Review : Cassian Andor (Rogue One)
Star Wars Black Series (Hasbro)
Wave/Series : Rogue One Wave 1 (Wave 7)
Released : September 2016
Price : £21.99
It's our third Rogue One Black Series review from the first Rogue One Wave, Wave 7 in real terms for the Phase 3 releases. Having taken a look at K-2SO and The Deathtrooper, we will now take a look at Cassian Andor - one of the Rebels featured in Rogue One.
Cassian is number 23 in the Phase 3 series and arrives in the same gloss black box as the other phase 3 figures, complete with grey scale artwork front and back and that striking red spine which also confirms the figure number and the character name. The specific name attached to this figure is "Cassian Andor (Eadu)" with Eadu being assumed to be the planet on which this outfit is in play in the movie. The back of the box gives us the briefest snippet of Cassian's role in The Rebellion without giving away any spoilers for the film.
Out of the box you will be presented with the Cassian figure, complete with old weather helmet. He is then flanked in the packaging with two weapons.
Cassian stands dead on 6 inches tall and is one of those figures that is much better in hand than it ever looks it promotional images. Starting with the head sculpt, this is certainly an improvement on some of the human Force Awakens characters and is a half decent likeness to Diego Luna. The first bonus of the figure kicks in here when you realise that the full helmet and scarf section is removable. Considering this doesn't immediately strike you as a removable piece it does give you an indication of what a good job Hasbro have done here by sculpting this as a snug fit to the head while not making it overly tight to remove. This helmet is a softer plastic, in the same way they dealt with the X-Wing pilot helmets. It is also filled with detail including some goggles and a scarf section that sweeps neatly down Cassian's chest. Paint applications on the helmet are crisp and neat enough, although painting the goggles a flat black is a bit of a cheat.
Moving back to the head sculpt, and once you remove the helmet you get a better look at the facial details - which is sculpted in that skin tone plastic Hasbro are so keen on currently. The paint consists of some heavy handed eyebrows and the same colouring on Cassian's goatee. The eyes are neatly painted, but are also heavy handed and look a bit on the cartoon side. There is no depth or wash on the skin tone, but it is nice that they have at least tackled the 5 o'clock shadow for Cassian, and it works pretty well compared to other beards / stubble effects I have seen (most recently the Diamond Select Winter Soldier). The hair is the same dark tone as the beard and has plenty of sculpted detail front to back.
Down into the uniform and Cassian is wearing a cold weather Parker type jacket, very reminiscent of the coat Han Solo wears on Hoth in Empire. The coat wraps round at the front with overlapping lapels and then fastened with a belt. The belt has a neat clasp and some binoculars sculpted and clipped to one side. The coat has a fur lined hood which hangs behind Cassian's head and is well designed to not foul the helmet when that is put on the head. The arms have a deep lined strip down each arm into the gloves and this is ribbed and with some pouches on the left arm - again a nod to some of the original Trilogy Rebel uniforms. The coat is painted a flat blue with no wash or highlighting. The cream sections down the sides and round the belt are in the main neat, but there is a couple of places where they have'n't quite covered the blue underneath. On top of this are some silver highlights and again these aren't 100% in covering what they are intended to cover. The hood fur is a flat grey and is crying out for a wash to shade in the recessed parts.
Cassian's gloves are another shade of cream and are long sleeved, up to the forearm. The right hand glove is plain, but the left has what I guess is a communicator panel which is painted in silver and red. Like the other cream areas this lighter colour has been applied on the blue of the coat and you can see the line of this between the hand and the cuff of the glove.
The trousers are quite puffy and baggy and obviously well insulated They have been sculpted with plenty of folds and wraps but are then a flat brown colour so again a wash short of making them stand out and be weathered to match that slightly grubby worn look that we have seen on the Rogue One promotional images to date. There is a neat holster hanging from the belt and down and strapped to the right leg. The outfit ends with some buckled brown boots and like the trousers these feel too clean and the buckle looks highly polished rather than tramping through a muddy battlefield or whatever Cassian and the team are doing at this point of the movie. The paint then overall is flat, and sadly we do know Hasbro can do good weathering having seen it very recently on figures like Asty.
Articulation, having been dialled back for The Force Awakens releases, see's no further reductions and in actual fact there are a couple of minor improvements. The head is a ball joint which allows the usual rotation, but then there is a peg that can swing the head down so that the chin is touching the neck section. This means Cassian can look down at his feet, but the downside to this is that the peg section is clearly visible when the head is in a neutral position.
The arms are ball jointed and despite the bulky coat they will move out fully to the 90 degrees to the body and will rotate over the head. Again from a looks point of view there is an issue here where the central peg of the shoulder ball joint is a white colour and this stands out against the blue of the coat - although to be fair there arent a lot of positions you can put the arms in that will expose this joint. The elbows are a single joint, but do rotate and thankfully the peg here is painted the same colour as the jacket. The wrists are then on a swivel peg and combining these will allow Cassian to hold his larger weapon with both hands if you wish.
There is a clever waist joint that is perfectly hidden where the belt and the coat meet. This movement allows the torso to rotate left and right and you can also feel a ball piece under there that can also pitch the torso forward or lean it back.
The hips are again a ball joint and would swing into a seated position were they not blocked in by the lower section of the coat. Even though this coat piece is a softer plastic with side splits, the hips won't be able to move much an extended stride forward. The knees remain double jointed and can bend fully back on themselves. If you work this in with the hips you can get some wider action stances, and even get Cassian to look like he is running with a suitable stand to add the extra support. The figure finishes with rocker ankles that helps keep the feet flat to the floor and like most recent Black Series figures he can stand very well on his own.
The weaponry supplied starts with the smaller hand blaster. This is a new design, but does have similarities to both Han's Original Trilogy blaster and the blaster he gives to Rey in The Force Awakens. it is cast in brown plastic, but has a lot of silver paint detail to the barrel and sight. It fits fine in either hand, and can also be slotted into the holster on Cassian's leg and then strapped in place to keep it safe.
The larger blaster is more impressive in terms of size, but is quite bland having been cast in brown plastic and then having had nothing else done to it. The rifle fits again in either hand, but it is the right that has the flexible trigger finger that can be hooked into the trigger of this larger weapon.
So there he is, ready for action. And to be fair I am more impressed in hand than I was when I originally saw the figure in promotional or leaked shots. Its not perfect, and carries on with some of the flaws we have seen in most of Hasbro's human figures. The whole thing needs a good application of paint wash or drybrush to bring out the detail and to dirty him up. Aside from this the articulation is good and although the weapons are bland they are straight and fit neatly into the hand.
I toyed with the flaws vs the benefits of the figure and the figure swung between a 3 and a 4. The decider for me, and why I gave this figure a 4 in the end, is that Hasbro do seem to be trying vs what we were getting 12-months ago for The Force Awakens. The paint is neater even though there is no depth, the accessories are straight and don't feel like rubber and to go with a removable hood rather than just sculpting this in place is a positive. We do know we are getting a 2nd Cassian a bit later on via an exclusive 3-pack and it will be interesting to see if there is any improvements applied when this figure hits retail - something we saw with Poe last year. For now I am happy to have Cassian join my small put growing Rogue One Rebel team and look forward now to receiving Jyn Erso and hopefully more of the team at some point in the future.
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