Is Hasbro Cutting Back On Black Series Articulation?

Eagle eyed fans have already spotted it… the newly revealed Black Series figures of Hera Syndulla and Sabine, as well as Padawan Ahsoka, who is based on her Clone Wars look, have no thigh swivels. Is Hasbro trying to reduce costs by removing articulation, and thus number of parts and assembly costs? Click through for more!

No thigh swivel anymore

On the plus side the lack of a thigh swivel makes for a cleaner look. On the negative side it does of course remove articulation from figures.

Now the question is if this will be the standard moving forward or if it’s just something Hasbro does for figures like Hera and Sabine. Chances are this may be a yet unannounced change to the Black Series in order to reduce production costs. The lack of a thigh swivel will reduce the parts count, will reduce assembly time and thus labor costs required to put the figures together.

Now SH Figuarts Star Wars figures also don’t have thigh swivels for a cleaner look, but the hips on these figures are constructed in a way that you get a lot of range nonetheless and can articulate the legs even in more dynamic poses.

Funny enough with a lack of thigh swivel The Black Series is looking even more like SH Figuarts figures. Who started the photoreal trend for their 1/12 scale figures all those years ago.

But the real motive for Hasbro would of course be purely financial. Chris Cocks still wants Hasbro to achieve a 20+% profit margin. And after raising prices to the absolute limit another way to increase margins is by cutting back on production costs. Black Series figures already almost never receive any weathering or washes. And Hera, like most other more recent Black Series figures has zero paint apps below the waist. So you can’t really cut back on paint apps anymore, so what you can do is remove parts count and assembly costs.

No thigh swivel, minimal paint apps.

The only painted bits are the lapel, rank insignia, logo on the sleeve, belt buckle, blaster and head. A subtle wash to bring out some more of the details in the trousers is missing. Which is of course standard for virtually all Black Series figures. Almost no figure ever receives a wash or weathering.

Is it a big deal to you if Hasbro should remove thigh swivels from the Black Series altogether going forward? Or don’t you mind?

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