Rebels, Rebels, how could they know? Hot tramp — we love you so!
I love Princess/General Leia. I adore Rey. Heck, I even admire Padmé, so Star Wars heroines have a great track record with me, despite their sparse numbers. However, from all of the previews that I have seen for Rogue One, Jyn Erso REALLY looks like my kind of girl, and that strong, confident, and somewhat cocky personality has always appealed to me. The same can be said of Sabine Wren, the Mandalorian artist, Ghost crew member, and star of the awesome Star Wars: Rebels cartoon.
Rebels, like the Clone Wars show before it, is an important part of Star Wars canon, because, while we got a bit of longer history via the Prequel Trilogy, the time between that and A New Hope (and now, Rogue One) is becoming more and more crucial to fully realize the gravity of the Original Trilogy. The galaxy far, far away is a very diverse place and every planet and system has its own history, politics, and stories, so Rebels has been taking us to places barely touched in the films, or even areas previously unheard of. Mandalore is one of those places, and Sabine instantly makes that entire planet more interesting.
Yeah, yeah, Jango Fett was a Mandalorian, and his cloned Boba was too, technically, I guess, but (here we go), those characters are pretty devoid of “character” in their respected movies. Sabine, on the other hand, is already infinitely more developed than both of those guys, and her artistic side comes out in everything that she does, and she has a nice beef with the Empire, being an academy dropout and all. Really, characterization and diversity is the theme of the entire Ghost crew, so there is something for everyone on Rebels, I think, and Sabine is definitely the character I gravitate towards.
Hasbro has actually done a great job of getting SW:R characters into the Black Series line, even in the face of needing to accommodate the PT and OT, as well as new films being released at breakneck speed. Sabine follows defacto leader Kanan and show-regular Ahsoka Tano as the third entrant from the show (with Hera coming in the spring), and each subsequent release seems to get more popular with collectors. I find the Kanan and Ahsoka releases to be great figures, but even at first glance, Sabine blows both of them away.
Really, her design would make you automatically assume the figure would be more impressive than the other two, but you never know how the final product will turn out when it comes to mass market toys. Sure, she has the cool armor bits and the custom paint job, but all of those details that lend themselves to a cool aesthetic can be the downfall of a figure if production goes haywire. However, I am happy to say that Hasbro has done a (overall) great job with Sabine, and she has some awesome paint details.
As usual with the Black Series, the sculpt of this figure is great. I know it is easy to get lost in all of the paint detail on the figure, but Sabine’s outfit actually has a lot of different materials, textures, and lines, and all of those details have been captured faithfully. Sabine wears a basic pants and short-sleeves top costume, but there are armor plates throughout, as well as gloves and her helmet that make for a pretty complicated look even without the paint. Her Mandalorian helmet is a take on an absolutely iconic design, and I really like the color and “eye hole” shape that is very different from Boba/Jango. The range finder moves up and down as well, so that is a great detail.
While the sculpt it great, the paint is really where it is at on this figure, and everything from the neck down is just really amazing. In fact, this figure probably has better paint than previous SWB figures we have seen. Sabine is an artist (heck, the figure comes with an airbrush gun), and she expresses her creative side in her ever-changing armor deco. With this figure, each piece, from the helmet, to the breast plate, to the shoulder armor, to the knee pads, has a unique deco and each one is perfectly realized. All of the lines are clean and there is a variety of colors amongst them; my favorite pieces are probably the shoulder pieces as the checkerboard pattern in particular appeals to me. Furthermore, you cannot do a lot of airbrushing without getting some paint smatterings, and those are present throughout and look really cool. I am very impressed with all of this.
Speaking of the airbrush, it is one of four accessories included here, along with Sabine’s dual pistols and aforementioned helmet. The pistols are cool, and carrying two must be a prevalent thing on Mandalore (see Jango Fett), and Sabine has two holsters and two trigger fingers at the ready. I also appreciate the inclusion of her airbrush because that is such an important part of her character, and on my shelf, her guns will be holstered and the airbrush will be at the ready. Her helmet looks cool, of course, but it also gets points for being removable. That does not sound like a feat on its own, but unlike most figures, the helmet is not oversized to accommodate the head, and likewise, Sabine does not have a pinhead to accommodate the helmet, so it is win/win.
Speaking of the head, this is the one spot on the figure that causes some internal contention for me. I know, I know, I have made this SWB face paint argument before, but this time, it is a little different. First, like her costume, Sabine expresses her creative side with ever changing hair color and the purple and orange on this figure looks great, and that is all due to some great paint applications. So, since her quaff looks fantastic, it makes it even more difficult that the paint on her face is the one weak spot on the figure. She has “SWB/G.I. Joe” face paint that runs rampant in this line (and continues to be its biggest flaw), and while it is not quite as bad as other figures, the eyes are just not good. It sucks because I like the hairdo so much, and I was going to display her holding her helmet, but as it stands, the helmet is going on full time, so, well, bummer. AGAIN.
Rebel, Rebel — I love you so! Sabine Wren is great figure and the SW:R cast continues to get quantity AND quality in the Black Series. I am really anxious to complete the main Ghost crew, so I am glad that Hera is on the way, and hopefully Zeb, Chopper, and even Ezra will be on the way soon. Sabine is an outlier in the SW universe due to her diverse colors, but that part of what makes her great. I am positive she will be popular with collectors, so snap her up as soon as you see her. She is available at Big Bad Toy Store right now!
