Like her Jedi Master, VC215 Luminara Unduli, this figure is plagued by design issues which have gone uncorrected with this re-release.  I understand that the point of this special Walmart exclusive wave of figures was to honor the Clone Wars Microseries, but to do so with relatively inexpensive repaints and no new tooling.  As such, the flaws in the original VC51 Barriss Offee figure are carried forward, and are even more frustrating now than they were back in 2011.

There are positives.  The application of Photo Real face paint application technology is superb.  The figure’s face is objectively better looking than the original release.  The tattoos are sharper, although seemingly “simpler”, as they are based on the animated style rather than what we saw in live action.  Regardless, the improvement is strong here.

Also better, is the length of the soft goods skirt.  In the earlier version, the cloth was a bit too long, and tended to get in the way of the feet when trying to stand/pose the figure, making this simple task challenging.  Now the skirt is the proper length, and does not hinder Barriss from standing, which, frankly, is pretty much the bare minimum requirement of any figure.

But the main gripe here is the plastic cape.  It was designed to cascade to the floor and then appear as if it bunched at the bottom.  Unfortunately, it is sculpted too short (unlike the original cloth skirt mentioned above), and it doesn’t actually hit the ground.  It just bunches above the ground in a weird hovering manner.  The weight of the cape pulls the figure backwards, which then settles into a permanent rearward tilt once it touches the floor.

But that’s not even the worst part of the cape, which is that it almost completely hinders the 2011-era articulation.  While the figure lacks ball jointed hips, ankles, wrists, and waist, the articulation that it does sport is largely rendered moot by the cape/hood combo.  This figure should have been redesigned from the ground up.  While not necessarily a top priority, it does seem to be a shame that Hasbro is shunning prequel-era Jedi these days.  Almost all the Geonosis-sourced Jedi could benefit from a modern update, but sadly it almost all seems like an impossible dream.

At least, unlike Luminara, Barriss comes with an unlit hilt to store on her belt.  But beyond the Photo Real tech and the updated cartoon-inspired coloring on the clothing, the biggest reason to get this figure is if you missed it the first time.  It can probably pass they smell test and fit in your realistically styled displays.  Also, if you’re a weird carded collector, you’ll probably dig the card art.  I did, and almost regretted tearing these figures open.

So Barriss is still a sub-par TVC figure.  It’s cool she exists, but the character (and collectors) deserve better.  We’ll stick with the grade of 5/10 from the original release.