Shae Vizla (Old Republic Bounty Hunter) - TVC - Basic (VC101)

The power of obscurity! Or is it the power of beauty, femininity and sex appeal? We suppose we should be used to this by now in the Star Wars universe. It’s not like it hasn’t happened before when a background female character forges to the forefront of the collective consciousness and all they can do is wish to see more of her. Look what happened to Aayla Secura. A relative unknown in the comics to one of the most favorite and revered female Jedi of all time. And it all happened faster than lightspeed. We expected something similar to happen with Shae Vizla, a character who has features strikingly familiar to the fan favorite Mara Jade character, but it happened much quicker this time around. Maybe we can attribute it to the instantaneousness of social media, but Shae Vizla burned her way onto collectors’ minds the second most saw her. What’s more is that she’s a Mandalorian bounty hunter who shows herself with or without her helmet and it seems that Star Wars fans fond of the Expanded Universe just can’t get enough of these types of characters. We see why she is as popular as she is already. She’s gorgeous (red heads go far in Star Wars), she’s tough and she has probably one of the coolest outfits we’ve seen in a very long time in the EU. The outfit may be slightly too “Rocketeer” for some, but this sort of thing happens once in a while when you’re wearing close fitting metal plated armor. To put it as concisely as we can, Hasbro has designed a masterful action figure here. Shae Vizla is a gorgeously sculpted action figure from head to toe and she will no doubt continually be sought after by many to add to their respective collections. There is reason for this. Hasbro has exceeded expectations on her. More on that in a moment.

Making her very first appearance in the Star Wars universe in the "Deceived" trailer for the upcoming video game, Star Wars: The Old Republic, which was released June 1, 2009, she was a character that didn't speak lines or have too big of a role. Her sheer look and attitude made her popular with fans. Although she shares a similar name to another Mandalorian, Pre Vizsla, there is yet to be any connection made between the two characters and doubt is strong if there ever will be since the "s" is missing from her surname. But Shae Vizla can certainly hold her own based on just how she battles and carries herself in the video game... and just stands around and looks. Even Darth Malgus is impressed by her skill, strength, agility and overall attitude and we know how much those words mean from such a powerful Sith lord as he. In fact, she has about the same attitude as him it seems. In the action figure world, Shae Vizla looks fantastic next to 2012’s TVC Darth Malgus (VC96) figure and it seems they could be equal rivals of each other, despite their opposing statures. Hasbro has shown us in The Vintage Collection with the all-new sculpts that really no expense is spared (there are some exceptions of course – we’re generalizing here) and we think that definitely applies to Shae Vizla. She has a sculpt with so many “individual” armor plates and the finest of details including wires, buttons and functioning gears – all with beautiful paint jobs. And the artful aspect of the action figures is equally matched with its functionality. Shae Vizla comes with 14 points of articulation. A ball-socket head is joined by ball-jointed shoulders, elbows, torso, knees and ankles. The only swivel articulation she comes with is wrists and hips. Obviously many action figure lovers will be counting themselves very fortunate.

The paint job is stunning. Hasbro utilized a full palette of color to decorate Shae Vizla. A picture is worth a thousand words, so check out our photo gallery to see what we mean. The figure is loaded with accessories. She comes with two matching blaster pistols. Unbelievably they have been given a multiple color paint operation. Not only are they the standard silver and black, but baby blue details have been added as well. Her jetpack is removable, as is the tubing that follows around to the front off her and plugs into her chest armor. She also comes with two brilliantly sculpted fireballs that attach very nicely to her gauntlets. The plastic gets very thing at the point of connection and we’d expect gravity to take its toll and force them to bow over time, so don’t permanently leave them in there. Lastly, she comes with an alternate head attachment that sports her very Renaissance-inspired helmet. We think that Hasbro goofed a little bit on the colors chosen to decorate the helmet (as compared to the reference stills) but overall it really looks excellent. She is such a wonderful action figure! We don’t want to come across as negative in a very positive review for an excellent action figure, but we would be remiss by not pointing out that an obscure character like Shae Vizla gets an alternate head sculpt, yet a classic action figure like 2012’s TVC Luke Skywalker (Hoth Outfit) (VC95) (who desperately needs an alternate one) doesn’t get one. Maybe this is a one-time deal for Shae Vizla and Hasbro wanted to make her definitive from the beginning. And they know they can sell Luke in his Hoth clothing multiple, multiple times. We don’t know, but we find it a bit bothersome. Still, it doesn’t affect our affection for Shae Vizla. EU fans: Hasbro was good to you – embrace Shae Vizla. Buy her and enjoy her. She’s a beauty, just like the song by The Tubes.