Probably most of you are enjoying a long weekend (not me).  In an effort to honor the holiday, we bring you a second straight super-articulated figure so as not to ruin the occasion with a silly 5POA figure review, which we know by now is not OK.

Finn was a member of the FN Corps, under the command of Captain Phasma.  When Finn defected, he told his new friends to call him “Finn”.  I wonder if the other members of the FN Corps would think this was confusing.  When FN-2199 accused him of being a traitor, I bet he was more angry at the fact that he took the name Finn, which 2199 secretly wanted for himself. 

But anyway, here is Finn, one of the trio of new generation characters in the Sequel Trilogy, meant to take the torch from the older OT heroes.  For whatever reason, the action figure was a complete bomb at retail.  Nearly 2 years after the figure’s debut, Walmarts all across the country (I can vouch for those in North Jersey, at least), are still swimming in 3.75” Black Series Finn (Jakku) figures.  It’s a shame really, because the figure is pretty good, it just lacks any kind of actual appeal, as the colors are drab and the figure comes with a single blaster and not any other accessories.  This figure could have benefited from a packed-in BB-8 figure, or a lightsaber, or a Falcon headset, or anything, really.  It’s just a guy.  And the figure that he is most similar to out of the 8 in the way too limited TFA offering for this line, is none other than Han Solo.  Again, just a guy, a single weapon.  Nothing else exciting, other than he’s an older version of a familiar hero.  Both figures have been keeping the pegs at Walmart nice and toasty for quite a while.

As a figure, Finn is pretty good.  Yes, he’s a bit dull, but if you can get past that, the sculpt, paint, and articulation are all excellent.  The separately sculpted coat goes a long way in bringing the figure to life.  The paint applications (although drab in color) are done well, even on the face.  There is some sand or dust added to the bottom of his pants, which looks a bit silly.  This is unfortunate, and I could have done without this.  As it is, it makes more sense as Starkiller Base snow, than Jakku sand.  Anakin definitely wouldn’t like it.  That sand gets everywhere.

The face sculpt is decent, although nobody is going to accuse it of being a dead ringer for John Boyega.  The weapon has some interesting paint applications, using that dot matrix technique.  I like it, and I think it works here.  The figure is posable, and, of course, can achieve the vaunted THWG.

It’s a shame it was such a poor seller, and even more so because it has been hindering the ability of follow-on figures, even from other movies, to hit the shelves at Walmart.  Hopefully the imminent end of that chain’s exclusivity deal will bring a brighter future for us all.

This is pretty much the definitive basic Finn, I just wish it was without the sandy pants deco.  Additional accessories would have helped.  A really good figure, that just might bore you to death.