Have you ever been asked an unanswerable question and all you can manage is puffing out your cheeks and then slowly exhaling with a sigh?  I feel it’s the universal gesture for “it beats the heck out of me”.  That’s my reaction when I think about grading this figure.  I don’t know.  It’s an okay enough action figure, but the color pallette for these Resistance costumes are more than drab.  It’s almost off-putting.  These aren’t earthtones.  These are almost biological tones, and without getting too graphic, the color pallette is what I imagine would be found in a diaper genie.  I mentioned this to Andy Ochiltree at HASCON (very nice man, BTW) when discussing Finn.  I firmly believe the TFA Finn figures did not sell well because the costume didn’t inspire purchases.  The resulting toys had zero shelf “pop”.  I suspected that the TLJ Finn, with a more vibrant color scheme, would sell better as a toy, and I have to say (based on my one store sample), I look like a genius.  The TLJ Finn still sports Poe’s “Gulden’s Spicy Mustard” jacket, but at least the rest of the wardrobe offers a touch of vibrancy.  Here, Rose’s entire jumpsuit is made out of Poe’s jacket.  If I were a kid and received this figure, this would be my reaction.  None of that is the fault of the figure, of course, but has to do with the source character’s wardrobe.  That’s my longest introductory paragraph for a review in a while, and I’m just getting starting.  Hang on folks.  It’s going to be a long one. 

Here’s the shame of the whole thing.  I think Hasbro did some really nice work here.  The detailing is amazing.  There’s a lot of little things to take in from the separately molded belt with its minute, yet precise, silver paint accents to the blue scrunchy holding her ponytail (and everything in between).  The blaster rifle borrows from the mud color wheel yet again and is cast in milk-chocolate brown plastic, but it is adorned with multiple paint applications.  If you look at the second to last picture in the gallery above, you will seen that familiar “dot matrix” appearance to the paint application, especially when zoomed to full extent.  Trust me it’s not visible at the resolution the human eye can detect (at least not my eyes).  In person, it has the effect of making the rifle appear metallic and grimy.  It’s well done.  The rifle has an enclosed trigger guard, and fortunately the figure’s right hand has a floating trigger finger so the two interact very well together.  I don’t know if Hasbro has ever read any of these reviews, but having figures include weapons with enclosed trigger guards and the standard c-molded hands drives me batty.  The result is that the weapon sits above the hand and does not seat down into it.  It’s been a frequent complaint of mine.  Here the rifle sits easily in Rose’s hand.  Again, it’s well done.  The hands themselves are malleable which is good since the rifle is made of sturdy plastic.  That combination is why the figure holds the accessory so securely. 

I wasn’t sure what the included orange accessory was at first. I thought they were carrots in some sort of futuristic carrot distribution device.  Once I noticed that accessory attached to the figure’s belt, I realized they are likely supposed to be tools (we won’t know for sure until 12/15/2017).  They are reminiscent of the hydrospanners Han used in the bowels of the Millennium Falcon.  It could also be a comms devices.  I would have posed the figure using the presumed tools to mimic repairing a starfighter, but I immediately realized that I do not own a single TFA or TLJ vehicle.  Between the undersized X-Wings and the fact that I am apparently in that “very vocal minority” who does not like The Force Awakens, I never purchased one.  Regardless, the interactivity of this accessory is neat in a “toyetic” sense.  The fact that it attaches to the belt somewhat alleviates my crushing fear of losing tiny accessories. Lastly in the “pros” category, I sense a light gray wash over the figure.  This really brings out the intricate folds and details of the sculpt.  The 6” figure doesn’t appear to have this wash and looks more plastic in comparison.  Take that, sixers!

So where does the figure miss?  Some have said that the points of articulation are too jarringly conspicuous. I don’t sense this.  The ball jointed hips, when not being engaged, can be rotated to minimize the obviousness.  I will say that from behind, it does give the impression that the figure is wearing a diaper (this is the first review on Bantha Skull that has two separate references to diapers).  My biggest gripe is that the legs of the figure are bulky to capture the appearance of mechanics overalls.  This requires the use of a larger knee ball joint which doesn’t flow a freely as my beloved Praetorian Guard.  Whereas the Praetorian was fun to pose for the photographs, this figure required a little negotiation to get into action poses. Ball jointed wrists would have been a nicer kicker here, but I suspect those budgeting dollars went into the impressive detailing.

So where does this land for a score?

(puffed cheeks with a slowly exhaled sigh)

I always set the grade immediately after photography.  My first impression if you will.  Then as I write the review, if I’ve argued myself out of that score, I will change it.  Sometimes it goes up.  Sometimes it goes down.  I initially graded this a seven, but I realized that was more of a reflection of my lack of enthusiasm for the purchase itself.  I talked myself into a nine.  It’s a shame this probably won’t be burning up the registers at retail. It’s some fine work by Hasbro