The Star Wars Expanded Universe holds (or ‘held,’ depending
on whether or not you allow Disney to control what Star Wars is for you . . .
–mr) an enoromous cast of characters, many of whom approach Mary Sue territory
pretty quickly. In the times before the New Trilogy brought us the continuing
adventures of Luke, Leia, and Han, the EU told us what would happen to them
after the events of Return of the Jedi.
It turns out that Luke opened a Jedi training school, and Leia and Han had
children. You know, before Disney wiped that out and the New Trilogy ignored
the lore and did whatever it felt like doing.
That was intended as sarcasm, since it’s more or less what
the NT has done thus far, but you know how sensitive Star Wars “fans” get these
days, what with a woman taking charge after Ackbar dies and Leia is
incapacitated, making them both unable to be in command, and a girl being a Jedi and Han and Leia
having had a son who went bad after training at Luke’s Jedi school.
Anyway, one of Han and Leia’s kids was Jaina, who Mary Sues
pretty much right away. She’s a mechanical wiz and rouge, like her dad, while
being intelligent and Force sensitive, like her mom, and being crafty,
resourceful, and witty, like both her parents. Her twin brother, Jacen Solo,
ends up going bad, and uh, maybe the NT movies aren’t really the canon-defiling
abominations that some people decry them as. Maybe? Asking too much? Well,
we’ll come back to it eventually.
Jaina Solo in the 6” line is the winner of a fan vote,
always a favorite device around the Coffin, in a poll that included the
eventually released anyway so no harm done Captain Rex. (I voted Rex. –mr) Like
previous poll winner Darth Revan, Jaina represents the potential of future EU
characters making it into the line more than anything of a stand-alone nature,
so it’s possible that a Jacen, or better, a Darth Caedus, will surface sometime
in the future. Figures of EU characters still seem so out of place, perhaps
because there as so few of them, perhaps because the EU doesn’t officially
exist anymore, but the Revans and Thrawns and Jainas of the Black Series do make you stroke your
chin in wistful “maybe. . . “s for what lies ahead.
Anyway, Jaina has the usual articulation, with one pretty
noteworthy improvement: she can bend her elbows past the 45 degree point. The
arms are cut ever so slightly more above and below the elbow joint so as to
allow the arm to do a slightly deeper bend, which makes her poses so, so much
better looking, and feel like so much more potential has been unlocked. This is
particularly noticeable when posing the figure with her lightsaber, as she can
make more realistic poses thanks to that tiny bit of extra elbow bend. Maybe
not all Black Series figures need this extra bit of bend, but it
would probably serve them better than not. Even holding a blaster, this extra
bend in the arms allows for a more natural blaster-holding pose, not the “arm
out at a 45 degree angle” totally unnatural one.
The accessories are really good, as Jaina comes with a
purple bladed lightsaber, the DL-44 Han Solo blaster, and a Rebel pilot helmet.
The lightsaber hilt rests on a hook on her belt, the blaster fits into a
holster on her hip. The helmet is worth getting excited over. The visor is
translucent yellow, and it fits on her head, which is probably the coolest
“duh” thing a helmet accessory can do. Learning that the helmet could be worn
was the coolest thing upon removing the figure from the package. And she looks
good with or without the helmet on. She’s wearing a flight suit, so truly
either way works just fine. The blaster
seems a little small, like the same model blaster comes with other figures
(Hans, specifically) and it does not look as tiny as this version does.
The figure does have some difficulty standing, as the feet
are really small, and Jaina is wearing these boots with heels, so her balance
is a bit off. If the feet were larger the heel likely wouldn’t matter, but as
it is she has trouble. Enough fiddling with the ankles solves the issue, and
Jaina Solo is far from the first Black
Series figure that has had trouble balancing, and also won’t be the last,
so.
As with any EU character made action figure, whether or not
your collection needs Jaina Solo is entirely up to you. Certain circumstances
may make her more of a necessity though. For instance, if you are one of the
fans who are so disappointed with the gall of The Last Jedi or NT in general to have a girl be a Force user, or
if you’re tired of Disney pushing Rey on you, making you accept her as some
kind of savvy, competent girl character that completely and totally deviates
from anything true about Star Wars. Maybe what your collection needs is a
figure of a female Force user who is savvy and competent. If you’re tired of
galactic Mary Sue #1 Rey, maybe you need completely different but actually the
same Jaina Solo. If you think it’s crap and unbelievable that Rey could show up
and be able to fly the Millenium Falcon without any training, and then fight
with a lightsaber without any training, using only the Force and reaching out
with her feelings, or that it makes no sense that Rey could appear and become
the heroine essentially because the script of a movie said she was, why not try
Jaina Solo, who is exactly 100% of those things except has a famous name to
bear witness and serve as ‘proof’? they are obviously totally, completely
different characters; it’s just that one of them has been completely and
totally forced on the fandom as part of Disney’s grand scheme to demasculinize
Star Wars and ruin everyone’s childhoods forever, obviously. 
In conclusion, Jaina Solo is a solid Black Series entry, and as usual, is a glimpse of hope for future
EU characters to get toy versions in the line. 
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