This is HK-87 Assassin Droid is a repaint of last year’s VC294 - HK-87 Assassin Droid.  This version appeared on Arcana so it gets the parenthetical “Arcana” designation on the card to differentiate it from the 2023 release.  Of course that droid also appeared on Arcana, so all of this is quite silly.  I can’t stop saying “Arcana” so I might as well point out that it clearly references the city of Texarkana which you may know from Jerry Reed’s song Eastbound and Down from the Smokey and the Bandit soundtrack:

Keep your foot hard on the pedal
Son, never mind them brakes
Let it all hang out ‘cause we’ve got a run to make
The boys are thirsty in Atlanta
And there’s beer in Texarkana
And we’ll bring it back no matter what it takes

So what you’re hopefully now realizing is that the plot of Ahsoka was just a clone of Smokey and the Bandit.  The map, or “the beer”, was in Arcana, and Ahsoka, a.k.a. “the Bandit”, had to get it to Peridea (Atlanta).  Morgan Elsbeth was Smokey, and Thrawn was both big and little Enis Burdette (hence the pot belly).  It makes me sad that Bantha Skull will someday cease to operate because pearls of wisdom such as this will no longer be shared.

I’m taking time to be a little silly with the intro of this review because it’s hard to be inspired to write about a figure that was just reviewed ten months ago when, on the surface, all that’s changed are the soft good cape and the paint scheme (and the deletion of the E-5 Blaster Rifle accessory).  In his 2023 review, Mr. Nomadscout lambasted this figure.  He hated it so much that he texted me to ask if it was possible to sue a figure for punitive damages.  When I told him he couldn’t, he threatened to sue me.  So palpable was his displeasure that I never opened the 2023 release.  I don’t have the energy to be disappointed by figures anymore.  Then I also noticed that some people had the 2023 HK-87 figure in their Top 10 lists.  This happens.  What is critical in a figure is in the eye of the beholder.  I recently dragged the Jedi Master Sol figure, but I’m sure it will crack some 2024 Top 10’s.

One of nomad’s biggest complaints was the rubberiness of the 2023 release.  He called it a Gumby figure.  When I finally opened it myself, I knew exactly what he meant.  The hands on my 2023 HK-47 were so rubbery that the electrostaff kept falling out of the hand, and I had difficulty standing it for the final photo.  When it fell over for the fifth time, I let out a blood curdling Howard Dean scream which caused my dog to launch into a barking fit.  Good times.  I’m pleased to say that the plastic on this 2024 release is much sturdier.  It maintains a positive grip on the electrostaff, and I found it to be quite posable.  The material quality has made all the difference. I actually had fun posing this little murder droid for the gallery.

Now, this is not to say that the figure is now suddenly a gem.  The issue with the sculpt impinging the hip articulation remains.  The ball jointed hips can barely flex outward.  To get to dynamic poses, you have to employ some of the tricks from the pre-barbell hip era to get the figure to stand.  Another issue I found is with the wrists.  For the VC140 - Imperial Stormtrooper review, I wrote this:

This is perhaps the most conspicuous lack of rocker ankles in the history of the line

I would like to borrow that sentiment and apply of version of it to the HK-87 Assassin Droid sculpt.  It is perhaps the most conspicuous lack of hinged wrists in the history of the line.  More realistic attack poses could have been achieved if the figure had them.  I know Hasbro would say “minimum wall thickness” issues make such articulation impossible on the thin wrists of the HK-87, but you can stuff your sorries in a sack, mister.  I don’t care that it can’t be done.  It doesn’t change the fact that that they’re missed.

Paint is another issue.  In the past (even recent past), this droid would have been given some silver dry brushing to bring out the “used universe” look.  This figure looks like it came straight off the assembly line.  The electrostaff likewise could have used some paint apps near the grips, as well as the electricity effect. These are all examples of how the Vintage Collection is being eaten away at the margins.  It’s coming up on all the recent figures.  It’s going to lead to a very difficult discussion with the community in the near future, and you’re not going to like the take away.  We collectively have a difficult choice to make, but that’s for another day.  Because the major issue appears resolved witht he HK-87 sculpt, I’m not going to bury it like Mr. Nomadscout did.  I feel the issues I described warrant a two point deduction to an 8 out of 10.

I was very happy when HK-87 was first announced last year.  One of my great laments about the very good Ahsoka Corvus figure was that she had nothing to fight.  So I’m thrilled that figure has combatants now.  The only issue is that she doesn’t directly engage this droid.  It approaches Ahsoka, but then she drops to the subterranean chamber below.  She cuts a circle under this droid like Wile E. Coyote, and he falls to his demise.  Of course in Mr. Coyote’s case, the circle the droid was standing on would have stayed in place and the rest of the environment would have crashed into canyon floor.