Kylo Ren - TVC - Basic (VC117)

Celebrate the legacy of Star Wars, the action-and-adventure-packed space saga from a galaxy far, far away, with this collection of premium, highly-detailed 3.75-inch scale figures and vehicles. (Each sold separately. Subject to availability.)

One of the better looking figures from wave 17 of The Vintage Collection is Kylo Ren. The figure was an instant hit when it graced store shelves in the fall of 2015 in red and black The Black Series [Phase III] boxes. But he looks infinitely better in Kenner-inspired The Vintage Collection packaging. Hasbro took cues from how Darth Vader appeared in The Vintage Collection with a bright yellow name pill and figure backer, and it works well for Kylo Ren too. Aside from much too wide blisters and a decreased footprint of the reference image of the character, the revived The Vintage Collection is off to a cautious start, and collectors are already worried about its success for the future. We feel strongly that the best is yet to come. And those who dislike the Sequel Trilogy have stated they're tempted to get these repacked figures. The reason is these figures not only capture the way they should have been released originally in 2015, they continue a line of action figures that was in hibernation for over half a decade now. Kylo Ren isn't a perfect action figure by any means, but he has beautiful tooling, premium soft-goods and an articulation system that makes articulation "junkies" very satisfied consumers. For us, the biggest issue with Kylo Ren is his head sculpt. Don't get us wrong; it's beautiful. But its design completely encumbers movement and will pop up if you forcibly turn his head. We would have loved to have seen Hasbro go with a multilayer approach here so that head movement was possible. Kylo Ren looks great; he just isn't as functional as we'd hoped.

We stated day one that the Walmart exclusive The Black Series [Phase III] 3.75" action figure line wouldn't prosper. It didn't meet expectation and would you believe to this day some collectors have never seen them at brick and mortar. That is some terrible distribution. Walmart mishandled the line, and we will always strongly feel that they should receive any Star Wars exclusives at all. Their stores are completely unorganized, and products never arrive or are stuck in the stock room never to be found again. Originally, Kylo Ren was part of the second wave of Walmart exclusive figures. He is a smart choice for an action figure and those that found him purchased him. It's common knowledge that similar digital files are utilized to bring various figures across various scaled and formats. It's evident that Kylo Ren has been inspired from The Black Series [Phase III] 6" Kylo Ren (03) figure. We feel this way because it comes with premium and quality articulation, an amazing sculpt, and attention to detail that showcases what Hasbro is truly capable of when super-articulated action figures are the focus. With enhanced articulation and a stunning sculpt, Kylo Ren may be as pursued by current collectors as he was when he was in a red and black box for the Walmart exclusive 3.75" line. Some paint operations look slightly different, but for the most part, this Kylo Ren can easily be considered a straight repack. Some may fault the figure for a poor range of motion in the head sculpt, or the lack of an interchangeable head without the hood, but we will come to Hasbro's defense and express that this figure looks great as is.

Kylo Ren comes with 27 points of articulation. With a ball-jointed torso and ball-jointed hips, you know that Hasbro pulled out all the stops to allow this figure the most amount of movement as possible. Although not all of the range of motion is ideal in the figure's joints, other parts of the figure contain wonderful articulation and allow you to pose the figure as you desire. There is a definite balance here. This action figure is astounding in so many ways. We're truly impressed with the use of soft-goods here. Hasbro gave the figure an outer skirt made from a similar fabric that was given to 2015's TBS [P3] Kylo Ren (03) figure. This fabric has a wonderful drape and hangs nicely on the 3.75" version. But underneath of the soft-goods material is a molded skirt which helps keep the integrity of the soft-goods pure and in alignment with the rest of the action figure. Think of it as the "hoop" in a hoop skirt for example. Even though we would have loved different approach for the head sculpt, we absolutely adore the final portrait chosen for this action figure. Kylo Ren looks superb. The figure comes lightly accessorized, but we appreciate the fine details of them. He comes with both an unlit lightsaber hilt as well as a fully lit lightsaber. A nice surprise added here to this figure is that the hilt can attach itself to a hole on the right side of the figure's belt. Between the perfect integration of mixed media materials, to a lovely and accurate sculpt, Kylo Ren, is a picture perfect example of what a quality action figure should look like in The Vintage Collection.