Star Wars: The Black Series Darth Revan

Feels like forever since there's been any Star Wars figures here. Oh look!

 

Long loved in lore, Darth Revan is an Expanded Universe character who has gotten quite a lot of fiction over the years, but a very small number of physical incarnations. This might be the second one, the first being a Fan’s Choice entry in the 3.75” line and now impossibly expensive, and this one coming in the Black Series wave with the Imperial Snowtrooper and AT-AT Driver. Winner of a fan vote again, a practice of which the Coffin is always skeptical, Revan would end up being, if nothing else, a harbinger of things to come for The Black Series.

In terms of Darth Revan as a figure, he looks great. The sculpt is nicely detailed, and features a mixture of molded plastic and soft goods for his robes. Soft goods are almost universally preferable to the molded plastic, as they don’t inhibit movement and look better overall. Neither of Revans’ arms or legs are impeded by his robes, but his head doesn’t turn very far or well, and the awesome helmet is obscured by the plastic hood. In combination, the soft and plastic work well, and the total look is good. Revan comes with two different lightsabers, a Sith-standard red and a purple, but there is no place to store them. Some of the 3.75” figures came with lightsabers that could have their blade removed, and via a tiny plastic peg, attach to the belt of the figure. This would have been a nice touch on a figure like Revan, or any of the Vaders, or any lightsaber wielding figure, to be honest. Considering how many figures in the line incorporate holsters for blasters, so a lightsaber mount doesn’t seem too far-fetched.

The standard Black Series articulation applies to Revan, and by now that’s to be expected. The only shortcoming is, again, the head, which is blocked by the plastic hood. Revan is kind of slight body-wise, and his arms and legs seem particularly thin. He also appears kind of short, but he is of normal, standard size. The helmet is very cool looking, but is obscured by the hood, and so is something of a lost opportunity for the figure to really stand out. The head cannot even turn thanks to the plastic hood, and this seriously limits the amount of poses Revan can take because he always has to be looking straight ahead. The hood does add an air of Sith mystery and menace to Revan, but at the cost of detail. The closest figure to compare this one to would be Kylo Ren.

Like Ren, Revan is slender and seemingly small, but in both cases this occurs because of the body being draped in robes, and thus hidden from a more critical view. This size difference is not real though, as Revan is the same height as Black Series figures like Stormtroopers and Clones, and is only shorter than figures which are purposely taller, such as Vader and K2-S0. He seems slighter, but he is not: the soft goods make him somehow appear tiny. Unlike Revan, Ren’s hood can be pulled back, and so his helmet can be seen in more detail. The parallels between the two figures is pretty interesting, given that the earliest images to surface of Kylo Ren were pounced upon as being Darth Revan, before Ren was a known commodity. And, while typing up this paragraph, a thought occurred that Ren and Revan may yet end up being fairly similar characters, although that is a bit of postulating that may be better left until the credits roll on The Last Jedi this December.

But what’s really great about Darth Revan is the direction such a figure signals for The Black Series. Fans have wondered what the ultimate direction of it would be, and to what extent it would be completed. Would the line only feature movie characters, and if so, how deep into the background does it extend? Star Wars toy lines are notorious for producing figures of every single character that has been on screen, no matter how insignificant; would The Black Series tread this path as well? Would there be 6” versions of cantina aliens? Is a Black Series Hammerhead in the works somewhere? Eventually, all on screen versions of Han and Luke are going to be done, so what then? Figures like Revan here are indications that the line is not afraid, at least on occasion, to dip into the larger Star Wars mythos to find characters to make figures of. Already starting to tread that line of appearing to be out of ideas, with Tuskins and Jawas getting Black Series figures, deep lore characters like Revan or the latest fan vote winner, Jaina Solo, show that perhaps if nothing else, The Black Series will continue on in the grand Star Wars tradition of giving just about everyone a figure. Sure, there will be repeats, and there will be more Lukes and Hans, but there will also be characters from The Clone Wars and Rebels and the EU. That’s great.

The Black Series is often a line that doesn’t seem to know what it’s doing in terms of character selection. Initial waves included Greedo, but A New Hope Leia didn’t come around until last year. There are by now multiple bounty hunters, but only recently, as in this year, a Lando. It seems that the line is playing a long, long game, releasing individual figures as part of an overall set or theme. First came Boba Fett and Greedo; a few waves later came Bossk and IG-88 and Bousch Leia. There is also a Jabba and slave Leia. While it may appear random to some, what’s happened is that there is almost a complete set of bounty hunters on the bridge of the Executor and/or Jabba’s throne room set here. There are a couple Vaders and an Emperor, and just now an Imperial Guard. What’s happened here is that now, there’s an Emperor’s throne room set. So maybe, just maybe, we will get all those background creatures and such in The Black Series. Given the history of Star Wars as a toy brand, this doesn’t seem at all unlikely, but the question then becomes will there be enough interest in those figures to sustain the Black Series itself. Going back in time a few years here, but at $6-9 per figure, lines like The Legacy Collection or those tied to the prequels could release random alien creatures in the 3.75” scale and people would buy them, generally, because for the price there was no real buyer’s remorse even for “random alien #8” purchases. But at the $20 or over price point, are collectors really going to go for Bith musicians and Jabba’s dancers and all of those characters?

Perhaps a more prescient question to accompany Darth Revan is whether or not this figure means there will mean more Sith Lords are coming. There’s obviously Vader, and Maul, and more or less Sidious, if you repurpose your Emperor Palpatine figure by simply deciding that it’s Darth Sidious instead, and now Revan. But is a companion Malak in the pipeline somewhere? Could a Vader mold not be modified into Malgus? Dare we hope for Nihilous? Plaguis got a 3.75” figure, so could he make the jump to this line as well? The Star Wars narrative is filled with others, and, as Revan and the upcoming Jaina Solo show, this line isn’t forgoing all EU material, the way the films are apparently doing. So there could be more Sith Lords coming, and that is something really worth getting excited about. Of course, with a new movie coming more or less every year for the next few, waves of Black Series figures that are able to incorporate more random figures such as Revan may be in short supply, as we’ve already learned that, as the movie release approaches, the line shifts exclusively to movie characters, leaving no roster spots for Malak or a Bith; but afterwards, when movie characters end up as case filling repacks, the opportunities for the Revans of the world begin to increase. Again, that is something worth getting excited about. The Black Series seems like it makes adjustments and changes slowly and fairly quietly, but it is something that keeps developing. If you dig real deep into Coffin history, and revisit the articles about the gigantic First Order TIE Fighter, there are some postulations as to whether or not vehicles would or could ever be a real presence in the line. Years later, Luke’s Landspeeder and Rey’s speeder thing from The Force Awakens have made it to the line. Small additions, and smaller vehicles, but nevertheless a sign that the line may be moving beyond just what the obvious was when it was first launched. Who knows what else awaits us?