So my Wave 7 Case arrived today from Entertainment Earth...
It's funny when an Ewok resculpt you really needed, and a Jedi resculpt you really needed, are the lamest two figures in the case.
Seriously, it's a good wave. Here's a few quick thoughts.
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Logray (Ewok Medicine Man):
As Ewok resculpting goes, there's not a ton that Hasbro can screw up. There's a pretty easy formula where you give the figure as much articulation as its short stature allows it, a good (scaled and detailed) sculpt and deco, and you try to accessorize him to the hilt these days because you only get one figure and you've gotta fill that packaging with something.
Wicket was a good example of what to do, and Logray is pretty good as well... but not perfect.
He's got the first part down though. Logray rocks 12 points of articulation on a figure that's like 2.5" tall. Short of knee joints, which would be hard to do I think, he's pretty perfect.
He's got the sculpt going for him too. Far better detailed, and shorter, than his predecessor, Logray is the right size and features the "serious" look to his face (for lack of a better term) that he seemed to have. The fur's got a lot of depth to its sculpt, finger and toenails... It's pretty detailed.
The accessorizing isn't bad either. It's not amazing, not for $8.99-$9.99, but had this figure come out at $7.99 I'd be pretty impressed even though it isn't part of a 2-pack. Plus all the gear has paintaps... that's something the Ewoks can't really get away without, and it's added cost. The spear itself is 3 colors between the grey spearhead, the leathery string, and the color of the wood handle.
His bag of Ewok Anti-Anxiety Pills is exceptionally detailed (compare it to the picture on the card, you'll be floored), and has a lot of different colors for the various animal skins on it and whatnot. The same with his staff and hat, which have some bone details that aren't just painted white and left go, but rather have a wash to give them a little life. I think there's room for more, he's just that colorful on his accessories, but what we got isn't too bad.
What isn't great is the paintjob on the figure itself... the stripes are very straight/even on his arms and legs. On the body, not so bad, but on the arms they're clearly applied even. There should be a little blending between the light and dark fur of the striping. It stands out, but it's nothing that would make me say "pass" here. Plus he's got cool glossy eyes, a little teeth showing, finger and toenail paint aps... He's alright. Just needed his arms and legs blended between the light and dark fur a little bit.
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Barriss Offee:
A lot of people's opinions may be more shaped by whether they like softgoods or not, on this figure.
On my sample there's one major flaw though, and I've noticed that when there's one there is often more when it comes to this kind of "issue".
Regardless though, Barriss sports a plastic hood and robe, two separate pieces, which are nice, but I personally prefer fabric. Being toys, and not statues, I'll always side with fabric in instances where the character is expected to do action-y stuff like fight. Palpatine? OK, plastic is fine (Unless it's bad Palpy), but for a Jedi, she should have the softgoods.
That said, she's got almost everything else going for her. She's got a ton of articulation, 14 points to be exact, and can acheive just about every cool Jedi fighting pose anyone could want, plus she can still stop and take a break or just stand around.
She sports a saber with an oddly pale blade (will this too get fixed, like the Dagobah Landing Luke's saber?), and a hilt to snap onto a hole on her belt. Also I've noticed Hasbro has extended the pegs on the saber hilts so they snap into the holes more snug and sturdy. Cool beans.
Barriss rocks a pretty snazzy sculpt with a VERY tight, fine ribbing to her costume's upper bodysuit thing. Her pants have a rougher texture to them, and she's sporting heels that no woman should have to do battle in. Her belt has a cool heart on the buckle too, which should make fans happy to get that little detail. And her hood/robe is sculpted very form-fitted to the figure's head, so there's no chance the hood will rest oddly on the figure. Actually, you have to remove her head to get the hood on/off, it's so tightly sculpted.
Her likeness seems great, and her paintjob is even better. There's no bleeding on mine, the eyes are perfect, and the little dots on her face are perfectly placed and even.
The one ACTUAL flaw my figure has, is that my sample's left leg is a great deal longer than her right leg. The articulation lets you still stand her ok, but it's very, very off. This disappointed me because A) I'd rather not buy a 2nd figure, so I'm stuck with this one, and B) I'm concerned this could happen a lot with this figure. Lopsided legs usually aren't just a one-time-deal.
