As was the case across much of the country, the product release for Solo: A Star Wars Story arrived with something of a whimper in my neck of the woods. For the most part, staff - even those stationed exclusively in the toy section - had no idea that there were any new Star Wars items on their way. It took visits to two Walmarts and four Targets across two states before I finally came across the items I was after. It was only at the last of these that I lucked out by being in the toy section just as a shelf-stocker wheeled a trolley of new product into the aisle (despite being told by the manager only moments earlier that they hadn't received the shipment of new stock). The stocker was kind enough to let myself and two other fans stand by as she unpacked the new product, and gave us first choice on the items as they emerged from their boxes. As a result, I managed to get everything on my Force Link 2.0 hunt list in one fell swoop.
While the distribution of these figures may have been disappointing, the products themselves certainly are not. I picked up most of the Solo characters available including Chewbacca, Qi'ra, the Rangetrooper, the Mimban Stormtrooper, Lando (with a Kessel Guard), and Enfys Nest (with her speeder bike). Continuing the trend started in 2015, these basic movie-line figures are mostly five-points-of-articulation (5POA). That being said, the sculpting and paint apps have been significantly improving with every wave of new figures. Qi'ra is a phenomenal example of this - her face framed with finely detailed wisps of hair, and her face painted in an uncanny likeness of actress Emilia Clarke. The quality of the basic line is improving elsewhere, too: Qi'ra, the Mimban Stormtrooper, and Enfys nest all comes with two extra points of articulation in their wrists, and Enfys also comes with a cloth cape - the first we've seen in the basic line since its advent.
There are other great features hidden throughout these figures as well. Enfys's speeder bike (which, itself, is a beautifully delicate and detailed vehicle) comes with a mount for her halberd, and the Kessel Guard weapon is able to clip to his backpack when not in use. Perhaps best of all, Hasbro have finally rediscovered how to do pack-in accessories. Gone are the ridiculous 'build-a-weapon', 'armour-up', and oversized cannon inclusions of recent times. Instead, the Force Link 2.0 range of figure two-packs come with large screen-accurate weapons and accessories that are perfect for diorama building. In this case, Lando and the Kessel Guard come with a wonderful banged-up turret and generator reminiscent of the E-Web heavy repeating blaster used by snowtroopers in The Empire Strikes Back.
But the real star of this first wave of Force Link 2.0 figures isn't even from Solo. Instead, it's the wampa - a figure that I've been obsessing over since its announcement almost a year ago.
While the pack-in Luke is a simple 5POA figure (and no match for any of the super-articulated Hoth Lukes we've seen in recent years), the wampa is a beautiful six-inch tall hunk of plastic that boasts an impressive 11 points-of-articulation. This added range of motion makes him look great in a number of poses, and his severable right arm (yes, that's right, severable) even allows you to play out Luke's most infamous act of wanton cruelty.
This range of figures has got the Force Link 2.0 line off to a great start. I've not yet had the chance to try out any of the Force Link gimmickry - mostly because the reader is grossly overpriced, and likely to plummet in cost in the coming weeks and months. For me, however, that feature is superfluous - and I can safely say I'm already rapt with these figures, even without access to their technological features.
While the distribution of these figures may have been disappointing, the products themselves certainly are not. I picked up most of the Solo characters available including Chewbacca, Qi'ra, the Rangetrooper, the Mimban Stormtrooper, Lando (with a Kessel Guard), and Enfys Nest (with her speeder bike). Continuing the trend started in 2015, these basic movie-line figures are mostly five-points-of-articulation (5POA). That being said, the sculpting and paint apps have been significantly improving with every wave of new figures. Qi'ra is a phenomenal example of this - her face framed with finely detailed wisps of hair, and her face painted in an uncanny likeness of actress Emilia Clarke. The quality of the basic line is improving elsewhere, too: Qi'ra, the Mimban Stormtrooper, and Enfys nest all comes with two extra points of articulation in their wrists, and Enfys also comes with a cloth cape - the first we've seen in the basic line since its advent.
There are other great features hidden throughout these figures as well. Enfys's speeder bike (which, itself, is a beautifully delicate and detailed vehicle) comes with a mount for her halberd, and the Kessel Guard weapon is able to clip to his backpack when not in use. Perhaps best of all, Hasbro have finally rediscovered how to do pack-in accessories. Gone are the ridiculous 'build-a-weapon', 'armour-up', and oversized cannon inclusions of recent times. Instead, the Force Link 2.0 range of figure two-packs come with large screen-accurate weapons and accessories that are perfect for diorama building. In this case, Lando and the Kessel Guard come with a wonderful banged-up turret and generator reminiscent of the E-Web heavy repeating blaster used by snowtroopers in The Empire Strikes Back.
But the real star of this first wave of Force Link 2.0 figures isn't even from Solo. Instead, it's the wampa - a figure that I've been obsessing over since its announcement almost a year ago.
While the pack-in Luke is a simple 5POA figure (and no match for any of the super-articulated Hoth Lukes we've seen in recent years), the wampa is a beautiful six-inch tall hunk of plastic that boasts an impressive 11 points-of-articulation. This added range of motion makes him look great in a number of poses, and his severable right arm (yes, that's right, severable) even allows you to play out Luke's most infamous act of wanton cruelty.
This range of figures has got the Force Link 2.0 line off to a great start. I've not yet had the chance to try out any of the Force Link gimmickry - mostly because the reader is grossly overpriced, and likely to plummet in cost in the coming weeks and months. For me, however, that feature is superfluous - and I can safely say I'm already rapt with these figures, even without access to their technological features.
