Finn (Jakku) - TFA - Build A Weapon (Desert)

A trained warrior desperate to escape his past, Finn is plunged into adventure as his conscience drives him down a heroic, but dangerous, path.

It’s always cool getting new Star Wars action figures from Hasbro, but the only problem that exists when the launch of the toy line and release of the film are months apart is that we can become little obsessive to know more about all of the cool characters. At least when it comes to Finn (Jakku), collectors have already seen him in the Episode VII trailer and information has been released that he is one of the main characters in The Force Awakens. So it makes complete sense that he would be one of the first characters released in multiple formats. At launch, you can find Finn in almost a half of dozen products, but perhaps the most sought after version will be the figure from the Build A Weapon collection, which now serves as the default “basic figure line” although that term is becoming as archaic as the dinosaurs anymore. (It’s bittersweet to ponder that, isn’t it?) Anyway, Finn is another simply articulated action figure with a great sculpt and decent features. And for those that can overlook the figure’s lack of articulation, Finn (Jakku) should make a nice addition to your collection.

Finn (Jakku) comes with five points of articulation. This is standard for Hasbro figures in this day and age. And as sad as this is, Hasbro makes up for the lack of articulation with dynamic sculpts and a vast improvement in the way they decorate their action figures. The head sculpt really looks like the onscreen character, but you’ll probably have to go through a couple of samples before you find a paint job that will satisfy you. But once you find a face that you can love, you’ll find that the rest of the figure is painted beautifully. If you really want to regress your thoughts back to 1995 (20 years ago now), Hasbro reverts back to their age-old approach of tooling separately sculpted shells (for coats, robes, etc.) that are removable. And when you remove them they make the figures looks absolutely silly. It makes us wonder why Hasbro didn’t make these figures more like those The Vintage Collection figures that seemed to have a separately sculpted jacket, but were actually part of the figure’s whole sculpt. We really wish that’s the way these 2015 figures would have been designed as well.

Finn (Jakku) has a great center of gravity. He has been positioned in a “walking forward” pose which is fine. But another wish of ours if Hasbro could pose these simply articulated action figures as statically as possible. It is just our own preference, but we think we are just a few steps away from exaggerated poses like we saw in the Star Wars “Saga” era and we honestly don’t want to see a return of that ever again. Perhaps our fears are a little too panicked, but we just don’t want to see trends heading in this direction. Call us proactive instead of paranoid please. Finn (Jakku) comes with a hefty blaster (as well as the removable coat shell). These are plenty of accessories for a figure of this caliber. Also, the pack-in premium Build A Weapon part has also been included and we’ll be candid and tell you that we just don’t get this convention at all. It’s strange to say the least. Overall, Finn (Jakku) is an expected and well done action figure. We will be interested to see how well he translates in the Walmart exclusive 3.75” The Black Series line. That’s when we’ll know if these digital files have paid off or not.