Here’s another Rogue One themed 2-pack.  Like many of the others, it includes 2 5POA figures and a giant accessory.  Should this be part of your collection, or should this be part of your collection?  The pack contains 2 figures: a throwaway trooper and your only chance (as of this writing, and for the foreseeable future) to own a 3.75” Baze Malbus, a member of the Rogue One strike team.

The stormtrooper is neither exciting nor necessary for most collectors.  There have been plenty of opportunities to own an OT styled stormtrooper in super-articulated 3.75” form.  This is a decent looking figure, but as with all troopers in the line, it is basically killed by lack of articulation.  It has 2 things going for it:  It can serve as diorama fodder, and the removable cauldron essentially gives you two display options - plain or Jedha stormtrooper.  Other than that, it will make you angry that it exists at all.  I can manage my own anger by simply accepting that this serves as large accessory to the other figure in the pack.  It’s probably better than the single-carded Rogue One stormtrooper, which is weird.

Of course, the real reason to buy this is because of Baze Malbus.  He does his job - mostly (will get into the negative later).  Paint applications around the uniform are fairly complex.  Several colors are necessary, and he has various doo-dads and what nots all over his uniform.  The jumpsuit is also nicely sculpted with a lot of intricate textures and details.  The figure has a slightly non-neutral stance, which normally has a negative impact on a 5POA figure.  However, this is not a troop builder, and also the stance would seemingly work for holding a huge weapon, so it’s acceptable.  Baze interacts with his accessories fairly well.  The main gun, complete with chain ammo and backpack feeder, works fairly well, although the paint is a bit simple.  As expected, the big problem is that he cannot wield this impressive weapon with two hands, so he extends one arm rather unnaturally.  We should be used to this type of thing for 5POA by now.  The large pack-in accessory is a Hasbro invention, and while it works well with Baze, it’s a bit silly with the bright red paint and blue ice missiles.  (Cue Wonder Twins joke.) 

The biggest fail which prevents the figure from succeeding at the baseline is that the facial paint applications and simplistic sculpt make this figure look terrible.  It’s almost as if Hasbro really tried to make this an animated-styled figure.  If you don’t know this about me, I can’t stand the animated lines.  Not because of any issue I have with the media, but because the figures are fundamentally different from the thousands of realistically styled figures I already own.  As such, they are just as much an affront to my collecting habits as the 6” figures.  Baze’s face makes me angry, and unlike with the stormtrooper, I cannot mitigate my anger with any excuse.

So, the two-pack comes with a throwaway trooper, a silly mega weapon, and an essential character with a face that ruins an otherwise fairly decent 5POA figure.  Unfortunately, any desire to complete the 6 member Rogue One team makes this a necessary purchase for now.