Hasbro once again rebranded their Star Wars line - now called The Black Series. Besides a brand-new line of highly detailed and nicely articulated 6” figures, they continue to release their 3.75” line which has been part of the Star Wars toy line since its inception. When it comes to the 3.75” Black Series, the only real difference from previous 3.75” Star Wars lines is the packaging. Now every figure comes on an almost all black cardback with orange highlights. The figures themselves are (mostly) the same in construction and size. Today we look at one of the figures in the first wave, the new Biggs Darklighter figure. Is it superior to the previous version of this character, and is it worth adding to your collection? Read on and find out.
Check out hi-res images for this figure in our
GALLERY below.
Packaging - As mentioned in the introduction, all the figures in The Black Series line come on a generically designed cardback with very little variation from one figure to the next. To fit its namesake, the cards are almost all black with the Star Wars logo at the top and “The Black Series” labeled underneath. Under that, the figure’s name and designated number in the series appears in an almost florescent orange color. On the right side of the package, a vertical line of shapes mimicking the light panels from the Death Star and other Imperial vessels in the Star Wars movies is shown again in a florescent orange color. A medallion-sized non-colored image of the character appears in the top right. The orange on the packaging is really the only thing that stands out about it.
The back has the same color scheme and design as the front. Under the Star Wars logo and the character’s name, a brief character bio appears with a larger non-colored image of the character. Biggs is shown in the cockpit of his X-Wing fighter. The bottom of the card contains the typical disclaimers and product UPC bar code.
I personally am not a huge fan of this new packaging. I find it very bland and even a little difficult to differentiate on retail shelves. I suppose this new generic design is supposed to help keep costs down so Hasbro doesn’t have to charge as much but I miss the vintage-style packaging for this line or even the R2-D2 shaped packaging chosen when Hasbro planned to go back to the “Build-A-Droid” pack-ins (later scrapped and now only available in a limited 6-pack offered exclusively through Amazon).
Sculpt - The sculpting on this new Biggs Darklighter figure is pretty nice and a little more detailed than the previously released Biggs figure. There are some nice little details sculpted on the figure’s arms which are part of the X-Wing pilot uniform. He has a sculpted pocket with a fold-over flap on his right arm while the left arm has a different style pocket with some silver pens sticking out and a strap with a white pad tucked under it near his wrist. I am not sure how movie accurate it is, but it adds nice detail to the overall look of the figure. One thing I found interesting is the old Biggs figure has a belt with what I think is ammunition sculpted around his left boot. On the new figure, the ammunition belt is around his right boot. The oxygen hose that goes from his chest piece to his jumpsuit also varies slightly. Not only is the hose smaller on the new figure, it attaches in a different place. On the new figure, it attaches right under his right armpit while on the old figure it attaches on his right thigh. The most noticeable difference between the two figures sculpting wise is probably the head. The new figure has a much thinner-looking face, and the hair is sculpted with a pretty noticeable cowlick on the left side. Although the head sculpt is decent on both figures, I think I might actually prefer the look of the old one a little better.
Paint - The figure has a decent paint job. There isn’t much in the way of shading on the figure, and it is painted very cleanly. There are no noticeable blemishes or errors on my figure, but I noticed the orange used on the jumpsuit for this figure seems to have more of a reddish tint than any of the other X-Wing figures I own. I am not sure why Hasbro used a different orange but it does make him stand out a little under a direct light.
Articulation - This new Biggs has better articulation than the previous one. The head is on a ball joint and can look left, right, and up and down some. The old figure had no up or down movement. The figure has hinged-ball joints at the shoulders and swivel-hinged elbows. It also has swivel wrists. The figure has a swivel-hinged torso joint that allows him to turn 360 degrees and move up and down. This is probably why the air hose attaches under his armpit instead of the thigh - so the figure can turn a complete 360 degrees without being hindered.
The figure uses the standard hip cut joints you find on most Star Wars figures meaning no splits but he can sit in a cockpit or on a chair just fine. I didn’t have an X-Wing handy for this review, but you can see he sits just fine in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon. The figure has swivel-hinged joints at the knees and ankles.
Accessories - The figure comes with a removable X-Wing pilot helmet made of soft rubber, easily removable and replaceable. The helmet has some nice detailing and the translucent orange plastic helmet goggles seen on other X-Wing pilot figures with the removable helmet. The figure also comes with a blaster. The blaster for this figure is different than the one that came with the previous Biggs figure. This one is similar to the one you would find with Luke or Han but is all black - no highlights or colors other than black on this one. I know it may not be exactly movie accurate, but if they are going to give him a blaster I wish they would give him a usable holster. This figure, like most the X-Wing pilots seen in ANH, has no gun holster.
Overall - If you have managed to hold off on purchasing a Biggs Darklighter figure up to this point, then this one is definitely worth getting. Even if you have gotten the previously released version of Biggs, this figure is superior in design overall. However, if you do have the previous Biggs then I am not entirely sure it is so superior that it’s worth buying a second Biggs figure, especially at a $10 price point. I guess it really depends on how much of a Biggs fan you are and if that little bit of extra articulation is worth it.
Score: 4 out of 5
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