Kylo Ren - TBS [P3] - Titanium Series (07)

A dark warrior strong with the Force, Kylo Ren commands First Order missions with a temper as fiery as his uncoventional lightsaber.

In 2017, Hasbro foolishly believed they could appease 3.75” collectors by releasing a series of characters in titanium metal with little to no articulation. Although they failed at retail and went on clearance for pennies on the dollar, Hasbro believed they had lightning in a bottle and decided to release a second wave of Sequel Trilogy characters. As you might imagine, the second wave performed worse. No one wanted to see the return of the Titanium Series figures, especially when Hasbro decided to ignore any new 3.75” super-articulated action figures. Admittedly, Kylo Ren isn’t a terrible release in this format, but did we need to see another 3.75” scaled version of this conflicted leader when the first one didn’t go over so well? Titanium Series 3.75” figure line was an unmitigated disaster from the start. Still, since Hasbro plans things so far in advance, a second wave was already in production before they could pull the plug on the format, not that they would have pulled it. Now we have a badly painted wave of figures based on Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (the 40th anniversary Star Wars celebratory figures for 3.75” collectors) and now a better-looking wave of characters based on Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens.

The Titanium Series 3.75” line to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Star Wars looked terrible. The paint jobs on the faces were some of the worst we’d seen to date in any scale. With misplaced eyeballs, lips, and hairlines, the line didn’t cut it for collectors. Besides, no one wanted another format of action figures to collect. Although we didn’t need a wave of Titanium Series 3.75” figures based on The Force Awakens, especially after the first wave was blown out at rock bottom clearance prices, the new wave looks incredibly better. Hasbro officially confirmed the Titanium Series line at 2017’s New York International Toy Fair, but if you recall, all of the figures were revealed by JTA in a series of teasers and rumor reports months before that. While not ideal, it may not be fair to dismiss the line as an utter and complete waste of time for Star Wars collectors. Now, there are plenty of things that not too many people will be able to overlook, like the lack of articulation and the medium from which they’re produced (metal). But with a weaker wave based on Episode VII, Captain Phasma is the best-looking of the bunch. Kylo Ren is based on the moment when he deflects blaster fire in mid-air while holding his hand in an outstretched manner.

The Titanium Series Kylo Ren might be the best in the line. The figure has an excellent pose, minimal articulation, and complementary accessories that work with the figure wonderfully. All figures in this line come with a display stand, and it features the background from the opening scene in The Force Awakens. The scale is reasonably accurate too. Most importantly, Kylo Ren has an excellent paint job. The head sculpt moves via ball-socket articulation, and the rest of the figure is ball-jointed and swivel articulation. Interestingly, Kylo Ren comes with an interchangeable portrait without the hood, which isn’t standard for this line. Hasbro worked in ball-jointed and swiveled articulation throughout the figure. Kylo Ren comes with two versions of the character’s unconventional lightsaber. One is standard, while the other has a “sweeping” effect to it. Both look great with the figure. The selling point of this line is the display stand, which breaks down into base and backdrop. The backdrop is reversible, and Hasbro has included a background of Tuanul, and then a decorative silver and black artistic interpretation of Kylo Ren is on the reverse side. Admittedly it all looks lovely. The set comes with four removable footpegs. The MSRP is $14.99.