Today’s unboxing features The Black Series Revenge Of The Jedi Darth Vader 6″ figure. This figure was originally revealed as a Star Wars Celebration Europe 2023 exclusive figure, so we were very keen to add this Hasbro collectible to our collection.

For our very first overseas trip together, which was Star Wars Celebration III in 2005, the Hasbro exclusive figure was a Revenge Of The Sith Darth Vader 3.75″ figure. It feels like a full-circle moment to have another special convention exclusive Darth Vader figure from our most recent Star Wars Celebration convention – we celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary during our trip to London for the convention.

At the time of writing, this figure is available to buy from Hasbro Pulse for US$33.99 each.

Check out my unboxing video –

The packaging for this Black Series figure is similar to other convention exclusive 6″ figures from Hasbro, in a large black cardboard box, very different to the regular Black Series boxes. This packaging is part of Hasbro’s recent ‘plastic free packaging’ initiative, which has both positives and negatives. I think most people will be keeping the packaging for this figure, so any plastic used wouldn’t be thrown away.

I would have preferred a little more sturdiness to the packaging, as the cardboard used here is quite thin in places and easily damaged. In our case, the box we opened arrived with a tear in the front cardboard frame – the photos of the box here are of our second figure which thankfully arrived undamaged.

When removing the front poster art card, the figure is revealed behind. There is no plastic window, so you can see the figure clearly, but it is a little ‘tucked away’ – I would have preferred a little bit more of a posed presentation, especially for collectors who will keep this figure boxed. He looks like the figures that come bundled up inside the ‘blind box’ plastic free packaging of the recent Black Series, not like a special figure to display inside the box.

The front of the box is a removable card poster of the original Revenge Of The Jedi artwork by Drew Struzan. The artwork is on both sides of the card, which is helpful, as it forms the front of the box – if one side gets damaged, you can display the other side. Speaking of display, in the back of the box, there is a small little cardboard stand that you can remove, to display the poster card on.

The recessed box housing the figure is made from red cardboard, meant to accentuate the red colour tone of this figure, but I think in some ways it drowns it out. It almost looks ‘too red’ and the figure is a it lost in the strong colour. Once I took the figure out of the box, I personally liked the artistic paint scheme a lot more.

Here we can see the Darth Vader figure out of the box, posed in front of the box with the poster inside the front frame – and it looks really cool!

One of the reasons why I think this Darth Vader figure looks better out of the box – his cape. The cape is all tucked behind the figure in the box, it almost looks like it is missing! Darth Vader just doesn’t look right without that flowing cape – and this figure is no exception. It looks so much better with the cape visible and displayed.

The dark burgundy colour of the figure is accented by artistic red brush strokes. In some places, this almost looks hand applied, like across the top of the helmet, but in other places it is clear this is printed on.

The burgundy/red colour scheme is used throughout the figure, including the lightsaber hilt and fabric components. It’s quite interesting to see a Darth Vader figure without anything in his iconic black.

This Darth Vader figure has no removable components, so he has a fixed helmet and hand poses etc. The right hand is perfect for holding the included lightsaber, while the left hand is good for ‘force choke’ poses.

Here is the Revenge Of The Jedi version next to the Obi-Wan Kenobi series version – you can really see the difference in colour here. The convention exclusive figure is made from a dark burgundy/brown colour plastic, while the standard Obi-Wan Kenobi series figure is a true black colour plastic.

The sculpting for these two figures appears to be mostly the same, with the main differences being the gloves – as the quilting lines on Darth Vader’s gloves changes direction between the A New Hope era and Return Of The Jedi, so this is accurate. The other painted differences in Darth Vader’s costume (like the details on the helmet, chest box, and belt) don’t really apply here as the stylised red colour covers all of that.

Overall, I actually like this figure more out of the packaging. When it was first revealed, I admit I was a little disappointed, but now that I have actually seen it in person and held it, I like it a lot more now. I’m glad we have two, so we can keep one boxed and open one – personally I think this figure looks better out of the box. A cool artistic addition to our Black Series collection, and a fun memento of our trip to Star Wars Celebration Europe.

May the Force be with you!

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Today’s unboxing and review features the Funko Pop! Vinyl Wicket With Slingshot figure. This is a Funko 2023 Summer Convention Limited Edition release, for San Diego Comic Con. I try to collect Wicket and Ewok merchandise when I can, so I’m really happy to be able to get my hands on this one!

