Sometimes the pre-order fever hits and my rational brain goes out the window. I don’t know much about Darth Nihilus as the whole KOTOR series is one of my blank spots of Star Wars knowledge, but I’ve got a figure now so let’s take a look at this Gamestop exclusive Gaming Greats Star Wars Black Series figure!
The packaging is pretty cool and I enjoy the original Black Series style art infused with a pop of character appropriate color.
Nihilus comes with a saber with removeable blade. The metallic paint is pretty good and there is a bit of a wash to bring out the details on there. He does feel a little light, accessory-wise, but I’m not sure what else he needs. A force lightning hand could have been cool, or maybe a more elaborate cape.
The body re-uses a lot of Darth Maul parts from wave one with new arms, head, and skirt piece. I think it does a decent approximation for the character from what I’ve seen, though he could be a bit on the short side since the art I’ve seen give him more of a wraith-like feel. I do like the way the textures of the existing Maul costume works with the textures on the new piece. It feels like it belongs together.
The cape is a little insubstantial, and I think could stand to have a little more length over the shoulders and perhaps a more tattered and textured appearance, similar to the original Black Series Revan or perhaps the material from the Tusken Raider in black. It’s easily removeable, as the head pops off without heating, and the cape slips right off.
The articulation is Black Series original standard, which makes sense since this is mostly one of the figures that set that standard. Nihilus has:
- Swivel/hinge shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, and ankles
- Double hinged knees
- Ball and socket head and mid-torso
- Swivel thighs
- Hinged neck
I do find myself missing the nice tilt on from the current figures as this guy doesn’t have any really, though he gets a decent amount of up/down on that neck for somebody with a hood attached to their head. One weird thing is that his stance seems very wide, wider than my Darth Maul figure.
He does get a better two-handed saber pose than I was expecting, but I do miss the butterfly joints of the current figures. The skirt and hood plastic are both pretty soft and get out of the way of articulation for the most part.
Paint is okay. He’s mostly black plastic, which is to be expected, but there is a little slop on the center line of my figure’s mask that shows up on close-up pics, but looks okay in person.
With no connection to the character, I have to look at this one from only a fun/cool figure perspective and unfortunately this isn’t doing it for me. I know his mask is supposed to look spooky or scary, but I keep seeing a silly clown or kitty-cat in that face (thanks, Veebs), so I’m not feeling the cool factor. As for fun, the rounded boots and wide stance and somewhat loose hips on my figure made posing a little annoying, so it’s not the most fun figure I have either.