Oh, and the softgoods skirt... It's perfect. Great fabric choice in texture AND color. It's great.
Otherwise, a really flawless update to me. She's perfect... I still want a softgoods cloak for her though. Screw this plastic thing. If you want something that looks perfect but doesn't move, 3.75" toys aren't the place for you.
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ARC Commander:
Love or hate Clones, this is probably one of the coolest that Hasbro has ever done.
First he comes from great material. The original CW 2D cartoon is incredible IMO, and one of my favorite pieces of Star Wars crap. What's better though, was that Hasbro actually gives you basically two figures with this one. Like Zam Wessel in Wave 4, and few others, this is really a couple figures and worthy of buying a 2nd.
The figure utilizes the new Clone body with its uber articulation. Score 1.
It's got a great paintjob, very crisp (though one could argue that they want battle damage, myself I'm ok with crisp). Score 2.
You get a ton of gear. Score 3.
What's even cooler though, Hasbro gave him a new Clone headsculpt with what looks like a mohawk that's growing out. I like it because I like the idea of Clones individualizing themselves a little bit, or trying to, and so it just is neat to pop the helmet off and see a "seasoned" Clone with a cool unique hairstyle for a Clonetrooper in general.
You get instructions how to put the unique outfits onto the trooper... Hasbro sewed the Kama with a piece of elastic as an interior belt, and so it keeps the Kama snug to the figure's waist. All you have to do then is snap the pistol belt on, which has a very easy to use snap in the back (it's a long snap that plugs into a perfectly sized hole, so it's very easy to do). The belts are made of VERY flexible plastic, so they fit really easily.
Also the holsters are actually slit on the side, so the character's oversized blaster pistols fit easily in and out of the holsters, rather than trying to do an extra-bulky holster sculpted around the gun.
The figure's only flaws are that he lacks paint on the bottom of his shoes (I miss that on Clones but it's something Hasbro is drifting away from on ALL figures anymore, not just Clones), and once again we have a figure with an antenna on his helmet that doesn't move. Hasbro has done the movable "range-finder" on Fett helmets and so it's possible. Honestly the range-finder is the only thing that actually annoys me here.
I mean, even his Kama has a red stripe on it, the fabric is again an excellent choice too in texture and how it stretches some and moves with the figure... It's really just a well thought-out figure. If I were a rich man, I'd try to buy up a decent little army of these guys just because I think it's one of the cooler figures I've gotten in a long while.
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Bom Vimdin:
And just when I get done gushing over one figure, I gush over the next one...
Vimdin is my most wanted Alien since the last one I wanted the most, and Hasbro keeps knocking them out and doing a great job.
Bom looks ready to kick ass and chew bubblegum, and he is out of bubblegum. His costume is hyper detailed, with every spike on his leathery vest sculpted perfectly. He's even prickly to hold, which is kind of neat. I picture this guy taking some backtalker by the back of his head, and just smacking his face off of his vest to shut him up.
The costume has tons of detail, from wrinkles and folds, to straps and buckles. His belt is a gunslingers, low on the hip, and adds a little extra "badass" to him. He looks straight out of a Western really. This is the original Cad Bane IMO, just without the hat.
He's got a ton of paint aps too, like gunmetal for buckles and the spikes on his vest, to a brown horn on his head, black eyes (like a doll's eyes... farewell and adieu to you fair Spanish ladies...), leathery washes on the vest, boots, belt... He's got a lot of detail for a figure these days. He's going to look great in your Cantina.
And plus, he comes with a ton of gear. I guess he's a Bounty Hunter, so he should I guess have some extra weapons, and he does sport a nice rifle with a scope, and a cool little pistol. Both feature some extra paint details... And nobody is in the Cantina without a nice mug of something, so he's got a nicely painted cup accessory.
Here's the weird thing though... His pistol and rifle are made of the most rigid plastic a Star Wars weapon has ever been made of, other than the metal hilts from 2002! Seriously, these are oddly sturdy weapons. They'd snap if you pryed on them. Not common for SW weapons, but obvious proof they could give us less gummy **** too.
Add in another 14 points of articulation, and this is really just another great addition to the Cantina. Seriously he's maybe one of the bigger badasses in the Cantina at this point. The "wild west" look to him wins me though. He just needs the hat, and he's perfect really. He's my new top weirdo. My Uncle Graper is officially out of a job!