Check out my unboxing video –

This particular Funko Pop! Vinyl is marked as a ‘ 2023 Summer Convention Limited Edition’ as noted by the purple sticker on the front – in the US, this is a ‘shared retailer exclusive’ for San Diego Comic Con. Here in New Zealand, most US exclusives are available from our regular Funko retailers, sometimes $1 or $2 more than a standard pop vinyl, but totally worth it.

As well as a being a summer convention exclusive, this Pop! Vinyl is also part of the Return Of The Jedi 40th Anniversary collection – and it has other figures from the collection pictured on the back of the box. Interestingly, the recent ROTJ wave already included a regular Wicket Pop! Vinyl, holding a spear – this limited edition variant features Wicket holding a slingshot instead.

As collectors, we often prefer to pick out our Funko Pop! Vinyl figures in store, so we can see the paint job and box condition in person, but for this summer exclusive, we had to buy online. Thankfully, it arrived quickly, in great condition, and with a really nice paint job too!

I love the sculpt and pose for Wicket – slightly leaning to his left, ready to let his slingshot fly towards an Imperial opponent. There is subtle paint weathering to highlight his fur texture, and also on his hood.

While I don’t yet have the standard ROTJ Wicket version yet, I do intend to add both to my collection. Perhaps not all collectors will feel the same way – some may prefer one pose over the other, or just choose to get this exclusive version and feel no need to get the regular one. I do like it when companies choose a variant (like glitter/flocked etc) as an exclusive, rather than a unique character not available in the regular line, as fans who can’t get the exclusive still have the option of the standard version.

Overall, a very cute version of Wicket in battle mode that I’m happy to add to my Funko Pop! Vinyl collection. I like the pose and sculpting, his expression and stance, and the paint job is tidy. Now I really need to hurry up and add more from the Return Of The Jedi wave to my shelf.

May the Force be with you!

The post Funko Pop! Vinyl Wicket SDCC 2023 Summer Convention Exclusive appeared first on Villa Varykino.

Today’s unboxing features The Black Series HK-86 6″ Figure from The Mandalorian series. We were a little slow to jump into Black Series collecting, but it was The Mandalorian that really hooked us in, so we’re trying to collect as much as we can from the show in the Black Series 6″ range. HK-87 was a fun new droid design from the show, so we’re really happy to add him to our collection.

Check out my unboxing video –

This figure is part of Hasbro’s recent ‘plastic free packaging’ initiative, which means it has a windowless box. You can’t see the specific figure you are buying – which is not an issue if you predominately order online, but we mostly get our figures from local store shelves. Personally I like the opportunity to see the figure I’m choosing, and comparing the details, especially the paint job, with other figures on the shelf.

The windowless box also causes some headaches for collectors who keep their Black Series figures boxed – you can’t ‘display’ the figure anymore, it’s just a picture on the front. For the most part, we open our Black Series figures, but we appreciate the option for those rarer/collectible/exclusive ones we would choose to display sealed in the box.

Apart from the front missing the classic window, the rest of the packaging matches the modern Black Series boxes, with artwork on the right side slanted panel that forms a wider picture when displayed alongside other figures from the same series – in this case, The Mandalorian series. The colour scheme for The Mandalorian series packaging is orange, which we see in the stripe across the front with the series name, and used to accent the side panel artwork.

As the box notes, the packaging is free from plastic, with the exception of tape and glue. Inside, the figure is wrapped in ‘The Black Series’ branded tissue paper, held in place in a brown cardboard insert with some thin cardboard bands taped closed. The accessory (blaster) is stored inside a waxy paper pouch that is sealed closed, so it doesn’t fall out. All in all, this holds the figure well, and is easy to open – similar to how starships are packaged, but of course this only works in boxes without windows.

I was really keen to get my first in-hand look at this HK-87 droid figure – and I’m quite impressed. There is something quite striking about the colours, and that cool fabric half-cloak, it all really comes together in a neat design. Droids in particular often translate really well into action figure form, and this HK-87 is no exception.

This figure has all the standard articulation points you would expect from a Black Series 6″ figure. I was a little surprised to find that the grey shoulder ‘armour’ pieces are actually made from a soft plastic, so they can bend to allow you to pose the arm upwards without limiting movement.

Most of the different colours of this figure come from being made in different plastic colours, so there is very little paint application. The most notable painted details are the silver at the limb joints, the gold belt buckle, beige/grey stripes on the upper right arm, and some small silver details on the face – which are all quite tidy and well done on my figure.

This figure also includes a soft goods component – a dark brown fabric ‘half-coat’ worn on the left side, and held in place with a plastic bandolier-style strap. Some fabric cloaks look a bit awkward when scaled down to toy size, but the fabric used here is a good thickness and folds well when posing the left arm. The neckline edge of the half-coat is painted neatly in red, which helps to keep the fabric straight and tidy.

