Following our review of VC261 Cassian Andor, here is the other figure we have from Hasbro sourced from Andor.  Sadly, that’s all we have.  We are getting the recently revealed Phase II (white) Clone Trooper which will debut on an Andor cardback at some point soon.  But none of the three characters interacted with each other on screen in the outfits worn by the figures.  So we shall have 3 Andor vacuum figures in our collections.  I guess this is what collectors get for asking for vacuum-metalized droids. 

Editor’s note: 4 Andor figures.  The Aldhani Cassian is coming in the next wave. It’s ridiculously inaccurate, which is probably why you mentally blocked it out.  But don’t worry.  It’s two per case.

Overall, this is a good figure, but falls well short of greatness.  Yes, I feel that, like Cassian, it’s not the most interesting design, but I’m not going to spend time on that again.  It is what it is.  Hasbro created a version of the character that is true to her on screen appearance.  The sculpt is excellent, the articulation is good, but could be better with hinged wrists, and the paint applications and colors work well.

However, there are a few problems that cannot be ignored.  In the VC261 review, I went on about how impressive Hasbro’s sculpting and paint techniques are when it comes to human faces.  Well, sadly Vel Sartha doesn’t live up to those high standards.  To my eyes, the face looks nothing like Faye Marsay.  It looks like someone familiar; I thought maybe Kirsten Dunst.  But there’s another actress that rings a bell, but I’m drawing a blank on the name.  Whatever the case, it’s not accurately sculpted.

The second problem is the rifle accessory.  It looks great, and has some nice silver details.  However, for some reason that escapes me, it’s made from two parts, and they fit very loosely together.  I struggled to get it to stay together during posing. I don’t think this is helped by the fact that the figure simply doesn’t interact all that well with it.  You can get a decent shooting pose with some patience, but the whole thing is just a little too flimsy, and it’s more frustrating than it should be.

The third problem is that Vel should probably have come with an additional accessory or two.  At least the shoulder bag that she brings as she infiltrates the base.  While watching that scene for this review, I noticed that I was unable to locate the rifle on Vel throughout the entire scene, until she and Cinta rendezvous with the rest of the crew inside.  Strange. 

So it’s a very good figure that is taken down a couple of notches due to the portrait, flimsy accessory, and lack of additional accessories.  I’ll give it an 8.  I’m happy to have it, but it isn’t up to the recent very high standards of TVC.