#115: Star Wars The Black Series (The Last Jedi) - Supreme Leader Snoke

Since he only appeared as a giant hologram in the last movie, Hasbro didn't bother making a six inch figure for Snoke. But he appears in the flesh for The Last Jedi, so now he gets a figure. Sadly, he remains as enigmatic as ever, although I assume his backstory will be filled in with a tie-in novel at some point. Although a golden bathrobe is not the costume I would have expected for the leader of a bunch of Imperial wannabes, I will give Snoke points for originality in not choosing a more Sith-like set of black robes. Since it's all soft goods, he's fully articulated, and the costume doesn't get in the way of his movement. In case anybody wonders what Snoke is wearing under that robe, the answer is short white pants and gold slippers. There are no accessories included, although I can't really think of any that would be appropriate.

#114: Star Wars The Black Series (The Last Jedi) - Resistance Tech Rose

Now that I've finally seen The Last Jedi and have some context for the figures I've bought from the movie, here's Rose, who is a new character. I'm not getting into any spoiler territory, but I liked the movie, and I liked the character. Rose looks like she did onscreen, in her comfy looking Resistance tech jumpsuit, armed with a blaster rifle, and taser (which clips on to her belt). I think my favorite thing about the figure is the expression on her face, which to me looks like she's having trouble believing that she just heard say something incredibly dumb.

#111: Star Wars The Black Series (A New Hope) - Jawa

I went to a Target that's not my usual one, and there was a random endcap filled with Jawa and Death Squad Commanders. I'd been on the lookout for the Jawa figure for a while, so that was a nice find. Sadly, the days of getting two Jawas for the price of one figure seems to have passed. While the Jawa is fully articulated, its leg articulation is mostly rendered moot by the plastic robes. It comes with two blunderbuss looking blasters, one of which is connected by a cord to a pack on its belt.

#106: Star Wars The Black Series (The Last Jedi) - Elite Praetorian Guard

Tonight's the night! In a few hours I'll be sitting in a theater watching The Last Jedi. For now though, here's the Elite Praetorian Guard figure. Clearly a First Order analogue of the Imperial Guard, these guys have crazier outfits. Seriously, look at those arms. I don't know what's going on there. Unfortunately, those crazy arms do hinder the elbows. Aside from that, it's a cool figure. Before I got the figure in hand, I thought the lower robes were soft goods, but they are soft plastic instead.

#105: Star Wars The Black Series (The Last Jedi) - General Leia Organa

We didn't get a General Leia figure in this scale for The Force Awakens, but we finally do for The Last Jedi. For me, that completes all the characters from TFA that I felt should have been made into figures, at least in this scale. I don't think the six inch scale will ever be anywhere as comprehensive as the smaller scale, which is both good and bad. Either way, I'm glad to finally get the general as a figure. She has a pistol and an expression on her face that says someone nearby just told her something worthy of disdain.

#104: Star Wars The Black Series (The Last Jedi) - Maz Kanata

Backlog update: I bought this figure in October, so now I'm only two months behind in my blogging. Smaller scale aside, there wasn't a Maz figure from The Force Awakens. Going by the bio text on the back of the package, this is a Last Jedi figure, but this definitely looks like a TFA figure. The coolest thing about this Maz is that the lenses on her glasses can swivel up like in the movie. Since the lenses don't actually magnify her eyes, they end up being too large when compared with her onscreen appearance. Oddly, Maz is packaged with her glasses in the up position, revealing her too large eyes. But it's a cool touch either way. For accessories, she has a blaster, and the chest in which Rey found Luke's lightsaber, as well as the lightsaber itself. Those are very definitely TFA accessories.

#103: Star Wars The Black Series (Revenge of the Sith) - Commander Gree

Hey, it's Commander Gree, who was beheaded by Yoda. He's a Toys R Us exclusive. I feel like I've bought so many clone trooper figures in the past 12 years that I have a hard time saying anything else about them. He's got some unique tooling, so he's not just a repaint at least. He's got the usual blaster and blaster rifle, as well as a set of macrobinoculars.