The hands on this figure are quite rigid for holding an accessory, but once you do get the blaster into place, HK-87 holds it well for poses. There is only one singular blaster accessory for this figure, but it looks good.

Overall, I think this HK-87 is a great figure – and now that I’ve seen it in person, I’ll definitely be on the look out for a second to build a cool Corvus scene with Din Djarin and Ahsoka Tano. Speaking of Ahsoka, I was really excited to see one of these assassin droids in the recent Ahsoka series trailer, so I’m sure we’ll see a variant figure from that show released in the future.

May the Force be with you!

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Today’s unboxing and review features the new Young Jedi Adventures range of figures. The Hasbro range features characters from the new Disney+ animated series, set in the High Republic era before the prequels.

We recently spotted the ‘Jedi Showdown Pack’ at a local retailer, and we were keen to check out the figures ourselves after seeing the range previewed at Celebration Europe earlier this year.

Check out my unboxing video –

The Hasbro toy range for Young Jedi Adventures features figures and vehicles from the new Disney + animated show. Previewed at Star Wars Celebration Europe a few months ago, the new range is bright and colourful – and it immediately drew me in. I have collected a range of ‘cute’ kids Star Wars merchandise over the years, including Itty Bittys, Galactic Heroes, and Mission Fleet, so I was keen to add a few pieces from this new range to my collection.

This ‘Jedi Showdown Pack’ includes five figures – Lys Solay, Kai Brightstar, Yoda, Taborr, and a training droid. The packaging notes that this pack includes a ‘special Yoda figure’ – which is different to the version of Yoda that is available separately.

Each character comes with a weapon to hold, while the training droid has two blue training blades permanently attached.

Taborr is the tallest figure, measuring approximately 11cm high, while Yoda is of course the shortest at approximately 7cm high. This is a good size to hold, and they all stand up reasonably well on their own.

My main critique of this set is that one of the main characters from the show, Nubs, isn’t included here in this set, alongside fellow young Jedi Kai and Lys. Nubs is available separately in a few ways – as a standalone figure, in a set with a speeder bike, and in another set with a starship. I guess this is to make sure that most fans will buy at least one other product from the line to complete the lineup from the show.

Lys, Kai, and Taborr all have removable capes, which helps if you want to pose the figures sitting down. Yoda has a peg hole in his back, but his robes are not removable, so perhaps this is for some other feature, like interacting with the Tenoo Jedi Temple playset (which is on my wish list).

The training droid is attached to a clear plastic stand, and can spin around freely. The blue ‘training’ blades are permanently attached, so they won’t get lost. The droid’s arms don’t move, so they are fixed in one pose.

The characters hold their weapons well, and the simple articulation (shoulders and wrists) works well for some classic lightsaber poses. Add in the training droid with two blades, and kids can recreate some of the fun training scenes seen in the animated show.

As you may have guessed, I have also picked up a few other items from the Young Jedi Adventures toy range – including the standard individual figures for Lys Solay, Yoda, and Nubs, as well as Lys with her speeder bike, and her lightsaber. This toy range hit our local stores during school holiday toy sales, so it was a great time to pick up a few of my favourites from the range while they were all on sale. I’ll be unboxing those additional figures soon.

One of the friends in the show, starship pilot Nash Durango and droid companion RJ-83 aren’t in this set either, but if you are keen to add Nash to your collection, the upcoming set with the Crimson Firehawk starship would be the way to go.

Overall, this is a fantastic set if you are keen to collect the set of character figures from the show – coming in much cheaper than buying the figures individually. The figures are bright and colourful, with enough articulation for simple poses or play time.

May the Force be with you!

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Today’s unboxing features The Black Series NED-B 6″ Figure from the Obi-Wan Kenobi series. We really enjoyed the series, so we’re keen to build up an Obi-Wan Kenobi series action figure display with both TVC 4″ and Black Series 6″ figures. NED-B was a neat character in the series, and a fun new droid design so we’re really happy to add him to our collection.

Check out my unboxing video –

• Affiliate Link – Buy The Black Series NED-B 6″ figure on Amazon.com

This figure is part of Hasbro’s recent ‘plastic free packaging’ initiative, which means it has a windowless box. You can’t see the specific figure you are buying – which is not an issue if you predominately order online, but we mostly get our figures from local store shelves. Personally I like the opportunity to see the figure I’m choosing, and comparing the details, especially the paint job, with other figures on the shelf.

