off the “style” Hasbro is trying to run with in its Collection 2 figures in the ROTS line. They’re focusing on articulation, detail, and sneaking softgoods (Cloth, for those who wonder if we’re talking about Viagra here) and at times accessories into the mix, whereas the Collection 1 figures are a little more aimed at kids in their own ways (IE: you’ll see action features there, but not with these Collection 2 figures). Now that we’ve got that out of the way, on with the show!
PROS
-Sculpt: Absolutely a fantastic figure, with a sculpt that captures lots of detail in both his outfit and physical likeness, Hasbro delivers pretty good quality with the Agen Kolar figure. When I picked him up (prior to the 4/2 release date), I recall thinking that this figure was a sign of great things to come. I can’t say everyone lives up to this quality but Agen is a high benchmark for other figures to live up to!
The sculpt of the body is fantastic, featuring the “traditional” robes of a Jedi Knight. His outer robe is actually a separate accessory so I’m currently speaking about the cream colored robes underneath. Some of the astute collectors out there have already noticed that Agen’s robes are strikingly similar to Obi-Wan’s in A New Hope. The figure would make one hell of a base to just pop a new head and hands onto for Hasbro to milk another figure for less money.
The skirt piece is actually cloth, and a little rigid, but the sash pieces of Agen’s belt are sculpted plastic with lots of life. Rather than just hanging straight down they look like they’re formed to the figure’s legs/body a bit. The cloth is sculpted to have a very fine “texture” to it. Upon close inspection you notice it, and that’s a nice touch as they didn’t over-pronounce that in the sculpt. It’s just barely noticeable. And upon further inspection one may notice that the shirt under Agen’s robes has a DIFFERENT texture sculpted to it (one that goes horizontally while the one on the cream robes goes vertically… Nice detail Hasbro!).
Under the softgoods skirt piece Agen has complete sculpted legs including articulated knees. The pants feature just as much texturing as the robes, and the boots are fantastic, though a little nuisance about their “pose” the sculptor chose came up. The boots have lots of creases, folds, the soles are separately sculpted, and there are even buckles at the very top of the boot you just barely notice. Incredible work was put into this sculpt.
Aside from the robes, which are great, Agen has a very nice headsculpt. The face is a nice neutral expression (already he has an advantage over the horribly pre-posed/frozen-faced Eeth Koth from a while ago), and the horns typical of his species (Zabrak, just like Darth Maul) are nicely raised off the brow and not too rounded off. The other notable piece is that Agen’s hair is actually a separately sculpted piece glued onto the head, and it fits very nicely so you really don’t notice the seam where the head/hair comes together. Well, he’s sporting a better toupee than William Shatner at any rate.
-Accessories: Not only do you get a good bit with Agen, but you get something never attempted by Hasbro before. They included a removable Jedi Robe that’s actually made entirely of plastic, and comes in 3 separate pieces. And also tucked into this package is a base for the figure, which many Collection 2 figures seem to be getting.
Agen also comes with a great lightsaber that features a removable blade… This was a feature Hasbro had said they were going to phase out, and I was disappointed to hear that, however it appears it’s still going strong with 2-piece sabers, at least in Collection 2 figures. The problem people have found is that the blade peg breaks off in the hilt, however I’ve never had that happen to me and I personally love this feature and hope it either continues or Hasbro includes a hilt with an ignited saber as well. The saber’s sculpt is fantastic, and includes a peg to hook it to his belt, which I consider just another great thing about this figure.
I’m torn on where I stand about the robe however… It looks great on and off, but it’s not good for articulation fans as Agen is pretty much stuck in one or two poses with his robe on. Still, a 3-piece robe, and one that’s sculpted VERY nicely, isn’t anything to blow your nose at in this line. Hasbro gave it a go and it appears this same technique is going to be applied to the upcoming Obi-Wan Pilot figure as well. An interesting idea for a figure that sat while wearing HIS robe, but whatever.
Lastly the base that’s tucked into the package is a unique looking piece of a ship, or man-made surface/platform. It’s sculpted with different panels on the floor, a section of wall or something that’s raised to one side, and tabs to connect (I presume) to other stands. It seems like the stands wouldn’t connect as smoothly as the rectangular “Star Wars” stands from the OTC line however, but it’s a nice looking chunk of plastic to be packed in with a $5 figure, and is even painted 3 different colors.
-Articulation: Articulation is a mixed bag on Agen, as he features a lot of it really, but a few things inhibit him from using it all, or achieving every pose you think your Jedi maybe SHOULD be able to. Still, he’s pretty poseable… I’d say the only bad point is really he can’t hold a saber with 2 hands, and that’s due to his arms just not being made to support that pose, even with all these joints!
Agen Kolar features articulation at:
-2 ball/socket shoulder joints
-2 angle-cut elbow joints
-2 standard wrist joints
-2 standard hip joints
-2 ball/socket knee joints
-1 standard neck joint
-1 standard waist joint
With a total of 12 points of articulation. That’s a lot really, and so it sorta stings that he CAN’T hold a saber with 2 hands. Still, you can’t knock the figure for articulation too much because he’s a poseable bugger.
