Monday, June 1, 2020

Action Figure Review: Zorii Bliss from Star Wars: The Black Series Phase III by Hasbro

   Does anyone else feel like Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker just kind of happened, came, and went? Seriously, it feels like a movie that even Lucasfilm, Disney, and Hasbro have kind of forgotten about. Hasbro just showed off a bunch of fantastic new Star Wars: The Black Series figures last week and it included figures from The Clone Wars, The Mandalorian, The Original Trilogy, Rebels, and.... well, nothing from The Rise of Skywalker. Nothing. Can you believe that Hasbro has nothing more in store for the final Star Wars film that was just released less than a year ago? Today I'm checking out Zorii Bliss from the most recent series of Black Series figures and, quite possibly, one of the last Sequel Trilogy figures we will see in the Black Series for some time. While she didn't have a major role in the film (her role in Rae Carson's novelization of the film is more significant), Zorii Bliss is a very cool looking character who manages to capture the aesthetic of many beloved "fringe" characters from the Star Wars galaxy. I like the character and after reading the expanded novelization I decided to pick her up since the releases for The Rise of Skywalker seem to be at an end for the time being. Let's take a look at Zorii Bliss after the break and see if she's a worthwhile pickup for your collection:



 The Facts:

Height: 5 1/2 inches

Articulation: Swivel/hinge ankles, boot swivels, double hinged knees, swivel thighs, ball jointed hips, ball jointed abdomen, swivel/ hinge shoulders, swivel/hinge elbows, swivel/hinge wrists, a balljointed neck, and a ball jointed head.

Accessories: 2 blaster pistols and a removable visor.

Non-Scalper Price: $20 dollars
 The Positives:


* Zorii Bliss has a really cool appearance that is reminiscent of someone who would have been a bounty hunter in the Prequels or who would have been hanging around the Cantina or Jabba's Palace in the Original Trilogy. Some characters just have that "Star Wars look" about them and Zorii definitely has it. She's wearing a detailed, skintight maroon bodysuit accented with bronze armored bits and it really makes her a rather striking looking figure. The paint work is extremely neat and there is a nice bit if weathering on the details of her outfit.
 * Zorii Bliss wears a very cool looking helmet that kind of reminds me of the Gossams due to its shape. The helmet is intended to be coated with a bronzium finish, giving it it's metallic appearance, and it is packed with all sorts of gear such as a vocoder, a subspace transceiver antenna, and air filtration scrubbers. There are a lot of sculpted details here and the helmet appears very accurate to the images from the Visual Dictionary for The Rise of Skywalker.

 * A really cool feature that the packaging doesn't mention at all is the removable viewplate. Open it up and you can see Zorii Bliss' eyes! What we can see looks fantastic (she's quite mysterious!) and seems to resemble actress Keri Russell quite nicely. It's tough to get the viewplate off the first time, though. I recommend gripping from the little nubs on the side and puling straight out.
 * Zorii is incredibly flexible. The Visual Dictionary says she "has a background in dancing, which contributes to her impressive combat agility" and from this figure I believe that. She is incredibly well articulated and is easily one of the most fun figures to pick up and pose that I've purchased in recent memory. Hasbro has been doing an excellent job with the Black Series for the past few years and Zorii is another hit.

 * Zorii comes with two E-851 blaster pistols. The design is really cool and the detail on these is insane. Seriously, the paintwork is some of the best I've seen on an accessory and really shows the dedication and quality Hasbro has been putting into the Black Series.



