Here’s a TLJ figure, in TLJ packaging, debuting after the line look changed almost 3 months ago to Solo packaging.  Similar to what happened at the end of the Rogue One line, Entertainment Earth rescued a couple of “late wave” figures from TLJ.  Even then, Hasbro was shipping toy assortments that contained packaging from both line looks, while simultaneously re-launching TVC, which contained no Solo figures, and one TLJ character that had unfortunately become figura non grata prior to release.  Confusing times, but at least not as awful as during 2012-2015, when there were no fewer than 82 line look changes.  This is a fact.  I read it on Bantha Skull, in the review of C’ai Threnalli.

Speaking of C’ai Threnalli, it seems that he was born as a mistake.  No, I don’t mean that his parents were young and foolish.  Fellow Abednedo pilot Ello Asty served in the Resistance, and was shot down and killed during the assault on Starkiller Base.  However, at the end of The Force Awakens, when the Resistance members at D’Qar assemble to send off Rey on board the Millenium Falcon (...and Chewbacca.  Chewbacca was there, too.  Why does everyone always forget Chewbacca?)  there is an actor donning the costume that was Ello Asty.  The Story Group explained that this must be another Abednedo pilot.  He was later identified as C’ai Threnalli, and appeared (again) in The Last Jedi.  He is seen on board the Falcon at the end of that film, so he is actually one of the last remaining members of the Resistance that had fled D’Qar. 

Hasbro already released Ello Asty in the TFA line.  It is probably most well known for having been sculpted with a non-removable helmet and idiot visor.  It’s the reason Ello got shot down: He couldn’t see anything through the banana-colored lens. 

Ello Asty’s view just before he was shot down.

Otherwise the figure wasn’t awful (5POA aside), it just lacked much depth and detail, beyond the separately sculpted chest box and hose.  One big plus, he came with a holster, which many pilot figures do not have.  But the helmet situation was hard to overlook.  Alien + Pilot + Backgrounder should be a slam dunk figure, but Asty was a disappointment.  Then again, unless you’re talking about Paige Tico or B-A-D R2-D2, most 5POA figures are disappointing.

And that finally brings us to this figure.  C’ai Threnalli, while theoretically the same as Ello Asty, got an all new sculpt.  Most obvious, and most welcome, was the inclusion of a removable helmet, minus the idiot visor.  The helmet looks great (with its own paint scheme, fortunately different from Asty’s), and when removed it gives us a great view of a fantastic Abednedo head sculpt.  The textures, subtle paint applications, and personality make this a winner.  Additionally, we actually get a 9POA figure.  On top of the regular 5 points, we get swivel wrists and ankles.  Technically, they’re swivel gloves and boots, which differ from biological joints in that they are just pieces of clothing.  Everybody following?  Hasbro must have felt that it was cost effective to sculpt and paint the gloves and boots as separate pieces, and the swivel action is just a happy bi-product.  Well, it’s not that happy.  The boots have no real use, while the gloves give only marginally more posability to the figure.  The figure also includes nice details such as separately sculpted harness straps.  One unfortunate step backward was the omission of the holster.  That’s too bad.  Maybe it could be overlooked, but since it was there before, it should have been included here.

This is a solid offering for the “budget” line, despite the under-articulation.  It works for scenes in both TFA and TLJ, and maybe even going forward, if C’ai makes an appearance as a pilot again.  It’s too bad that it’s not as readily available, but you can get one at our sponsor, Entertainment Earth, by clicking HERE.