The windowless box also causes some headaches for collectors who keep their Black Series figures boxed – you can’t ‘display’ the figure anymore, it’s just a picture on the front. For the most part, we open our Black Series figures, but we appreciate the option for those rarer/collectible/exclusive ones we would choose to display sealed in the box.

Apart from the front missing the classic window, the rest of the packaging matches the modern Black Series boxes, with artwork on the right side slanted panel that forms a wider picture when displayed alongside other figures from the same series – in this case, the Obi-Wan Kenobi series. The colour scheme for the Obi-Wan Kenobi series packaging is a light blue, which we see in the stripe across the front with the series name, and used to accent the side panel artwork.

As the box notes, the packaging is free from plastic, with the exception of tape and glue. Inside, the figure is wrapped in ‘The Black Series’ branded tissue paper, held in place in a brown cardboard insert with some thin cardboard bands taped closed. The accessories are stored inside a waxy paper pouch that is sealed closed, so they can’t fall out. All in all, this holds the figure well, and is easy to open – similar to how starships are packaged, but of course this only works in boxes without windows.

The NED-B figure is primarily made in two colours – grey plastic at the joints and yellow plastic for the main body parts. This colour scheme is accented with dark grey/metallic weathering, and some blue painted details around the neck, left forearm, and backpack.

This figure is quite articulated as we would expect from a Black Series figure. Interestingly, I couldn’t get movement at the waist, instead the figure moves at the mid-torso join instead. Otherwise, it has all the joints and movements needed to pose for display.

It’s a little hard to show in photos, but the circular joints in his elbows, knees, and ankles have a clear plastic center, to give the effect of being hollow. A good option to maintain stability for poses, but still looks accurate to the original droid design. Considering the top-heavy nature of NED-B, he needs good stability in his legs so he doesn’t topple over.

For me, the frustrating part of this figure is the backpack. This was separate to the figure, and needs to be assembled to display. Putting the backpack on was relatively easy, it connects to the back of NED-B with a simple peg-and-slot attachment, but the problem is the small tubes on lower sides.

The tubes are attached to NED-B’s back and insert into the backpack once the backpack is attached in place. Simple in theory, but very tricky to actually do! Honestly, it took the both of us quite a few minutes to get those tubes into place – the dark grey knobs just below the attachment point really get in the way of your fingers. But anyway, once we finally wrestled them into place, it looks good.

NED-B comes with two accessories to hold – a hammer, and battle droid blaster. He holds the hammer really well, and it’s my favourite of the two accessories. His right hand has a finger pointed out like it would fit into the trigger section of the blaster, but his hands are bigger than a standard Black Series figure, and it looks like they used a standard blaster accessory, so he does hold it, but it’s a little awkward.

While there were a few frustrating notes with this figure (the windowless box and hard-to-put-on backpack), I think it looks really cool. The expression in the face captures the character well, he looks great holding his hammer, and the paint job really makes him look like a worn, beaten up old droid. I can’t wait to start building up our Obi-Wan Kenobi display – he is a fine addition to our collection.

May the Force be with you!

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Today’s unboxing features three Grogu figures from The Bounty Collection by Hasbro. This is an ongoing series of cute non-posable figures of Grogu (and more recently other characters), in a variety of poses inspired by his appearance in The Mandalorian.

When this series first launched, we weren’t sure if we wanted to start another collection – we already own a few Grogu figures from the Funko Pop! Vinyl range. We were gifted a couple of figures from series 3, and were pleasantly surprised by how much we liked them. We recently picked a few more from series 4 and 5 so we unboxed them on video – and can already see ourselves adding more to this new collection!

Check out our unboxing video –

While the earlier series had window boxes, these figures from series 4 and 5 are part of Hasbro’s new ‘plastic free packaging’ line and are just packaged in cardboard boxes. The images on the front of the box are a pretty good representation of the figure inside – this is not a random ‘blind box’ line, so the lack of a window for these isn’t an issue.

Each series has 6 designs to collect – these are pictured on the side of the box, so you can see which designs to choose from, or use it as a checklist to collect them all! Personally, I think these are some of the better designs from series 4 and 5 – some figures are just a simple pose, while other figures include extra elements like a helmet or creature.

Unboxing these figures and getting to see them up close in person, I think they are really well done! Each figure has a good level of detail for the cute stylized design, and I already want to collect more from this line.

