DJ (Canto Bight) - TBS [P3] - Six Inch Figures (57)

A thief whose tattered, threadbare clothes and lackadaisical attitude conceal a sharp mind and expert codebreaking skills, DJ believes there's no difference between sides in this new galactic war.

Forget for a minute that you didn’t like anything about the Canto Bight sequence from Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi. It doesn’t matter when discussing DJ (Canto Bight) from The Black Series [Phase III] 6” line. Hasbro has come remarkably far in this scale. The introduction of “photorealistic” technology is a blessing to the long-awaited improvements we’ve been pining for from this Star Wars toy manufacturer. The Black Series 6” line has entered a new era in more than just a couple of ways. These 6” figures are now in competition with higher-end Japanese collectibles. This doesn’t mean that you can fairly compare high-end collectibles to toys. We’re aware that it is an apples to oranges situation. But hopefully, the takeaway here is that Hasbro’s deco enhancement for their 6” figures has taken the line so much closer to high-end Japanese figures that competition exists now. (It wasn’t even close before this.) We’re not here to criticize any licensee here. Yes, we’ve criticized a lot of things in the past, but this is a time to rejoice because the 6” line is finally starting to look like the way it had always been intended. DJ (Canto Bight) may not be an engaging character at all, but his action figure is brilliant. He serves as a testament to just how far Hasbro can take this line in the future. And for that we’re excited.

For years we have proclaimed that the sculpts of The Black Series 6” line have been excellent. This has been proven by the many talented customizers out there who have taken the older 6” figures and repainted them to high artistic standards. Once updated, collectors were stunned by the final results. The figures looked EXACTLY like their onscreen counterparts. It was also bittersweet. Why wasn’t Hasbro doing all they could years ago to bring technology to the line that would at the very least imitate what a hand-painted artist could do. Keep in mind that all of the issues of the 6” figures were concentrated in the portrait. This makes complete sense of course. A face on a head sculpt is solely responsible for making a character look the way he, she or it should. So it’s great to see them focus on getting that portrait decorated appropriately. The great news is that this new technology seems to have perfectly remedied things right out of the gate. You know how awesome Rey (Island Journey) turned out. DJ (Canto Bight) may have turned out even better. Sure, there are some discrepancies in the color of his facial hair. And his coat shell may inhibit his movement, but dang. This action figure looks exactly like Benicio del Toro. The eyes are dead ringers for the actor, and the excellent tooling is only enhanced by the perfectly applied “photorealistic” paint operations.

We would have loved to see a removable cap employed here. But with the way his cap sits on his hair, an alternate head sculpt would have been required here instead. The previously mentioned coat shell is removable, but the figure looks silly without it on his body. This is typical of shell accessories. It’s rare when it does work out when they’re removed. DJ (Canto Bight) also comes with a blaster rifle and a blaster pistol. The blaster pistol can be stowed in the holster inside the right side of his trench coat. The blaster rifle, however, has no place to be stored but can be held fairly well with both hands. The accessories are nicely tooled and painted and pretty standard for a 6” figure from The Black Series line. The rest of the figure is beautifully painted too. His trench coat has complex colors and patterns. Hasbro did a great job ensuring the colors don’t run together and are crisply applied. Like all of the 6” figures Hasbro produces, DJ (Canto Bight) comes with the standard articulation system. He is blessed with 28 total points of articulation across 17 areas on the figure. The figure moves quite well, but keep in mind that the figure’s movement is encumbered by the long trench coat. Action poses aren’t impossible to achieve, but it does take some time to make them stick. Overall, we’re quite pleased with DJ (Canto Bight). He may not be our most desired figure for The Black Series [Phase III] 6” line, but he has been done very well.