Today is the (unofficial) big day.  It’s the Thursday preview of the Friday premiere of The Last Jedi.  Everybody just calm down.  To hold you over, here is a new Rey figure, that seems to just now be appearing in stores.  “Island Journey” is such a weird figure name qualifier to me.  I wonder if Hasbro came up with it on their own, or if Lucasfilm had anything to do with it.  Maybe when we see the movie, Luke asks Rey why she’s there, and she says, “I’m on a parenthetical island journey, screw you for judging me.  I am who I am.” I doubt it, but whatever.  Behold, Rey (Island Journey).

This figure has a lot going on, most of it good.  Lets start at the top, and peel back the layers.  First of all, the face sculpt/paint application is pretty good.  It’s not great, but is better than this figure’s close relative, the Rey (Resistance Outfit) face.  No one will mistake this for Daisy Ridley, but it’s acceptable.  As you’ll note, Hasbro can execute a rain poncho quite well.  However, in Rey’s case, her poncho makes her kind of look like a fetid version of the Fruit of the Loom Apple Guy.  After a bit of experimenting, it looks less silly if you make sure that the back of the collar slips underneath Rey’s ponytail, which kind of pins it in the most forward position it can go.  There’s your tip of the day. 

Fortunately, the poncho is removable, which brings us to the next layer.  The Rey figure underneath the poncho looks, at first glance, to be very similar to the Rey (Resistance Outfit).  However, even my defective color vision can see that this was painted much more appropriately.  That’s not the only difference.  There a few details that make this better.  Rey’s calves and feet are actually a separate piece from where the capri pants end.  This means it’s a much sharper paint line.  The holster is a separate sculpt from the figure, as it was in the Resistance Outfit figure, but you’ll note that the entire belt/holster/thigh strap is a separate piece (actually it’s a couple of pieces).  I made a weak effort to see if it would come off, but it appeared to be glued so I didn’t want to force it.  It just looks much better, adding depth to the figure, and of course, avoids more opportunity for paint overspray. 

The vest is removable, and at this point, if you hadn’t noticed already, Rey is 7POA, just like Luke (Jedi Exile).  She differs from Luke in that the added articulation is at the elbows, rather than the wrists.  It’s a nice plus, although it is only of the swivel variety.  Once the vest is off, this does allow you the third outfit variation, which is seen in the trailers.  This is the one she seems to wear most commonly while doing lightsaber exercises.  The swivel elbows give you very slightly more options.

Rey comes with a blaster that fits nicely in the holster.  One complaint is that Rey’s hands aren’t sculpted well enough to have a tight grip on either the pistol or the lightsaber.  That, and the badly sculpted poncho are the worst parts of the figure.

A few hours shy of seeing the film, I would say that a definitive Jedi Training Rey figure for the TVC line would be similar in concept to this figure (with SA of course), but add more accessories, such as the pouch that came with the Resistance Outfit figure, her staff, and an unlit saber hilt.  It remains to be seen if a swap out head would be appropriate (different hair, or something similar).

But, alas this is a budget figure, albeit a pretty good one.  Nothing groundbreaking, but it allows for three different outfit options, and has extra articulation for a 5POA.  I give it a 6.

ENJOY THE FILM!