Commander Pyre - TBS [P3] - Six Inch Figures (Exclusive)

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

You have to wonder why Hasbro thinks releasing and re-releasing The First Order members are good ideas for The Black Series 6" line. Are they a glutton for punishment? Do they want their retail partners to hate them forever? We're not sure. But we know most of us are sick to death of seeing the Disney machine takeover at retail. At least a character like Commander Pyre sources to something newer and fresher like Star Wars: Resistance. It's not like the animated series was a hit. It wasn't, but many Star Wars fans are so over the Disney Trilogy, and if we have to see characters based on it, at least they're outside of the three films directly. Commander Pyre made its debut in the Disney Parks exclusive The First Order multipack under The Black Series [Phase III] banner. It's released singly but still part of the Galaxy's Edge Trading Outpost collection, currently exclusive to TARGET. Hasbro is releasing a ton of action figures in this special packaging to keep the relationship with Disney going.

In case you don't recall, Commander Pyre is a rework of 2015's TBS [P3] First Order Stormtrooper (04) figure. So, there is nothing too special about Commander Pyre, aside from its paint job. The figure comes with a black pauldron, and it's repainted in gold and black to match the animated Commander Pyre character from Star Wars: Resistance. The figure is dull at best. It reminds us of a gold Captain Phasma figure. Commander Pyre may not have the notoriety of the Captain Phasma (06) figure, but this gold (and male) version is another decent, albeit simple, release in the 6" scale. The figure has all of the First Order bells and whistles you could hope for here. Both the blaster rifle and blaster pistol can plug into the figure's right thigh armor. And the figure has a wealth of articulation and can attain a wealth of poses for your battles and displays. Commander Pyre also comes with a black pauldron. It's a separately sculpted piece, but it's nearly impossible to remove because the head sculpt is practically cemented to the figure's head joint.

Many complain that figures like Captain Phasma and Commander Pyre should come vacuum metalized. We don't necessarily disagree. It is still a terrible shame that Hasbro picks and chooses which lines get vac-metallization treatment and which ones don't. Unfortunately for Star Wars fans, none of the figures in this collection get that upgraded finish. Despite this, the gold paint used for Commander Pyre is very, very nice. We think it has a more realistic gold coat than the one they gave C-3PO (the Walgreens exclusive). As we've mentioned, Commander Pyre is based on one of Hasbro's earliest 6" figures, the First Order Stormtrooper. And the pauldron comes from the First Order Stormtrooper Officer part of the Amazon exclusive four-pack. Hasbro combined the elements and recolored the sculpt to bring us Commander Pyre. It's not a figure that will excite you. We're also not sure if Hasbro needed to re-release it singly for TARGET either. But it will probably do well since all the 6" stuff does.