Action Figure #505: Star Wars The Black Series Marrok

  Sadly, no spinning blade feature included.

 So, let's keep the characters I know nothing about but like the figure train going with Marrok. In his case, I actually came across him in the mobile game Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes, and he looked dope. Then I got back into Black Series and discovered he had an action figure... so I looked up his scenes in Ahsoka and I just fell in love with the guy. And yes, I'll watch Ahsoka... one day.

 I've seen people dunk on the figure... but I actually quite like how he looks. Yeah, the rust effect was done with orange paint, which isn't the best.. but what else could they have done? The figure looks really cool thanks to his armor and cape, he is probably one of the coolest Sith characters in Star Wars. His cape is made with soft-goods, and it looks really nice on him.

 On the articulation end of things... it's a modern Black Series figure. Single jointed elbows and knees, no swivels, and a ball-jointed ab crunch. You can get good poses out of him. The pauldrons are a separate piece that can rotate along the arm, so he doesn't lose any range. The butterfly joints are very smooth, so it's easy to play around with him. I had a lot of fun posing this guy.

 The cape is sewn onto a strip of harder fabric... it feels a bit frail to me, but so far no issues.

 The one thing I don't like about Black Series is how they are resorting for soft-plastic pieces over harder pieces, depending on how you play with him, his armor might misplace itself up and it could look odd. I mean, you can simply pull the chest-armor downward, but still, if the chest piece was a single sculpt this wouldn't happen in the first place.

 Marrok uses the new ball-joint wrist seen on Darth Maul. Once again, it's not better than a hinge, but it's not worse. I think that on a Sith/Jedi, this is better.

 I don't know if I made it clear, but I love this guy. He is fun to play with and pose, and he looks so cool too!

9.0

Action Figure #504: Star Wars The Black Series Sabine Wren

  Should someone hand her a WRENch?

 I don't know much about Star Wars Rebels, but since I'm planning on watching it... why not get a head start on the figures? Starting out with Sabine Wren, the worst version of her!

 And I'm not kidding. On the outside, the figure looks great. She has this spray-paint accident look to her armor that I find to be quite discordant, but it also gives her a lot of personality, so no issues there... you'll have to wait a bit for it! But in the mean time, she comes with four accessories: 2 guns, 1 thingiemagig that looks like a remote controller and her Mandalorian Helmet, with moveable scope! She looks a bit lanky, but I guess they were trying to make her close to how she looks in the show. My one big issue is how hard it is to remove her helmet... but it might be a blessing in disguise.

 Articulation-wise, she's an older Black Series figure, so double jointed knees and single jointed elbows. The shoulder pads don't get in the way of her arms, thankfully. Her elbows and knees have very good range, all things considered, and her ab crunch is on a ball joint. She's a smidge shorter than the Bucky Cap mold, curious, for a teenage Black Series female buck!

 This is one of the ugliest face paint apps I have ever seen. It's so bad I don't think I'll ever take the helmet off of her. The eyes are off-centered! And most figures are like this, like Hasbro's Misty Knight. What the hell happened here? No wonder she got redone with digital paint apps... but this is the one I got.

 But there's also a small issue with her articulation... this is as far as her legs can split. Pathetic.

 I've seen uglier, but she is subpar in quite a few ways. I hope I don't like her character once I see the show, otherwise... I'll have to double dip and get a better version!

5.5

Action Figure #503: Star Wars The Black Series Darth Sidious

  Even when he was younger he was still old.

 Well, I managed to snag Palpatine and his Darth Sidious counterpart in an auction for less than 20 usd, so I couldn't say no to getting the same character twice! Besides, I like his prequel incarnation better.

 Now this is a proper Palpatine figure. He LOOKS like the actor, but even better, with his pale skin he also looks exactly like the character. And EVEN better, he comes with his light saber a well as two electricity-hands! Now this is a proper Palpatine. His cloak, sans the hood, is made of soft-goods, which looks really good thanks to the black and brown patches..

 Beneath the cloak lies Jedi Luke. No, really, he uses Luke's Jedi Knight Robes' body. he has single jointed elbows and knees, but they have good range on them. His torso is on a ball joint. As cool as this guy is, he has one little flaw... the solid-plastic hood of the cloak. You can't turn it, which means you can't get some good poses that need the head to be turned. It hurts an otherwise fantastic figure. He is a bit shorter than Bucky Cap.

 Honestly, if it wasn't for the hood, this would be a fantastic action figure. I mean, it still is, but not being able to turn his neck limits a lot of cool poses.

7.5

Action Figure #502: Star Wars The Black Series Emperor Palpatine

 He's no pal o' mine!

 Well, I was in no hurry to get an Emperor Palpatine, but there's no denying that he is a key part of Return of the Jedi, so might as well get him at some point, right?

 Well, part of his sculpt is downright brilliant, in particular, the skin bits. Through sculpting and good use of paint, they managed to give the figure this very old, decrepit look that fits him so well... but, as fantastic as the old man look is, he doesn't really look like the actor, nay, he doesn't even look like he does in the movie, as Palpatine used to be very pale, but this one has very reddish skin. So, the sculpt is fantastic, it simply doesn't look very much like the emperor. He has a soft goods cape and a soft goods cloak that look very nice on him, and he also comes with a cane to walk. But no saber? Sure, he doesn't use his saber in Return of the Jedi, but neither does Yoda and he comes with his saber! He doesn't even include lightning-shooting hands, and the ones that come with Darth Sidious(Spoilers!) don't fit his sockets.

 His articulation is quite curious because he has double jointed knees... and elbows, which is very rare for The Black Series. He has swivels on biceps and thighs, and his waist is on a ball joint, which allows you to get his hunched-over look if you try. He is a bit shorter than the Bucky cap buck.

