OK, back by popular demand, another review from the cartoony cartoon toon 5POA Resistance line.  This is one of a pair of 2-packs released so far.  We have Poe Dameron and BB-8.  Poe is voiced by Oscar Isaac, who is one of several actors that reprise their live-action roles in animated form.  The first season of Resistance takes place just before The Force Awakens.  The story will apparently cross over the events of TFA, and I guess by extension TLJ, which could be interesting.  In the cartoon, Poe recruits Kaz Xiono, and assigns him to spy on any First Order activity at the Colossus refueling platform, where he is placed under the watch/cover of mechanic/racer Jarek Yeager.  While Poe comes and goes throughout the series so far, he leaves BB-8 on the Colossus to assist Kaz on his mission.

As for the figures, I feel the same way about this set as I do about the First Order Stormtrooper.  I understand (but strenuously object) to the cartoon sculpt aesthetic, but I feel it would be better to focus on characters introduced by the series.  We already have realistic versions of Poe and BB-8 (and the stormtrooper), so Hasbro, since they’ve already committed to this animated path, should have devoted the resources to making characters like Nikku, Tam, or Fazon.  I have not heard hide nor hair of a possible second wave of figures.  In fact, we know very little of what Hasbro has in store for 3.75” until Episode IX (besides what was revealed for TVC already).  Perhaps we’ll find out something more at New York Toy Fair. 

Poe and BB-8 are sculpted to look like their on-screen animated counterparts.  There’s no denying that Hasbro got what they wanted, and nailed these sculpts.  If you’re a fan of the cartoon vibe, you’ll like this (and all the Resistance figures).  This is a highly stylized version of Poe Dameron.  The colors are bright and well applied, the uniform is simply sculpted and has zero texture to it, the face and hair are sharp and pointy, but true to the source material.  Like those wacky Disney Infinity figures, or whatever they are called now, we have a somewhat interesting interpretation of Oscar Isaac in animated form, but give me the TBS version any day.  This Poe comes with a removable helmet, which is a technological leap over the last 5POA version of the character, which was released in the TFA line with the atrocious and laughable idiot visor.  This helmet has a translucent visor, and fits over the head nicely.  The figure is painted fairly sharply, and the face was executed well.  Poe comes with a single gold colored blaster, which fits in his hand or in the holster. 

BB-8 is also part of the set.  As with previous releases, his only articulation is a head that can turn 360 degrees, and has some limited range to move around the top of the ball-like body.  BB-8 is painted and sculpted well.  In the comparison shot, you can see that he is dwarfed by his realistic version.  Besides that, the sculpt would be passable as non-cartoon, even though you can make out the differences clearly when the figures are side by side.  This BB-8 doesn’t have a strong balance point, so it was a bit tricky to get him to stay upright while taking photographs.  I understand Hasbro wanting to include familiar characters in the line, but here I felt like they definitely could have just included any of the previous movie inspired BB-8’s instead of making a new sculpt for this line. 

As a two pack, the set is a little lacking in value, since BB-8 is so tiny. The excitement level just isn’t there either, since we have these characters in realistic form already.  There’s probably something to be said for the novelty of seeing Hasbro translate a film character into an animated sculpt, but that something probably isn’t all that compelling or exciting.  To me, this is the dullest release of the nacent Resistance line, with the possible exception of the stormtrooper.  It’s probably an easy pass for most collectors.  Not sure how kids would feel about it.  I think they’d rather have those Fortnight figures.  As for the unknown future of this line, I wouldn’t mind a second wave to finish it all out.  I have no problem with these cartoon sculpts as niche items in very limited numbers (like those crazy Clone Wars Microseries statue figures), but if the line continues into something bigger, Hasbro has better consider phasing it into the realistically styled line soon.