Wave 2 of the Solo-themed 5POA line arrived in stores with little fanfare around late May, just as the film was hitting theaters.  Of the 4 “new” figures in the wave, this is the only figure based on a character from Solo:  A Star Wars Story.  Since only 4 of the 7 carded figures in wave 1 were from Solo, we now have a grand total of 5 out of 11 figures that are actually from the film after which the line is named.  It’s a strange time we live in, folks.

Moloch was revealed relatively late in the marketing campaign for Solo.  As such, it was believed by some fans that he was one of the main villains in the film.  Not even.  Moloch turned out to be henchman of Lady Proxima, who was only featured as a local gangleader on Corellia during Han and Qi’ra’s younger days.  Moloch is a Grindalid, a large, worm-like species, as is Lady Proxima.  The species is averse to sunlight, so it makes total sense that the main “hall” in which Lady Proxima would address her White Worm gang contained windows to the outside, presumably covered with paint of some kind.  Han, while captured, threw a rock at one of the windows, exposing the Grindalids’s to sunlight, allowing him and Qi’ra to escape into the streets of Coronet City. Moloch had a protective mask and robe ensemble, which allowed him to freely roam the streets.  He chased Han and Qi’ra in his own speeder (Hasbro should make one), and eventually tracked them down to the spaceport, where he caught Qi’ra, but Han escaped.

Moloch ended up being a relatively minor character, but even though his figure is not part of the collector line, it’s actually pretty awesome.  First of all, the figure just looks great.  The sculpt is intricate and detailed, with lots of varying textures, and nicely applied paint.  The outer robe is made of a flexible plastic.  It is not removable, unless you pop the arms, which goes against my deeply held anti-customization beliefs.  The images in the gallery show the details of the clothing underneath the robes, along with the bandolier and holster.  The holster accommodates the small blaster pistol, which the figure also holds nicely in his hand.  Also included is a staff.  It would have been nice if it was a little longer so it could be held resting on the floor, but otherwise works well with the figure.  Moloch is essentially a salt shaker figure, but it’s more of a necessity due to the character’s design, than a choice by Hasbro.  There weren’t any corners cut on legs; Moloch doesn’t have legs.  You can see that underneath the robes, Hasbro sculpted Moloch’s pale, worm-like body.  Due to the sculpt, the figure stands assuredly. 

The real highlight of the figure is the removable mask.  The breathing apparatus extends forward away from the mask, which can then be taken off the head, revealing the lizard-ish face.  The face is painted in a very pale manner, with ill-defined eyes.  At first I was disappointed in this, but realize it’s probably not only screen-accurate (I didn’t really notice it on my one viewing of Solo so far), but it also makes sense due to the cave-dwelling nature of the species.  Grindalid appear to be albino-like in their appearance.

One quick thought on the Force Link 2.0:  kinda lame.  The figure has no speaking lines, so there’s just a couple of grunts and alien gibberish, and then some rather unusual blaster sounds.  I guess there wasn’t much to work with here.  Don’t spend 6 hours upgrading your firmware on Moloch’s account.

Moloch has an outstanding sculpt, with 2 weapons that interact well with the figure, and also a removable mask.  The head (well, face, actually) is articulated, as are the arms, so consider this a 3POA figure.*  However, it’s not a negative that the figure lacks any articulation below the waist.  It’s a great looking and well-executed figure, one of the nicest in the 5POA line.  Lack of elbows and wrists aside, this figure could actually pass for a collector quality figure.  If you liked Solo, get this figure.

*Editor’s Note:  After being pointed out by CJ in the comments section, I realized the figure does, in fact, have articulated wrists.  In my sample, the joints were very tight out of the package, and had to be forced to swivel, but they are articulated.  It allows for slightly better posability, but it still can’t manage a THWG with the staff, which is unfortunate.  It makes it a more solid 6, as I just can’t push it into the 7 range.