'Star Wars' Collectibles & Toys Review: Hasbro Star Wars: The Black Series Jannah

-
Jannah, a former First Order stormtrooper, is Hasbro's 98th Star Wars: The Black Series six-inch scale action figure. Photo Credit: Hasbro, Inc. © 2019 Hasbro and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL)


On December 20, 2019, Walt Disney Motion Pictures Studio released Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (aka Star Wars - Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker), the ninth and final film of the Skywalker, in North American theaters. Co-written by Chris Terrio and J.J. Abrams and directed by the latter, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker grossed over $1.074 billion worldwide and was nominated for three Academy Awards (Best Original Score, Best Sound Editing, and Best Visual Effects).

But even before the film premiered, Hasbro had already released a wave of action figures, vehicles, and other toys and collectibles based on The Rise of Skywalker. These included the 23rd wave of Star Wars: The Black Series six-inch scale action figures, which consists of:


Based on the character introduced in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, this figure comes with an arsenal of weapons that have been customized by the former First Order stormtrooper for use against her former oppressors. Photo Credit: Hasbro, Inc. © 2019 Hasbro and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL)



From an oceanic moon, Jannah leads a band of warriors, ready to charge against the forces of the First Order!  - Packaging blurb, Hasbro Star Wars: The Black Series Jannah

Because Janna and the other figures based on characters from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker were released several weeks before the film hit theaters, the figure's short character description was deliberately kept vague. The "blurb" on the red-and-black box omits (by design) some key facts that were revealed in the film. 

For instance, the "oceanic moon" mentioned by Hasbro's copywriters is none other than Kef Bir, another moon in the Endor system. If the name "Endor" rings a bell, that's because it's the same planetary system where the Empire built the second Death Star (in orbit around the Sanctuary Moon, which is in a different orbital location in the Endor system). 

It is on Kef Bir that huge pieces of the aforementioned Death Star II fell after its destruction at the Battle of Endor, and it is there that Jannah leads a band of First Order stormtroopers (of which she is one) that mutinied en masse rather than obey orders to kill innocent civilians. 

And although the film version of The Rise of Skywalker only hints at this, Jannah might be General Lando Calrissian's long-lost daughter, who was kidnapped as a child by the evil First Order and conscripted at an early age as a stormtrooper. 

The Figure


Kids and collectors alike can imagine the biggest battles and missions in the Star Wars saga with figures from Star Wars The Black Series! With exquisite features and decoration, this series embodies the quality and realism that Star Wars devotees love. Star Wars The Black Series includes figures, vehicles, and roleplay items from the 40-plus-year legacy of the Star Wars Galaxy, including comics, movies, and animated series. ﹘  Hasbro Pulse Jannah product page

The two-page entry "spread about Jannah in Pablo Hidalgo's Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Visual Dictionary. © 2019 Dorling Kinderseley Limited and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL)


Hasbro's team of designers, sculptors, and painters based the Star Wars: The Black Series' 98th figure on the character played by Naomi Ackie in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.  Like many other figures in the Star Wars: The Black Series product line, Jannah has been lavished with picture-perfect detail that gives her six-inch scale what Hasbro's publicists call "the quality and realism that Star Wars devotees love."

Except for the necessary multiple points of articulation that the figure needs for life-like poses that aren't as "toy-like stiff" as Kenner's original "micro-action figures" from the late 1970s, Jannah could be considered more of a collector's item than a toy for children aged 4 and up. The figure's facial features closely resemble those of British actor Ackie, and Hasbro includes an arsenal of customized weapons and other accessories that are suitable for kids' "pretend adventures" or adult collectors' Star Wars- themed dioramas or display shelves. 

In the red-and-black package, you will find:

  • Jannah action figure
  • Bow
  • Quiver
  • Single arrow
  • Arrow bundle
  • Blaster pistol
The figure is attired in the practical and improvised outfit customized by Jannah on Kef Bir in order to live on that environmentally-disturbed moon, which is still recovering from the impact of pieces of the Empire's destroyed Death Star II three decades prior to the events of The Rise of Skywalker. The colors of Jannah's outfit - which includes bits and pieces of her First Order army gear - are about as accurate as Hasbro's Star Wars figure makers can make them. 

  • Fans and collectors can imagine scenes from the Star Wars Galaxy with this premium Jannah toy, inspired by the Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker movie
  • This Star Wars The Black Series action figure comes with 5 Jannah-inspired accessories that make a great addition to any Star Wars collection
  • Star Wars fans and collectors can display this highly poseable (4 fully articulated limbs) figure, featuring premium deco, in their action figure and vehicle collection ﹘  Hasbro Pulse Jannah product page

My Take

I don't have a lot of room in which to display (much less store) my Star Wars collection. Nor am I swimming in cash from royalties from my two self-published books on Amazon. As a result, I have to be selective in my Star Wars-related purchases. Every time a new Star Wars film (or even a TV show) is rolled out, I have to be particular about what action figures or vehicles I add to my collection.

