Author Topic: Best of Black Series - 2018  (Read 2736 times)

Offline Brian

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Best of Black Series - 2018
« on: December 31, 2018, 02:55 PM »
End of the year, curious to hear what some of your favorites of the year. Tough to choose for me, with the advent of face printing really upping the game for Hasbro. Any number of figures could be someone's favorite.

Favorite Regular Release Figure

Han Solo (Bespin) - Sentimental for me. Favorite version of Han and maybe the best likeness yet

Lando Calrissian (Skiff Guard or Solo) - incredible likeness on both of these
Grand Moff Tarkin - Great version of a critical character of the original Star Wars
Range Trooper - Minor character, cool look. Nice use of soft goods
Rey (Island Journey) - Face printing makes this look so much better than the original release

Favorite Exclusive

Gamorrean Guard (Target) - much like the TVC version, basically perfect.

Chewbacca (Target) - probably the best Black Series Chewie yet
Princess Leia (Bespin) - great likeness, best we've seen in a Leia (along with this year's Hoth)
Admiral Piett/General Veers (online/Walgreens) - good looks and good idea for an exclusive
Zuckuss (Disney) - nice to finish off the hunters

Favorite Vehicle/Beast

Enfys Nest with Swoop Bike - Just a nice overall set, but pretty interchangeable with.....
Dewback with Sandtrooper - love new beasties, and it looks great

So much goodness this year, and pretty much every character could be interchangeable for "favorite/best". I kind of started running out of room for this line this year, just as they were really hitting their stride, so I've had to rotate the display. Looking forward to more goodness in 2019!

Offline Nicklab

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Re: Best of Black Series - 2018
« Reply #1 on: January 1, 2019, 05:46 PM »
There's a lot to consider for a Best of 2018 list.  Especially considering how many releases there were for the year.  Here are mine:

FAVORITE BASIC FIGURE

Rebel Trooper - This one is a personal favorite.  We've gotten loads of Imperials over the years.  But the Rebels from the Tantive IV in ANH were some of the first characters we ever saw in Star Wars.  And this particular figure features some new and somewhat innovative features.

Honorable mentions...
4-LOM - TESB Bounty Hunter - CHECK!
Dengar - Another TESB Bounty Hunter - CHECK!
Rey (Island Journey) - Such a great take on the central character of TLJ.  And the likeness is great now!



FAVORITE EXCLUSIVE FIGURE
Han Solo - Exogorth Escape (SDCC) - I was eagerly awaiting the new Bespin Han Solo.  And when Hasbro decided to present a premium version of that figure depicting the "cave" from TESB?  Sign me up!  The figure looks great and the presentation is really cool.

Honorable mention exclusives:
-Zuckuss (Disney Store) - A great take on the Gand bounty hunter!
-Clone Commander Wolffe (GameStop/ThinkGeek/B&N) - It was great to see a Clone Wars character get treated seriously in this line.
-General Veers (Walgreens) - Imperial Officers can be cool, but the sculpt, paint apps and accessories put it over the top.




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Offline Dave

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Re: Best of Black Series - 2018
« Reply #2 on: January 2, 2019, 09:43 AM »
I think the Dewback is all kinds of awesome!

Offline McMetal

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Re: Best of Black Series - 2018
« Reply #3 on: January 7, 2019, 10:12 PM »
I just opened a bunch of figures over the past week and was really impressed with Veers. The extra gear and display options really make him a winner for me. Glad I got two.

I thought the Gamorrean Guard was awesome. I was really disappointed with Zuckuss though. I cannot get over the fact that he seems much too small to me.

I thought the Mimban Trooper was pretty terrific too.
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Offline Diddly

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Re: Best of Black Series - 2018
« Reply #4 on: January 8, 2019, 09:33 AM »
Best Basic Figure: Tarkin
HMs: Bespin Han, Young Han, Young Lando

Best Exclusive: Gamorrean Guard
HMs: General Veers, Bespin Escape Leia, Zuckuss

Best Vehicle: Dewback w/ Sandtrooper (wish I could find one)
HM: Enfys Nest Speeder (would overtake Dewback if Enfys had a removable helmet)
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Offline Dave

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Re: Best of Black Series - 2018
« Reply #5 on: January 8, 2019, 10:17 AM »
I'm glad you started this thread as I was going to start one called "Belated Reviews".

I just cracked open a backlog (some a couple years old) of about 30 Black Series figures.  My good, bad, and the ugly thoughts.

Overall these figures are all pretty awesome with only a handful of fairly boring / bad choices in the assortments.

Soft goods:
- The "fur" they've got on Enfys Next, Gamorrean, Range Trooper, etc. are really, really good. 
- The cape on Enfys Nest is awesome.  Some of the soft goods on Rey (on her speeder) are pretty solid too.
- Lando's (Solo) plastic cape is a big disappointment in comparison.  I would have loved to see a cape like Enfys on Lando.  As a result I pitched it as he looks a lot better without his cape.

I'm with McMetal - Veers is totally sweet.  I love the options with this figure and chose to pose him in his AT-AT gear with helmet and chest plate.