Here are our three new The Bounty Collection figures –

• Series 4 – figure #22 Grogu with blue butterfly
• Series 5 – figure #27 – Grogu with Loth-cat
• Series 5 – figure #30 – Grogu with Beskar

We already own two figures from series 3 – when the packaging still had plastic windows, so you could clearly see the figure inside before purchasing. These figures were gifts, and as you can see, we liked them so much we ended up getting more!

• Series 3 – figure #16 Grogu meditating
• Series 3 – figure #18 Grogu with Mando helmet

Overall, my opinion has changed on this series – at first I wasn’t that interested, but now I really want to collect more! Some of the designs are more interesting than others, but once you get a few together on display, I can see how the simple poses work within the whole collection.

May the Force be with you!

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Today’s unboxing and review features Hera Synduall’s A-Wing from the Micro Galaxy Squadron collection. We are big fans of this range of scaled Star Wars vehicles and would love to add as many as we can to our collection.

I was excited when I saw that wave 2 included not one but two vehicles from Rebels – Hera’s A-Wing and Sabine’s TIE Fighter. They are both chase variants, so I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to find them locally. Hera’s A-Wing is a silver chase 1 of 15,000 so I figured I would have similar odds as Moff Gideon’s Outland TIE fighter from wave 1 (also a silver chase) which I found locally – and did actually spot a couple of times across different stores. Time will tell if I spot Hera’s A-Wing more than once – but I wasn’t going to take any chances, and grabbed her when I first saw her.

The assortment number for this pack is SWJ0011-092922-TM

Check out my full unboxing video –

The packaging for this ‘light armor class’ vehicle is standard for this range – a big clear window bubble on a cardboard backing card. The lower front window insert has the name and number for this specific variant – Hera Syndulla’s A-Wing #0035. The bubble has a silver foil circle sticker noting that is a rare chase variant – 1 in 15,000.

The backing card has colourful space battle artwork behind the bubble (Sabine’s TIE Fighter vs TIE Fighters), while the back has a blueprint style image of the vehicle, a few insert shots of moveable parts, and a collectible card that you can cut out if you want to – I will be leaving my backing card intact.

I think it’s quite interesting that the backing card art for this A-Wing features Sabine’s orange Rebels TIE Fighter, while the backing card for Sabine’s TIE Fighter features an A-Wing. Not saying that each vehicle needs to have matching artwork, but it’s a bit quirky having swapped art.

The plastic bubble used for the ‘light armor class’ vehicles is pretty much the same, so there is a lot of extra space around the A-Wing. It is a little on the smaller size for this vehicle category – it’s flatter shape means it doesn’t use up the same depth of the bubble packaging, so from the side it looks a little empty.

Once I took the A-Wing out of the packaging, I could get a much better look at the vehicle. I always feel just a little bit torn between keeping these vehicles carded or boxed, as they do look good – but I really want to see all these ships displayed together. That was one of the biggest drawcards of the Micro Galaxy Line – that all of the vehicles are in scale with each other, which makes for a really cool display. As well as the fact that some of the smaller vehicles like speeder bikes are hidden inside mystery blind boxes, so they have to opened to add to your display.

Most of the colour in this design comes from the use of different coloured plastics. There are red and white painted designs on the top front ‘nose’ section, the back of the engines are also painted red, and also bit of painting on the cockpit hatch window. The paint is tidy and clean – this vehicle doesn’t have a ‘muddy wash’ like other vehicles (Jedi Starfighter, X-Wing etc). The clean finish does work well with the animation style of Rebels.

Overall, a nice tidy vehicle with a bright and colourful paint scheme. I’m sure there are artistic fans out there airbrushing and repainted Micro Galaxy Squadron ships to be more detailed, but I’m quite happy with my collection.

There is pretty much no paint on the underside of the vehicle (just that rear engine red), relying mostly on the different coloured plastic to give it variation. There is a small singular landing gear towards the front that can be pulled out, and it clicks into place nicely to help display the vehicle in a landed position.

Next, onto the included figure. The Hera Sydulla figure is quite well done, considering her size. She has quite a detailed paint app, with multiple colours. My particular figure has a few paint flaws, but considering how small this figure is, I can barely tell without looking up really close – the most obvious spot is her right hand glove, but it shows up more in this larger-than-life photo.

Her twil’lek lekku are sculpted down her back, so they can’t bend or break off. She is articulated at the shoulders and the hips, allowing you to pose her arms and legs into a sitting pose to put her in the cockpit. She fits nicely into the cockpit – I’m quite tempted to keep the cockpit hatch open for display, she looks really good in there.

