The Toys R Us exclusive Star Wars Black Series The Last Jedi Rey isn’t a bad piece. But It’s not a great piece either. And that’s the problem. Since SDCC we’ve been fantasizing about a technology that we know is coming but hasn’t been used yet.
In the long run the whole situation couldn’t be helped. Hasbro announced what they did and now we’re all playing the waiting game. It comes down to expectations. Hasbro showed us this:
And told us it was coming next year. All while we were across the aisle buying this:
And asking what the hell happened. Right eye, put an APB out for the left eye. We have a runner.
So to get this now:
While admittedly better than the second, it’s not as good as the first.
There’s the rub. Should Hasbro have waited to make the announcement? Or did they do right and announce the year before we’d see Photo Real in our hands? I’ve had this discussion several times on YouTube already and me personally, I think they made the correct move. Sure, it put some collectors off the line for the time being, but during a time where that dip in sales may be negligible due to the extreme hype of The Last Jedi. People will be buying the toys.
But it’s also filled a lot of us with confidence in the line, and Hasbro themselves. Sure, you may still hate the single elbows, or the wonky cloth, or the distribution, but if you break it down the single biggest gripe most of us has with the series is the face paints. We’ve seen repaints from customizers that are mind-blowing, so we know the sculpt is there 90% of the time. The upcoming printing tech shows us that Hasbro does listen. That they do make some changes for the better. Sure, they may have to pass over some suggestions and obvious flaws, probably for reasons that we don’t take into consideration, but I view the better faces as a huge win. A game changer. I absolutely can not wait.
That’s why picking up this Rey is bittersweet. Like I said, it is better than the first issue. I actually don’t mind the cloth. The face has better paints. The eyes may be slightly beady but at least they straight. I could take or leave the diecast blaster and hilt but the base is kind of nifty, even though it may more than resemble sliced meat. Or watermelon. Or rock candy. Crait is a delicious planet. I gotta find a place to put it, which I don’t see happening soon, but it’s nice to have. Overall it’s a nice figure.
But damn, next year’s Resistance Rey is looking spiffy.
What?
Package:
Figure:
Accessories:
Base:
Action:
The cloth is honestly gorgeous.
I’ll just wait on the figuarts, worth every extra penny. Until the vintage collection returns Hasbro is on hiatus for me
This is the version of her that I’m waiting for. The first release of this version did not impress me since I thought it looked *less* like Daisy than the Force Awakens release does.