The Good: Wonderful sculpt, Decent accessories, Great balance and articulation
The Bad: Very simplistic coloring
The Basics: The Star Wars The Black Series creates a concept figure worth picking up with the Bastila Shan action figure!
For my recent birthday, my wife picked me up several truly awesome gifts. One of them was the Black Series Bastila Shan Star Wars Black Series action figure. Bastila Shan is a concept figure, an embodiment of a character not seen in the Star Wars films. This is actually the second Bastila Shan figure to be released and, honestly, I am uncertain if the new Black Series version of the character is any different from the Vintage Collection one, but given how the first iteration is virtually impossible to find, the Black Series version of the character makes the inaccessible affordable and gives collectors a reason to bother with the new Black Series, which has been plagued by figures of oft-recast characters.
The Bastila Shan figure is the Jedi from the Old Republic who is part of the Star Wars Expanded Universe concept of action figures, so there is no live-action reference for the toy.
This 4" Bastila Shan figure is wonderfully balanced, incredibly sculpted and articulated exceptionally well.
Basics
Bastila Shan in this form is the female Jedi, who looks lithe and dangerous. She is cast in a yellow outfit with brown flexible armor overtop it. She has a neutral stance and both of her hands can hold the lightsaber she comes with.
The Bastila Shan figure stands only 3 5/8" tall, which puts her in proportion to the rest of the line. Bastila Shan is appropriately coifed in her yellow-tan body suit and maroon-brown armor/skirt and boots. The figure is cast with exceptional detail for the face and hair of the character. Bastila Shan is cast with a somewhat angry look on her face and deep ear canals. This figure is made of a combination of solid plastic, with her hands, skirts, and ponytail being composed of a softer, more rubbery plastic.
This toy is a decent sculpt, despite there being no frame of reference for the character. Unfortunately, Bastila Shan is unimpressive in her coloring detail. The detailing on the figure's face and costume is entirely monolithic and the skin tones are nowhere near realistic. She has no rouge, for example on her cheeks, but her lips are a darker pink. As well, the fingers do not have fingernails molded into the sculpt, so they are not colored either. Unfortunately, this figure has a somewhat sloppy paint job; in addition to the hair being monotonally brown, the hair on the left side of the figure is painted so erratically that mine was flesh-colored for most of her bangs!
Accessories
Bastila Shan, being a Jedi Knight, has two appropriate accessories. This Bastila Shan figure comes with a double-bladed lightsaber and the lightsaber handle. The lightsaber handle is a simple 1 1/2" simple sliver cylinder. The lightsaber handle attaches to the figure’s belt from a little peg that is on the lightsaber handle. The lightsaber fits nicely onto the belt or in the figure’s hands.
The other weapon Bastila Shan comes with is the same double-edged lightsaber with the lightblades extended. This basically looks like Darth Maul’s lightsaber, but with yellow blades instead of the red ones. This is a 4 3/4" lightsaber that looks awesome in Bastila Shan’s hands!
Playability
The four inch toy line was designed for play and Bastila Shan is incredible in that regard. This Bastila Shan has incredible balance and articulation. The figure has holes in the bottom of the feet that allow it to be stuck onto any playset or vehicle that has the corresponding pegs. Bastila Shan is gifted with an incredible fourteen points of articulation. Bastila Shan, as an action figure, has joints at the knees, ankles, groin socket, waist, shoulders, elbows, wrists, and neck. Most of the joints are actually hinge joints that also swivel, which gives Shan an incredible amount of articulation.
Between the balance and articulation, this is an incredible figure that has somewhat obvious and exposed joints, but still looks pretty wonderful.
Collectibility
Bastila Shan is part of the 2014 Star Wars The Black Series collection of four-inch action figures. This series of Star Wars action figures was fairly common and the Bastila Shan figure was #20 in that collection and was one of the rarest from the Black Series so far. As a result, Bastila Shan is highly sought-after, but nowhere near as rare as the Vintage Collection version of the same figure. That makes it less of a good investment than the Vintage Collection figure, but a more worthwhile investment than most of the other 4.5” Black Series figures. It remains one of the few Black Series figures I’d actually recommend as an investment figure.
Overview
Bastila Shan is a cool figure and a must-buy for those who are collecting Jedi and concept figures, but not as worthwhile for those who are only casual Star Wars fans.
For other Star Wars concept figures and toys, please check out my reviews on:
Legacy Collection TC-70 Build-A-Droid
Vintage Collection VC61 Boba Fett Prototype Armor (Mail Away)
Vintage Collection VC96 Darth Malgus
7.5/10
For other toy reviews, please check out my Toy Review Index Page for an organized listing!
© 2014 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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