I bought an early release of Chirrut Îmwe last month, and while I enjoyed the figure, I immediately regretted not getting Baze to go with him. For me, Chirrut and Baze easily joined the ranks of other classic Star Wars duos like Han and Chewie or R2 and 3PO, so it was really weird having one and not the other. Fortunately Hasbro made Baze and Chirrut available in cases for online retailers and I was able to order Baze without too much of a wait. Let’s take a look at Baze Malbus from the 6-inch scale Black Series!
Baze comes with a few accessories including his backpack, his gun, a cord to connect the two, and a taser.
At least I think the little thing with antennae is a taser. Baze does take down a trooper using some sort of shocking taser in the movie, but it happens so quick I’m not 100 percent sure that’s what this is.
I really like that it has a storage spot where it can peg into the back of the belt. I think I might have preferred the rocket launcher Baze uses against the AT-ACT, but this is pretty neat.
The gun is nicely detailed and has a couple of paint applications to enhance that detailed sculpt. The pack attaches to the back via a large peg and the chain plugs into holes in the pack and the gun. They stay together pretty securely, though I yanked out the piece attached to the gun a few times while posing.
I’m not sure if it’s intentional or not, but there is a peg on the pack that you can plug the gun into if you have taken the chain off. I also figured out a way to hook the gun on the pack by resting the scope on the piece of the pack that juts out. I don’t think he ever does this in the film, I just like to have ways for my figures to stow their weapons.
The chain is made of semi-flexible plastic so it doesn’t impede movement too much, but I think it could use one or two more links and a slightly more flexible plastic. Baze also has a cape and it’s a plastic part attached to the pack.
The sculpt is very nice. Baze has a classic Star Wars bounty hunter look with his jumpsuit and armor combination and the sculpt conveys the wrinkles and folds of a loose fitting jumpsuit well. All the little armor bits look as they should as well.
The head sculpt is really quite nice, but the detail is really hard to see because of the semi-transparent flesh-toned plastic used. This type of plastic really needs a wash to work.
As usual with Hasbro, the eye paint leaves something to be desired. It’s very basic, almost a “Fisher Price Adventure People” style black arch with a dot to denote the eye. Other than the head, the paint is pretty nice with a wash on the outfit and some of the armor. The armor could use a little more dirtying up, though.
The articulation is what we’ve come to expect from the Black Series with:
- Swivel/hinge neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, and ankles
- Double-hinged knees
- Swivel thighs
- Ball-and-socket torso and head
The ankles are a problem with this figure. They don’t have any forward movement and Baze is pretty back-heavy with that pack and gun, so it was sometimes challenging to get a good balance. He doesn’t get much upward neck movement either because of the long hair.
Overall Baze is a good, poseable figure with fun accessories that is only hindered by a bland paint job on his head sculpt. It’s really satisfying to have the Chirrut and Baze dynamic duo on the shelf, and I’m glad that my Rogue One crew is almost complete. I just need Hasbro to announce a Bodhi Rook!