 Palpatine is not a bad figure, but it misses the mark in the most important bit: Likeness to the character. He also should've included his blade or at least electricity for his hands. But if you really want a Palpatine, he is suffices.

6.0

Action Figure #501: Star Wars The Black Series Yord Fandar

 First the Sequel Trilogy, then Solo and now The Acolyte, have I no shame?

 Well... I wasn't against The Acolyte before it launched, look, Leslie made Russian Doll before, and Russian Doll was amazing, so even though she was Weinstein's secretary, and thus, probably involved in his shenanigans... I came at the show with an open mind. But man... much like Rian Johnson with The Last Jedi, some directors should keep to their OWN original ideas and not touch pre-existing IPs. Regardless, I wanted Yord Fandar for a single reason... I wanted his Yellow Saber for my Cals. So that's why he is going to be posing with the yellow saber I used to have with my Cals. In fact, I tried swapping the yellow saber bit, but the stick was too thick for Cal's, and the blue saber was too thin for Yord's hilt... so I just gave Cal the better blade! 

 Unlike I did with the show, I didn't come at Yord with an open mind, I was ready to hate him... but I don't. Firstly, the head sculpt likeness is spot on to the actor. But... If there's one thing I like about the Acolyte, besides the fight choreography... are the yellow Jedi robes. Look, yellow is my favorite color, so these yellow robes are just chef's kiss. I also LOVE the armored gauntlets and tanned browns. I love everything about how Yord looks, so I might be displaying him frequently. His only flaw is how long his neck is.

 Articulation is the same as modern Black Series' figures. Butterfly joints, ball-jointed waist, single jointed elbows and knees. His limbs reach 90 degree bends, but... Black Series has done better than that before, but still, good enough. He is a bit shorter than the Bucky Cap buck.

 Look, I hated the figure before I got it and I only wanted his saber... now I fell in love with how he looks. I really dig how it looks, and he is easy to pose as well... I think I just might get other Acolyte Jedi figures...

8.0

Action Figure #500: Star Wars The Black Series Enfys Nest & Swoop Bike

  For #500 I had to go big. So big I went!

 Man, I didn't know this figure was SO large, but since Solo bombed, turns out Enfys Nest & Swoop Bike are pretty cheap, I got her for less than 30 usd, and she's one laaaaaaarge figure.

 Look at this thing! Barring a few pieces, namely the nose of the bike, it feels very sturdy, which I quite appreciate. It comes with a white propeller air base that you can pop beneath the bike and it will let it hover above it. Unlike the Green Goblin stand, this one pops in firmly below the bike, and you don't need to finagle it to get it to balance on top of it.

 The bike itself is very detailed, I love how large it is, and how it looks. On both sides of the main body of the bike you get some handles you can store Enfys' axe on. The bike handles and the pedals are articulated, so you can adjust them a bit.

 Behind the sit there are little slots in which you can place the feet of a few figures. For instance, the Umbra Trooper's feet are too large... but I still got him to grab the tail of the bike and shoot while Enfys drives the bike! Honestly, I love this thing.

 Enfys' figure is a bit of an after thought, but even then, she has a two-tone soft-goods cape! It's black on the outside and orange on the inside. It's also got a furry collar on top. Both collar and cape are tied to the head, so they turn alongside it. The rest of the figure looks nice enough, some bits on her helmet are even painted blue, adding some highlights. I called it an after thought at first, but that's only because she hasn't got a very striking design, but other than that, she is a solid figure. The movie is so old that it's no longer a spoiler... Enfys is a woman. So an unmasked head would've been nice. Her ax is molded in grey and unpainted, which is a bit lame and makes her weapon look like just a toy.

 The articulation on Enfys is nothing special, she's an older Black Series figure, so double jointed knees, but single jointed elbows. Being a female Black Series figure... she's quite short!

 The figure by itself is nothing worth writing home about... but the bike elevates the figure so much more. I truly LOVE the thing. Honestly, I think other characters will be borrowing it. Already I've got an arc trooper riding on top and I love how it looks!

10

Action Figure #499: Star Wars The Black Series Umbra Operative Arc Trooper

  A Trooper in my favorite colors, Yellow and Black. Take my money.

 I didn't even know that Umbra Operative Arc Trooper was a thing until, while browsing reddit, I started seeing this Black and Yellow trooper hanging out in people's collection... so, naturally, I looked him up, now, I HAD to have him.

 So, sculpt-wise, this guy delivers, he looks so cool. The armor, the details, the coattails, the backpack, and, of course, the paint job... the fact is, this guy looks cool as hell. He comes with two guns... but a single trigger finger hand. I had to cut free the left hand's trigger finger. I don't understand why they would release him with a single trigger-finger hand.

 Sadly, the articulation is kinda bleh. While he has swivels on his thighs, the armor doesn't let you rotate his thighs 360 degrees, and depending on how it's rotated, you might not even be able to get him to crouch. As seen in the photo above, I could only get him on one knee by rotating the kneepad. The arms can't go very high to the sides, in fact, trying to get them any higher broke the butterfly join on his right side. Thankfully, I just superglued it back, and not much articulation was lost. When rotating the arms at the elbow you have to be mindful of the elbow pads. Well, at least this guy can use the scope on his helmet!

 This is as far up as his arms go to the sides. I tried going over, but the right butterfly joint broke, He is as tall as Bucky Cap.

 I looked up online... and apparently, he is considered a good figure? Sadly, I can't agree. He looks really nice, no doubt, but the articulation leaves a lot to be desired.

5.5