Star Wars: The Black Series Finn (In First Order Disguise)

 

 This seems rather familiar, doesn’t it? A Rebel or Resistance hero, added to the Coffin’s Imperial (-style) only Black Series collection only after a figure of said hero wearing an Imperial (-style) disguise is released. At this time, the only Luke and Han in said collection are the Stormtrooper armor-clad ones, and the only other Finn is his Stormtrooper armor-clad version. Now, a second Finn joins the ranks, wearing First Order officer garb.

By now, most people with an interest in The Last Jedi have probably seen The Last Jedi, so while this article may contain plot information, it isn’t going to be anything that could be called a spoiler. One of the last trailers for the movie contained a second or two long shot of Finn dressed in First Order officer duds fighting Captain Phasma, so this really should not be a figure that ruins any kind of surprises.

This is a real no-frills kind of action figure, as it is basically just Finn in a dark grey uniform, and that’s really kind of all. The uniform does not have too many details, but the few that there are are fairly nice. The metal cylinders that officers carry in their breast pockets, for example, are nicely rendered, and the removable hat has the First Order insignia on it: while small, if you squint at it, the insignia is actually rather sharply applied, so it’s not just a dab of paint. A nice touch, and somewhat surprising for such a small detail. The face sculpt is nice, as was the case with the FN-2187 Stormtrooper from The Force Awakens’ line of Black Series figures. Officer Finn comes with a blaster pistol, the same that the First Order TIE Pilot carries, and riot baton, the same one that came with the Target exclusive Riot Trooper a few years back. The figure has the standard Black Series articulation.

So, it’s a pretty regular figure for the line, and a fairly bland one as well. It’s not an especially cool design, and in true Star Wars fashion, it represents a couple seconds of screen time, all counted probably less than three minutes. But, at this time, seeing as The Last Jedi merchandise is starting to tail off in favor (theoretically) of impending Han Solo merchandise, the Finn for the line, as for the rest of the movie, he’s basically wearing what the Finn figure from The Force Awakens wears. And, there had to be a new Finn figure, one that people would buy and not just a re-release. So, here he is. It’s not the first time Star Wars characters wore disguises, nor the first figure of said type, and now it’s not even the first disguised Finn.

But, what about the figure. The Black Series has begun to crank out more Imperial Officer types, with Thrawn, Krennic and (soon) Tarkin all getting toys, and Hux having one from The Force Awakens. Pair them with Officer Finn here, and/or the First Order Officer figure that was a Toys R Us exclusive, or the Death Squad Commander, and your collection is starting to amass something of a command group nowadays. That’s pretty great. Ultimately, what could happen is a set of Imperial commanders, or that scene from A New Hope in the Death Star briefing room where Vader Force chokes Tagge for lacking faith. It may be completely pointless to so huge a portion of the Black Series collector base, but a shelf of Imperial or First Order brass would be excellent to this one. The First Order seems like its command structure is tragically thin though, as Hux and that older guy from that awesome bombing run that begins The Last Jedi seem to have been the only officers in the entire fleet.

Frankly, the best part of this figure is that it can hold its arms behind its back in a commander pose.

First Order Finn is a perfectly fine Black Series figure, albeit one that is kind of hard to get super enthused about or recommend. Liking the character or the principle (of heroes disguised as villains) or wanting more commander-type figures certainly makes buying him an easier decision, but big picture wise, like the other Resistance character Black Series figures from The Last Jedi, this kind of just is a Finn.

This brings me to a point that I think deserves to be made. A colleague and I were briefly talking last week about the non-toyetic nature of The Last Jedi, especially when compared to other Star Wars movies. Star Wars basically invented movie-based merchandising, and if you’ve seen the Star Wars episode of Netflix’s excellent The Toys That Made Us series, and collectors and fans are no strangers to Star Wars toylines cranking out figures of basically every individual that has been on the screen. But The Last Jedi has a relatively small cast of characters, and not a whole lot of background action, so this glut of figures seems unlikely. Also, what ever happened to vehicles in a toy line? It seems like it’s been forever since cool new Star Wars vehicles were in stores, and The Last Jedi didn’t really add anything to that roster on screen. It feels so strange to have a Star Wars movie that doesn’t make you ponder what is on screen that will soon end up on your shelves, and as a result, it falls to figures like First Order Finn here to be the toys from the movie.

 

That’s not supposed to be a slam on this figure. By all measures, this Finn is a good figure, and a cool if pedestrian addition to the Black Series line up. But, if anyone is listening and they have the ability to do something about this, how about some Death Star gunners, yeah? And the First Order equivalents, with those awesome helmets? Come on.