Commander Pyre - SW [R] - Basic

A fearsome First Order stormtrooper officer, Commander Pyre stands out from the legions of identically equipped soldiers with his black-gold armor.

Boy, is it just us, or does it feel like Commander Pyre is a name for clone commander more than a character from the First Order? Fans are likely going to name him Goldmember thanks to his overtly gold metallic armor. The male version of Captain Phasma (you have to wonder why they didn’t utilize Captain Phasma in this show), he’s one of the first figures that make up the Star Wars [Resistance] line which is seemingly off to a great start. We don't know for certain how well the show will do with Star Wars fans and they'll receive it with open arms. And we don't know if there is a solid market for the toy line or not. He’s described at StarWars.com as a tenacious First Order force on a mission to find a pair of refugee children on the Colossus platform. He’s a brutal character on the show already, and it appears that this will be the trait he keeps throughout the series run. The basic figure line’s style is animated just like the show. And from what we can tell thus far, Hasbro’s done a wonderful job creating screen-accurate figures with minimal articulation and minimal accessories. But Hasbro instituted a high level of quality with these characters.

Commander Pyre served in the forces of the First Order during the cold war and worked under the direction of Captain Phasma. He collaborated with Major Vonreg, and they proposed to Captain Phasma that the First Order should work with the latest galaxy of scum and villainy, the pirates. It didn’t go well, and he continued to lead First Order troops against the Resistance. Hasbro’s Commander Pyre figure looks exceptional. They’re avoiding vac-metallization like the plague, but the paints they’re utilizing to make “shiny” characters like Commander Pyre and Captain Phasma shine are the next best thing. Commander Pyre comes with five points of articulation, and these points include a ball-socket head, two swivel shoulders, and two swivel hips. A First Order commander should come with much more articulation than this. How can you have them adequately battle when they move like wooden soldiers? But this is a moot argument and complaint at this point. Hasbro isn’t changing the error of their ways here, and it appears the collecting community has to accept the hand they’ve been dealt.

Commander Pyre is lightly accessorized. He comes with a gold First Order blaster in addition to a black pauldron which looks identical to a sandtrooper corporal’s pauldron by the way. Some have commented it’s a lazily developed character. Changing the color of Captain Phasma from silver to gold isn’t a groundbreaking approach to create a "new" character. But there are plenty of differences that exist between them. And that might be enough to separate him from the character he imitates. Is there much difference between what Disney did for Commander Pyre and what Lucasfilm did for different Clone Troopers or Sandtroopers? Aside from the severe lack of articulation in the Star Wars [Resistance] line is gorgeous at face value. The colors are bright and across the spectrum of light. And they are enough different-looking character which keeps the show interesting and fun for fans of Star Wars. Still, we don’t know how much lifeblood this Hasbro line has because Disney Star Wars is not meeting expectations from a merchandising perspective. But we can’t help but accept that a great line like Star Wars [Resistance] with its strong links to The Clone Wars and Rebels toy line approaches, should gain some momentum with the community.