I’m not much of a gamer, so it’s not often I darken the doors of the local GameStop. There have been so many Star Wars figures released there recently that the staff there is starting to recognize me. The most recent reason for me to pester the GameStop clerks is the release of the exclusive Black Series Inferno Squad Agent based on characters in the upcoming Star Wars Battlefront II video game. Let’s take a look!
One of the big complaints about last year’s Star Wars Battlefront game is that there was no story. EA has remedied that oversight with Battlefront II by introducing Iden Versio, Imperial leader of an elite commando unit that goes by the name “Inferno Squad.” It’s kind of like an evil A-Team whose job it is to take out Rebel Cells, and I take it that this figure is supposed to represent one of the team.
The figure comes packaged in the standard Black Series black and red window box that shows off the figure well and features a nice illustration of the Inferno Squad agent. The box fits especially well with the Inferno Squad color scheme.
The figure is basically a repaint of the Black Series TIE pilot, with a new belt. The figure has a pretty slim build, so I suppose you could fudge it as being Iden or her two male squad mates, but I don’t think it’s really doing the character of Iden justice as is. I’d like a figure of her later with a removable helmet and that cool little probe droid she (and Rebels’ Seventh Sister) uses.
As a repaint, you know what you are getting with this figure, but the little details do elevate it a bit and make it worth the purchase for me.
The badge and stripes are well painted and the helmet, gloves, and boots have a satisfying gloss finish. The only paint issue I see is that the jumpsuit itself is a little too glossy. A matte finish would help with that.
The articulation is Black Series standard with the following POA:
- Swivel/hinge neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, and ankles
- Double-hinged knees
- Ball-and-socket torso
- Thigh swivel
The articulation is functional and the head gets good movement even though it is tied to the chest box with flexible tubing. I would have preferred an up/down hinge rather than the in/out hinge at the wrist joint, but other than that it all works well.
The figure is a little light on accessories, with only the rifle and the removable belt.
The rifle does have a bit of a metallic dry brush, so that’s nice.
Overall, this a pretty slick figure for a quick repaint job. I’m not sure if there are generic “Inferno Squad Agents” in the game, but if there are, this figure makes a lot more sense to me since it doesn’t feel particularly representative of the three agents we’ve seen so far. In general, I would love a figure representing all of the different soldiers shown in Battlefront, especially rebel commandos, so I hope this figure does well and encourages more Battlefront tie-ins.
I read the Inferno Squad book, so I think I would have preferred a new figure of Iden Versio to this, but I got two of this figure in the hopes that maybe we’ll get Iden in the future to lead my little squad.
Head over to Gamestop.com to order. It’s sold out now, but you never know when/if it will pop back up. I did end up using the “pickup at the store” feature to find local shops that had the figure available.
