Your Action Figure Of The Year

It’s that time of the year again to look back and to reminisce. So it’s a good opportunity to talk about your favorite action figure of the year! The rules are very simple: name your favorite Star Wars action of the year you bought in 2023 and it would be ideal if you did not name some vinyl cape Jawa you bought on ebay for 10,000,000,0000 quatloos (congratulations though), but a figure that was actually released in 2023 or at least in this decade. Anything goes. SH Figuarts, Hot Toys, Black Series, Vintage Collection, Mission Fleet, Funko Pop – whatever you like best. Feel free to also name your most favorite non Star Wars action figure you bought this year in addition to your favorite Star Wars figure, because most here certainly collect more than just one thing. I will tell you my picks after the jump!

Bruce Lee’s goddaughter who is also an accomplished martial artist as a Star Wars action figure. Will she get at least one vote? 

Picking one favorite figure is never all that easy, but right now this is my favorite Star Wars action figure of the year – The Black Series Hera Syndulla (Ahsoka)!

The front view

I chose her because a) I have always liked Mary Elizabeth Winstead ever since I first noticed her in the superhero movie Sky High (she was the villain actually) and now I have an action figure of her b) Hera is one of the few Star Wars characters with an outfit that has some actual color, I love the orange pants and c) Hera’s backside just looks lovely, call me superficial! But the sculptor really put a lot of effort into recreating Hera’s backside and making it look good too, apparently even the Ahsoka directors and camerateam knew about Mary’s asset and made sure to feature a view of her backside in each episode she appeared in. Even Hot Toys is in on it and announced their Hera figure will get a “special body” to truly represent her “physique”. So Hera it is!

Of course Hera is not perfect, like virtually all Black Series figures she would be in need of some dry brushing or a wash, but other than that the sculpt is beautiful, likeness looks very good and at least on my sample the paint apps are all applied perfectly. And Hera is an all new figure. Mara Jade would have been another pick, I really like that figure, but as much as I love the figure, especially the face sculpt deserves praise, Mara is mostly reuse with just some new parts thrown in and I wanted to have a mostly all new figure as my personal number 1 of 2023.

My favorite non Star Wars figure is one I bought early in 2023, but which is not from 2023 (yes, I break my own rules, I am terrible, I know). It’s Ch’en made by Figma, she’s figure no. 525 in the line and she’s from a mobile video game called “Arknights”. I know nothing about the game, I don’t even know who exactly Ch’en is, other than that she’s a playable hero character in the game. I bought her because I like the overall look of the figure. Ch’en is a humanoid dragon girl, therefore the horns on her head and the long tail, she comes with various face plates, a ton of extra hands for all purposes and she carries two big swords on her back. She is just a fun figure. While some Figma action figures require a stand Ch’en can be posed without one, even though she has tiny feet. I buy the occasional Figma figure when I am just tired of the same old Star Wars stuff.

Some cultures do not consider blue hair to be a bad thing

But now it’s your turn! What is your favorite Star Wars and non Star Wars figure of 2023? Feel free to post your reasons for picking your figures! Photos are welcome too!

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