What I love about this (other than the fact that it was given to me by someone I care about) is that Hasbro replicated the look of the original packaging of the Kenner Toys' Star Wars line from the 1970s. down to the retro logos. Photo Credit: Hasbro Pulse. © 2019 Hasbro and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL) 


Thus far, I have not bought more than a handful of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker collectibles. 
The largest (and priciest) item I've acquired is the Star Wars Vintage Collection: Poe Dameron's X-Wing Fighter, which I received as part of my birthday gift during a trip to Disney Hollywood Studios two weeks ago. 

I also have a handful of Star Wars: The Black Series figures from the Skywalker Saga's final episode, including Supreme Leader Kylo Ren, Sith Jet Trooper, Rey & D-O, and of course, Jannah. 

As I remarked earlier, I think Hasbro does a good job of rendering characters from the various parts that together form the Star Wars franchise. The company clearly uses state-of-the-art tools and techniques that are light-years ahead of its former competitor and, after 1995, wholly-owned subsidiary Kenner when it owned the license to make Star Wars toys, games, and other merchandise in the 1970s and '80s. 

Consequently, aside from the articulation points that give the figure a hard-to-miss toy-like look, Jannah is a remarkably life-like rendition of the young First Order who may (or may not) be Lando Calrissian's long-lost daughter. I love the attention to detail that Hasbro lavishes to its Star Wars: The Black Series figures, especially the larger six-inch-scale ones that were introduced nearly six years ago in advance of Lucasfilm's Star Wars: The Force Awakens. 


I heartily recommend this Hasbro Star Wars: The Black Series figure of Jannah to collectors ages 10 and up. Hasbro, of course, puts a lower age range (ages 4 and up), but I do not think that most kids under the age of 10 appreciate the coolness of this Star Wars collectible or the fine nuances of the art of collecting itself.  

Sure, the figures are sold and marketed as toys, but even so, Hasbro's targeted consumer base is the adult collector. In any event, I do caution parents to not get Jannah for kids younger than four, as the figure's small accessories can be a choking hazard.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How many movies have been made based on Stephen King's 'It'?

-
Image
How many movies have been made based on Stephen King's It ? It  has been adapted twice for filmed audio-visual media. The first filmed version of  It was a TV limited series; the second was a duology of theatrically-released movies.  The first adaptation of Stephen King’s 1986 doorstop of a novel was a 1990 adaptation made as a two-part ABC miniseries for television. Among the cast members: Tim Reid, Harry Anderson, Annette O’Toole, John Ritter, and Richard Thomas. The miniseries also featured Tim Curry as the evil Pennywise the Clown. Adapted for television by director Tommy Lee Wallace and Lawrence D. Cohen (who also adapted King’s  Carrie  for director Brian De Palma in 1976),  It  was okay but a watered-down take on the scary novel about a group of friends who must face off against a monstrous entity known as “It” twice. Once as kids in 1960, then again as adults in 1990. (Like  11,22.63,  the TV version of It avoids the year 1958, which is where parts of  11/22/63 
Read more

Talking About Tom Clancy's 'Ryanverse': Was Jack Ryan a Republican or a Democrat?

-
Image
Harrison Ford starred in two Jack Ryan films. © 1992 Paramount Pictures On Quora, member Maya Lachman asks: Was Jack Ryan a Republican or a Democrat? My reply: If you’re talking about Tom Clancy’s iconic character John Patrick Ryan, Sr., he is depicted in the novels as being Republican, especially in most of the books that follow 1991’s  The Sum of All Fears. In the early Jack Ryan novels ( The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games, The Cardinal of the Cardinal, Clear and Present Danger,  and  The Sum of All Fears ), Ryan works his way up the ranks in the Central Intelligence Agency, starting out as a recently-recruited analyst and rising all the way to Deputy Director (Intelligence), or DDI. During his time at CIA, Ryan doesn’t have much to say about politics (except in the context of U.S.-Soviet relations, in which case he is obviously a Cold War Republican), but his pre-CIA resume includes a stint as a Marine Corps lieutenant, a successful stockbroker who, despite
Read more

Movie Review: 'PT-109'

-
Image
In June of 1963, five months before the assassination of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Warner Bros. released director Leslie Martinson’s  PT-109 , an adaptation of Robert J. Donovan’s non-fiction book  PT-109: John F. Kennedy in World War II.   Starring Cliff Robertson ( Charly, Spider-Man ) as Navy Lieutenant (junior grade) John F. Kennedy and co-starring Ty Hardin, James Gregory, Robert Culp, Robert Blake, Norman Fell and even an uncredited George Takei (Hikaru Sulu of  Star Trek: The Original Series ), the film is a fairly accurate depiction of JFK’s naval service in the South Pacific as the commander of a motor torpedo boat given the Navy pennant number PT-109 (the PT standing for the Navy ship designator “Patrol Torpedo”).  Although Hollywood had made movies in which former Presidents (either living or dead) were depicted, producer Bryan Foy, under the direct guidance of Warner Bros.' head of production Jack Warner (who, in turn, was influenced by Joseph P. Kennedy, a f
Read more