Rio Durant - TBS [P3] - Six Inch Figures (77)

Rio Durant has carried out dangerous operations alongside the scoundrel Tobias Beckett for years. The good-natured Ardennian pilot is up for any challenge, not unlike his young counterpart Han Solo.

Rio Durant is another one of the many aliens and strangers in the Star Wars universe. With the magic of CGI, we see these characters interact seamlessly in the latest Disney Star Wars films. Love it or hate it, Solo: A Star Wars Story is, for us, the hit that never was. Although a fair criticism is that the film played it safe in many ways, the writing, direction, action and overall plot twists (especially multiple characters’ loyalties switching back and forth) made for an exciting engagement. A band of pirating rogues scoring stolen goods is a central theme in the film, and it is made up of a pleasantly diverse cast of characters. Rio Durant, an Ardennian pilot, is that monkey on your back you can’t shake in the story, but ultimately comes off as an endearing character in the film. He wasn’t one of our favorites, but we see why he resounded well with fans. His few scenes and lines are as memorable as anyone else’s in the film, and when things went south for him in the film, viewers felt it. All Star Wars collectors like to complete the various formed crews and gangs that are featured in the Star Wars Entertainment. So, Hasbro is wise to make them a focus in The Black Series [Phase III] 6” line, although, Solo: A Star Wars Story was in theaters almost a half a year ago from this figure’s release. Is it wise to release him now?

When you’re approaching six months out from the release of a Star Wars film and the main characters are just beginning to arrive, the risk of them becoming a success at retail diminishes. But we don’t believe this will be too big of an issue for most of the figures in the Rio Durant wave of 6” figures. Even with a late release, we feel that Rio Durant and company will be a point of focus for collectors of the premium 6” range because of their prominent roles in Solo: A Star Wars Story. We already received the Star Wars [Solo] Force Link 2.0 Rio Durant and that figure went over well with collectors. Now it’s time to soak in the super-articulated version. While the Force Link 2.0 version of Rio Durant comes with an impressive 11 points of articulation, the 6” version hits 37 marvelous points. But most of that extra articulation is because this character has four arms instead of two. Hasbro did a great job on Rio Durant. Hasbro can capture a lot more detail in the larger scale, and this is evident with Rio Durant. His lifelike head sculpt and detail in his costume are nothing short of astounding. Hasbro should be proud of their accomplishment here. With an incredible range of movement and a likeness ripped from the film, fans of Solo: A Star Wars Story are going to be proud collectors once they have this figure in their collections.

Rio Durant comes with a beautifully done point job. We can always count on Hasbro creating dynamically sculpted action figures, and Rio Durant continues in this steady trend. Obviously, this version of Rio Durant is much better looking than his 5POA counterparts, but that’s expected when you’re working on a larger canvas, and you’re hyper-conscious of how important excellent paint operations are. The lines are clean. The colors are vibrant. And Hasbro’s faithful recreation of the character shows how concerned they are with a character’s authenticity. Things that shouldn’t be taken for granted are Rio Durant’s free-floating communications microphone, the “separately sculpted yet forever attached” holster and belt piece. This began with the 5POA figure and carried forward for this version. He also comes with a blaster pistol, blaster rifle, and removable goggles, and the latter is something the 5POA doesn’t have. In retrospect, it’s truly a shame that Solo: A Star Wars Story didn’t meet expectations. It’s a terrific film with a great cast of characters. And even if all of the plot points didn’t meet your expectations of Han Solo, it shouldn’t be enough to prevent you from enjoying the film. Aside from wishing Rio Durant was made available earlier, we don’t have much else to criticize. The character is voiced by Star Wars television director Jon Favreau, and the quirky character came off as very likable with audiences. In a way, Rio Durant was the comic relief in Solo: A Star Wars Story.