Star Wars: The Black Series Lando Calrissian (The Empire Strikes Back)

 

Quite a while ago now this figure came into my possession; at the time a rare example of actually finding a new figure from a new(ish) Wave in a retail store. Just when Black Series Lando was released as a member of whichever Wave is lost on me. I’m pretty sure Lando was in the Wave after the Revan Wave, the Imperial Guard one, and I think he was included in a Wave after that as well. Whatever; I’d never seen one in a store, and wasn’t enthused enough to buy one online by itself, so I grabbed him. Shortly thereafter, my feelings of wanting to backtrack through Black Series figures I’d skipped began to solidify, and I was glad that I found this Lando when I did.

Lando is, again, a really nice Black Series figure, offering all of the things that the series offers. The head sculpt is an excellent Billy Dee Williams, presenting all that Lando charm and smarm. The color of the shirt is a lighter blue than I remember Lando’s shirt being, more of a late 70’s powder blue way. My dad got married in a powder blue tux, it being popular in the 70’s. As a child, I thought for most of my life that you were just supposed to get married in a powder blue suit, because the only wedding picture I’d ever seen was my parents’, and my dad was . . . married in . . .a . . .. Anyway, at some point, fortunately for my wife, I grew out of that line of thinking, reaching the rebellious, “if my dad got married in a powder blue suit, then I’m  not gonna!!!!!” state of life, deciding that a powder blue suit was not for me. But Lando’s get up, I always thought was a slightly darker blue, as that’s certainly how it looks in my memories of Lando in the film. But, the clothing is right on for the movie, even being flared a little bit on the cuffs of the pants. As we all know, Lando wears a cape, and Black Series Lando comes with a cape. A stiff, soft plastic, molded cape, with the gold lining and details on the inside. It wraps around his shoulders, but then restricts his posing, because his arms are inhibited by a molded, soft plastic cape.

It would appear that Lando is one of those figures where the list of things you like about it and the list of things you don’t wind up being the very same things.

The cape completes Lando’s look, and does so in the iconic (and I kind of cringe at using that word here) fashion that occurs in that ONE SCENE on the landing platform at Bespin, after Lando walks down the path the meet Han and Co., who aren’t entirely sure of the scenario that will unfold after meeting Lando. You know, the one where Lobot and the security detail are standing behind him? Or, if you prefer a different display option, this cape is versatile enough to pull off another iconic Lando moment: that ONE SCENE where Lando is standing outside of the room where they’re torturing Han, and he exchanges glances with Boba Fett. And here I am, thinking that the cape being so molded is a bad thing.

 

The figure also comes with a blaster – the standard Rebel blaster, so not a new piece or a blaster specific to Lando – and a handheld communicator, like in that one scene where Lando gets a microphone and tells everyone in Cloud City to evacuate because the Empire has taken over. It’s a very small piece that fits surprisingly well in the hand, but is one of those terrified-of-losing-it accessories. The blaster, once again, is nothing new or different, but the barrel is painted silver, so it has that going for it, over the always just black Imperial blasters.

It’s pretty cool to have figures of the younger version of the character around to, I don’t know that ‘compare’ is the right word for it, but stand next to their classic selves. But compared to the Black Series young Lando from the Solo series, ESB Lando really does look like a grown up version of the younger. The problem befalling the young Han Solo, whether the actual actor or hisplastic effigy, is that the younger actor didn’t look at all like the older actor. Donald Glover and Billy Dee Williams do look familiar enough that the progressions from young man Lando to older Lando doesn’t look as drastic, or take as long to accept that these two men are the same one character over time. Both Lando figures capture that Lando attitude, that, Lando-ness of the character, whereas young Han doesn’t, even though figures of older Hans do.

There is speculation happening that believes Finn of the New Trilogy and Lando of the Original Trilogy are releated. There is much about that that is troubling, least of which the feeling that Lando may make an Episode IX appearance to keep the train of OT faces rolling through the NT for continuity, and that with Han and Luke gone and only so much Leia footage in existence, writers thought, “who else is there?” and realized Lando. Thus far, the NT has not failed me in the way it has employed the old gang, so I suppose my hope would be that if that’s why Lando’s name is making the rounds, someone will at least think it through. Unlike those people that are still crying about The Last Jedi and how it allegedly horribly mistreated the old favs. We still need to talk about that, don’t we? Yeah, we do; I’ve been wanting to, but it just kept being delayed. If there is some reconnection to Lando coming in Episode IX, this figure may make the rounds again, potentially in this new Archive series the Black Series is going to open.

And, for whatever it may be worth now, Lando probably should appear in Episode IX, if for no other reason than we will get a resolution to his story line, originally begun in ESB and ROTJ, and then later backfilled in Solo. Without a doubt, if the Saga never returns to Lando, that will be cited as an egregious problem with the NT, the same as it will be an equally massive issue if it does.

A Bespin Han and Leia are both on the way, so Bespin Lando gives us another full compliment of figures for a Star Wars “moment.”