Ah, “Fan Choice” polls, they always seem like a cool idea for a popular action figure line, but sometimes they can portray an “inmates running the asylum” kind of result when it comes time to announce the winner. Darth Revan was the winner of the 2015 Star Wars Black Series line poll, and he is now finding his way on to store shelves, just in time for the holiday rush. So, is he a viable Black Series entrant or a frivolous pick by a pointed fan base? Let’s see …
Thus far, the SWB series Fan Polls have been dominated by Expanded Universe characters, at least in terms of the winners. There is a lot of speculation as to why that is, but there is no denying that there is some support presence out there. Its size can be debated if you are to believe the ballot-stuffing rumors, even for a set of stories that have been tossed to the curb in terms of being considered official Star Wars canon. So even though, as a character, I don’t have any experience with or care for Darth Revan, as long as figure is cool, I am usually good to go. The good news (for me anyway) is that seems to be the case here.
Actually, I have to admit that I don’t know if Star Wars video games are considered outside of the official canon. I have to assume that they are because video games are crazy and variable in terms of storyline, but regardless, since it is not a movie, cartoon, or (now) an official Marvel comic, I consider it to be outside of what Disney deems “official” story. It doesn’t really matter as far as it concerns my experience because this figure is my first exposure to Darth Revan, and as such, it is pretty positive. Now, I don’t have any characterization or story to back it up, but the figure’s design is cool, even if I am not sure what to do with it.
Revan is a character that existed long before the Skywalker saga of popular Star Wars lore. He was a Jedi, then got kind of Sith-y (I think it depends on how you play the game), and then went back to being Jedi-y again during the Knights of the Old Republic storyline that much of the Expanded Universe was built upon prior to the Disney acquisition a few years ago. His design and choice of lightsaber(s) certainly illustrate that characterization, and since you cannot see his face (I don’t think it has EVER been seen), that automatically gives him a leg-up on being a safer Black Series figure.
Despite his murky backstory, anyone looking at this figure for the first time, with no knowledge of the character, would peg him as an evil character ten out of ten times. I mean, he is basically fan-service in terms of his design: he has a mask that recalls the Mandalorian armor, he wears black and red (Sith colors), and wields two lightsabers, so that pretty much covers all of the requirements when asking a fan to describe a cool, badass SW villain. The good part is that it works, and as I said above, many of the choices lend themselves to Hasbro’s strengths, or, at the very least, they don’t play to their weaknesses.
Hasbro has done a particularly good job with this figure when it comes to the articulation scheme and the detailed sculpt. While there is some armor in his getup, I would almost call Revan’s outfit to be more ceremonial in nature than anything else. It definitely walks the fine line of being impractical due to the sash, cape, and very long robes (lightsabers will set flame to those as fast as anything else), but it does look neat. On top of that, it does not hinder the articulation much, if at all, and this is one of the very rare cases when I feel the balance between plastic and cloth has been struck very successfully.
I am willing to admit it, and if you have read some of my features before, this should come as no surprise, but I am not fan of soft goods on 1:12 scale action figures. After the poor paint applications on the faces, soft goods are my biggest gripe about the SWB line. Sometimes they are okay: Darth Maul’s cloth skirt piece is well done, and a Jedi cloak (like with the new Obi-Wan works as well), but since we get those along with not-at-all-good pieces like farm boy Luke’s shirt, and the entire dress on the new Princess Leia, it is just easier for me reject the entire concept because what is good is not enough to make up for what is not good. However, in this case, the cloth has been handled relatively well.
Yeah, I get it, it helps to retain some of the articulation, but in this day and age, lots of lines are using plastic and still retaining most movement with robes and capes and other things. That said, I don’t mind the lower robe piece or the cape on this figure. As far as soft materials go, these are actually quite nice and the they both have different sheens and textures that help add another layer of detail to the figure, something that is generally lost with cloth. The scale still prevents the folds and wrinkles from looking realistic, but I do appreciate the torn and tattered details given to both. Since all of the material is black that helps to make it less jarring as well, so the overall design had that working for it too. In the end, the robes do help preserve the leg articulation, so you can get some great action poses.
My favorite part of the sculpt of the figure, though, is the helmet and hood. Revan’s helmet just looks cool, and the red and black colors give it an extra shot of intimidation. The hood is just as well done in terms of aesthetics, and because it is a controlled plastic sculpt, it fits the figure much more naturally than cloth ever would be able to accomplish. It is kind of the anti-Emperor choice for materials, so while it looks a lot better than Palpatine’s hood, you do have to finagle the head just a bit to get it to turn properly, so there is some trade off here. I with Hasbro would have made the hood a separate piece and not attached it to the shoulders, then the movement issue would have been solved with a natural sculpt and we would have had the best of both worlds.
Finally, Darth Revan comes with two lightsabers, one with a red blade and one with a violet blade. The Sam Jackson embargo on purple must stop with characters not appearing in movies, so I am glad to see it again here, and the combo or red and purple remains threatening, while bringing a bit of a regal quality, too. I am not convinced that fighting with two laser swords is the most practical thing to do, but there is no denying the cool factor when locking blades with another Force user.
Even though I don’t have any attachment to the character, and his place in the SW story makes him an anachronism with everything else on my shelf, I rather like the Darth Revan figure. His design is strong, if not a bit over the top for me, and even with quite a bit of cloth, the figure turned out well, so those who supported him in the fan vote should be happy. This wave is just now starting to hit retail, but Revan and Sabine seem to be vanishing first, so if you want this figure and you see him in the wild, I would recommend not hesitating.
While this Revan figure is saved from the EU abyss by its plastic awesomeness, the next fan’s pick might be shakier when Jaina Solo is released, but don’t blame me – I voted for Dengar!
