Hasbro ‘Goes Rogue’ Again With The Latest Star Wars Basic Figures

More major players from Rogue One– along with a few iconic heroines from the galaxy far, far away– make up the latest wave of 3.75″ basic Star Wars action figures from Hasbro.

Hasbro said from the start that the Rogue One product line would be more dialed back than last year’s Force Awakens collection, but I don’t think that shows anywhere more than the 3.75″ 5 points of articulation basic figures.  Whereas The Force Awakens saw three unique waves available from #ForceFriday on, Rogue One’s solitary launch wave has been slowly getting chipped away at most retailers, leading to empty shelves as often as restocks.  But the second set of figures is finally starting to make an appearance, and it’s filled with a great assortment of characters from Rogue One and beyond.

The assortment features five new Rogue One figures– Jyn Erso in her Jedha outfit, Cassian Andor in his arctic style Eadu gear, Chirrut Imwe, Director Orson Krennic, and Darth Vader.  Rounding out the wave are a new Rey in her Jakku desert turban, and Leia, as she appeared on the Rebels series.  We will see this Jyn again in the Jedha box set next Spring, so I skipped her… and as much as it pained me, I left Rey behind because I couldn’t help but admit I have enough TFA style Rey figures already… but I picked up the other five figures, and they are all winners.

We’ve already seen this version of Cassian in the 6″ Black Series, but his smaller counterpart is almost just as nice.  The sculpt is all new, from Cassian’s familiar helmet with scarf (not removable here, sadly), to his working holster with custom blaster.  Interestingly, Cassian is one of three figures in this wave who includes a soft rubber overlay for his lower jacket, instead of sculpting the jacket onto the legs and bisecting it with the t-crotch joint.  I’m totally cool with the choice, because it’s much better looking aesthetically, while not being so far off as to ignore the retro vintage style of the figure.

The other new Rebel is Chirrut Imwe, Donnie Yen’s Force sensitive who I am dying to see on the big screen.  His first Hasbro action figure looks great, with a spot-on likeness to Yen (complete with Imwe’s piercing light blue eyes), and a cool bandolier overlay on top of his very samurai-inspired robes. The warrior is sculpted with his legs slightly askew, a nod to his action oriented background, and includes an in scale staff which he holds quite well.  Sadly, Imwe’s other weapon– a pretty fierce bowcaster– is turned into an oversized missile launcher on this release, so the figure is limited to only the single realistic weapon unless you wnt to get pretty goofy with him.

What would our Rebels be, without someone to fight against? While the initial wave of Rogue One bad guys focused on the soldiers of the Imperial army, this wave delivers our two main heavies– Director Krennic and Darth Vader.  Krennic is a particularly nice looking figure, the first Imperial officer type we’ve seen in the 5 POA line in quite some time. He stands tall and rigid in his dress white tunic with flowing cape, and features a removable holster for his unique blaster.  Not to be outdone, the new Vader features a fantastic all new sculpt, with every detail of the Dark Lord’s New Hope era costume rendered perfectly. Vader can hold his lightsaber in his right hand, while the left is sculpted into a familiar Force-wielding pose.

The last figure I picked up is the animated style Princess Leia, as she appeared in Rebels Season Two. This Leia looks appropriately younger than even her New Hope appearance, and she fits nicely in scale with the rest of the Rebels collection. Her portrait is a nice caricature of Carrie Fisher’s likeness, and she comes packing an Imperial blaster which she holds very well, considering her petite proportions.

I’m assuming this wave will see wider release as we ramp up to the holiday season and the release of Rogue One. I certainly hope so, because it’s a fantastic assortment of great figures, which earn their spot in any Star Wars collection.  For the time being, keep checking your local Wal-Mart and Target stores for this elusive wave, or watch HasbroToyShop.com, which has been getting them in stock on and off for the past few weeks.