Chris did his Top 10 list on Friday. You can see it HERE. It's stupid. So here's my list. It's much better. And by "better", I mean it's nearly the same.
For the record, I was thinking of doing a "Bottom 10" (or maybe 5?) list, but I think I've gone on enough recently about how Hasbro did me dirty this year. So I'll do a "Top 10" instead.
Baylan is one of the very best figures of the year. The sculpting, paint, accessories, articulation, posability, and likeness form a perfect storm of excellence. My only nitpick was that the skirt, while made of a soft and pliable plastic, ends up hindering the figure's ability to sit on the Howler beast, and that's a bit of a bummer. But the real reason why it's not higher on the list is more subjective. While the character was one of the most intriguing from a mediocre Ahsoka show, it's all just...forgettable. And while I loved Rory McCann as The Hound in GoT, it can be tough to be invested in a re-cast character. Anyway, it's just not inspirational enough to score higher on my list.
There's a lot to love about this figure. It's got a great sculpt, is fun to pose, has top notch paint details, and a solid likeness. It's a dynamic figure that also interacts well with the Howler with which it is packed. While Sabine may suffer the same lack of interest as Baylan, she benefits from being a character that has a lore going back to her days in Rebels, and while she hasn't interacted with the Ghost in Ahsoka yet (I think?), at least she is Ghost-adjacent.
The best thing about the figure is that it corrects a huge (see what I did there?) error from it's initial release. It replaces the disturbingly large removable helmet with a swappable helmet. Good move, Hasbro. Now let's make sure it doesn't happen again, mmkay?
I was a fan of the Zahn novels, which rekindled my love of Star Wars, and helped set the stage for me doing this with Chris over 30 years later. I was never interested in the EU, so I'm not even entirely sure what made me read those books. I never even watched the Droids or Ewoks shows. For me, Star Wars was effectively over after I stopped buying Kenner toys around shortly after ROTJ.
Of all the characters, the one that I found most intriguing was Pellaeon. I liked how he seemed to be a pragmatic and honorable guy, trying to make his way in an Imperial military that he probably didn't really jive with. And I feel if he was an Alliance officer, he would have essentially been the same character, just with a different uniform. If you're a Star Trek fan, you may recall the TOS episode "Mirror, Mirror." "Evil" Spock wasn't really an evil member of his "empire", he was more or less regular Spock, with a goatee. He could have fit in either universe. Pellaeon gave me the same vibes, and I dig it. So anyway, it was cool to finally have a figure.
As I've written about too often, I'm typically not a fan of remakes and redos. The exceptions are main characters and army builders. The best existing snowtrooper figure was a fairly decent effort, but had been showing its age for a while. It was definitely time for an update. Unlike the scout trooper, Hasbro went all out on this one, and gave us a definitive 2025 version that should last us a very long time. I bought a bunch.
This was followed up with a partial tool to make the Snowtrooper Lieutenant, and again, Hasbro went all out. The result was fantastic. The basic trooper gets the nod from me here, but the variant was a winner as well.
I was intrigued by this version of Obi-Wan ever since I saw the Sideshow statue a while back. I thought it was a really cool take on the "just offscreen" version of Obi-Wan that probably existed. We got a live action version that was pretty darn close to that vision at the end of Obi-Wan Kenobi. And I loved it. The figure is outstanding, doing just about everything you could ask, with enough accessories to add plenty of variation possibilities. He sits in the ol' eopie (I've just created a new euphemism - you're welcome) just fine. The wrists don't have enough range of motion due to the the long sleeves, but that nitpick isn't enough to stop me from giving it a 10/10. This is one of my favorite figures in the entire line. I know that kid figures don't sell, but I'd really love a young Luke (and Leia, while we're at it) to go with this Obi-Wan. The series was largely forgettable, but I'm grateful it gave us the Jedi Legend.
This figure received a lot of grief when promo shots were first releases due to the lack of paint apps. Paint has been a sore spot for collectors, ever since it became apparent that despite high retail prices, Hasbro had seemingly decided that paint was something that could be sacrificed. The bottom of the Ghost was left more or less unpainted, and after shelling out close to $500 for something, it seemed that collectors were having none of that. So as certain apps were left out (Sabine's blasters, Shin Hati's hair, and the entirety of Huyang's plating are a couple of examples), the community wasted no opportunity to express frustration. Chris led the charge, immediately dumping all over IG-12 when it was announced. While the lack of paint in certain spots didn't really bother me specifically, I did share the general frustration with the overall situation. Nevertheless, I was hoping that the figure would be good enough to overcome the missing paint apps.
Well, I was pleasantly surprised by exactly how great the figure ended up being. It's one of my favorites. It's executed extremely well in terms of sculpt and articulation. Like the main IG-11 figure, it can strike more poses than Madonna. But it also has an updated torso to fit "pilot" Grogu. Meanwhile, the included Anzellan figure, while lacking articulation, is still a perfect addition to TVC - and he can perch atop IG-12's shoulder if Grogu is hogging the pilot seat. This figure was just a lot of fun, and makes me smile every time I look at it. I'm 100% guilty of this myself, but I think we all can sometimes sweat the details a bit too much, and skip over the fun part of the hobby. That said, I'm sure I'm ready to start complaining about the next time a figure doesn't have a ball-jointed codpiece.
