I’ve been needing a nerd pick me up for a while now and Star Wars Black hits me up at just the right time. The first time around I planned to nitpick and just get the Sandtrooper. That awesome figure led me to picking up Maul which was followed by both Luke and R2. That entire wave was great and the second go around is just as good (or better). Honestly this might be the perfect wave of toys. Every character is a hit, at least for me.
I love the various cantina aliens (and the guys hanging around Jabba’s Palace as well). Most of these aliens originally just had nicknames like Hammerhead or Yak Face but a few had more important roles. Greedo is one of those guys. He wasn’t on screen very long but he had a very important part of A New Hope; that part was to be shot first by the way! A few months ago Hasbro released a sort of “”Behind the Scenes/Making of…” for the 6 inch Black Series Greedo figure and it was really cool watching the whole thing come together. I was almost as excited for Greedo as I was for Boba Fett and now that I have him in hand I’m not let down at all.
I’m going to start off with my one gripe of this review, accessories. The Black Series may be fairly new but it is generally thought that the figures will be loaded down with accessories. Greedo has only one thing, his blaster. One tiny little gun that the guy can’t even shoot until mere moments before his death. While I wish for a charred Greedo head I wasn’t expected Hasbro to put one in but they could have at least thrown the guy a cup to hold. He has to be drinking something in that bar and it’s going to be the poor guy’s last drink anyway. His gun is great and it wouldn’t have been right at all if he didn’t have it but there’s still some room to improve in the accessory department for Greedo.
Now that that’s out of the way I can get back to the loving review this guy deserves. The packaging is exactly what you will expect if you bought any of Wave 1. I personally like it. It’s sleek and simple and helps set the line apart from the loud colorful cardbacks on most toy lines. That can hurt in a retail scene however. These guys won’t necessarily stick out on the shelf compared to the other guys (though their price tag will definitely stick out). The good news is that these are meant to be opened and the box style packaging is super easy to open (without damaging if you want to hold on to it). The figures are easy to remove and pop back in as well if you need to store them for a while.
The figure itself looks great. There’s tons of wrinkles sculpted all throughout his clothes. He’s got a soft rubbery vest that is actually removable if you have the patience for that sort of thing. There’s a removable belt with a holster for his blaster. I always love when figures have somewhere to put weapons besides their hands.
His head is awesomely sculpted with lots of bumps and ridges where they need to be. I do wish there was a little bit of paint wash or something on his head to help the details stick out a bit more but his glossy eyes do look great.
His clothes have a wash on them to make them look dirty but it’s appropriate and not overly done, at least on my figure. I’ve heard reports of some Greedos that look like they just rolled in the mud. Mine looks good though, like he’s a dirty bounty hunter who has been spending too much time in Mos Eisley.
Articulation is loaded down but doesn’t look bad at all. There’s a ball jointed head that is a tiny bit limited by his turtleneck collar. There’s also excellent movement in his shoulders, elbows and wrists. His fingers, though not technically articulated, are long (Arsenio Hall style) and made soft. They won’t hold a pose but they do look good.
He’s got good movement in his abs, hips (also swivel thighs!), double knees, and ankles that move in so many directions it actually hurts me to put him in some poses!
I’m really loving Star Wars Black Series 6-inch figures. Hasbro has really helped relight an old flame there that had been burning out for me and even with their high prices I don’t have a single regret about picking them up. Wave 2 is looking to be even better in my opinion than the first Wave and hopefully things can just keep going up from here.