Star Wars: Finn (The Black Series™ 3.75") Review

Hello, everyone! I got my The Black Series™ Finn in his Jakku outfit last Monday, so today I'll be doing a review for you! Hope you enjoy it - I'll be enjoying telling you all about it!

I'm a little curious about this - when I went to order this figure online, I couldn't help but notice how cheap he was on average in comparison to the rest of the 2015-2016 Black Series releases. The price difference ranged from a couple bucks (e.g. Poe, Han, Luke) to around $15 (e.g. Rey). I was thinking to myself that it might be because there is more of him in stock? But then, I didn't think it was likely they'd produce more of Finn compared to the main character Rey, given his whole secondary nature and the #WheresRey riot from late last year. So I figured it must be because he isn't as popular. This makes me sad - I liked Finn well enough in the movie, but it was John Boyega himself that sold the deal for me. He's so fucking funny, and a real charmer too! And Finn has the added advantage of being the super-cool sidekick to the super-awesome Rey, and what kind of amateur collector would I be if I didn't get a Finn to keep my Rey company?

I ordered this figure from animetropolis for only $20 - that is dirt cheap for a Black Series figure here in Australia, where you pay that kind of money for basic figures sometimes. Apparently, in the US, the Black Series only goes for like 13 USD which is about  17/18 AUD - I've even read about some people complaining about these prices in the States! Please! But anyway, I digress. I think part of the reason the item was so inexpensive was because the seller used a cheaper shipping method - the carrier for the package was called Winit, I think. I was given a tracking number, but it didn't work whenever I searched it up. I ordered the figure on the 7th of September; the seller shipped on the 8th; and I got the figure on the 19th, seven business days after. This is the second time this has occurred with this seller - the earliest I would have been likely to expect it was the 22nd or 23rd - so I'm now firmly believing that the delivery time frame is not just a one-off. I'm really happy with the delivery, and it turns out the tracking number must have been muddled up, because according to the package, it was shipped by the same company that delivered my Rey figure (not Winit). Oh well; I'm not too concerned by this, seeing as I had already received some great service from the seller before.

If you've read any of my previous reviews, you know the drill by now - I make sure to ask the seller to ship the best-looking figure out of their remaining stock. Again, the seller was very willing to oblige this silly request, and again they delivered. I cannot actually point out a single flaw in the paint job for this figure, that's how pleased I am about it. There was a black spot on his face in the box, but it was likely just a plastic scraping or something because it came right off when I rubbed it. I'm really excited to show you all this great figure!

Finn (Jakku)

I usually start this little bit off with why I chose this particular figure. I'd like to think I pretty much covered this above - every Rey needs her Finn, and my little 3.75" Rey is no exception. That and I thought he looked hell cool (even if he did only come with one weapon - I'll be talking about that in a minute). Also, Finn - who doesn't love Finn (aside from antis and racists)? He's the one that keeps TFA from being totally depressing ("I'm in charge now, Phasma!") and adds an entirely new dimension to the series (who would ever think Stormtroopers had mind enough of their own to break an enemy pilot out of interrogation, run away on a stolen TIE fighter and end up saving the fucking Resistance?). I think I've established that Rey is my favourite character, but Finn comes a tie with Kylo Ren (for different reasons, though). He's epic. Added to that, he was really cheap and I wanted to get him to work at completing the Rey/Fin/Poe trio in action figure format.

Due to some odd hip joints, the figure has the occasional difficulty standing. Arranging the legs in a certain way should help with this.

I'm not going to lie; this figure is not perfect. But then, I don't hold that against Hasbro, seeing as the scale is really difficult to work with. What I do hold against them is their cutting back on quality in the basic TFA figure line and not compensating by making the 3.75"  Black Series widely available. Anyway, that's for another time. On with the review!

Articulation: Finn has 14 points of articulation - the head, shoulders, elbows, wrists, waist, hips, knees and ankles. Some of the joints have limited movement; the wrists are ball-jointed but cannot articulate well because of the jacket sleeves, and the ankles cannot either as the pants hinder them. This is not a deal-breaker if you can look past this!

The flaws to watch out for: I think the standard answer by now would be to ALWAYS inspect the paint job because they just aren't consistent between figures. You'll want to watch particularly for the face paint job as well as the red accents on Poe's jacket, because they look as though they could be very inconsistent - the same goes with the little silver accents, though these are much smaller (I can't figure out whether a mess-up here is good or bad; one one hand it's small enough that it shouldn't be too noticeable, but on the other hand there's a large margin for error). I'd watch out for the paint across the hairline as well, because it appears the head has been cast in flesh tone with the hair painted, the reverse of Rey's handling. I feel fortunate, as all the problems I've just described here? I can't find any of them on my figure.

The paint application on the face is really good - it even appears that they've attempted to colour in the eyes.

Weird manufacturing choices: like all of the Black Series figures I have so far, the majority of the figure has been cast in one colour of plastic, with the details painted on. This means the pegs holding joints together are one colour, and this colour often does not match the tone of the corresponding body part. It's barely noticeable, but Finn's wrist joints are the same tan colour as the jacket, while the wrists are skin colour; also, his grey shoes are marred slightly by black joints the same colour as the pants. These are both easily disguised by the folding of the pants and sleeves over the joints, so this is only a minor complaint for those who like to pose their figures in crazy stances. Also, this figure has the same kind of hip joints as Rey - instead of swivelling back and forth like Padme they swing in and out. Like Rey, you can just twist the leg out and the knee back in to pose the figure in a running stance, but it just looks plain awkward. Placing the figure in a sitting stance has the potential to be very difficult, as the joints are initially rather stiff. The jacket is removable, but the sleeves are not, so taking it off will look super weird. The particular thing with this is - despite both elements of the jacket being cast in plastic rather than the colour painted on - the removable part is a slightly darker shade than the sleeves. It isn't incredibly noticeable unless you're doing high-res photography or you're in certain lighting. Because they're quite clearly different types of plastic it is acceptable that the colour wouldn't come up the same, so I think we can let it slide.

While Finn only comes with a single blaster, his range of movement is endless.

Accessories: Finn comes with a single blaster. If I had to make a complaint against this figure, this would be it. Only one accessory? At the very least they could maybe have put BB-8 in with him (seeing as both Rey and Poe come with a decent amount of accessories), but no. Oh well - at least it's better than TFA Leia (which comes with no accessories whatsoever apparently).

Things to love: firstly, the likeness to John Boyega. It's almost perfect! They just did a really awesome job with capturing the character in this figure. The detailing on the face is great, and the hair is adorably curly. Obviously, the articulation is something to love about this figure, not only in terms of how it can move but the level of stability the joints are given; you aren't likely to get loose joints in this figure, so it should hold up to hours of kiddy playtime. The figure is scaled to the correct height ratio, being only a little bit taller than Rey (and a slightly more when placed beside Padme) and the figure interacts well with the other Black Series figures. The design of the clothing is another really big win; the wrinkling of the pants and shirt, as well as the application of sand to the shoes and the bottom of the pants, really gives the impression that Finn has been wandering the deserts of Jakku, which makes this figure a really great piece for scene-specific play. Due to a minimalistic design and a simple but neat paint job, the figure should age really well and be a solid part of your collection for years to come.

Thank you very much for reading, and I hope you've enjoyed this little review!

The Black Series™ 3.75" figure of Finn in his Jakku outfit.