Welcome to our review of the 2018 special release of this tiny two pack of Porgs, as seen in Star Wars the Last Jedi. These two adorable Porgs are scaled perfectly for the 6 inch Black Series and come in their own mini version of the Black Series packaging, complete with artwork.
Packaging 2/5
The Porg 2-Pack comes in a tiny version of the Black Series packaging measuring approx 8cm high, 7cm wide and 2cm depth. In context this is about a third of the usual height of a single figure box and half across (see comparison images). Despite its small size, Hasbro have replicated all the usual Black Series design content with the bold white Star Wars Black Series logo, character name in red and a mini Gregory Titus illustration. The left side spine includes the wrap round the window and the character name repeated in both red and blown up gray text. The other spine is gloss red. The Porg set is not numbered, so the usual greyed square sits where the numbering would be.
Round the back there is not enough room for a larger version of the artwork so we go straight into a short and sweet bio about the Porgs.
"Small. Mimicking. Mischievous"
With limited room for the various copyright and legal definitions the barcode slides to the bottom of the box and there is some legal text that goes up onto top section - and this is a shame as it ruins the look of the packaging as this top flap would usually be plain black.
Sculpt & Paint 4/5
The pack contains two different Porgs. The first of these is a static figure with a frown almost kitten like face. Considering this first Porg is less than 2cm high, there is bags of emotion in that face. The paint work is neat considering the scale with glossy black eyes and the white feathers that blend into yellow and then brown. The mouth is slightly off where the sculpt looks like it should be, but that is only noticeable if you blow this up in an image as we have.
The second Porg is standing with his wings out. This one is slightly taller at 2.5cm and has a differing expression - more worried than sad so perhaps Chewie is eying this one up for lunch? Painting is the same principle as the other Porg, but with a more orange tone in the feathers to add further variation. The chicken like legs are a pinky flesh colour and there is even dark claws added. Despite being so small, this Porg stands perfectly well on his own on those chicken legs. Hasbro have achieved this by ensuring the balance and weight of the figure are well distributed and its well executed considering the scale.
Articulation 4/5
Believe it or not, the standing Porg does come with two points of articulation on its wings. These are plugged into the body by means of a ball socket and therefore they can be rotated and raised and lowered - independently of each other if you want. With the wings up and out the figure is still well balanced.
I can't particularly think of where more articulation could be added, so scoring this element is difficult - so I have gone with a 4 out of 5 on the basis that only one of the two Porgs has any movement.
Summary
You can see what Disney and Lucasfilm were trying to achieve with the addition of the Porgs to The Last Jedi, introducing something that has no real plot point but that serves to drive some merchandise activity in the stores. That being said, they remain a visual part of Episode 8 and it is nice to see them on display with your Luke Skywalker or Rey.
My issue is that Hasbro chose to go down the two in a pack route. As a pair they are costing you between £6 and £12 depending where you can find them, and that simply isn't good value or feasible for building up a bigger flock of these. I wonder how successful these might have been as a group of between 10 and 20 in a standard Black Series box for £20?
The packaging is disappointing if you want to leave them boxed with all that legal text on the top section, but aside from that and the price/method of release there is not much else you can criticize on these tiny two 2cm figures.
I score the Porg 2-pack a 3 out of 5, and I make no apologies for dropping one point purely on the cost element.
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