The cockpit has translucent green plastic, so you can see inside – very useful when displaying a figure inside. The top hatch opens by pulling it up, which on my particular vehicle, was a bit stiff. The small notch to catch to pull it up is on the sides, rather than the top of cockpit hatch, so it’s a little more hidden – this makes a little harder to open, but looks cleaner for display, which I do like. I’m not really going to be opening and closing the cockpit a lot once I put it on my display shelf.

Overall, this is a fun version of Hera’s A-Wing. Perhaps not the most exciting or sought after vehicle, but if this line is going to continue and last through many waves, Jazwares will space out the headline popular ships (like the Millennium Falcon and Slave 1) with some more lesser known designs (like this A-Wing or Asajj Ventress’s Ginivex starfighter). I really appreciate the range featured in the Micro Galaxy Squadron line so far – I’m really impressed with the representation from the prequel era and animated shows so far.

I am so excited to see not one but two Rebels vehicles in the Micro Galaxy Squadron line so far – Hera’s A-Wing and Sabine’s TIE Fighter. As you can see when you display them side by side, despite both being in the light amor class category, the TIE Fighter gives you a little more bang for your buck on your display shelf, but that’s the nature of a line that’s in scale – vehicles will vary a lot in size.

I was a little frustrated when I saw that wave 2 included three chase vehicles featuring female characters (Hera Syndulla, Sabine Wren, and Ahsoka Tano), but at least Hera’s A-Wing is the slightly less rare 15,000 edition chase.

We know realistically, with some store exclusives and chase variant scarcity in the mix, it’s going to be hard or very expensive to be completionist with this range (as with so many Star Wars collection lines these days) so I was really happy to find this one instore ourselves. I thought it might be a long shot to find more than one of the wave 2 chase vehicles locally, but the Force was with me! I am so happy to have found all three that I wanted most – Sabine, Hera, and Ahsoka.

Stay tuned for more reviews of Micro Galaxy Squadron vehicles coming soon – you can check out all of our reviews of our MGS collection so far here.

May the Force be with you!

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Today’s unboxing and review features Sabine Wren’s TIE Fighter from the Micro Galaxy Squadron collection. We are big fans of this range of scaled Star Wars vehicles and would love to add as many as we can to our collection.

I wanted this TIE Fighter variant from the moment I saw it, but my hopes dropped when I saw it was one of the hard to find 5,000 chase variants. You should have seen my face when I spotted this one hanging on the rack at my local toy store – I grabbed it so fast. I still can’t believe we found this one locally, and only paid retail for it, the Force was with us that day!

The assortment number for this pack is SWJ0012-091922-TM.

Check out my full unboxing video –

The packaging for this ‘light armor class’ vehicle is standard for this range – a big clear window bubble on a cardboard backing card. The lower front window insert has the name and number for this specific variant – Sabine Wren’s TIE Fighter #0036. The bubble has a gold foil circle sticker noting that is a rare chase variant – 1 in 5,000.

The backing card has colourful space battle artwork behind the bubble (A-Wing vs TIE Fighters), while the back has a blueprint style image of the vehicle, a few insert shots of moveable parts, and a collectible card that you can cut out if you want to – I will be leaving my backing card intact.

Sabine Wren’s TIE fighter looks great in the packaging, but even better when you get it out. The bright orange and yellow paint scheme just sings, especially in contrast with the classic black and pale grey of the wings. It was such an iconic design from Rebels, I wish it was used more in merchandising – like the fun Republic Gunship paint jobs from both Clone Wars animated series.

This colourful TIE Fighter is so fun, makes me wish I had a full size one to jump in and go racing – especially with that black and white checkerboard print. I have to admit I did fly this one around my living room making TIE Fighter noises…

The paint job is fairly accurate, especially when you consider the scale of this vehicle, and it looks right at home with the style of other painted vehicles in the Micro Galaxy Squadron range. Of course the TIE fighters in Rebels have a slightly different wing size/ratio than the TIE Fighters of the original trilogy films (which is the sculpt used here), but I understand why Jazwares wouldn’t bother with a completely different vehicle sculpt. Not many people would notice or care about the subtle differences, and it looks fine, especially lined up with other TIE Fighter variants from the same range.

Sabine’s custom paint scheme is confined to the inner wing panels, cockpit and arms – the outer wing surfaces are the standard TIE Fighter black and grey as seen in Rebels (which is a slightly different grey to the original trilogy film TIE fighters). The wings can be removed from the main body if you wish – a tight fit, the simple peg-and-hole attachment is nice and secure.

There is a push-button panel on the underside of the cockpit, which raises the inner seat section, so you can more easily get a figure out. A simple push-up mechanism, it doesn’t fire the figure out James Bond ejection seat style or anything.

