Star Wars: The Black Series Kylos Ren (The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi)

 Here’s an opportunity to get another multiple figures all handled in one article, so let’s take advantage. Let’s take a look at both of the Black Series Kylo Ren figures, one from The Force Awakens, and the other from The Last Jedi.

 By now, we all should know Kylo Ren; and unless we’re just being difficult, we should also all know that he’s a pretty good antagonist for the New Trilogy. He was a whiney emo kid in Episode VII, but in Episode VIII, he’d rounded out into a pretty developed character, and seems to be the actual tortured soul in the Star Wars universe that Anakin Skywalker was meant to be in his extra poor appearances in the heinous Prequel Trilogy. The former Ben Solo, like the other members of the new cast, has gotten a new 6” figure for each movie, and they are two very different figures.

The Force Awakens toy line brought us a Kylo Ren we didn’t know yet, and the Black Series gave us a figure that was mostly a look as opposed to a character. At that time, Ren was an unknown quantity, and so was reliant on appearance to sell figures. The first Kylo Ren is a slender man, draped in long fabric robes, and has his short-lived trademark helmet. I think you can trace the development of the character by looking at the alterations made to his toys, which we’ll try to point out as this article rolls along. But in his initial appearance, Ren wore this helmet, which prior to the launch of Episode VII had many people thinking that this was going to be Darth Revan. (I think J.J. Abrams’ denials of Khan being in Star Trek: Into Darkness had a lot of people outright dismissing the idea that this was not Revan simply because Abrams said it wasn’t. We’d been down that road already. –mr) Ren is covered from head to ground in soft goods, with the exception of a soft plastic scarf type thing that encircles his neck and hangs behind his right shoulder. The helmet sculpt is strong, and the helmet design is really cool, generally speaking. The soft cloth cape means that posing is not inhibited at all, and this Ren has the standard Black Series allotment of joints and moving parts. The cloth hood doesn’t really sit behind the head though, so Ren is perpetually hooded, aside from being able to pull it back slightly, but it will soon find its way back over the top of the head. Force Ghost Obi-wan has this same issue, even though it wasn’t addressed with that figure, so maybe it’s a common issue for hooded figures in the line.

OG Kylo Ren’s only accessory is his unique lightsaber, here consisting of a grey plastic grip and a somewhat but not very translucent red blade that incorporates the cross guard parts. It’s kinda fine for what it is, but it will be vastly outclassed by the lightsaber that comes with The Last Jedi Kylo, so it’s really only being mentioned here. Overall, the first 6” Kylo Ren gives this evil wizard character kind of vibe, probably because of the robes. Somehow, original Kylo Ren’s helmet looks like it’s too small for the head of an actual adult man, and even watching the movies, I find it hard to understand how he gets his head inside the helmet. Of course, that’s not apparently an issue any more, at least as far as we know, but I’m not here to spoil The Last Jedi for anyone.

 

Original on the left, New and Improved on the right.

The Last Jedi Kylo Ren is not helmeted at all, and comes with a far better lightsaber. In short, everything about this second Kylo Ren is better than the first attempt, and if your collection needs a 6” figure of the character, I’d say just skip the first one in favor of the second, because it is that much better. This figure is larger, bulkier, and comes with a soft plastic cape that, like soft plastic capes in The Black Series do, attaches simply by sitting on the shoulders of the figure. So, this cape DOES impede movement a little, as Ren can’t extend his arms in any direction with it on, but that’s pretty much par for the cape. All of this Rens’ clothing is soft plastic, and it overall looks better than the original version.

The head sculpt is on point as usual, and the lightsaber is super well done. A solid grey handle with translucent red blade and cross guard, this time the three blade parts are all separate and attach independently to the grip, unlike the one piece arrangement that the first one came with. The blade does not detach, but Kylo Ren comes with a second lightsaber grip devoid of blades that can hang from a hook on his belt. So cool. I cannot help but feel I’m making too great a deal out of this, but this is a super good thing, as it gives Ren a second option for display and allows the fully deployed lightsaber to be excellent, instead of having to split differences or go half steps to accomplish a two-stage lightsaber out of only a single accessory. This figure can also hold the saber with both hands in front of his body, which is also terrific.

My first reaction to The Last Jedi Kylo Ren was that it wasn’t a figure my collection needed, since I had and was happy with the original. I think that feeling lasted like one time encountering the second one in store, and then I’d seen someone else’s pictures online and pretty much immediately started obsessing over the new figure. I figured it’d be one of those toys that just hung on pegs forever, and initially I was right, as he seemed to be less than in demand. The next time I saw one, I bought it, and that may honestly have been the last time I’d seen one in stores. But every few days, when the second Kylo Ren catches my eye on display, I think of how glad I am that I bought it.

The intention here is not to say that one is more necessary than the other, or that old “if you only buy one . . . “bit; each of these figures is worth a few inches of your shelf space. But man, The Last Jedi Kylo Ren is so much of a success, and presents the villain of the New Trilogy in a serious, menacing form that truly deserves to be owned and appreciated in person. There are many figures in my collection that I’m glad I bought and own despite maybe not being overly enthused about them on first glance, but Last Jedi Ren is THE Kylo Ren on my shelves. That has to count for something in terms of how fast you should track the second version down if you missed it at retail.