Doctor Aphra Comic Set (Doctor Aphra/BT-1 (Beetee)/0-0-0 (Triple Zero)) - TVC - Special Action Figure Sets

On a mission gone wrong, Doctor Aphra finds herself at the hands of the formidable Sith Lord, Darth Vader. A rare survivor of such meetings, Aphra is recruited by Vader for her skills in reprogramming droids and her apparent lack of remorse for breaking the law to get what she wants. After a brief checkered partnership with Darth Vader, Doctor Aphra escapes from the control of her dark supervisor and his clandestine agenda. Free of her obligations to Vader, Aphra ventures out with her assassin droids, 0-0-0 (Triple Zero) and BT-1 (Beetee), and Wookie bounty hunter Black Krrsantan in search of new opportunities, legal and otherwise. Though unafraid of using whatever means necessary to get what she wants, Doctor Aphra is careful to avoid additional entanglements with Darth Vader, understanding all too well the vast reaches of his unflinching power.

Hasbro promised collectors at Toy Fair that there would indeed be a The Vintage Collection San Diego Comic-Con exclusive. And they came through on their promise with the Special Action Figure Set (Doctor Aphra Comic Set). Is this a sign that the Special Action Figure Set three-packs are officially back, or is this a one-off exclusive release, and we shouldn’t expect anymore going forward? If we’re all honest, the return of The Vintage Collection has been bittersweet thus far. While it’s magical to think that this line is back in production, the products Hasbro are releasing to relaunch the line are leaving collectors feeling cold. Yes, some fantastic new releases are forthcoming. But generally speaking, the volume of new toys to sustain The Vintage Collection isn’t happening. And soon, collectors will lose interest again. Even the Special Action Figure Set (Doctor Aphra Comic Set) has its set of issues. The whole point of this exclusive release is to officially introduce Doctor Aphra, a character from the Disney Star Wars comic series. Hasbro did a great job on her tooling. We know nothing about her, aside from the comments of others. A Fans’ Choice winner, Hasbro has to bring this character to life as an action figure, but it is wise to double-dip and release it first as a convention exclusive? We’re not so sure about that.

The set also includes two other characters which may interest super-articulated collectors more than the focus of this set, Doctor Aphra. Both BT-1 (Beetee) and 0-0-0 (Triple Zero) are both created from older collector-focused sculpts. Still, because Hasbro made the three figures in this set at different points on the Hasbro Star Wars figure timeline, they don’t appear fluid with one another. For example, Doctor Aphra looks like a giant next to the other two droids, especially 0-0-0 (Triple Zero). It’s not that it doesn’t completely work, but it’s still problematic that these figures aren’t in perfect scale with one another. The saving grace here is that all three action figures received stunning paint jobs. We are thoroughly impressed with how great the figures in this set look. As mentioned earlier, Doctor Aphra is an all-new figure. She comes with 29 points of articulation. All of the points work beautifully and allow every positioning you desire. The paint applications are also nice. She has a full arm tattoo, which is cleanly applied. She is also colorful, and all of the details are clean, and no signs of paint bleed are visible. Her orange vest and blaster pistol are her only accessories. We wish Hasbro would have made her cap and goggles removable. We feel that’s a big loss here. But the rest of her is executed perfectly.

BT-1 (Beetee) is a fantastic release and perhaps our most favorite figure in the set. Hasbro tooled a lot of extra accessories for this droid and they interact with the figure amazingly well. Utilizing the original Build A Droid sculpts from 2008’s The Legacy Collection, BT-1 (Beetee) has new parts as well. Hasbro tooled an all-new dome and five all-new accessories to give the droid a realistic transforming feature. Two side panels detach from the dome, and in their place, you can attach a cannon on one side and what we’re calling a light source on the other side. But that’s not all. The removable panels can then be attached to the outside of the cannon and light source attachment to give the illusion that they popped out from the side of the dome. (We don’t know how the droid can stow these huge accessories within its dome, but whatever.) It’s a stunning figure. And although we know nothing about it, it’s a well-done action figure, and we’re glad to have him. 0-0-0 (Triple Zero) is probably the figure that most collectors are excited about here. Admittedly, it too, is well done. It utilizes 2010’s TVC See-Threepio (C-3PO) (VC06) sculpt, given an all-new paint job and it’s still too short for a protocol droid. Sadly, the tooling is weaker now, and the loose parts don’t stay on as well as they should. The Doctor Aphra Comic Set (Doctor Aphra/BT-1 (Beetee)/0-0-0 (Triple Zero)) Special Action Figure Set is nice, but it’s MSRP is dreadful. If you want it, you’ll have to pay $49.99 for it. That’s not nice.