Anything bad? Well, paint's bleeding... Hasbro's getting cheaper with their paint aps, not just in quantity, but in quality. More paint bleeding now than ever. Also a little bummed his eyes aren't glossy. They're flat black and they used to give a gloss to eyes just to set them apart. Otherwise? It's pretty perfect as a Cantina alien goes... Maybe include a chair for him or something? Vintage packaging doesn't allow it so basically all you can do is cite it as a flaw and move on.
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Han Solo (Bespin Fatigues):
Jeff, hold onto your boxers.
Easily the finest Han Solo figure, ever made, vintage to now... Seriously.
It's the best articulated Han figure, it's the best sculpted, the best likeness, and not poorly accessorized. Paint on it is so-so, but nothing major.
First his sculpt, he's sharp all over. There's great wrinkling to the coat in the sleeves, and at the belly of his shirt as well where it's tucked in. It's really neat how they caught that. The pants are just the right "tight". They're not skin tight on the character, but they're not loose either, which is a classic Solo look.
The likeness is incredible IMO. The hair from ESB is just perfect, and I think it's the best face sculpt of Harrison Ford they've ever done. To my eye, it rivals 12" figures in terms of detail. From the eyes, to the nose, to the mouth, it's really a good headsculpt in general.
Also his hands... Weird as it is, they got the right one in a typical pistol grip, but his left hand is opened at the index and middle fingers, and it's just posed differently. Why is this cool? Well because it leaves that hand open so you can pose it like Han is bullshitting his way out of (or into) something. It's a neat and very small touch (no pun), to have the fingers posed differently. It strikes me as very intentional by the sculptor.
The pistol belt is a great separate sculpt, and all new. It fits the figure's waist perfectly because of how it's sculpted. My only gripe there, once again, no thigh-strap for the holster... I don't get Hasbro's reluctance to give those to Han figures. Seriously. To me it's no different than the RFT's holster issue. Bom Vimdin has the thigh-strap for God's sake! How does Han not, in the same wave? Weird.
Articulation is great... Ball-jointed hips on a Han? Perfect. I think they should all have them now. I would've liked to have seen Han get some articulated wrists here since he apparantly re-uses Lando's legs, but I can live without the wrist joints. They just would go a long way on a figure like Han here. Still though, 14 points and they're almost all ball-joints, so that's a spicy meatball. I defy you not to instantly pose him in the valiant draw-on-Vader-in-the-dining-hall pose right out of the packaging.
Gear... Not bad. The goggles are neat and actually magnify his eyes goofily a little bit, and the laser welder thing is cool too. It's new, smaller than Chewbacca's... I guess it's for detail work? The pistol is looking dated, but still holds up ok and got some paint aps so it looks better as well.
Paint aps aren't bad, but the coat is a little shiney and should be a bit duller. That is the plastic, not really paint, but I'd have liked to have seen maybe a dull coat on it to just get it less noticeable. There's the yellow piping on the pants, which looks great as well. The eyes on my sample are pretty good (Harrison Ford's eyes seem sort of small/beedy, and they look good on the figure). There's a little light brown wash in his hair too, enough to make it look better than just the one single shade of brown many figures have gotten.
Other than the thigh strap, my only gripe is that the coat is not separate of the shirt. I think that was a step backwards the same way the vest/shirt are molded together on the Fleet Trooper. it's sculpted with a bit of depth, but the paint aps show that it's not separate, and make it stand out a little. It's not a deal breaker by any stretch, just a corner cut by Hasbro that disappoints me since older figures had the separate sculpting going on. Hell that goes back to POTF2 days.
And lastly...
Well, I already did a review on the Fleet Trooper so nevermind. Mine now has a hat. I haven't even opened him because I may just keep him on the card. I waited since I was like 14 to get a Fleet Trooper. I'm 34-ish, so 20 years is a long time to wait and get the figure you wanted.
The Vintage Wave 7 though?
It's the best wave the Vintage Collection has had... Knock figures down by a buck and I'd say it's one of the best waves of figures in the modern line. I'm maybe a little biased though, but I'm loving every figure in this wave, hands down.
Order Your Own Vintage Wave 7 Case! It's totally worth it.