Release Date: July 2020
RRP: $19.99/£19.99
There once was a time where pretty much any Star Wars character, regardless of screen time, was guaranteed an action figure. These days this is far from the case even in the beloved 3.75" lines, let alone 6" collector series lines like The Black Series. There even staple characters can take years to be released - the line began all the way back in 2013 but it took until 2020 to get a Count Dooku. Among some of the other Prequel Era characters just begging for release are the Jedi Council members, many of whom appeared in the films themselves but had their popularity cemented through Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Now Hasbro have finally begun to answer collectors' prayers with their latest wave of figures, featuring two prominent members of the council (that aren't Yoda or Mace Windu). The first of these characters is Plo Koon, the Jedi Master recognisable by the antitox mask he wears over his mouth and eyes. In The Clone Wars series, he was notable for working alongside Clone Commander Wolffe and the Wolf Pack Squad, as well as being the Jedi Master that discovered a young Ahsoka Tano.
The Attack of the Clones wave that Plo Koon is part of is actually the final wave that will be using the black and red boxes Hasbro have been using for the Black Series since 2015, with a brand new packaging style featuring connecting colour character art and actual timeline designation set to debut in the coming months. So if anything this feels a bit like the end of an era - not that there's any more to say about this packaging than usual. This particular chapter in the Black Series has managed to scrape just over 100 mainline releases, with Plo himself numbered at 109. The front and back of the box feature some great artwork of the Kel Dor Jedi Master, along with a very short character bio on the back in a number of different languages. Inside, the figure and accessory are stored neatly on a moulded plastic tray. The cloak is threaded through a hole in the back of the tray, but since it's made of fabric it isn't difficult to remove like it is for many of the plastic-caped figures Hasbro have released across their various toy lines.
Although a wave of figures entirely dedicated to Attack of the Clones featuring new variants and characters might sound exciting to some, for Hasbro it was actually more of a cost-effective choice. Everything figure in the wave is simply either a repaint or retool, even the all new characters like Plo Koon. It may have a new head sculpt and fancy soft goods robe, but underneath all that fabric is actually the body of one Mace Windu. Perfectionists will note that this means some of the colours are a bit off, but the Jedi uniform is pretty universal so it does the job regardless. Not that you can see much of the body underneath that soft goods robe anyway, which is stitched up at the chest so can only be removed by popping off the head and then slipping the arms out of the sleeves. As a Jedi rarely seen without his robes Hasbro didn't have much choice but to attempt soft goods here, as there's no way soft plastic would have turned out well. That isn't to say this turned out particularly well either, but it's definitely the better of the two. The material used is pretty thin and doesn't drape well over the front of the body very well at all, and in the end just looks like two strips of cheap fabric hanging in front of him. The back and sleeves look a lot better, but overall it just gives Plo a puffy silhouette that doesn't quite hit the mark. To their credit though Hasbro really won back some favour with that head sculpt, which is fantastic. There's so much detail packed into it, and very little of it is lost in that fleshy orange skin tone as well. Even the mask parts look like they could be actual metal.
The robe does have a functioning hood that can be pulled up over the head, however when you see the result you're very unlikely to want to pose the figure this way. Whether the hood is comically oversized or not is up for debate since the Jedi robes are fairly loose-fitting, but the fabric Hasbro have used for the robes just doesn't suit this purpose at all.Without any sort of folding you could probably fit about four heads in there, and then even if you fold the sides into a shape that's a little more screen-accurate they don't hold that position for very long. You might be able to pin the hood down in certain places so that it actually works as it should, but if you have to go to those lengths it's hardly worth doing in the first place.
While the robes covering the whole body means you don't get a good look at it Plo Koon is actually a well-articulated figure, with a wide range of joints packed into the body underneath. Altogether Plo Koon features the following;
- Ball-socket head, neck and waist
- Swivel hinge shoulders, elbows, wrists and hips
- Butterfly joint shoulders
- Double hinged knees
- Rocker joint ankles
Of course, having so much of the body covered means there is a fair bit of restriction going on here. Not just from the soft goods robe either, as the soft plastic "skirt" underneath also places some obvious limitations on the hips and upper legs. The areas you can't see at all (such as the elbows for example) all seem to work exactly as they should, but since the engineering is all out of sight there's always the fear that you might just bend something a little too much and rip the robe in the process. Most collectors are probably familiar enough with these moulds by now to avoid that, but it's always something to keep in mind. If you want to get the most out of this figure when it comes to poseability you're probably better off removing the robe, but even if you don't want to there's still enough going on here to keep you entertained.
Plo Koon's sole accessory is his lightsaber, which is yet another case of Hasbro missing the mark when it comes to accuracy. The hilt itself isn't actually a new piece, having previously been released as one of General Grievous' four lightsabers. When compared to the actual prop (not that you get an especially good look at it in onscreen) it's unmistakably Plo's saber, but the colours weren't changed between releases and so the hilt is slightly off. It's a minor gripe, but it is a little disappointing to see Hasbro cutting corners just because this isn't a main character. Still, a slightly inaccurate Plo Koon is still better than no Plo Koon at all, and since the lightsaber is going to be gripped by the hand most of the time (since there's unfortunately no spot to peg it on the belt) does it really make that much difference in the end? The removable blade is translucent blue like it appears onscreen, and not yellow like the original toy's or Plo's appearance in the Jedi Power Battles Playstation game. That might have been nice for nostalgia's sake, but at least Hasbro have stayed colour accurate somewhere with this lightsaber.
Hasbro took some interesting steps with Black Series Plo Koon, steps which when refined feel like they'll be a staple of Star Wars figures going forwards. That said, success is usually a case of trial and error and right now those steps feel a bit more like a miss than a hit. Plo Koon's robe is cheap-looking, unwieldy and in the end harms what's otherwise a pretty solid figure overall. The most keen-eyed Star Wars purist might scoff at the costume inaccuracies, but for most the body is going to look exactly as it should and you really can't fault that excellent head sculpt. That robe though definitely still needs some work. At the very least it's great to finally see some of the other Jedi Council members finally making their way into the line, and a fan favourite like Plo Koon is sure to be on everyone's want list whether there's flaws or not.
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