Toybox REVIEW: Star Wars Black Series Inquisitor (Fourth Sister)

Release Date: July 2023

RRP: $24.99/£25.99

Inquisitors have been a big part of the Star Wars universe in recent years, particularly with the spotlight being thrust upon the "Dark Times" - the rule of the Galactic Empire between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. As well as bringing a number of characters from animation into live-action, the Obi-Wan Kenobi series also introduced some new Inquisitors into the mix - such as the Fourth Sister. Though a minor character at best, the Fourth Sister appeared in several scenes alongside Reva, the Fifth Brother and the Grand Inquisitor. She was at least considered important enough for Hasbro to produce an action figure of her, even if Black Series Inquisitor (Fourth Sister) makes it sound like her title is much more important than her name - none of the other Inquisitor figures were labelled like this.

The Black Series Fourth Sister is another example of Hasbro's short lived foray into windowless plastic-free packaging, something that they attempted across all of their collector lines but Star Wars fans especially did not take very kindly to. The 12th release in the Obi-Wan Kenobi range (which sports blue banners and highlights), the design of the packaging remains largely the same however the front and back now feature stock images of the figure inside. The character artwork that once adorned the back is now only on the side, where it forms part of the connecting mural with the rest of the figures in the range. Like the rest of the Obi-Wan Kenobi figures there is only a generic description of the series on the box rather than a character specific-bio, but then again there's not exactly a lot to say about the Fourth Sister anyway. Inside the figure (and accessories) now fixed onto a cardboard tray, wrapped in paper for additional protection.

The Fourth Sister is a force-sensitive humanoid of undetermined species, however had yellowish green skin with markings across her forehead as well as four tendrils coming down from the back of her head. These are the only parts of her skin visible, with the rest of her body clad in a black Galactic Empire-branded uniform. This Black Series figure does a good job with said uniform, capturing all of its unique moulding and detailing as well as various textures to give it a more leathery look and feel. The soft plastic skirt tails feature a red painted trim, and there are also various silver paint apps dotted around the uniform (the Imperial insignia on the arms look particularly good). Unfortunately the head sculpt is rather underwhelming. The likeness is definitely there, but the finish gives it this shiny, almost waxy look and feel which doesn't look like a skin tone nor does it fit with the good texture work on the rest of the figure. Compared to the other Inquisitor figures released in the line it definitely feels a little lacking, but then again that might just be because she's the least remarkable of all of them anyway.

While articulation tends to be fairly similar across the whole of the Black Series, it's never completely identical figure to figure. Altogether the Fourth Sister features; 

- Ball jointed head, neck, torso and hips 

- Swivel hinge shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips and ankles 

Sadly no butterfly joints on this release, which isn't a huge blow to the upper body articulation but would have definitely added a little bit extra to benefit action poses. Arguably the much bigger issues are happening with the lower half of the body, thanks to those thick soft plastic skirt tails that drop down to about knee-level. These have a pretty big impact on the hip articulation, most significantly impeding outward and backward movement. While you are able to move the legs forward out of the vicinity of the coat, it still limits just what poses the figure is able to pull off. This is definitely one much more suited to neutral intimidating poses rather than lightsaber-wielding action shots. Which given how she didn't do any of the latter in the series itself might be perfectly suited to the character.

The Fourth Sister's sole accessory is her double-bladed lightsaber, which of course follows the standard Inquisitor design of having the hilt surrounded by a blade-like circle. Despite the similarities in design each Inquisitor's hilt is actually slightly different – with the Fourth Sister's featuring a predominantly black circular section. Both saber blades are removable (allowing you to pose the figure with one or two ends ignited) and when not in use the hilt can be pegged onto the back of the figure for storage. The lightsaber fits into the hands of the figure nicely even with the twin pegs sticking out on one side, and despite the aforementioned posing restrictions the Fourth Sister looks pretty good when wielding it.

While the days of getting every single Star Wars character as an action figure may be long behind us, the Black Series Inquisitor (Fourth Sister) doesn't feel too far away from that time. The character was pretty unremarkable in Obi-Wan Kenobi and the same can be said here, with a reasonably good figure let down by a subpar head sculpt and limited lower articulation. That said the Fourth Sister does her job of filling up the ranks of the Imperial Inquisitors rather nicely, and with a total of five now available in the Black Series that display is beginning to look rather impressive. Not every figure can be a winner, but it's nice to Hasbro still show some acknowledgement to minor characters when they suit a specific purpose.