The only other articulation gripe is his knees/legs are tough to pose, even with a softgoods skirt. The reason for this is the skirt’s sewn a bit tight together it seems, and not open anywhere for it to allow the legs to move TOO much. A little hard to explain this issue but it’s something I’ve noticed right away trying to stand my figure. Again though, he’s still a fun figure so my gripes are little ones.
-Saber Hooks to Belt: A feature I love, and one that should be praised when it happens, is when a Jedi’s lightsaber can be hooked to the belt of the figure. Agen’s a prime example of this, and I applaud Hasbro for doing it. Unfortunately it’s not always a consistently implemented little extra, and so not all figures feature it. Some feature the hole in the belt, but not the peg on the saber… It’s weird.
But Agen has the removable blade, and the saber hooks to the belt, and that just simply rocks to me. It’s nice to have your Jedi Knight at ease.
-Softgoods Skirt: I’m a huge fan of using cloth/softgoods accessories and features on figures. I think skirt-pieces should either be incredibly pliable plastic, or if they’re long pieces like on Agen here, they should be cloth… Only the more dull “Senator” type of a figure should get the plastic robe in my book, and even then I’d use cloth if I thought it could be done right to improve the figure.
Agen has a nice cloth skirt-piece that blends in very well with the look of the plastic though. I like that a lot, however the way Hasbro sewed the skirt is kind of tight around the legs and hurts the poseability of the figure. How ironic that is, when the cloth is supposed to help poseability, hah!
CONS
-Paint Apps/Deco: Unfortunately, a negative in Agen’s report card is his paint applications. First they’re few to begin with, which means to me that what he does have in the way of paint should be applied well, however my sample here doesn’t have the best paintjob.
For instance my Agen’s eyes are very simple black lines. Compared with other figures, the levels of different colors (the white, the pupil, the iris, etc.) are often outstanding as of late, but Agen just has simple black lines to define an eyelid and pupils. Also, my figure’s spikes on his head are a disappointment, as some paint was missed at the base of the larger spikes while the smaller spikes have a couple sloppy paint smears onto the head (up near the hairline).
Another area of sloppy paint is on his belt, where Hasbro did little detail work. The only actual detail work I see is on the small pouch sculpted to his belt which is painted a slightly different color with a silver snap on it even, and a little bit of color to where the saber hooks on his belt. But the paint of the belt overall is sloppy and the paint bled all over the sash.
The good paint aps are the small dark marks on his cheeks, which are very small and not overly pronounced looking, such as the liverspots on some figures. And lastly the boots feature painted soles and a nice dark wash. The figure could have stood a wash on his robes perhaps to make them stand out, or perhaps just a little more attention to detail on the belt area since the decoration wasn’t too ornate. As it stands though it’s passable but improvement overall on him would’ve been nice.
-Posed Ankle: A minor point, but one I picked up on right away, is the pre-posed sculpt of the left ankle. It’s a minor issue really, some perhaps don’t even notice it, but his ankle on the left leg is bent which puts the figure in a sort of mid-walk pose. I’d prefer a non-posed ankle like the right foot, but that’s me.
This is a very minor issue though, and nothing that is impacting my review at all… I just notice it the most when I’m putting him on his stand and suddenly he doesn’t want to stand straight up so I have to fiddle with the legs a little bit. No biggie though.
-No 2-Handed Saber Pose: More irritating than anything is that Agen Kolar can’t hold a saber with 2 hands. It’s my only gripe about his articulation, and his sculpt, as it’s really to blame on both these otherwise outstanding features on this figure. Why the sculptor chose not to make a little sharper (just a tad more sharp) angle cuts on each elbow, I do not know, but every Jedi should be able to hold a saber with 2 hands. Unfortunately it’s really this figure’s only major, and somewhat odd, drawback.
OVERALL
I can’t really say a bad thing about the figure that would make me want to warn you against it. Agen Kolar is probably one of the best Jedi figures ever made, including the other ROTS Jedi out right now. That’s a pretty good place to be for him since ROTS’s basic line has delivered a TON of what I’m calling “Apology Jedi” for their Saga counterparts that really are outstanding figures.
If he could hold a saber with 2 hands, I’d really have no complaint about him overall, but as it stands he can’t so he’s not the perfect Jedi to me. He’s close though and for my first basic figure from this line he really got me pumped for all the rest. Whether he’ll remain the benchmark, and whether all subsequent figures I’d buy would live up to this level, well we’ll see how that goes.
I highly recommend picking him up, and as the line’s been out a little while, Agen’s one of the more popular figures it would seem, so don’t wait too long on him. I know customizers are part of the reason he’s disappearing a little faster than some Jedi figures, as he’s just fantastic fodder for a number of everyone’s favorite Defenders of the Galaxy. Pick this guy up while you can, you won’t regret it!
