Moloch - TBS [P3] - Six Inch Figures (Exclusive)

Moloch wallows in authority over the lesser thieves of his gang. Like all White Worms, Moloch is very sensitive to natural light and must wear special gear when outside his dank lair.

Interesting. Moloch is a pretty cool alien character from Solo: A Star Wars Story. But does that make him a wise retailer exclusive in The Black Series [Phase III] 6” line? We’re not so sure about the latter. Despite Moloch’s beautiful design, chunky size and unique look, he has “wait for clearance” written all over him. The figure looks fantastic, but that may not be enough to save him from becoming clearance fodder. No one can deny that Moloch is an expensive figure. At $29.99, we’re not getting “that much more” of a figure to warrant a $10 price hike. And the lack of articulation given to Moloch only reinforces the fact that Hasbro is banking that the figure’s larger stature will make the expensive MSRP more palatable. We believe it’s going to backfire. Big time. Moloch doesn’t have the regard of the Gamorrean Guard. Moloch isn’t an Original Trilogy character (despite Solo’s story hanging close to the Original Trilogy era), and that is a huge selling point that helps make a figure a success as a retailer exclusive. Moloch is a risk. And there is nothing wrong with that. But when the figure retails for $10 more than other exclusives that don’t sell out at full price, you have to wonder what Hasbro and TARGET are thinking. Hopefully, we’ll be proven wrong, and Moloch will be a roaring success. We’re not hopeful about that, however.

Another thing going against Moloch is the figure’s articulation system. He comes with minimal articulation. We understand why he only comes with 14 total points of articulation, but that doesn’t help with the selling points. Moloch has a complicated head design. His face swivels around in both directions (left and right). And then the bottom portion of his helmet is attached but has movement so you can affix the mask portion when applying it to the figure. The detail on Moloch’s face is entirely impressive. Hasbro sculpted the likeness of the character beautifully. But even beyond the likeness, the outfit is stunningly imitated as well. Hasbro tooled a robe shell which is removable. Like all figures with shells, they never look right when removed, but the option exists. The detail in Moloch’s outfit is gorgeous. One thing we can never fault Hasbro o is how much detail they work into their action figures. They gave Moloch a wealth of detail that the figure probably didn’t deserve. But Hasbro held nothing back. You can pull up the skirt portion of the figure’ outfit to inspect what’s underneath of the figure. Moloch has a worm-like body, and Hasbro cast this part of the figure from a material that has more elasticity. Whether the material is different or not is unknown, but it feels unique to the material used for the rest of the figure. It’s a shame that the “worm” part of the body has no additional articulation.

Moloch is lightly accessorized, but that shouldn’t be a surprise. He comes with a blaster pistol. You can house the weapon is the holster hanging from his chest when not in use. It fits perfectly inside. Hasbro also tooled his right hand to accommodate the weapon when you want him to fire it. It fits like a glove. In addition to the removable mask, robe shell, and blaster, Moloch also comes with his signature staff. It feels like it’s too short for him, but Hasbro designed it nicely, and it interacts with Moloch as needed. In all honesty, The Black Series [Phase III] 6” Moloch doesn’t differ all that much from the approach of 2018’s SW [S] Moloch Force Link 2.0 figure. They’re both solid chunks of plastic with minimal articulation and a modest amount of accessories. The biggest difference aside from their size is their MSRP. And you’re going to pay a whole heck of a lot more for the 6” version than you will for the 3.7” 5POA version. Still, the character is an interesting one, and to date, all action figure versions of Moloch turned out beautifully. With the poor performance of Solo: A Star Wars Story at the box office, we hope that there are enough interested people to make Moloch a success for TARGET. We don’t want to see anymore failure in the Star Wars arena. Hopefully, a positive change in on the way for Disney Star Wars, and those who feel alienated will feel welcomed back into the fold. More people engaged means better success for retailer exclusives like this.