Star Wars: Black Series Battle Damaged Captain Phasma (The Last Jedi)

 When Toys R Us closed, the status of multiple store exclusive figures was tossed into chaos. Almost all of them would be picked up by other venues, and some of them just ended up at online sources. Black Series Toys R Us exclusives were rescued by the Disney Store, and so were not missed. The second of three, this battle damaged Captain Phasma depicts neo-Boba Fett as she appears in her final scene in The Last Jedi, where she again is imperiled and for the time being presumed dead, because unless a filler comic miniseries is coming from Marvel to smooth over this one, it’s hard to see how she’s going to escape an exploding Star Destroyer and return for Episode IX.

But we all know that she will.

Star Wars: The Black Series Admiral Ackbar and First Order Officer

 

It’s been mentioned in brief that The Last Jedi didn’t produce as many action figures as a Star Wars movie can be expected to produce. Even the exclusive figure sets released to coincide with the movies’ months prior Force Friday were mostly figures from other Star Wars movies. But, here’s a pair of figures that are very much The Last Jedi tie ins.

Long-serving Alliance officer and meme celebrity Admiral Ackbar and Generic First Order Officer.

Star Wars: The Black Series Amazon Exclusive First Order Stormtrooper

 There have been a number of exclusive Black Series figures over the last three years, ranging in value from Must Have to Could Have Passed On, but this one may be the most superfluous. The Amazon Exclusive First Order Stormtrooper is basically a $30 accessory package.

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.

Star Wars: The Black Series Praetorian Guards

 November was the busiest month in the lifespan of the Coffin. Not sure if December can match it, but there are some pressing matters of The Last Jedi releasing very soon, and there being some figures from said toyline that need to be dealt with, preferably before seeing the movie.

One of these figures is the First Order Praetorian Guard, already touched on in the Elite Guards Exclusive four pack, and presented here in two additional parts, one of them an exclusive. To date, there have been three versions of the Praetorian Guard released, and only one of them has been released to mass retail. At first glance, the differences are merely found in the accessories each one carries; but upon further inspection, all three have different helmets, as well as different accessories. Beyond that, they are the same figures.

Star Wars: The Black Series First Order Executioner

  

Force Friday was last Friday, and that means that the official kickoff of new Star Wars merchandise season is upon us. New waves of Black Series figures, new waves of 3.75” figures and vehicles, and all the marvelous The Last Jedi plot details we can glean from them.

Star Wars: The Black Series: FN-2187 (Stormtrooper Finn)

 

A quandary: how does one, devoted solely to collecting Imperial-esque figures, incorporate a non-Imperial character into one’s collection without having to explain why there’s a deviation from the purely Imperial inclusions? 

A resolution: one waits for the Stormtrooper version of said character.

Not really screen accurate, but...

After seeing millions of jacket-wearing Finns plugging up store space for months, I found a Stormtrooper Finn, First Order designation FN-2187. I had to buy it, because he’s a Stormtrooper. This had been my justification since I’d first found out about the toy: I can just keep his helmet on, just like troopers Han and Luke. And, he also adds some context to my Poe, obtained thanks to his inclusion in a two pack. 

 

 

Star Wars: The Black Series: First Order Flametrooper

It has been said that the day before the start of C2E2 my wife and I visited our local comic shop. The shop carries a lot of figures, and occasionally they get Black Series stuff. This trip, they had some figures from the newest wave, the Jango Fett wave I’ll call it, and I grabbed two of them. The first one was the Frist Order Flametrooper.

Star Wars: The Black Series: First Order Snowtrooper

 One of my C2E2 grabs was the First Order Snowtrooper. There were a number of vendors at the show that had a wide assortment of Black Series figures, but only one that I saw who had this guy. I’m not entirely sure what wave this comes in, but I’ve yet to see one at local retail. That worries me quite a bit: I know that I’m behind in getting some write ups posted, and I’ve got some stuff that’s pretty much brand new, and also a few things that aren’t as new, but I’d never seen in a store before, and some of them are things that came out waves or years ago in their respective toylines. I’m not sure what has kept some of these things from getting on to store shelves, and it does make me worry when new waves of figures are supposed to be out at retail but all you find are the previous waves’ shelfwarmers, still hanging there. Long ago I found the Leader class Skywarp, right after he’d been released, in a store; now I’m so tired of seeing that Skywarp at every Target that I have to remind my Skywarp that I’m not mad at him, just the other ones. Overall I’ve had little trouble getting the Black Series figures that I really want even on the secondary market, but I’d much rather be able to find them at retail, the easy and fun way.

Some nice detail here to draw your eye a bit.

Anyway, I don’t know what wave this figure comes in, and the pegs at most stores now carry an assortment of the first, second, and First Order TIE Pilot wave, whichever one that was.

I’ve written on the Toys R Us exclusive Snowtrooper Commander already, so in terms of the base figure here, I’m not sure what else to say. The First Order Snowtrooper is the Commander figure minus shoulder pad, and