#101: Star Wars The Black Series (The Last Jedi) - First Order Stormtrooper Executioner

I was thinking that the name of this figure made it sound like it's his job to execute Stormtroopers. Then I read the bio text on the box, and apparently, these guys punish traitorous soldiers. So, maybe Finn is going to have to deal with some of these guys, aside from his fight with Phasma that's shown in the trailer. So yeah, this is just a regular First Order Stormtrooper with a slightly different paint job and some sort of electro-axe instead of a blaster. We've got less than a week left to wait to see what role this trooper will play.

#99: Star Wars The Black Series (Rebels) - Grand Admiral Thrawn

One of the good things about Disney getting rid of the old Expanded Universe is that it allows us to ignore all the bad parts, while a lot of the good stuff gets to crossover into the new canon. So of course Thrawn is back. While it remains to be seen if he will still be an important presence after Return of the Jedi, he is now prominent during the rebellion. Judging by the bio text on the back of the package, this is definitely based on Thrawn's appearances in Rebels. Which makes sense, since he's otherwise only appeared in one novel in the new canon so far. For as long as I had to wait for an update to Thrawn in the smaller scale, I'm glad that Hasbro got one out in the six inch scale so quickly.

#97: Star Wars The Black Series (The Last Jedi) - Luke Skywalker (Jedi Master)

Like his sister Leia, Luke Skywalker did not get a six inch figure based on The Force Awakens. Sure, he didn't show up until the very end of the movie, and he didn't have any lines. But come on. Ah, well, since The Last Jedi apparently picks up directly after the end of TFA, this is functionally a TFA version of Luke, so it works. Luke's only accessory is his hooded cape, which is soft goods. Unfortunately, there's no real good way to keep it in place. There are two very short strings that can be tied together to hold it on. I blame the costume designers for not making it a proper robe, which would stay on a little better in this scale. Because I'm sure costume designers are very concerned with action figure reproductions of their designs.

#96: Star Wars The Black Series (The Last Jedi) - Kylo Ren

Another Force Friday figure from The Last Jedi, here's Kylo Ren. He's wearing a similar costume to his appearance in The Force Awakens. For all I know, this is what was under the long robe and scarf, but now with a cape thrown on top. Now that he has a cool facial scar, it seems Kylo no longer feels the need to wear a helmet. Unfortunately, the scar on the figure is pretty hard to see. It's definitely sculpted in, but there's no paint to help it pop, son in this small scale it kind of gets lost. The cape is a plastic piece that is removable and just rest on the shoulders. Naturally, Kylo Ren's lightsaber is included in both activated and unactivated modes. The hilt plugs into his belt.

#95: Star Wars The Black Series (The Last Jedi) - Rey (Jedi Training)

So, this is basically the Rey figure we should have had from The Force Awakens. Sure, her hair and costume are different, but she actually comes with all the accessories that make sense for her. Aside from her trusty staff, she has her lightsaber (#reyisaskywalkerconfirmed) and the blaster Han gave her (#reyisasoloconfirmed) which has a holster on her belt. The costume she's wearing is very similar (Rey loves her armwraps), but with her legs fully covered and a more grey color scheme (#greyjediconfirmed). This figure is an improvement over the previous Rey in that her face is flesh colored plastic rather than being covered in paint. Oddly, she's more tan now. Sadly, Rey does not include a porg. She has three accessories already, so it's not a complaint. Word is that Hasbro will be releasing some sort of porg release in the six inch scale later on.

#94: Star Wars The Black Series (Rebels) - Hera Syndulla

In case you're wondering how far behind I still am, we have now reached my Force Friday haul. So, about three months. But here's another realistically styled character in the line who is from Rebels: Hera Syndulla! I'm always glad to get figures of more characters from Rebels, which is in the middle of its final season. As captain of the Ghost, she's one of the main protagonists from the show. Translated to a more realistic appearance, Hera makes for a nice looking figure. Her only accessory is a small holdout blaster, which has a holster on her boot.

#86: Star Wars The Black Series (Rogue One) - Baze Malbus

Unless Hasbro decides to at some point make a Bodhi or Saw figure, this is probably my last Rogue One figure. It's too bad Baze and Chirrut were so hard to find, since you probably wouldn't want one without the other. Like I did with Chirrut, I had to wait to find one online for a price I was willing to pay. Baze is a cool figure, but his giant cannon (it comes in three parts: gun, hose, and power pack) makes him back heavy.

