Sergeant Jyn Erso (Eadu) - TBS [P3] - Six Inch Figures (Exclusive)

A highly skilled soldier in the Rebel Alliance, Jyn Erso is an impetuous, defiant warrior eager to bring the battle to the Empire. Jyn has little patience for debate within the Alliance High Command, enough so that she takes matters into her own hands.

Well, “Rogue Friday” (we still don’t think this is an official designation by the way) has arrived and collectors of all ages were out and about desperately trying to secure the latest toys and exclusives for the very first Star Wars standalone film: Rogue One. The reports have been mixed, but one thing was consistent. Collectors had a heck of a time locating the store exclusives. And when you’re a shrinking vendor like Kmart, that makes that store’s exclusive even more difficult to find. To much collector chagrin, they’ve been granted exclusive rights to The Black Series [Phase III] Sergeant Jyn Erso (Eadu), a figure that has about as much going for it as it does against it. Thankfully, Kmart made these figures immediately available at their online store and collectors have had success obtaining her through this method. Like similar and recent Kmart Star Wars exclusives, it looks as if Sergeant Jyn Erso (Eadu) will connect to another 6” figure at some point down the line as a base is included showing an environmental portion of what the terrain on Eadu looks like. This of course is pure speculation on our part, but we all know well how Hasbro tends to repeat approaches of their exclusives. That’s not a dig, it’s just an observation. In all honesty however, not much new ground is broken here, save for the character’s unique costume. So you can really just expect “more of the same” here than anything that seems groundbreaking. In short, Sergeant Jyn Erso (Eadu) looks a whole lot better than her basic TBS6 figure release, but the figure has a major issue that we just can’t overlook. Let’s focus on the positives here first however.

As quickly mentioned, Sergeant Jyn Erso (Eadu) looks significantly better than the basic The Black Series [Phase III] 6” figure release (as well as the SDCC exclusive). She doesn’t look like a Disney princess this time around (thank goodness) but is not without fault. Obviously her paint operations aren’t perfect, but most will probably find that they are pretty acceptable. In our opinion, she definitely looks a tad too “girly” (not that there’s anything wrong with that), but when compared to the original release, we believe that you’ll find that the paint operations are definitely tighter. This allows her eyes and expression to look a whole lot less naïve and more like a member of the Rebel Alliance. We still would like to see paint operations that wow us at some point. Maybe this figure shows that we’re making some progress in that area. Most impressively, Sergeant Jyn Erso (Eadu) comes with a wealth of accessories. Because we don’t read spoiler reports or visit sites that reveal plots about unreleased Star Wars films, we’re probably going to describe her accessories poorly, but please work with us. Sergeant Jyn Erso (Eadu) comes with a whopping seven accessories, one of which is a huge environmental display base. This not only shows that Hasbro is full of bologna when they say they can’t cost out multiple accessories with The Black Series figures, it shows us that maybe it’s worth paying $5 more to get a figure loaded with these many extras. (Your opinions may vary on that “outside of the box” thought.)

Included is a collapsed baton that looks just like a lightsaber hilt in all honesty. You also get a removable helmet, a blaster and an E-11 blaster rifle. Her poncho appears to be removable but we didn’t spend much time trying to get it off because it looked like it was going to take time we didn’t have to remove it. She definitely has a strong Princess Leia Organa (In Combat Poncho) appearance about her. For that we have to say that we’re impressed. And lastly, she comes with a yellow breathing apparatus, so we’re assuming that the air climate of Eadu may be harsh in places to need this extra gear. So what about Sergeant Jyn Erso (Eadu)? She’s loaded with accessories. The sculpt is divine. And the paint operations are excellent below the neck and satisfactory above the neck. This should be a slam dunk hit, right? For us, no. We cannot let go of the fact that she has been cast in that weak rubbery plastic that almost looks like it jiggles at the joints because it is so pliable. It also works against her ability to maintain poses that you want to achieve in an action figure that is loaded with this much premium articulation. Part of the problem is how she was posed for the window box. This method has awkwardly “stretched out” her knee joints to the point that they have been worn down without even being articulated. We had difficult utilizing the double hinge-jointed knees in fear that there were going to only get looser with any extra motion. In short, the quality of the plastic to make Sergeant Jyn Erso (Eadu) is a major disappointment. It doesn’t feel as problematic in the upper body, but in our opinion the legs are disastrous. Be prepared for some quality issues, but overall collectors may find this figure isn’t half bad.