I wasn’t originally going to buy this set. I already have a couple of figures of Rey and Kylo from Starkiller base and I’m not 100% percent sold on the Centerpiece concept. But then I saw it in person, out of the package at the Hasbro booth. I was waiting my turn to take a look at new figures in the Marvel Legends section and noticed that they were assembling this set out on the main table in the booth and the lights and fog and new Kylo all called to me. Let’s take a look!
The packaging for this set is very nice. I think they know the packaging for this thing is part of the appeal, so they wrapped it in some protective tissue paper.
There is a little “try me” button you can uncover that lights up the backdrop while remaining in the box.
I was half tempted to just plop this on top of a table as is as the interior sides of the package also have nice printed pictures of the forest and the drawings on the outside are quite beautiful.
The set comes with a base that separates into four pieces, a mostly new Kylo figure, his saber, his hilt, and a lighted backdrop.
The base consists of four parts that combines into one big piece. The main bottom part includes the translucent plastic meant to “Lava” and the LED lights and the mist machine.
That’s where you install four batteries and these batteries fit in there super tight. The top of that main bottom piece is open and that’s where you add the water for the mist effect.
The top of the main base is a little hill with the charging Rey figure glued on top. I was a little disappointed that she wasn’t removeable as it limits the utility of this base for use for other projects.
This part plugs into the bottom piece to create one solid figure and base that can stand on it’s own.
In addition to that, there’s an add-on piece that gives you space to pose an additional figure. It has some peg holes and pegs are included with the set so you can add the pegs where you like.
A small tree branch plugs into rocks on both bases that keeps the whole shebang together.
The pieces don’t click tightly together, rather hang together a little loosely.
The LEDs in the base pulse beneath the translucent plastic giving off a nice fire effect. The LEDs also have two different play modes. If you hold down the button (cleverly disguised as a rock), the lights stay on until you turn them off, if you just press the button once, it will stay on for a little bit.
This button also turns on the mist, which comes out right above the LED “lava” area to cool effect. I have a fog machine, so I don’t really need the mist effect, but I really enjoy the look of it against the lights in the base and backdrop. It’s a pretty minor effect and didn’t really show up well on camera.
The Rey figure is sculpted in an interesting charging position ready to pounce down from her little hill and it’s very dramatic. I’m not sure I recall this specific pose in the film, it’s more artistic license. The face looks to use the face printing method and has a nice likeness to Daisy Ridley.
The sculpts on the snow and lava and rocks all looks very solid. In general, it makes for a nice statue that I think fits in well with the Black Series collection. Almost like a…centerpiece to the collection! Ahem.
The really interesting bit to me is the backdrop that gives the impression of the deep woods of Star Killer base. It’s a big piece of what looks like lucite printed with a frosted white drawing of the negative space in-between the trees.
The base has blue LEDs that light up the white parts in a way that makes them look internally illuminated. It’s a very cool and artistic effect that feels a bit like some stagecraft from a Broadway show shrunk down to action figure size.
It does look a little silly when turned off or in front of a plain backdrop. You really need a black backdrop in order to get the right effect.
Finally, we have a partly new battle damaged Kylo Ren. He looks to be mostly re-used of the previous TFA Rens, but they have added a new torso, cloak, and head.
I think this scarred head is probably Hasbro’s best take on unmasked Kylo so far and the face printing creates a sickly palor that’s perfect for Kylo in this scene.
Since the torso is new, they are also using the barbell neck joint that allows for some nicer, subtler head posing. The one thing I did not like from previous Starkiller Base Kylo figures is they don’t highlight his weird high collar that you can see in that scene.
It’s covered by the scarf, so it’s not sculpted on any of the Kylo black series figures. This one has the collar, though it’s obviously battle damaged. He even has a blaster wound from Chewie’s Bowcaster.
Overall, this is a neat set, if not essential. I really enjoy all the effects they packed into this piece and I think this might be my favorite TFA Kylo figure. I’ve been working on my action figure displays lately and I like the look of the centerpieces integrated into my Black Series shelves.
Now part of this set is coming out now as the Rey Centerpiece, but it looks to not include the mist feature, the backdrop, Kylo, or the extended base, but if you want Rey with the LED lava effect, that may be the way to go as it’s a lot cheaper at $50.00. I do wonder if they will do a wide release of battle damaged Kylo sometime in the future. It seems like something Hasbro might do. At any rate, it’s a pricey hunk of plastic and electronics at $109.00 and is still available on hasbrotoyshop.com.