#73: Star Wars The Black Series - Chirrut Imwe

Chirrut Imwe was one of the great new character additions from Rogue One. So of course this figure was impossible to find. Presumably some of them must have made it to stores, but I never saw one. I was only able to finally get one by paying slightly above retail and ordering online. And even that took a lot of patience. Chirrut turned out pretty well in action figure form. He's armed with his staff and bowcaster (?), and the lower parts of his robes are soft goods, which allows for more leg mobility than plastic robes would.

#65: Star Wars The Black Series - Death Squad Commander

For the 40th anniversary of Star Wars, Hasbro started releasing the six inch Black Series figures on vintage style card backs. I saw the first series, which were mostly re-releases of figures I already had, then didn't see any more, except for this guy. Supposedly there is a Jawa and C-3PO out there. Somewhere. Basically they were a victim of being stuck between all the leftover Rogue One stuff, and when stores stopped ordering in anticipation for the upcoming Last Jedi stuff. Since this guy was one of the original 12 Star Wars figures, it got an update for the 40th anniversary line. I was thinking about how goofy his helmet looks, but now I'm wondering if it's modeled after samurai helmets. That's completely possible given the various influences that went into Star Wars. Either way, this is a good figure of a generic Imperial. He's got a blaster and his helmet is removable.

#61: Star Wars The Black Series - Royal Guard

Long time blog readers may recall that I am always down for a Royal Guard figure. There's a online exclusive four pack that features a Senate Guard, a Royal Guard, a Shadow Guard, and a Praetorian Guard that I am super tempted to get. But for now here is the Royal Guard. Like most Royal Guard figures from the last few years, the robe conceals a fully sculpted set of armor, and the figure is armed with the typical force pike and holdout blaster. I think this figure is unique in that the cloak is only split along the right side, whereas previous versions have basically had a "cape" for the front and the back that kind of close around each other. It's too bad that we never got to see these guys in action during their appearance in Return of the Jedi, but maybe the Praetorian Guard will get to show off their moves during The Last Jedi.

#60 LEGO Star Wars Microfighters - Wookiee Gunship (75129)

This was another birthday gift. Since this is a Wookiee who isn't Chewbacca (you can tell because he's completely nude), this is a set based on Revenge of the Sith. But it turns out there is a larger Wookiee Gunship set that's based on Rebels, so maybe not. My Shyriiwook is terrible, I can't come up with an appropriate name for him, so I'll just go with Frank. Frank's bowcaster looks suspiciously like a regular crossbow. I've never had a Chewbacca minifigure before, is this "crossbow as bowcaster" treatment standard for Wookiees in LEGO form? The gunship itself is a fun little build, with adjustable wings and flick out missiles.

#58: Star Wars The Black Series- Tusken Raider

The Tusken Raiders are one of the iconic alien groups from Star Wars. Completely covered from head to toe, and speaking in unintelligible grunts, there's something unnerving and mysterious about them. If someone wanted to make a horror movie in the Star Wars universe, they would be great antagonists. The first six inch figure turned out pretty well, fortunately. The soft goods robe has a nice rough look to it, although it does hang somewhat oddly. Hopefully gravity will sort that out with time. The other accessories are a long blaster rifle and a gaffi stick. Well, three gaffi sticks, sort of. There are three different interchangeable ends for the gaffi stick. Why so many? I'm assuming it's meant to reflect different onscreen props, so you can choose which specific Sandperson you want the figure to reflect. I just opted for the one that I think looks best.

#57: Star Wars The Black Series - Qui-Gon Jinn

Next up from Star Wars is Qui-Gon Jinn. As a Jedi who wasn't particularly concerned with the rules of the Order, he was probably responsible for Obi-Wan's loose interpretation of honesty. I just realized that this is only the second Phantom Menace figure in the six inch line. I mean, Artoo technically could be a Phantom Menace figure, but his accessories are specific to later movies in the series. I'm not too surprised, given the film's notoriety. I will be very impressed if Hasbro ever makes a six inch Jar-Jar figure.  Anyway, Qui-Gon has the usual level of articulation for six inch Star Wars figures, and mostly looks pretty good. The face looks better in person than in this picture. Naturally, he includes his lightsaber, which has a removable blade, and an alternate Force gesture left hand. So far, none of the Jedi in this scale have included robes. I hope at some point in the future they start making them, although I wouldn't want to have to re-buy figures just for robes.