Wrapping Up 2020: R5-P8 from Star Wars: The Black Series Phase III by Hasbro

 

   Yes, it's officially 2021 but I've still got a dozen or so figures that I picked up in December or received for Christmas that I need to review so let's get started with wrapping up 2020 by taking a look at R5-P8. R5-P8 is part of the Target exclusive Galaxy's Edge Trading Outpost subset of The Black Series and is intended as the droid companion of Hondo Ohnaka, another figure releases in the Galaxy's Edge subset. I haven't gotten my hands on Hondo yet but I'm about to just bite the bullet and order one because I doubt we'll see him again. Anyways, R5-P8 did appear in a few episodes of The Clone Wars but he's also part of the ride Millennium Falcon: Smuggler's Run, which is what this version of the astromech droid is based on. Let's take a quick look at R5-P8 after the break...

Barbecue's Bonfire 1/1/2021: What a Long, Strange Year it's Been Edition

 

   Happy New Year! Well, 2020 is over and 2021 begins! I've had a week that's been very busy as I've been with my family nearly every minute of the day but also not busy at all since I'm still on Christmas vacation from work until Monday. I've made sure to fill the time with some cool stuff. My daughter got a bunch of Harry Potter Lego sets, so we've been building up a storm. Also, we did Christmas with my wife's family via Zoom on Saturday. Our Christmas felt like it lasted 4 or 5 days! Of course, we've also been checking out lots of cool stuff. What, you might ask? Read on and find out...

 We've been watching through the Star Wars films in a really weird order with my daughter and we finally got around to watching The Empire Strikes Back, which is the greatest Star Wars film of all. It's amazing how good this one is. My daughter asked me what my favorite part was and I told her it's basically from the time the opening crawl starts until the music blares at the end. She said that wasn't specific enough so I decided it's from the moment we first see Vader and Lando in the carbon freezing chamber through Luke's rescue while hanging from the bottom of Cloud City. Better?

   She really loved Yoda in this one! This all started with me wanting to watch Return of the Jedi which she got into, then she wanted to watch ROTS because a friend of ours showed it to his daughter who is now scared of senior citizens because of Palpatine's face getting warped. Then we ended up watching A New Hope, Episode 1, Episode 2, and, finally, ESB. My daughter really liked TFA when it came out but hasn't seen it in a few years so we'll probably watch it soon. I guess we'll make our way through the Sequel Trilogy next.

More after the break... 

Action Figure Review: Darth Nihilus from Star Wars: The Black Series Phase III by Hasbro

 

   It's the last day of the year and while I'm not nearly through with reviewing all of the stuff I picked up in the last month yet I'm going to wrap things up for the year with a look at Darth Nihilus from Star Wars: The Black Series Phase III. While Hasbro transitioned the Black Series into Phase IV during the second half of 2020 some exclusives were still released in the Phase III packaging. GameStop's Gaming Greats releases in 2020 turned out to be well worth checking out in 2020 and while they were mostly repaints/ retools, they did offer up some new characters. One of the most exciting releases is Darth Nihilus from 2004's Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords. I have very fond memories of receiving the game for Christmas of 2004 and starting it the day that my friends and I went to get fitted for tuxedos for my wedding in 2005! The KOTOR games were quite impressive and I'd love the chance to play them again on a more modern console. Darth Nihilus's creepy mask was a key element of the game's packaging and advertising and Hasbro nailed it here. Let's check out another Sith Lord for the Black Series after the break...

Action Figure Review: Clone Trooper (Holiday Edition) from Star Wars: The Black Series Phase IV by Hasbro

 

   For the holiday season of 2020 Hasbro released five different Star Wars: The Black Series exclusives featuring various troopers decked out in Christmas outfits. Yes, it's really quite strange but also rather charming, too. I've seen many fans comment that for some reason they connect Star Wars with the Christmas season and I have to say that I agree! This goes back beyond Disney deciding to release 4 of their 5 films so far prior to Christmas as well. This year my wife and I finally watched all of the Prequels and the Original Trilogy with our daughter so we've continued the tradition! Our Christmas tree has well over a dozen Star Wars Christmas ornaments, we have a Darth Vader in a Santa Claus hat, and there are always many Star Wars gifts for me under the tree, so is a Clone Trooper in a Christmas sweater really too much of a stretch? The Clone Trooper (Holiday Edition) is a GameStop exclusive and he turned out to be the easiest of the five figures to find. Let's take a look at this fun and festive exclusive after the break...

Action Figure Barbecue: Ahsoka Tano from Star Wars: The Black Series Phase IV by Hasbro

 

   In 2020 Hasbro really failed on delivering exclusives to retailers. Or maybe retailers failed in ordering enough exclusives to satisfy demand. Heck, maybe both are to be blamed? See, in the second half of this year Walmart received an exclusive four figure series of The Black Series Phase IV figures based on the Siege of Mandalore storyline from season 7 of The Clone Wars. Did you ever actually see any of these figures in stores? Neither did I. Yes, Hasbro made a series of Black Series figures based on The Clone Wars exclusive to Walmart and the only place I've ever seen them are on Ebay. Sadly, this is another figure I had to pay a bit extra for because there was no way I was going to miss out on Ahsoka Tano. Ahsoka was released in Phase III based on her Rebels appearance (which was released this year with face-printing) but this one captures her younger look during the end of The Clone Wars. 2020 has been a big year of Ahsoka and this is a great figure of her released in an infuriating way. Let's check out Ahsoka Tano after the break...

Christmas Haul 2020: Jake "The Snake" Roberts from Masters of the WWE Universe by Mattel

 

   It's time for another item from my 2020 Christmas haul and this time it's Jake "The Snake" Roberts from Mattel's Masters of the WWE Universe line! Jake "The Snake" Roberts is a fantastic wrestling legend for introducing the Snake Men into the Masters of the WWE Universe line and blending together Roberts' wrestling persona with some of the gimmick from the vintage King Hiss figure has lead to one of the best figures in the line yet. Man, series 4 of this line is just so darn good for the most part, isn't it? Let's take a look at the Evil Purveyor of Poison after the break...

Action Figure Review: Din Djarin (The Mandalorian) & The Child from Star Wars: The Black Series Phase IV by Hasbro

 

   Target had some of the hottest exclusives of 2020 but they were a trainwreck when it came to ensuring that they were available to collectors. While their exclusive wave of figures from the G.I. Joe Classified Series is probably the most infamous of their blunders the most egregious might just be the extremely limited availability of the Din Djarin (The Mandalorian) & The Child two-pack from Hasbro's Star Wars: The Black Series Phase IV. Featuring two of the most popular characters out there from one of the hottest TV shows in recent memory there was no excuse for this set not to be loaded onto store shelves in time for Christmas. Unfortunately it was hard to find and seemingly released in limited numbers. And getting in on the preorder? Please. Target doesn't seem to be aware what a preorder is for, do they? Since I don't live in close proximity to a Target and had no desire to hunt this down right now I decided to bite the bullet and pay a bit more. Honestly, with the gas money for the distance I would have to drive to even get to Target plus the regular cost of shipping I probably didn't pay much above retail. Still, it's a shame there was no regular way to acquire this through Target. Enough about that, though! Let's get in and check out Din Djarin and Grogu in this brand new exclusive set after the break...