Vintage Collection
Rey
(Island Journey)
Entertainment Earth rescued this figure from the maw of The Mighty Walmart, where Star Wars toys are slowly digested for a thousand years. While the figure is about 3 or 4 months late in arriving, EE is delivering the goods just in time for the New Year, which is actually a couple of months before their own published release date. So it’s a mixed bag. We’ve waited a long time for this figure, but not as long as it could have been. Whichever store brought this to us, Hasbro should know by now that numbered basic figures SHOULD NEVER BE INTENDED AS EXCLUSIVES. EVER! I mean, seriously. We’ve been over this. The fact that it was rescued from limbo by EE is okay, but it never should have been intentionally relegated to Walmart in the first place.
So here is only the 6th collector-grade figure sourced from The Last Jedi. As such, it is sadly alone. No matter how good it may be (or is it?) the figure will be sad and lonely on your shelf. It’s a real travesty that this is the case. But let’s see if it’s even worth crying over. This is a very solid figure. The sculpt is excellent. There are textures molded into the figure that bring it to life. The joints are well hidden, which is sometimes difficult to do for a figure that is not armored. In addition to standard super-articulation, the figure sports ball jointed hips (coupled with swivel thighs) as well as the newly implemented double barbell neck. Rey could stand rocker ankles, of course, as well as ball jointed wrists. The recently reviewed Mimban Stormtrooper has everything but rocker ankles, and both figures really make you wish Hasbro would start making this a standard articulation point for the more dynamic figures like troopers and Jedi. Or Rey.
The articulation, despite the aforementioned misses, is excellent, and allows for a lot of cool poses. However, Rey’s dainty hands are a problem. Not only are they sculpted in such a way that they aren’t very grippy, they don’t allow for much of a THWG. You can give the standard Jedi lightsaber ready pose, but that’s about it, which is a shame. Again, it’s a reminder of what this figure should be.
As for the head, much has been discussed about the poor paint apps on early samples. I have to say that my sample isn’t nearly as bad as some that I’ve seen out there, but it probably isn’t going to win over a ton of collectors. Personally, I’m not bothered by it. The eyes are bit off, but I don’t think we need to call in Uma Thurman’s professional eye wrangler. One thing that does bother me is Hasbro’s recent propensity to “miss” the lip paint. When you look up close, you can see that the lip paint application isn’t matched to the mouth sculpt, so it throws off the intended look a bit. The face doesn’t really look like Daisy Ridley at all, but it’s not so egregious that it’s such a negative.
As for accessories, Rey comes with a very well executed poncho. It’s nicely done, and does not in any way look like a shmata. The poncho falls well over Rey’s shoulders, and goes on and off rather easily. There isn’t a hood, but a small fold which completes the look. Rey is wearing a vest (which is nicely textured). The vest is removable. This is not gratuitous. There are is at least one major scene where Rey is not wearing her vest. So between the poncho and the removable vest, you are able to have a Rey that pretty much covers all of the looks on her Island Journey.
Rey comes with her neato blaster which she got from Han in The Force Awakens. It fits pretty well in her hand, as well as in the separately sculpted hip holster. The cool thing about that holster is that is plugs in and out of her right thigh, so that it won’t hinder movement of the legs. That’s a nice feature. Finally, the figure comes with Luke’s lightsaber. As mentioned, it’s difficult for Rey to wield it convincingly. Also, it was a mistake for Hasbro not to include an unlit hilt so that she can hand it to Luke. One major oversight here is the lack of Rey’s trusty staff. It was a major part of her persona, and she carried it around the island throughout her time there. She even sparred with Luke while using it. I guess it’s not a total loss, because if you have any of the 14 previous releases of 5POA Rey (or the TFA release in TBS/TVC), then you probably have the staff (or many) already so you can equip her with it.
Overall, this is a solid figure. The face paint apps may be iffy on your sample, but I’m okay with mine. The lack of a hilt or staff are bad, as are the hand sculpts. But overall, the clothing gives you a lot of options. Again, it’s really a sad state of affairs that there really aren’t too many TLJ-specific figures that can interact with this one, but if you have some 5POA craps, and even a few OT figures like Chewie and R2, you can pull off a little display to show off this figure. This figure is a very solid 8, but the lack of proper accessories and some upgraded wrist articulation hurt the figure. It’s still a keeper. 8/10.