* The E-851s fit perfectly into the holsters and look fantastic. The holsters are also really nicely detailed too.
 The Negatives:

* Zorii Bliss' boots are really weird. They have a very odd shape that makes her tough to stand up in a neutral pose. Honestly, they don't even look like something that human feet could fit in. Are these accurate to the film? You'll really have to keep Zorii in an action pose or something to stand her up, though.
   While she didn't have a major role in The Rise of Skywalker Zorii Bliss is a very toyetic character and Hasbro made her into an excellent toy. She first appeared in the Vintage Collection on Triple Force Friday 2019 but I'm glad to finally have her in the Black Series since, you know, that's the line I collect. She's a wonderfully articulated and fun figure to play with. Whether you use her as the character from TROS or simply put her in a display with other bounty hunters and scoundrels, Zorii Bliss is a Great figure.
What characters do you still want to see Hasbro make from The Rise of Skywalker?


This is the first figure of Zorii Bliss I've reviewed on the site. For more reviews from The Black Series Phase III check out the following:

0-0-0 (Triple Zero)
442nd Siege Battalion Clone Trooper, 212th Attack Battalion Utapau Trooper, Coruscant Guard ---(Phase II), and 501st Legion Clone Trooper 4 pack
4-LOM
Admiral Ackbar and First Order Officer
Admiral Piett
Ahsoka Tano 
AT-AT Pilot 
Battle Droid
Baze Malbus
BT-1 (Beetee)
C-3PO
C-3PO & Babu Frik
C-3PO (Resistance Base) 
Cal Kestis
Captain Cassian Andor (Eadu) 
Captain Phasma
Captain Phasma (Quicksilver Baton)
Captain Poe Dameron
Cara Dune
Chewbacca (Target Exclusive)
Chewbacca (The Force Awakens)
Chewbacca & C-3PO
Chirrut Imwe 
Chopper (C1-10P)
Clone Captain Rex (HasCon Exclusive)
Clone Commander Gree
Clone Commander Fox
Clone Commander Obi-Wan Kenobi
Clone Commander Wolffe 
Constable Zuvio
Count Dooku
Darth Revan 
Darth Vader (Emperor's Wrath)
Death Star Trooper
Dengar
Dewback/ Sandtrooper
Director Krennic 
DJ (Canto Bight)
Doctor Aphra
Dryden Vos
Elite Praetorian Guard
Elite Praetorian Guard (with Heavy Blade)
Emperor Papatine and Throne
Enfys Nest's Swoop Bike/ Enfys Nest
Ezra Bridger
Finn (First Order Disguise)
Finn (FN-2187)
Finn (Jakku)
First Order Flametrooper
First Order General Hux
First Order Jet Trooper
First Order Snowtrooper
First Order Snowtrooper Officer
First Order Special Forces TIE Fighter
First Order Stormtrooper
First Order Stormtrooper Executioner 
First Order Stormtrooper (with Gear)
First Order TIE Fighter Pilot
Gamorrean Guard
General Grievous
General Leia Organa
General Veers
Grand Admiral Thrawn (SDCC Exclusive)
Grand Moff Tarkin 
Guardians of Evil 4-Pack
Guavian Enforcer
Han Solo (Exogorth Escape)
Han Solo (Mimban)
Han Solo (Solo)
Han Solo (The Force Awakens)
Heavy Battle Droid
Heavy Infantry Mandalorian
Hera Syndulla
IG-11
Imperial AT-ACT Driver
Imperial Death Trooper
Imperial Death Trooper, Captain Cassian Andor, and Sergeant Jyn Erso (Jedha) 3 pack
Imperial Hovertank Pilot 
Imperial Jumptrooper
Imperial Patrol Trooper
Imperial Shock Trooper 
Imperial Royal Guard 
Inferno Squad Agent
Jaina Solo (Legends)
Jango Fett
Jannah
Jedi Knight Revan
K-2SO
Kanan Jarrus
Kylo Ren 
Kylo Ren (SDCC 2016)
Kylo Ren (The Last Jedi) 
Kylo Ren (Starkiller Base)
Kylo Ren (Throne Room) 
L3-37
Lando Calrissian (Solo)
Lando Calrissian (The Empire Strikes Back)
Lando Calrissian (Skiff Guard)
Luke Skywalker 
Luke Skywalker (Death Star Escape)
Luke Skywalker (Jedi Knight)
Luke Skywalker (Jedi Master) 
Luke Skywalker (Jedi Master)- Ahch-To Island
Luke Skywalker (Skyalker Strikes)
Luke Skywalker (Yavin Ceremony)
Mace Windu
Maz Kanata 
Moloch
Obi-Wan Kenobi (Force Spirit)
Obi-Wan Kenobi (Padawan) 
Obi-Wan Kenobi (SDCC 2016) 
Offworld Jawa
Padme Amidala
Phase 1 Clone Trooper Commander, Phase II Clone Trooper, Imperial Stormtrooper, and First Order ---Stormtrooper Officer four pack
Poe Dameron
Poe Dameron and First Order Riot Control Stormtrooper
Porgs 
Princess Leia (Bespin Escape)
Princess Leia Organa 
Princess Leia Organa (Hoth)
Purge Stormtrooper
Qi'ra (Corellia)
Qui-Gon Jinn
R2-A3, R5-K6, and R2-F2
Range Trooper
Rebel Trooper
Red Squadron (R2-D2, R5-D8, and R2-X2)
Resistance Tech Rose
Resistance Trooper
Rey & D-O
Rey (Island Journey)
Rey (Jakku) & BB-8 
Rey (Jedi Training)
Rey (Jedi Training)- Crait
Rey (Starkiller Base) 
Rey's Speeder (Jakku)
Rio Durant
Sabine Wren
Sandtrooper Sergeant, Crimson Stormtrooper, Lieutenant OXIXO, and R2-Q5
Scarif Stormtrooper
Scarif Stormtrooper Squad Leader 
Second Sister Inquisitor
Sergeant Jyn Erso (Eadu)
Sergeant Jyn Erso (Jedha)
Sith Trooper
Snowtrooper 
Stormtrooper (Mimban)
Stormtrooper (With Blast Accessories)
Supreme Leader Snoke (Throne Room)
Tobias Beckett
Tusken Raider 
Val (Vandor)
Vice Admiral Holdo
Wedge Antilles
X-34 Landspeeder & Luke Skywalker (SDCC Exclusive) 
X-Wing Pilot Asty 
Yoda (Force Spirit)
Zuckuss