The back of the cockpit is also fully painted, and the checkboard print continues around the back as well. This vehicle has one of the most complex paint schemes in the Micro Galaxy Squadron range that I have seen in person (so far), and I am really impressed with how tidy it looks, even up close.

At the back there is a hinged section that can be folded down. I’m not sure this adds a lot of useful detail for display as this won’t really be seen once it’s on your shelf, but yeah, it’s there.

Next, onto the included figure. The Sabine Wren figure is quite well done, considering her size. She has quite a detailed paint app, with multiple colours, and is quite reasonably tidy. She is articulated at the shoulders and the hips, allowing you to pose her arms and legs into a sitting pose to put her in the cockpit.

The TIE Fighter cockpit window and top hatch both have sections of transparent plastic to act as windows, but in practice this is hard to see through. If I look really closely, I can just make out a figure through the front, but it’s not very easy to spot. Still, I appreciate the detail here, and much prefer it over opaque sections instead.

Overall, this is a fantastic version of Sabine’s TIE Fighter. I knew it was highly sought after on the secondary market, so realistically my only chance to own one was to find it locally, which I did! We know realistically, with some store exclusives and chase variant scarcity in the mix, it’s going to be hard or very expensive to be completionist with this range (as with so many Star Wars collection lines these days) so it was absolute luck to find this one instore ourselves.

Stay tuned for more review of Micro Galaxy Squadron vehicles coming soon – including a comparison of four different TIE Fighter variants.

May the Force be with you!

The post Micro Galaxy Squadron – Sabine Wren’s TIE Fighter appeared first on Villa Varykino.

Now this is podracing! The latest addition to our Micro Galaxy Squadron collection is the Boonta Eve Battle Pack, which includes two podracer vehicles.

This battle pack is marked as ‘series 1’ but does not have a ‘launch edition’ foil sticker. It is currently available in-store at branches of The Warehouse in New Zealand for a retail price of NZ$45.00 each (approximately US$28.47 at time of writing).

The assortment number for this battle pack is SWJ0093 112522 GC

Watch our full unboxing video below –

This Battle Pack includes two vehicles, that at this time are not available individually – Anakin Skyalker’s Podracer and Sebulba’s Podracer, as seen in The Phantom Menace. Each vehicle also includes a small figure that fits into the cockpit.

Each vehicle comes with a clear plastic stand that attaches to the podracing engines, so they can be displayed in a more correct hovering style, rather than just sitting on the ground. I rather wish that all vehicles in this range came with a clear stand, to have options for display (especially the Jedi Starfighter with hyperdrive ring). The vehicles snap onto the stands nice and securely, but are also removable if you prefer to display the vehicles without them (perhaps in a diorama setup).

The paint applications are colourful and tidy, with minimal weathering applied in appropriate areas. There is some minor articulation in the connectors between the engines and the cockpits, and the energy beam connectors are sculpted nicely.

Sebulba’s podracer –

Anakin’s podracer –

Overall, I think this is a fantastic set and a fine addition to our Micro Galaxy Squadron collection. The figures fit in the vehicles well, and the display stands give a more accurate ‘hovering’ presentation when on display.

Will you be adding this set to your collection? What vehicles do you hope to see in future waves of the Micro Galaxy Squadron line?

May the Force be with you!

The post Micro Galaxy Squadron Boonta Eve Battle Pack appeared first on Villa Varykino.

So many exciting new Hasbro The Vintage Collection figures lately! Celebrating the recent 20th anniversary of Attack Of The Clones, we have the new Anakin Skywalker ‘Padawan’ figure from AOTC – VC244.

We are still quite shocked to find this figure available on local store shelves, as it is still listed for pre-order on most international collectible websites. We were excited to get our first in-hand look at this Anakin figure, especially after the surprise appearance in a flashback in the Obi-Wan Kenobi series! I think Hasbro knew about those scenes, and put this figure in the same assortment as the first figures from the show.

Check out our unboxing video –

Anakin Skywalker ‘Padawan’ is VC244, as he appears in Attack Of The Clones. The backing card features a promotional photo of Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker, from what looks like the Tusken Raider camp scene.

This figure is part of the assortment containing the first figures from the Obi-Wan Kenobi series – all the more interesting after discovering that this version of Anakin does appear in the series in flashback scenes.

Here in New Zealand, this TVC figure retails for NZ$29.99 each – which is approximately US$20.

So, our first look at the figure loose and up close.

