Finn (FN-2187) - TFA - Armor Up (Desert)

After his first taste of combat during a brutal First Order night assault on a Jakku village, Stormtrooper FN-2187 defects from Kylo Ren's forces, becoming a fugitive.

Would you be unforgiving if we expressed that there is an inordinate of charm with the Finn (FN-2187) Armor Up figure? Keeping in mind that we’re totally pro super-articulation and wish that simply articulated action figures weren’t the norm now, we have to admit that we instantly liked this latest addition to the controversial Armor Up line. Looking back, we’re surprised that this version of Finn wasn’t one of the first released at the launch of The Force Awakens toy line. Finn (FN-2187) was seen in the very first Star Wars trailer, so why did it take a quarter of a year before we started seeing him in the toy line? Perhaps it’s moot to even consider something so rhetorical, but we do often question the many perplexing decisions Hasbro has made with this new line look. In particular, many collectors have angrily questioned the price point and the overall necessity for the Armor Up toy line. Hasbro has basically described this line as having a “toyetic” component to it. For adult collectors, this simply means the line isn’t for you. That’s alright though, because most of the characters released in this line are available in other formats, most notably the Build A Weapon line.

With the Finn (FN-2187) Armor Up figure, Hasbro has taken a little bit of an aggressive approach with this figure. Instead of just including the figure, an obligatory accessory and an Armor Up costume, Hasbro really put some thought into this figures construction and it has some unique “dress up” capabilities to it that are completely unexpected. For example, both the chest/torso armor and the helmet are completely removable and separately sculpted pieces. Now, the helmet is extremely exaggerated in appearance to mesh flawlessly with the Armor Up accessory. But we’d be lying if we said it didn’t look pretty darn cool. Think 2010’s LC Spacetrooper (BD58) figure. That’s the character that came to mind when we saw what the inauthentic stormtrooper helmet looks like on Finn (FN-2187). At worst, you can “pretend” it is another type of stormtrooper stationed somewhere off-screen within the First Order. In short, this figure has significantly more play value than we ever expected. We’d be surprised if this figure doesn’t pique the interest of “more serious” collectors who typically complain about such nonsense as this generally speaking. You can also partially recreate the scene when Finn (FN-2187) is stripping off his armor while walking across Jakku’s hot desert.

But the fun doesn’t stop there. Even his included Armor Up costume is neat. We suppose it’s supposed to imitate some type of fancy sandtrooper gear, but there is a makeshift cannon attached to his left shoulder and it looks like a great deal of fun. You have to remove Finn (FN-2187)’s torso armor if you want a close fit with the Armor Up piece, but the you have an option of placing the helmet on his head, or just leaving it off with the Armor Up piece.... the choice is yours. Also included is a First Order blaster. Just like the regular First Order Stormtrooper figures in the line, a slot has been tooled into the figure’s right thigh armor so the gun can be holstered there when not in use. As you can clearly see, you get a great deal of plastic here which makes the value effortlessly more acceptable. It appears to us as Hasbro has listened carefully to the complaints and are now considering adding more pieces to the figures in the Armor Up sub-line. And that would be wise of them to do this. The Finn (FN-2187) Armor Up figure is a whole lot of fun. We think it may ultimately be a little more exciting than the Build A Weapon version because of the removable armor. And the great news is that he doesn’t look bulky. This is truly a well made “budget” toy.