Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back. Three rotten prequel movies, and a uninspiring CGI spin-off show put paid to my Star Wars fandom, and then JJ Abrams had to go try and make a good one. What can I say? You put sweeping shots of X-Wings and a chromed stormtrooper in your trailer, I'll go see it. So, I'm passing a Disney store and see all the new Force Awakens toys on display, and I grab the last Phasma Pop Vinyl there.
Pop Vinyls, for all their ubiquity, have a love or hate it aesthetic. You're either into the whole, small body, massive head with circular, black eyes, design or you're not. Personally, I find the Pop Vinyl design quite appealing. Sometimes the Pop look doesn't work for certain characters (because Funko seem intent on making everything a Pop Vinyl), for Phasma it works a treat. A stormtrooper with an oversized helmet just works. There's a good amount of sculpted detail, such as the panel lines on her armour, the cape that hangs off her shoulder (I guess when you move up the ranks in the Empire/First Order, you get an extra layer to stay warm), the ammo packs, and especially the mesh that goes across the mouth (I guess) of the helmet. Nothing exemplary, but it's a nice bit of detail to include.
As is the case with Pop Vinyls, the paint job can be hit and miss. As is the case with all Pop Vinyls, so do check the figure as much as you can before you buy it. The armour is decked out in a pretty nice silver, but has been painted on a bit to thickly in places and there's a silver stain on the cape. Also, a lot of the areas that are painted black have noticeable gaps where the paint didn't quite reach. As if the painter was a bit afraid to get too close to the edges. But nothing a bit of matt black (Tamiya flat black in my case) wont fix. Also, the hem of the cape is a bit thin in places, so a but of matt red might be in order- I'll update on what paint I used if I manage a good fix.
Pop Vinyls only have one point of articulation, at the neck, except when it's one of the bobble-heads, which this is, so I guess you could say (if you really stretch the term, articulation) that she can jiggle her head about.
Something else to point out- seeing as Captain Phasma's actor, Gwendoline Christie, is know for her tall stature- is that the figure is a bit taller than other male Pop Vinyls, even when she's not on her stand. In part because the helmet adds to her height, but also because her armour hasn't been shrunken down, so the figure reflects the size of the film counterpart. Even eye to eye with Frank Castle, she's still taller.
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| A shade taller than the widow's peak |
Phasma is definitely one of the better Pop Vinyls in the Force Awakens line (good luck trying to find BB-8 on the shelves), she cuts a fine figure of...a figure, has a strong design- that screams "custom paint job"- so here's hoping Funk do a chomed variant. It even has a cardboard insert of the First Order flag in box, so you have a little display option, if you want. Absolutely get this.
Company: Funko
Price paid: £9.95
Bought from: The Disney Store
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