5 comments:

  1. Would love to see a hooded rey with her new saber and leia's saber, or a poe with photo real (i would love to use that body as a nathan drake custom base).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've totally thought that Poe's costume looks like Nathan Drake's outfit in Uncharted 3 as well!

      Yes, a hooded Rey/ Rey Skywalker, Dark Rey, Poe, and Finn with the new photoreal apps would be nice to have. Throw in resurrected Palpatine, too. I think the fact that we didn't see half of those characters shows either Hasbro's lack of faith in TROS product or the weird relationship they have with Disney.

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    2. DEFINITELY a new Palpy. I've been wondering about why they didn't release TROS merch after the relatively positive fan response and have come to the same conclusion as you, it's probably something Disney-related.

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  2. I liked the Zorii Bliss character as well and wish they would have developed her more. But there was already so much crammed into the movie. I agree with you - I think Disney and Lucasfilm just wanted to get it out there, help forget about Last Jedi, and be done. They pushed it over the cliff. I've watched every Star Wars movie in the theater at least twice. First time for the excitement and newness, second time to immerse myself and find the details. When I went to go the second time, it was already out of theaters. Yeah - they just wanted to tie up loose ends and be done.

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    Replies
    1. I really like TFA and TROS wasn't a bad movie, but it definitely seemed like a very poorly planned endeavor for what should have been one of the biggest movie trilogies of all time. Still, I'm excited for the future of the Black Series (those new reveals are hot fire) and upcoming and ongoing stuff like The Clone Wars, The Mandalorian, Jedi: Fallen Order, and the many comics and books are all quite solid. Hopefully Hasbro is able to get more information from Disney so their releases from current projects can be more relevant.

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