Friday 31 March 2023

Toybox REVIEW: Star Wars Black Series Reva (Third Sister)

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Release Date: July 2022
RRP: $24.99/£25.99

A new Star Wars project is always exciting news, but when it's something as long-awaited as Obi-Wan Kenobi then the very least you expect is for all the merchandising companies to be prepared. Hasbro haven't been too quick off the mark with a lot of series recently (just look how few Book of Boba Fett figures there are), but when it came to this one they were ready. The release of Obi-Wan Kenobi on Disney+ was shortly followed by a release of a number of figures from the series, including Black Series Reva (Third Sister). One of the Sith Inquisitors commanded by Darth Vader to hunt down the remaining Jedi, Reva is the primary antagonist of the series and fights Kenobi with her own secret score to settle.

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Black Series Reva (Third Sister) is the third release in the Obi-Wan Kenobi range, which is identified by its pale blue highlighting across the packaging. Much like we saw with previous releases, the characters from this series were either rushed out or Hasbro weren't privy to any information prior to Kenobi's release because they all lack a character bio. Instead they all share the same generic blurb about the Obi-Wan Kenobi series, which is a bit of a shame because it would have been nice to see how Hasbro sum up some of these characters (particularly the Inquisitors). The character artwork on the box is very good though, appearing both on the back of the box and on the connecting spine mural. Inside, Reva is neatly stored on a moulded plastic tray with her lightsaber accessories beside her.

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Obi-Wan Kenobi marks the first time we've seen the Sith Inquisitors in live-action, with their uniforms bearing pretty close similarity to how we've seen them presented in Rebels, Jedi: Fallen Order and the comics. Reva wears an all-black uniform comprised of both an under suit and armoured sections, which has been really nicely recreated on the Black Series figure. Whereas the body suit is a matte plastic with plenty of textured detailing to represent fabric (the moulded creases on the back of the legs look particularly good), the armoured parts are a glossier plastic similar to that of Stormtrooper armour. Some parts of the figure, such as the shoulder pads and "skirt" section, are made of soft plastic to help aid articulation. It's also really great to see this figure use a soft goods cape – the hard plastic was probably the biggest issue with the Second Sister so it's nice to not see it repeated here. Reva also has the honour of being the only "human" Inquisitor we've seen so far, and Hasbro have done an incredible job on the face sculpt. Not only is it a brilliant likeness of Moses Ingram, but it also captures that completely unimpressed look she carries throughout the series. Sometimes I like to advocate for more expressive faces in the Black Series, but I really like this one. All the texturing and detailing on the hair is superb too. Outside of the face the figure is VERY minimal on paint apps, with just a bit of silver on the belt and lapels as well as a dash of red on the belt too. Nothing especially sloppy on my copy, but nothing to rave about either. All in all it's a very good looking figure, capturing the look of the character really well.

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The articulation is fairly standard for a modern-era Black Series figure, consisting of; 
- Ball jointed head, neck, waist and hips 
- Swivel hinge shoulders, elbows, wrists, knees and ankles 
- Butterfly joint shoulders 
- Thigh swivels
Relatively new additions to the line like the ball jointed head/neck/waist and butterfly shoulders have had some much-needed movement to these figures, although in the case of the butterfly joints it can be a bit hard to see just how much you're getting from it here with all that soft plastic armour surrounding it. The single swivel hinge elbows and knees don't really offer much more than a 45-degree bend either, which is enough to do the job but pales in comparison to what a double hinge joint could offer. That said, at least the design of the knees (which as a piece from the upper leg hang over the joint) does a good job of hiding the joint when stationary. Hinge movement on the wrists is very minimal too, so it’ll be the swivel doing most of the work when it comes to lightsaber poses. Overall it's about what you'd expect for a Hasbro figure at this scale and price point, but it certainly isn't going to be matching any of those crazy parkour scenes Reva did in the second episode of Obi-Wan Kenobi.

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Reva's accessories are exactly what you'd expect them to be, but credit where it's due Hasbro have done a lot more here than I expected them too. Included here is Reva's Inquistor-style double-bladed lightsaber, but also two additional sabers representing when it is separated in half. One thing I hadn't appreciated previously is that while all of the Sith Inquisitors share the same basic lightsaber design, the hilts are all different when it comes to the finer details. The hilts are really nicely detailed too – each moulded in black plastic but with plenty of silver paint to highlight those unique details. The translucent red blades are removable on all three of the lightsabers, and the completed (circular) hilt can also be fixed to the peg hole on the right-hand side of Reva's belt. Each saber fits nicely and tightly into the figure's hands, giving you some great options when it comes to double-bladed lightsaber action or dual-wielding poses.

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As one of the main characters from Obi-Wan Kenobi, Black Series Reva (Third Sister) is going to be pretty high up on any collector's purchase list – so it's great to see that Hasbro have done a pretty great job with this figure. There are a couple of gripes with the articulation that hold it back from being perfect, but as far as sculpt and likeness goes there's very little to complain about. Personally I'm just happy to finally see more Inquisitors being added to the line, and this'll make a brilliant partner piece to the Second Sister (as well as the other Obi-Wan Inquisitor releases) even though the pair may have never actually met.

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