The new S.H. Figuarts Rey is a welcome addition to my shelf. Of the new characters introduced thus far, she is my second favorite. The first is BB-8. Don’t question me on that. You know I’m right. Why? Who else gave a thumbs up? Fonzie. What is Fonzie? Fonzie is cool. Thus, by proxy, BB-8 is cool. You can’t argue. The Fonz is cool Sunday, Monday, Happy Days, Tuesday, Wednesday, Happy Days, Thursday, Friday, Happy Days Saturday, what a day.
That’s the nice thing about being a writer. When I started typing this up, Fonzie wasn’t even on my mind. Now he is all that’s on my mind.
I apologize. Upon reflection, that was all very unnecessary.
S.H. Figuarts Rey arrives in true Figuarts fashion, a box with a see-through front. She is wearing the clothes she had on at the end of The Force Awakens and since The Last Jedi starts immediately after the end of TFA, she has on the same outfit. That is pretty much what she wears throughout the film.
It is very nice to have Rey on the shelf. I ended up not being able to emotionally reconcile with the sloth arms of the Mafex Rey or the arm that just kept falling off so I sold her. Fortunately, Figuarts to the rescue!
The figure seems to have captured the likeness of Daisy Ridley. At this point, we expect that, so Bandai gets the short end of the stick. If they make an amazing figure, well, we expected it. If they make a lousy figure we rush to the internet with pitchforks.
Here are the two faces of Rey:
At first glance, I want to say the angry face doesn’t seem right. I said that about Padme also, but a photoshoot over the weekend found me appreciating the job Bandai did on Angry Padme. No doubt, I hope Rey ends up being the same for me. This time, instead of two head sculpts, we get one head that we must share among the two expressions.
I’ve seen some complaints but I support cost-cutting attempts like this IF we either see a reduction in price or additional accessories. Unfortunately, neither is the case here. S.H. Figuarts Rey was priced the same as every other standard Figuarts release and her accessories, while average, are certainly not what I would consider “extra.”
Also, cool kids, when you call someone “extra” is it an insult or a compliment? My 14-year-old daughter says it’s both and so my world blew up. I’m not just not prepared to handle that kind of logic loop.
What’s in the S.H. Figuarts Rey box?
Besides the two heads, we get a laser pistol (the one Han gave Rey in TFA) and a holster to hold it. Inside we also get a backpack that had it not been in the box, I would have forgot existed. One of the nice things about Bandai is they include those little things that you don’t think about. In doing so they give you photography options you just don’t get from most other manufacturers.
In addition, you get a lightsaber with blade and sans blade (sans blade sticks in her belt like Figuart figures in the past) and you get four sets of hands. We didn’t get a “force push” hand which is disappointing. Especially when you consider that the movie all but ends with her “forcing” her way through some boulders. See what I did there? I got puns all day up in here. What hands did we get? Let’s take a look:
Also, I mentioned the backpack. They REALLY put a lot of detail into this thing and looks great, even though I’m not displaying her with it.
What doesn’t work with S.H. Figuarts Rey?
The biggest gripe I have here is the articulation scheme. No bicep swivel and poor ankle pivot shouldn’t be a thing anymore. Certainly not in the upscaled import collectors market Bandai competes. Finally, as with every robed or tunic’d Bandai character, the S.H. Figuarts Rey outfit hinders the articulation scheme further. I am not saying soft goods are the answer, nor do I think “articulated clothes” is the way to go, but there has to be a better solution.
What works with S.H. Figuarts Rey?
As I mentioned, the face printing technology is what we expect, but 12 year old me still looks at this piece of art and say “HOLY S&^*!” I’ve mentioned the backpack, but I haven’t mentioned that the scaled down, sculpted fabric and leather look stellar.
The Skywalker lightsaber is nicely sculpted, but again, we’re spoiled, and I’m used to it. But still… 12 year old me… man, he cusses a lot.
Should you pick S.H. Figuarts Rey up? If we just look at the aftermarket on Padme as an example of how well female Bandai Star Wars characters do, I’d say yes. From a completionist point of view? Yes. As her just being a solid 1:12 figure? Yes. I’ve seen pics of the Hasbro face printed Rey and while it wasn’t horrible, the overall character presentation was not as good as the Figuarts. Also, as of this writing, she still seems to be plentiful (and Padme was a web exclusive because all main characters should be super hard to get). Bandai is the current Star Wars juggernaut to beat, and this Rey has only added to their momentum. You can still pick her up here:
What do you think of Bandai’s offering? Are you picking one up? Love to hear from you! Here are some other pics I took, enjoy.
Next to a Hasbro Poe for scale purposes.
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