I haven’t been too enamored of the Black Series lately, so I was surprised that I ended up pretty excited about most of the Black Series releases shown off at Hasbro’s Pulse Con 2024.
I have huge Clone Trooper fatigue in this line lately, so I’m a little surprised I want this one! Maybe because he goes with the recent and excellent Ki-Adi Mundi figure or perhaps because he has a slightly different design. The rest of his squad has a neat snow trooper in maroon vibe that I wouldn’t mind as well. Give me that Ki-Adi death squad!
Dagan Gera is from a Star Wars game I haven’t played, but he’s a unique looking Jedi sporting the High Republic style Jedi gear that I’ve come to really like reading those comics. It’s a shame he’s one-armed because he’d be great custom fodder otherwise. I do wish they had included a force-push hand for him as he looks a little silly holding his c-grip hand up. As much as I’d like Joes to come with fists for punching, more Jedi need force push hands. With the ornate lightsaber and shiny gold trim, this guy is just a snazzy looking figure. One day I’ll get a PS5 and finally play this game.
It’s been a good long while since we got a Luke from the original Star Wars and it’s a figure that could use some modern improvements for sure. I’ve got the Figuarts ANH Luke and this one actually feels pretty close to that in sculpt quality. Where it falls a little short for me is the portrait. Not so much the face as the hair seems a little too tame and brown for ANH Luke for my taste. Still, I think he could definitely replace the old Black Series ANH Luke I have on the shelf.
The portrait on Leia and the face printing really appeals to me, a definite improvement on the Black Series figure I have and I think I’ll also grab this one to replace my soft goods Black Series Leia on the shelf. I also like the way the hoods hang. Between these two improved figures, I’d like to see them re-do ANH Han as well. It is one of my all-time favorite figures, but it is really showing its age.
I immediately loved the Battle Droid Commando design from the moment they first showed up in the first Clone Wars season and they were one of my favorites to play in Battlefront II, so they’ve been high on my want list for a long time. The fact that a new Star Wars game features a Commando Droid probably helped get this guy made since they can easily re-use this one. It looks like they did a nice job in the articulation here with double ball joints in the shoulders. I also like some the weathering they’ve done with some chip damage along some of the surfaces. I ordered a couple of these.
I read the original Shadows of the Empire book and comics and bought all the toys when they first appeared and, quite frankly, I didn’t love it aside from some of the Swoop Gang and Bounty Hunter designs, so I’m a little surprised at how stoked I am to see Xizor (or Skeezor as I always think of him due to his weird pheromone-powered seduction attempt with Leia). I don’t know, maybe absence makes the heart grow fonder or it’s so long ago that I’ve developed nostalgia for something I didn’t really love, but this looks fantastic to me. The details on his outfit, the haughty expression, and the nasty scaled spine all look amazing to me. I think it’s just a great looking figure, so that may be all it is. As a bonus, his solicitation information confirmed more Shadows of the Empire figures including Dash Rendar (!), Luke, and Leia. Shadows of the Empire Renaissance. Maybe I can get a Spiker or Furlag figure out of this!
Xizor, Bacara, and the Commando droid went up for pre-order yesterday and the rest will be up next week 9/18 at 1PM ET for a Spring release.
