Kylo Ren (Throne Room) - TBS [P3] - Six Inch Figures (Exclusive)

After a stinging defeat by the scavenger Rey, Kylo Ren refocuses his efforts on destroying the Resistance. Though his powers in the dark side have increased, Kylo still has much to prove to his shadowy mentor, Supreme Leader Snoke.

A new Star Wars Sequel Trilogy film means multiple new Kylo Ren 6” figures in the next batch of The Black Series [Phase III] case assortments. But it also means that even MORE versions of him are inevitable in the exclusive program too. The new antagonist in the Disney Star Wars episodic films seems to split the fan community right in the middle. As the son of Han Solo and Leia Organa, he is a character that should on paper interest everyone who goes to see Star Wars films, yet he just can’t seem to grasp the attention of everyone. Regardless of how you feel about the character, Hasbro seems to be able to produce decent action figures of him in the line. It just feels like we’re getting too many of them anymore. We have to wonder why there have to be so many different versions of the same character in the same outfit, but with just a few differences. The answer is obvious from the perspective that Hasbro is a company trying to make a profit, but doesn’t the constant reusing of figures just really water-down the line and produce too much of the excess stuff incessantly? Still, when Hasbro adds enough newness to each figure they re-release, it helps to spark interest in figures that many collectors were going to pass on until they figure why the repurchase is necessary. In the case of Kylo Ren (Throne Room), you not only get new accessories, but you also get a three-piece “Throne Room” display base that is attractive to look at and is also functional. What’s more, it interconnects with 2017’s TBS [P3] Supreme Leader Snoke (Throne Room) which is a GameStop exclusive and when you set everything up the dioramic setting is divine. You’re going to get homesick for a similar set up based on Star Wars Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi. Where is Emperor Palpatine’s Throne Room? Sigh.

Kylo Ren (Throne Room) is a retool of 2017's TBS [P3] Kylo Ren (45) figure. This time the torso of the figure has been retooled to accommodate a revised neck peg. The retooled part was necessary to allow interchanging the newly tooled metal helmeted portrait with the human portrait with greater ease. The figure has been given other updates as well. Kylo Ren (Throne Room) has been given a new soft-goods cloak and a newly tooled metal lightsaber hilt. However, no changes have been made to the fully lit lightsaber accessory for this release. His soft-goods cloak is a bit of an enigma. Two pockets in the shoulder area are created when the cloak is inside out. Interestingly, having the cloak backward allows it to cling to the figure’s body much more easily. If you flip it so that the stitching is inside of the figure (the way it’s obviously meant to be), the cloak is very difficult to keep on the figure. It wants to slide off of the figure if you look at it wrong. We’re not sure what Hasbro’s intent was here because it functions better when the stitching is visible (which we’re assuming is incorrect). It’s a bit of a disappointment. Additionally, Kylo Ren (Throne Room) also includes a three-piece Throne Room floor environmental display stand which has been nicely tooled. And as mentioned above, this display piece connects perfectly to the throne included with the 2017 TBS [P3] Supreme Leader Snoke (Throne Room) GameStop exclusive figure. Kylo Ren (Throne Room) has also received some aesthetic changes too, although we want to remain noncommittal on whether they’re improvements or not. His hair is a darker color, but still brown. And his outfit looks to be a shade or two darker in gray color as well. The paint job in his face has much more detail on this exclusive version. His facial scar is bright red, and he has black circles around his eyes.

Kylo Ren comes loaded with articulation just like most of the figures in this line. He comes with 28 points of incredible articulation, and his lower skirt doesn’t inhibit the full movement all that much. He has been engineered well. The details of his ribbed costume are simply stunning. Hasbro spent a great deal of time making sure this ribbed pattern looks right when it folds and creases. Add to that the details of his belt and his boots and you become amazed at just how well this action figure has been made. The head sculpt in particular impresses us. Kylo Ren looks pretty nice. It is still hard for us to determine if the paint job on this version of him is better or worse. His skin tone is etched with incredible detail, so this probably helps make the colorful details of his scarring and battle-damage more pronounced than usual. (The basic version of his is a little more tanned.) The big deal here supposedly is the metal parts (although his Throne Room display stand is pretty cool once you set it up). The interchangeable metal helmeted portrait is very nicely tooled and painted. There is a ton of battle-damage on it, and it’s weighty too. But because of its weight, it doesn’t like to stay in place on the neck peg and always wants to fall. Every time you try to pose him differently with his "metal" helmeted portrait, you’re probably going to have to resituate his head. Otherwise, it's always going to be pointing downwards. The metal hilt is perhaps a more practical accessory. It’s a nicely detailed item too, and it still plugs into the slot on his belt very well, despite having more weight than the plastic accessory. Overall, fans of The Black Series 6” line are going to want to buy this figure for the Throne Room pieces. Check out our gallery and you’ll see how fun it is to set everything up with Supreme Leader Snoke and his Elite Praetorian Guards. For collectors, it really doesn’t get better than this.