Rey Of Jakku & BB-8 - FOD - Figures & Friends

Rey always stands up for what she believes in, and BB-8 is a fesity, loyal droid. They stick together in their adventures.

If there is one fair criticism about the modern Star Wars brand, it’s that it has a tendency to copycat rather than lead. That in and of itself isn’t a terrible crime, but when it’s easy to call for comparisons with so many new Hasbro toys released, you have to wonder if there is some lack of originality that the toy lines don’t feel as fresh as they could be. With the global marketing genius that Disney is, they’re going to do anything to capture each and every market that exists. That’s just the way things will be from here on out. And when you distill the reasons, it makes total sense from a business perspective. With that being said, let’s face it. Star Wars Bratz were inevitable. That linking is in no way a jab or dig at the Forces Of Destiny line. In fact, Forces Of Destiny’s delivery has exceeded our expectations. Don’t flame us for saying this, but this is unequivocally a young girls’ line. The figures in this line meet all the definitions of that age group: rooted hair, interchangeable clothing, cutesy “animal” accessories and mixed media to give the dolls a life of their own, whether it be soft-goods clothing or molded plastic stylings. Forces Of Destiny captures the best of both worlds and hopefully with a corresponding media event (the Forces Of Destiny shorts on YouTube), the line will blossom into something that parents and children can enjoy today while staying within the boundaries of the Star Wars universe. Eleven inches in scale and full of articulation and fine workmanship, Forces Of Destiny gives us hope that young female Star Wars fans may have a new interest with collecting. It’s definitely here in Forces Of Destiny.

There are three collections within the Forces Of Destiny line. There is the Basic Figure line which retails for $19.99. There is also the Figure & Friends line which pairs a Star Wars character with a “pet” of some sort (another smaller Star Wars character or droid) and these retail for $24.99. Finally, there is a deluxe line called Adventure Figures which are pretty much the same as the Figure & Friends releases but have some other deluxe feature like another outfit and perhaps a larger accessory (it will contain something premium) for a more elevated $34.99 price point. Rey Of Jakku & BB-8 obviously fall into the Figure & Friends assortment. All Forces Of Destiny figures comes with 20 points of articulation. There is premium articulation in the upper body mostly. But you will find other places with ball-jointed articulation like the knees for example. All dolls tend to look like one another, as they all have the caricatured shapes and features that are common with all of them in the animated shorts. At the same time, they are possess uniqueness between each other, even beyond their outfits and accessories. You can “tell” Rey Of Jakku is ‘Rey Of Jakku’. Same for Jyn Erso and Princess Leia Organa. Rey Of Jakku & BB-8 also provides some decent accessories. If you “strip” the doll down completely you will see the boots, vest, belt, lower skirt and arm sleeves are all removable. Some are soft plastic while others are soft-goods. Based on Rey’s “Resistance Base” outfit at the end of The Force Awakens, Hasbro did a great job of translating it into an animated style.

Rey Of Jakku & BB-8 also come with other accessories like weapons. She comes with a lightsaber hilt with removable blade – a great feature for any type of young collector – in addition to a blaster that houses beautifully in her holster (which is part of her removable belt). You can probably consider BB-8 an accessory here, but because this set is part of the Figures & Friends assortment, we have to give BB-8 his separate billing. Similar in size to The Black Series [Phase III] 6” figure, BB-8 is a very simple figure. It comes with a swivel head, but no other articulation. It also stands upright very well thanks to subtle flattened bottom. It may be aesthetically displeasing to the character to do this in an effort to provide balance, but we’d rather have it this way than not for display purposes. For one reason or another, BB-8 feels tremendously dwarfed by Rey Of Jakku. It’s not really a criticism. Perhaps the “Friends” in this line are meant to look smaller than their corresponding leaders. Regardless, BB-8 works well with Rey Of Jakku) and this set is destined to be popular with a new and young group of female collectors. The outfits are sewn with precision and the mix of plastic and soft-goods accessories in this line are seamless in interaction, so we think Hasbro approached this line with great forethought and care. The paint operations only seal the deal here as they look marvelous and have no overspray or errors. We would comment that the rooted hair is a tad sloppy in spots, but overall meets the mark. Rey Of Jakku & BB-8 are fine additions to the Forces Of Destiny line. It will be interesting to see who is next.

Jedi Temple Archives graciously thanks Hasbro and Litzy Public Relations for providing us with this Forces Of Destiny sample for entry into our Research Droids Reviews and Visual Guides.