This is now the second review from this wave that I didn’t want to do.  The first was Dedra Meero.  I didn’t want to review that figure because of the shortcuts Hasbro took with the lower body.  But, for some heretofore unexplained reason, Mr. Nomadscout ordered me to provide that particular content.  Once completed, I was contented by the fact that I would be able to sit back and watch Nomad do the rest of the work for 2025’s inaugural case. Unfortunately for me, happenstance had other plans. In this case, I wasn’t “ordered” to do the review.  Rather, it was fate that intervened.  Nomad, in a stroke of genius, canceled his case from Entertainment Earth not realizing Indara was in the assortment.  Classic Nomad.  He had to scramble to order from Pulse, leaving the task to me in the interim.  Here we are.

I didn’t want to review this Indara figure because I’m not particularly inspired by the source material.  I didn’t think the Acolyte was particularly bad, or anything.  I was mostly entertained watching it.  I’m not trying to drag the show by stating this.  It’s just that, like so much media these days, I feel it was made to be forgotten.  It’s already retreated to the recesses of my brain soon to be pushed out to make room for that home winemaking course I will be taking (this is a deep cut Simpsons reference).  The show doesn’t inspire me to collect.  I’d personally rather the tooling went to just about any other source.  Please note that I said “personally”.  I’m not saying that Hasbro shouldn’t make them.  They probably should on some levels.  I’m unconvinced that market forces are one of them, but that’s a subject for something other than a review.

Having said all of that, we try our best here not to let our opinion of the source material cloud our judgement of the figures.  But I’m only human (jury’s out on Nomad who may be a lifelike android).  I’d imagine some subconscious biases creep in from time to time, but again, I try to avoid it as best as a I can.  To that point, this Indara is a borderline outstanding figure.  If you are an Acolyte fan, you should be very happy.  Indara has a distinctive lightsaber address stance (damn nitpicky comment pedants) as seen in the film out on the card.  It’s not something that has been historically reproducible in 3.75” action figures.  While not 100% faithful to the on-screen representation, this Indara release does a passable version of that pose.  The arms absolutely have the range of motion to perform a flawless recreation of that saber stance, but frustratingly, the figure only has swivel wrists.  That is the primary issue keeping this figure from a perfect 10 score.

The arms would be capable of so many more two-handed saber poses, but the flat plane wrists completely negate those possibilities.  The two-handed poses are limited to the ones where the angle of the grips align.  Hinged wrists allow you to change the grip angle which is the ultimate cheat code for dueling poses.  I feel like Hasbro is giving themselves an undeserved out here with the “female figure” exemption for hinged wrists.  It should be a case by case decision, and not a blanket policy.  It certainly seems to me that the figure’s arms are stocky enough to accomodate hinged wrists.  Had Hasbro done that, I can tell you right now, this Indara would be an early favorite for figure of the year.  The rest of the articulation works like a dream.  The arms bend well beyond ninety degrees as can be seen in the profile pics at the end of the gallery.  The knees bend a tick beyond ninety, but it’s enough to allow for a completely natural kneeling pose, which is a pretty big deal.  Why the Luke Skywalker in the exact same case doesn’t have this same range of motion is a head scratcher.

The soft goods robe clings to the body nicely and gives a natural appearance.  There is no clumsy bunching and billowing that we’ve seen in the past (TLC Ben, I’m looking at you).  Part of the reason for the sleek silhouette of the robe is that the hood is stitched down.  Therefore, hood up poses are not possible without modification, but it avoids the look of a deployed parachute hanging off Indara’s back.  The other accessories are the lit saber, a nicely adorned unlit hilt, and a wee tiny communicator device.  I’m baffled as to how the latter rated becoming an accessory, and a painted accessory at that. Sol’s communicator is sculpted to his belt, and I feel that would have been sufficient here.  It’s too small for the hands to grip well. I would say it’s destined to be lost, but it does plug very securely into a hole on the figure’s waist.

I would rather have had those production costs go into a little more paint.  The ribbing on Indara’s upper tunic is very pronounced on the show. so much so that I suspect the stitching on the actual garment is done in a contrasting color.  That detail is sculpted on this release, but it sort of gets lost in the sea of cast in color off white.  A simple wash to bring out that sculpting would have been stunning, though, I have to admit that applying too heavy of a wash would have been distracting.  The other negative to me is the expression of the facial paint apps.  Carrie-Anne Moss naturally has a bit of a detached expression, but I feel like it’s pushing it here.  It almost looks like Indara is falling asleep.

The big reason for the one point deduction is the lack of hinged wrists, but the detail loss from the non-existing paint apps, and the expression nudge it a little further in that direction.  Still, this is an outstanding figure.  If the aforementioned Luke was an 8.6 rounded up to a 9, this is a 9.25 rounded down.  I just wish that if we were going to get a 100% newly tooled female Jedi, that it would be Shaak Ti.  I’m tired of building up new collections to nowhere.  I’d rather upgrade the collection I’ve been building for thirty years.  But that’s just my collecting world view.  One last note:  I regret trying to match the on-screen environmental lighting for the diorama shots (read: dimly lit).  I thought it looked cool in-camera, but it’s too muddy now that I see it in the gallery.