This Anakin figure comes with an alternate ‘robotic’ hand, which is quite unique for Hasbro 3.75″ figures. This ‘padawan’ version of Anakin is from Attack Of The Clones – technically the gold version of his robotic hand is only seen in the closing wedding scene on Naboo, so it’s really interesting to see it included as an option here.

As expected, the figure also comes with two lightsaber accessories – a lightsaber hilt with peg that can attach to a hole on the left side of the belt, and an “activated” lightsaber with blue blade, that can be held for action poses. The figure also comes with a removable soft goods cloak, and attached soft goods lower tunic.

First up – the cloak. Anakin has a unique cloak in Attack Of The Clones – the front has strips, which is quite different to other Jedi cloaks. Unfortunately, his style doesn’t translate well in this small action figure scale – the front strips here don’t want to hang down the front. This is mostly due to the way they have been cut/sewn, as part of the back, so they naturally want to hang down the back. I understand a small change like sewing separate strips to the front would increase production time and costs, but it would have been a big improvement.

With a bit of wrestling, the strips do hang down the front, but that creates a bit of bunching at the shoulders. If I want to display this figure wearing the cloak, I would just lie the strips down the back for a cleaner (if not as accurate) look.

Personally, I prefer this figure without the cloak on, which is a shame – not very many Anakin Skywalker figures have come with a cloak. It can be easily removed – it sits on the figure with a loop of cord around the neck – not very accurate, but as Anakin’s cloak doesn’t have standard sleeves, it needs some method of staying attached to the figure and not just falling off.

Taking a closer look at the figure sculpt up close. I like the Jedi tunic details, some good fabric folds and lines here. The plastic lower front tabbards are joined together, so they lie straight and flat – though they do limit the hip articulation a little.

The padawan braid is curved to the front – it isn’t bent so it naturally sits forward. The hands hold the lightsaber well – though considering the options included here like the robotic hand, I wonder why they didn’t include a second lightsaber. Anakin uses other random lightsabers on Geonosis in the arena and in the fight against Dooku, so it would have been fun to include another here. I know I can always grab a spare lightsaber accessory from another figure, but that would have really make this figure into the definitive AOTC Anakin figure.

There are nice points of articulation at the neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, waist, hips, knees, and ankles. The knee joints on our figure are quite tight, but better than being too loose. To be honest, most of our figures are displayed standing straight, with most posing done with the upper body, so I don’t really mind – I care more about the arms for lightsaber poses.

The detail continues nicely on the back, with the belt pouches and capsules, tunic fabric folds, and boot strap details all very well done.

Our figure unfortunately has a bit of a paint flaw on the back of the lower tabbards. It’s frustrating, but always a risk with Hasbro figures – thankfully it is on the back, as we very rarely pose a figure facing away, so it won’t be seen once displayed on our shelf.

I particularly like the soft goods lower tunic – it adds a nice touch to the figure, and matches nicely in colour to the top of the tunic. It allows for some flexibility of the legs without having to create large artificial cuts in a plastic tunic.

One of my favourite aspects of this figure is the alternate hand – as well as coming packaged with two standard ‘human’ hands, this Anakin figure also comes with a gold robotic right hand. This allows collectors to create a ‘post-Count Dooku fight’ version of Anakin, as we see him during the wedding on Naboo.

Of course we don’t really see Anakin fighting or holding a lightsaber with this version of his robotic hand (it is black in Revenge Of The Sith, and mostly covered by a glove), but I really like the options here. I always feel nervous pulling off parts like hands, but the switch was relatively easy – the robotic hand sculpt has a hole/gap at the wrist so I was careful not to force it too much when attaching, as it can flex and bend.

The lightsaber hilt accessory attaches nicely to the peg hole on the belt, tight but not too tight. I am not worried about it falling out or coming loose. Of course this attachment method always leaves a hole in the belt sculpt if displaying the figure with the activated lightsaber in hand, but I do think it’s one of the better ways of giving collectors the option of displaying the hilt on the belt – and given the style of the belt clip, the gap is not too distracting within the design.

Overall, a great figure. Yes I am frustrated that the cloak isn’t quite as good as I hoped (it really is tucked behind the figure when carded so you can’t really see it at all before purchasing), but I still like all the other design details. Good sculpt details, good articulation, and I love the alternate hands.

As a big fan of Attack Of The Clones, I am really happy to see a new sculpt of a character from the film – especially as this year marks the 20th anniversary. I hope we see more AOTC figures released this year, especially since there are still many Padme’ Amidala outfits that have yet to be made in the action figure line.

May the Force be with you!

The post Padawan Anakin Skywalker VC244 appeared first on Villa Varykino.