I just got my first taste of Wave 2 figures here tonight... Someone pilferred all Luke, Han, and McFigures that were there, and left 1 of a couple figures and 2 of the Rebel.
I got:
-Biggs... Biggs' name = Biggsest **** of the wave. The Dutch Vander body is hardly "definitive" of any Rebel Pilot figure. It's oversized, underarticulated, and while it's cool to say "Dutch" was just a tall guy, it looks like poodoo with just other heads slapped on it. I pray Hasbro gives us a super articulated pilot body that's better in the near future.
Add to this that the helmet's paintjob is utter shite and it doesn't fit perfectly (not horribly, just not perfectly either), and I just am overall underwhelmed by Biggs. He's basically winding up as nothing more than "fine, that'll do I guess" in my mind. Easily the worst figure of the entire wave and I don't have 3 of them yet in-hand, but know my opinion isn't going anywhere on that one.
-Death Star Trooper (Imp. Naval Trooper/Marine)... The DST is a mixed bag like people have said. I love the articulation, and sculpt be damned, this is how a toy is to be as far as poseability goes so I sacrifice one for the other. That said, there's no reason the articulation SHOULD be this visible. You SHOULD get the best of both worlds... Why? Because you do get it with the Rebel figure, so obviously they can do it and chose not to. For shame on the guy who sculpted this figure is all.
Don't fault the articulation, fault the sculpt. People are saying it's the joints that look bad... They're wrong. It's the sculpt not hiding the joints that looks bad. Point the finger in the right direction is my point, and don't just decry articulation as a blight on toys.
I love the removable helmet and it seems to sit fine... Little low but they sit low on people's heads in the movie so I see no gripe there. It's also a "fixable" issue if you wanted to from what I've read.
I'm pissed at the height... Fixable though, I think. I'm waiting till I get some more, but I'm going to likely chop a few guys at the calves and then drill a hole with a concave piece up into the shin. This'll allow the ball/socket ankle to sit in the shin better while also lessening the height issue so he's maybe normal looking. It'd be nice if he at least was as tall as the giant known as Dutch/Biggs is.
He actually is taller... You cannot deny that's odd looking guys.
Too bad you didn't get a black kepi hat too like the 12" figure. Anyone else disappointed with that?
-Rebel Honor Guard... This I managed 2 figures of, and I love them. My gripes are fewer, but still kind of important when you look at the figure, and show a lack of effort on Hasbro's part.
First, the helmet's based on, I think, the POTJ Fleet Trooper's helmet with some changes. The nicks/dents seem familiar to me anyway, no? I preferred the less damaged look of Antilles' helmet.
The holster and removable helmet are great though and I dig the headsculpt. It's kind of cool unto itself. Also the pike is a nice RIGID PLASTIC! They can't do a battledroid right? bull****.
Articulation out the whazzoo, a great sculpt that hides every joint, and lots of costume detail. I was disappointed though to see things not painted, such as the costume buttons. If you look at the outfits in the movie, the buttons are a dark brown or black clearly, and if painted they'd help break up the dull grey color of the duds. It seemed like just a sorta lazy effort on paint with this one.
Also hating the leg stance... Fixable, as I've mentioned with the Boil & Freeze technique, however Hasbro trying to "make a figure more dynamic" (as they said they did with Jerjerrod in their Q&A) is really... err, dumb. A wide stance hasn't helped sell Jerjerrod figures, and when you articulate a figure like the guard here, do you really need to give it a ****** stance and negate some of that articulation? Of course not! Let kids/adults pose the toy in dynamic ways instead!
And, both figures (DSG and RHG) needed slits up their "skirt" extension of their tunics for said poseability. Maybe a bigger nuisance than anything mentioned so far actually.
Either way, I actually love the latter two figures... Biggs is just better than his original figure, and is a great, accurate headsculpt by the way. I should note that. I just hate that figure as a base. To be honest I wish they'd used the original Biggs body with maybe modded legs, or wait till they have something better to work with. This is a little disappointing to me.
The two troopers rock though and I'm geeked to get more and "fix" some of them. I think I can clean these up substantially and I'm already set to get many MANY of both of them.