K-2SO is a great sculpt, but he really should have had a blaster included.

I'm totally bored with clones.  Rex and Wolffe didn't need to be made.  I really hope there aren't any more in the pipeline.

The environmental pieces that came with the exclusive Luke (Target Ach-To) and Jyn (K-Mart version) are not worth it.  I wish they would have put the extra effort in to accessories of some sort.

$60 price point vehicles / figures - there seems to be a pretty broad range of "value" here.   $60 is a chunk of cash.  I'm assuming $20 for the figure and $40 for the vehicle.  I've already spouted about how I think the Dewback is all kinds of awesome.  The Landspeeder was okay, but didn't seem to have as much value.

Enfys and her speeder were pretty nice.  The speeder is huge, and I love the foot spots/pegs in the back for Enfys as she jumps off to attack.  I doubt we're going to get Weazel or anyone else from her crew, but I love the concept.

By comparison I felt Rey and her speeder were not nearly as interesting and worth the $60.  Its an okay vehicle, but there really isn't much to it.  It maybe should have come with a BB-8 or something else.  I know its fanboy-centric, but I'd love to see a Teedo and Luggabeast.

Some of these Last Jedi figures are super boring - DJ and Rose are going straight to the back.

Moloch is a giant salt shaker.  He looks cool enough, but has probably five points of articulation.  Compared to the Gamorrean Guard I feel like I overpaid.

I'm really bummed the Praetorian Guard's armor really messes with his arm articulation.  He looks cool, but it would have been nice to get him in some cooler poses.

Lando Skiff Guard is an awesome sculpt.

Offline Jeff

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Re: Best of Black Series - 2018
« Reply #6 on: January 8, 2019, 10:38 AM »
I'm totally bored with clones.  Rex and Wolffe didn't need to be made.  I really hope there aren't any more in the pipeline.

Um, about that... . :-X
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Offline Dave

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Re: Best of Black Series - 2018
« Reply #7 on: January 8, 2019, 10:53 AM »
I'm totally bored with clones.  Rex and Wolffe didn't need to be made.  I really hope there aren't any more in the pipeline.

Um, about that... . :-X

Yeah, I assumed Jayson's rumor list had a clone or two on there.  A total waste of plastic when there are so many better choices, but I get it that they just repaint and tweak the existing mold and run to the bank with piles of profit.  I just gotta start skipping more of these 6" figures.

I forgot to mention that Jaina Solo was pretty lame too.  It was a fine sculpt, and I kinda liked the black helmet, but for those that voted for her I really wish you didn't.  So many better choices still out there.

Offline GrandMoffNick

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Re: Best of Black Series - 2018
« Reply #8 on: January 8, 2019, 11:21 AM »
"but for those that voted for her I really wish you didn't.  So many better choices still out there."

I love ya Dave but this comment is just so not logical to me. Isn't that the point of a vote? Hasbro could just choose to make some of the better choices.
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Offline GrandMoffNick

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Re: Best of Black Series - 2018
« Reply #9 on: January 8, 2019, 11:28 AM »
What Hasbro should do is take credit card numbers for those who vote and if your figure wins you get charged for one. Then we would see what won by people who actually buy toys
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Offline Nicklab

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Re: Best of Black Series - 2018
« Reply #10 on: January 8, 2019, 11:33 AM »
I'm totally bored with clones.  Rex and Wolffe didn't need to be made.  I really hope there aren't any more in the pipeline.

Um, about that... . :-X

Yeah, I assumed Jayson's rumor list had a clone or two on there.  A total waste of plastic when there are so many better choices, but I get it that they just repaint and tweak the existing mold and run to the bank with piles of profit.  I just gotta start skipping more of these 6" figures.

I forgot to mention that Jaina Solo was pretty lame too.  It was a fine sculpt, and I kinda liked the black helmet, but for those that voted for her I really wish you didn't.  So many better choices still out there.

I actually went back to look at the candidates from that Fan's Choice Poll.  Here they are:

Starkiller
Mara Jade
Jaina Solo
Captain Rex
Dengar
Darth Talon

...and now we've got three of those characters made.  As for Mara Jade, Starkiller and Darth Talon?  I guess they've got as good a shot as any other Legends characters.  Given the response to the TBS Darth Revan figure, I think Starkiller might be the standout of the three since video game characters might reach a bit larger of an audience.
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Offline Dave

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Re: Best of Black Series - 2018
« Reply #11 on: January 14, 2019, 01:30 PM »
Some more belated thoughts.

I already mentioned that I thought the planet type bases on the exclusive figures were really lame (Ach-To for Luke, Crait for Rey, etc.).

I did however love how the Kylo Ren (Wal-Mart Exclusive) that comes with the throne room base parts is designed to work perfectly with the Supreme Leader Snoke (Gamestop) throne setup.  That was super cool.  I've got that all set up with Kylo, Snoke, and a handful of Praetorian Guards.

I hope Hasbro keeps finding ways to make the exclusive figures more interesting like that.