First Order TIE Fighter Pilot - TBS [P3] - Six Inch Figures (11)

The skilled pilots of the First Order launch into combat aboard advanced fighter craft, hunting down enemy vessels and protecting space around installations and warships.

It has always made sense when the “variant” served as the exclusive or pack-in figure for a bigger and better vehicle, but what happens if the variant makes an appearance at retail before the “general release” version? Perhaps it’s just still part of the unending distribution drama, but wave 3 of The Black Series [Phase III] line arrived about a full month after the Special Forces TIE Fighter did (which included the variant version of the First Order TIE Fighter Pilot). Either way, we’re happy to report the general release version has an edge over the pack-in figure. It feels sturdier, it seems to have much better balance, and the simpler paint operations just make it look cooler. With only two new figures making up the third wave of The Black Series [Phase III] line, these two figures may become hard to find, unless Hasbro continues to bring them forward into the lineup. Why they don’t include at minimum four new figures per wave escapes us, but it seems two new figures just aren’t enough. It seems there are plenty of figures planned for The Black Series [Phase III] line, so they need to pad case assortments a little bit better.

The First Order TIE Fighter is, of course, a beautiful action figure. Aside from having hips slightly too wide, the First Order TIE Fighter Pilot Elite exceeds excellence in the tooling department. The head sculpt in particular is incredible. We’re happy to report this figure doesn’t have the same issue with the feet as the pack-in figure does. They’re flush with the ground and don’t rock the figure back and forth. The front of the boots do not curl upwards, which makes balancing the pack-in figure nearly impossible. The figure has great range of motion, save for his head sculpt. The reason is because his helmet is attached to the hose and the hose is attached to the chest box. You can easily make his head turn to the left, but turning it to the right is very difficult. With a ton of articulation, you can do plenty with this figure where its inhibited movement won’t be too much of a letdown. If you want this figure to crouch, run, leap or just stand straight up and down, you’re going to have little trouble accomplishing these things. We’re quite happy with what this figure offers.

The First Order TIE Fighter Pilot Elite comes with a very cool blaster pistol which fits into his hand quite well. These new First Order weapons are pretty darn beautiful. They’re modern without looking too futuristic in the Star Wars universe. And they’re surprisingly small. Still, we find they’re perfect for the hands of TBS6" figures to hold. The biggest issue with The Black Series [Phase III] line, and all phases before it for that matter, is finding them in stores. Hasbro and retail haven’t reached an acceptable form of communication that keeps a steady flow of product arriving to stores. For us, we feel that new figure waves should arrive to all stores regardless if the store has sold through their current stock or not. Nothing should block the arrival of new action figures. Stores and Hasbro should figure out behind the scenes what to do with peg-warmers. If Hasbro doesn’t forecast the case assortments correctly, then they should be on the hook to credit retail so retail doesn’t bleed out their toy budget. Anyway, we could go on and on about this. You should walk away from this review knowing that the First Order TIE Fighter Pilot is a must-have figure.