From wan Kenobi to another (I'm on a roll), here's the OG from ANH. I'd have to say that of all the mains we've been pushing for, Ben Kenobi was probably the one that was the closest to acceptable. To be clear - it was not acceptable, but the gulf between the best versions of Luke, Leia, and Han and what they could be in 2025 TVC was much wider than it was for Ben. That said, there were improvements to be had, and the current team at Hasbro hit a grand slam on this one. The likeness, articulation, soft goods execution, and posability are exactly what we needed. He fits great in the landspeeder, looks great with or without the Jedi robe, and most importantly, he can deliver the double-handed "sacrifice" pose. The only thing missing is having the hood on the robe work well. I was able to get it using a little blue-tack, but I'd love a future version of this figure with a hood-up robe, as well as an alternate "mind trick" hand.
This figure is sourced to Ahsoka, but it serves perfectly as a standard TCW Anakin. It was special to have Hayden Christensen back for Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka, and even better to have his performance inspire Hasbro to make this figure. It has a great sculpt, great soft goods execution, and a nice likeness - at least to what appears is a bit of a merging of Hayden's current age and appearance in The World Between Worlds with what he looks like in animated form. My only real gripe with the figure was the light color of the hair. While his armored outfit is different, the character's personal appearance should essentially be the same as in ROTS.
This figure was later re-released but with an added cape, ostensibly a nod to his appearance in the original 2D Tartakovsky Clone Wars series - which is pretty sweet. And while I probably never really thought much about an update to the existing version a TCW Anakin, the comparison shot really shows how laughably bad that figure is.
Back-to-back Obi-Wans now give way to back-to-back Anakins. Sort of. This one is actually Darth Vader. Well, it's really Anakin in Vader form in the World Between Worlds of Ahsoka. While we've been campaigning hard for updates to the ANH mains, that concept applies across the OT and PT. There has definitely been a need for an update to ROTS Anakin and Obi-Wan. This figure is again sourced to Ahsoka, which is given away by the red lightsaber that he used in the WBW, but not at any point during ROTS. That's all fine, as the sculpt should (will?) serve as the basis for a proper ROTS version. We'll need the pre-Vader non-Sith eyed appearance, of course. And with the recent tease of an all new ROTS Obi-Wan, it seems inevitable that this is on the way as well.
The figure has a great sculpt, likeness, paint, and articulation. It's fun to pose, and looks great dueling Ahsoka. It's easy to imagine an updated desktop diorama Final Duel between Anakin and Obi-Wan. Let's get moving on that, please.
This one might be a little higher than it should be, but it's just so great there was simply no way to push it down the list. First of all, I love the Jedi video game series, and can't wait for the third installment. The gameplay, storytelling, character development, and designs made it an instant classic for me. I wish Hasbro could do more for us with regard to figures from the series. Aside from the main Cal Kestis, all the other figures that have been sourced to the series (including Imperial Officer Kestis) have been repaints and retools of army building figures. We simply don't have enough unique characters like the rest of the Mantis crew, Inquisitors, Dagan Gera, Rayvis, Taron Malicos, and Bode Akuna. But finally we now have someone to join Cal, and it's his fellow traveller and "something" interest, Merrin.
The character was cool enough in the show, and Hasbro delivered in TVC. The figure has everything as far as a superior sculpt, design, articulation, likeness, and accessories. In particular, the accessories are extra cool. They include a blade that stores in a rear belt sheath, a staff, and an alternate hand to hold a burst of Nightsister "magick." The figure is a delight, and is an outstanding addition to the JFO/JS source lineup.
This is really a no-brainer, and I am obviously in agreement with Chris about Luke being the best figure of the year. I opted for the deluxe version as the best, because the basic carded figure left me wanting more accessories so that I could truly replace all the variants I have on display that I've acquired over the years to fit into particular scenes. The deluxe version covers almost everything I wanted, including the droid caller, floppy hat, shmata, and binoculars. I still need an update to the carbon scraping tool, as well as the full stormtrooper belt option (with commlink and grappling hook). I'm okay getting that figure as a pack-in with the Death Star Haslab campaign that had better be announced in 2026 for 2027 SW50 delivery (the only anniversary that matters).
This figure is a triumph, and a worthy update to the existing figures - the best of which was woefully out of date to the point of becoming an embarrassment. While people might pick on the color of the leg wraps for the basic version (it's correct), the deluxe version squashes the complaint by adding a simple dirt wash. The figure is essentially perfect, and is the crowning achievement on what was already one of the best years in the history of the line.
I surprised myself that only 3 of the 11 figures listed above are from the OT/PT (4 if you want to count Vader Anakin as "close enough" to ROTS). While I would generally prefer OT and PT characters - and 2025 was decidedly ANH centric - I still love me some figures from sources beyond the 6 main films. (Sorry, I just don't care about the ST as a source.) So my list shares a lot with Chris's, but mine is definitely better because the Knicks have a better record than the Celtics.
