Reviewing a MAFEX figure used to be simple. “Gah, it fell apart, hate it!” But now that the quality is improving and they are using a different tech on the faces, it’s getting hard to just cast them aside. A lot of them have been great figures lately, and the Star Wars: The Force Awakens FN-2187 is no different. Although, it’s not perfect …
You’ll notice pretty quickly that the left kneepad is upside down. Not a huge deal, I just need to pop it off and flip it over. I’ve done factory-type work before; it’s easy to lose focus and bend a flange backwards here and there. Where Medicom screwed up here is in the reuse and how that misstep affects what is a really nice figure when mixing it into the display.
I never got the first MAFEX First Order Stormtrooper, but I’ve heard good things. Those things I’ve heard can be applied to Finn’s body here, which I’m assuming is the same body. All the articulation is nice and tight with some good range of movement, especially in the neck. Good grief, I think it has better head movement than I do. It’s kind of amazing. But the body is the height of a standard FO Stormtrooper, whereas Finn is, to continue the trend, a little short for a Stormtrooper. This is not blatantly apparent if you just buy MAFEX because it does look really good next to the Medicom Kylo, Rey, and Phasma. But if you’re like me and mix all companies together, Finn comes out tall, especially against S.H. Figuarts.
Now I call that a screw-up only because one of my major criteria is the ability to mix and match. That may be lower on your list of priorities. If your number one need is for the shoulder pad to get out of the way, this isn’t the Finn for you. It’s attached to the torso and has very little give when raising. If you love great likenesses on your figures, I hate to tell you that Medicom is still tweaking their face printing technology. Don’t get me wrong, they are moving in the right direction because the attempt on Finn is nicer than Kylo’s unmasked head, but there is still quite a ways to go before it gets up to Tamashii Nations standards.
Now, that is me doing a whole lot of focusing on negatives, but I had to get them out of the way. It really is a nice figure, in the way that Medicom is moving forward and upward in the QC department. Design is still getting better. And even with its faults I like the MAFEX version better than the Black Series FN-2187. But Bandai did show a Figuarts version a while back.
It never ends … although it could be worse. We could still be wishing for 1:12 Star Wars altogether.
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