Star Wars - The Black Series: 6" Wave 1 Discussion Thread!

**Beast** · 01-30-2013

Wave 1:
Luke Skywalker: X-Wing Pilot
R2-D2
Darth Maul
Sandtrooper

So what does everyone thing of Wave 1 of The Black Series so far?

I know I am pretty excited by the line. And I haven't really collected Star Wars in ages.

So what's everyone's opinions and hopes for Wave 1? I'm sure we'll see more at Toy Fair.

**Beast** · 01-30-2013

Luke Skywalker: X-Wing Pilot - The only figure we've seen images of so far. But wow... they did a great job on Luke. While the face sculpt isn't perfect... it's a pretty good approximation for Mark's appearance in the films. I really love the detailing on the Uniform and Helmet. And if the rest of the wave is as good as this... Hasbro has a license to print money. One thing I'm not thrilled by is it looks like the lightsaber has a removable blade rather than just having a separate unlit hilt. But at this size I don't think it'll be as big of an issue. It's a huge pet peeve on the 3 3/4" line though due to the small fragile pegs.

R2-D2 - I'm probably most excited about what R2-D2 will end up looking like. Especially since they have to justify the same price point on him as the rest of the line. I'm expecting a chromed dome like the 12" figures from a few years back. I don't know whether they'll do lights and sounds, but I can see at least lights included. And hopefully they make him like the definitive R2-D2 with opening doors and variety of tools and attachments from all 6 of the Star Wars films. I think we can absolutely expect 1 smaller figure per wave to balance tooling costs out on the line. So I expect Yoda, Jawa, etc. in future waves.

Darth Maul - Here's the other figure I'm really intrigued on seeing what they do with him. Especially since they've never really nailed a perfect Darth Maul in my opinion in the 3 3/4" line. Hopefully we'll see some accurate horns for once. I'm not sure what sort of facial expression I'd want though. I'm leaning towards a calm face... though I do like seeing the gritting teeth pose on some of the smaller scale figures. The big question is whether they'll use soft goods for skirts and cloaks to maintain articulation. I've seen debate about both choices. But honestly I would rather see well done soft goods than plastic.

Sandtrooper - Yeah I know... why not start with a Stormtrooper. Well I have a feeling we'll be seeing a variety of Troopers across the life of the line. Probably at least one army builder per wave. Regular Stormies, Snowtroopers, Clonetroopers, and Biker Scouts. And a lot more along those lines. Hopefully they go for screen accuracy on the armor differences between Sandies and Stormies. I do wonder if they'll do a running change on the Sandtrooper so that we'll see all 4 of the pauldron colors released in the line. If so, I hope there's some variation to the sand detail and weathering on them as well.

Overall: I am excited by new Star Wars toys for the first time in a very very long time. While the first wave is a little quirky due to the choices... it's leaving me wanting more and excited for Toy Fair. Hopefully Wave 2 makes myself and others go... "Oh my god, why isn't this wave 1!" I'm also hoping we see a stand alone "Deluxe" type of Darth Vader at a slightly higher price point. Kinda like the 12" Action Collection's awesome Electronic Talking Darth Vader w/ Removable Helmet. I love the packaging as well and wouldn't change a thing. It's kinda nice to see a simple classy toy packaging design for a change.

**bigbarada** · 01-30-2013

This has definitely reinvigorated my interest in Star Wars collecting. Until this announcement, it was looking like 2013 was going to be the year that I quit Hasbro once and for all. Now I'm more excited than I've been in years.

In fact, it feels similar to the excitement that I felt back in 1994, when the first images of the new POTF2 line started to show up. Not that the quality of those figures was in any way comparable to what we've seen with X-Wing Luke so far, but it's just the feeling of unlimited potential and optimism that a fresh start always brings.

With the exception of Darth Maul, I'm pretty happy with the choices in the first wave.

Luke X-Wing - I know that Farmboy Luke would be more iconic, but I actually wouldn't be as interested in yet another incarnation of Farmboy Luke. This and an ROTJ Jedi Luke would probably be the only 2 versions of Luke that I am interested in for this scale. As for the figure itself, he looks amazing! I think the face sculpt is great. Some people seem to be nitpicking the likeness, but I don't have a problem with it at all. As long as it looks like Luke Skywalker, then I don't really care if it looks exactly like Mark Hamill or not. In my mind, Mark Hamill is not Luke Skywalker, he's just the actor who portrayed Luke in the movies.

R2-D2 - I'm definitely excited to see what Hasbro does to justify a $20 R2 figure. I'm not sure if I want to see a vac-metalized dome, though. I would prefer a really nice metallic paint job so that he matches how R2 looks in the film.

Sandtrooper - I'm probably most excited about this one. It could potentially be the highlight of the first wave; but I do hope that they pay attention to the differences between the Sandtrooper and Stormtrooper armor and not just give us a Stormtrooper with a shoulder pad. I also think there is good potential for army-building, even with the $20 price; so I think Hasbro should include all three pauldron colors with this initial release.

Darth Maul - I'm about 90% sure that I will skip this one. My interest in Prequel characters is nearly non-existent right now.

**Adam** · 01-31-2013

I have to admit, this year was looking dire for me as well. I'm pretty interested in this series although I'm not sure I will be a completist. All four wave one figures have some appeal, although I'm pretty tired of Sandtrooper anything at this point. It will have to be really nice to get my attention.

**Beast** · 02-04-2013

Here's a new pic of the Luke Skywalker: X-Wing Pilot figure from the Nuremberg Toy Fair.

I know we can't really judge by Toy Fair pics. But this pic is an improvement on the Press Release pic.

**JediTricks** · 02-06-2013

Damnit, the eyes there are Hasbro production-quality, I really hope they're not so unsubtle on the final production level. There's even big catchlights painted on there like this was the 12" line from a decade ago! They need to get the eyes painted right in this line, that's a very big deal for establishing it as a "more than" collector line, no giant eyeballs with way too much whites, no black lines in place of eyelashes, no catchlights or thick eyebrows for that matter.

As for the rest of the figure, it's very glossy and lacks the sculpted nuance of the prototype, but those could both be partly about the overexposure of the image (probably from the insanely hot lighting in the display). Otherwise it looks adequate.

**Beast** · 02-09-2013

From the Toy Fair Panel...

From TNI:

8 figures for 2013. New figures revealed are Darth Maul with double bladed lightsaber and removable robe, R2-D2 with all the cool stuff, jet pack, probe, ect. Sandtrooper.

From AFI:

Black Series: they wanted to capture that iconic, scene-specific shot and bring it to life in a new scale. Figures should resonate with SW fans and collectors, and create an emotional connection back to the scenes that inspired them. 6″ figures were born.

-Wave 1: X-wing Luke, Darth Maul (dual lightsaber and cloak), R2D2 (jet packs, probe), Sandtrooper (backpack, pistol, rifle)