It took Hasbro long enough, but they finally added the third hero of the Sequel Trilogy to the TVC lineup, after we’ve had a few Rey’s and a Poe Dameron.  For collectors that are fans of the newest films in The Saga, this has been a long wait, and they can finally “complete the crew” for the ST (or at least The Force Awakens).  For others, this releases puts another main character on the glorious TVC cardback.  But for others still, VC308 is met with a collective sigh. 

Regardless of how you feel about the ST, there’s not doubt that Hasbro/Disney/LFL failed to give the characters much of a chance in the 3.75” collector line.  There were only 8 TFA figures released in the Walmart TBS375 line, followed by 4 from TLJ, before collectors were put out of their misery with the return of TVC.  Of course the launch wave contained several of those as repacks, which nearly sent TVC to an early grave.  Thank the Maker we had The Barge, The Petition, and perhaps most importantly, The Mandalorian, because TVC was in bad shape and likely would not have survived the ST.  Once TVC gained a little bit better footing, it seemed like the coast might be clear to dip the proverbial toe back in the ST waters, and so we are now getting a repack of Finn.

This was a pretty good figure when it came out in the horrific Walmart TBS 3.75” line, but time has not been kind.  The figure sculpt itself is identical to the original release, so you get a nice looking figure, which lacks the modern articulation we expect from TVC.  The elbows bend only to 90 degrees, while the knees probably only reach about 75 degrees.  The hips are of the old, old style, which is to say ball hinge at the hip, with no thigh swivel.  The ankles are not of the rocker type.  And head has minimal range of motion. 

The face sculpt has always been pretty solid, and one major change is the application of Photo Real.  But I write “major” a bit loosely, as I don’t find it to be that much of an upgrade.  The colors on the uniform are a bit different, with one significant change in that the boots are now gray instead of sand colored.  This is notable in that it supports a curious change on the title of the figure.  For the original release in the depressing TBS375 black box, the name is “Finn (Jakku)”, but here we have “Finn (Starkiller Base).”  So the boot color seems to be more appropriate for the snowy terrain.  Finn’s lower pant legs are also covered in schmutz, which, again, is more snowy than sandy. Also, the rifle included (which is the only accessory), is from when Finn, Han, and Chewy went to rescue Rey from Starkiller Base.  He didn’t have it on Jakku.  So from a certain point of view, this is kind of a new figure.  Same sculpt, but the new paint apps and the new parenthetical in the name pill make it from a different part of the film. 

It’s an underwhelming figure, particularly in the articulation department.  Clearly Hasbro was just looking for a character that could be repacked in TVC.  Since it’s part of the Fan Channel wave, it’s not impacting the main line, so collectors didn’t lose out on any kind of new tooling opportunity.  Since it satisfies the wants of some ST fans as well as some carded collectors, it serves some purpose.  While I’m not a fan of the ST, I’m not a hater either.  There are several characters I’d like to see in TVC, but I wouldn’t wish that upon the greater community, because I just don’t think the market is there right now.  Finn (TFA) wasn’t on my short list.

Finn gets a 7/10, a downgrade from the original 8/10, due to the dated articulation.  Someday, Finn might deserve a retool, but not today.