Well, it’s been…a wave.  Repaints and slight retools ruled the day on this one, and most of the figures haven’t been received all that well by the community - at least the one here at Banthaskull.  Appearances are everything, and the narrative from collectors seems to be that the line is stale in 2024, and this wave in particular is lazy and uninspired.  I’m not 100% on board with that sentiment.  I haven’t hated 2024 at all.  It’s not my favorite TVC year, but I’m not all that down on it.  This wave has given us variants that add a little depth to our collections, if you are so inclined to make these purchases.  There was a time when most collectors welcomed every costume variant, especially of the main characters.  And while new tooling seems to be a rarity, it doesn’t look like Hasbro is shy about putting a few dollars into such minor variants.  I’m not opposed to this happening once in a while.  Repaint waves are nothing new to the 3.75” line.  Granted, the reasons have been different over time.  In the past, a repaint wave was usually something that bridged the gap between line look changes, or something that was hastily put together when demand outstripped supply at retail - certainly a classy problem to have.  It appears that repaints today are more the norm than the exception, and the reasoning is more about the lack of sales, or the reduced budget.  Nevertheless, in the grand scheme of things, I’m not upset about variants that are inspired by things that happen on screen, like Din Djarin wearing a Beskar Trooper jetpack, or to provide a new character, like the Jetpack Trooper.  The wave also had one brand new, completely newly tooled figure from a show that hasn’t debuted yet (awesome if it’s a trend!) and one straight repack on a new card (K-2SO).

In this case, like Din, Bo-Katan gets a very slightly retooled figure to accommodate an on-screen wardrobe change.  Unlike Din’s new hips, there are no other upgrades to this figure.  Of course, the Bo-Katan Kryze figure from 2022 was already pretty awesome.  We gave that a 9/10 at the time, and it was one of the first figures to have the new-style hips.  My gripes were based on the lack of flame accessories for the jetpack, the lack of a knife/sheathe accessory, and the lack of an articulated range-finder.  I was proven wrong on that last count, as it turns out my sample was just stuck, and I eventually freed it and learned the error of my ways.  All said, the 9/10 still stands today.

This figure is ultimately the same.  What you get now is a newly tooled right shoulder armor piece (actually part of a larger piece that spans the neck and both shoulders), which now has a sculpted Banthaskull mythosaur skull which was custom made by The Armorer during Season 3.  Nothing else on the figure is new.  I made sure to include a comparison shot with VC226 to see if there are any significant paint app changes, and I don’t see any, so at least that didn’t contribute to the “TVC is going down the crapper” feeling.  [EDIT:  As pointed out in the comments, Bo-Katan is missing some weathering details on the armor that were present on the first figure.]

I would argue that Hasbro should have also retooled Bo-Katan’s hair, as it is a bit of a different style - more of a bob cut - than the pulled back style she sports in earlier appearances.  Maybe that would have made this a more interesting release to collectors.  Otherwise, it seems that Hasbro has no plans to add ball jointed wrists to such slightly built figures, which is a shame.

But here’s maybe a bigger miss.  In one of the final scenes of Season 3, following the moment Axe Woves auto-piloted The Capital Ship Formerly Known As Moff Gideon’s Light Cruiser into the Imperial Base, Din Djarin and Bo-Katan are saved from the resulting fireball by Grogu’s Force abilities.  When the flames start to disperse, we see Din and Bo in protective positions around Grogu.  Bo has deployed her little vambrace shield (in that soccer mom car braking stiff arm brace kind of way) in a reflexive effort to protect Grogu.  This is the same shield accessory that Paz Vizsla and Sabine Wren both have, so all Hasbro needed to do was sculpt a hole in Bo’s left forearm and throw in the accessory from the library.  For the record, she also deployed it briefly during her challenge fight against Axe Waves.  It would have taken the effort to make a hole in the left vambrace, and inclusion of the already existing shield piece.  I’m disappointed this didn’t happen.

In the end, the lack of the shield is my biggest complaint.  I’m happy having a Bo-Katan with armor accurate to her appearance at the end of the show - as minor of an update as that might be.  (Now all we need is her without any shoulder piece, in between the time she lost it in battle with the Shriek Hawk and when The Armorer crafted a new one.  I’m sure that will go over well in the community.  And who here is going to complain about a Banthaskull Mythosaur skull on a figure?  Surely, nobody that frequents this site.  It gets the same 9/10 from 2022, despite the misses on the shield and the hair.