Rey - Premium Elite Series

In collaboration with Lucasfilm, Disney Store is proud to introduce the Star Wars Elite Series, a premium line of toys featuring iconic characters from the expansive world of Star Wars. This exclusive collection is meticulously engineered and crafted with the Star Wars fans in mind.

Rey is a resilient survivor, a scavenger toughened by a lifetime of dealing with the cutthroats of the harsh desert world of Jakku.

You think The Black Series 6” line divided collectors’ opinions? Well, if the Premium Elite Series line gains any significant momentum, we bet that this scale will become even more confrontational and controversial. Disney has produced a very fine line of large-sized action figures which include a ton of articulation and beautifully woven soft-goods. They’re better than anything Hasbro has done or will do in this same scale. Try to set your mind back to The Power Of The Force “2” era. Hasbro (technically Kenner then) produced a range of 12 Inch Figures called the Action Collection. They were actually pretty terrible in retrospect, but Kenner was attempting to capture the audience of “higher end” collectors. And it actually worked. They released over 150 figures by the time the line came to an end. By the time we reached The Saga Collection in 2006, Hasbro had released news that they were ending their long-running 12 Inch Figure line and had leased their license out to Sideshow Collectibles. The rest is history. Expensive and expansive 1:6 Scale Figures became the norm and the lower end budget side of things just alienated those that loved larger action figures with mixed media and soft-goods. Now Disney Store has entered the fold to produce their own take on 1-6 Scale-ish action figures. Branded under the “Elite Series” banner (by adding the word “Premium” in front of it), the Premium Elite Series line is officially out and the first two figures are definitely going to pique interest

Imagine if you will what a Hasbro Star Wars 12 Inch Figure would look like today. The Disney Store exclusive Premium Elite Series Figure is just that. They may not be in completely perfect scale to other 12 Inch Figures, but they’re comparable enough to be mixed into the line seamlessly in our opinion. But with the advancements of technology, these figures are looking better than we ever imagined. Sure, you can mock them as Star Wars “Barbie” dolls, but they’re so much more and are such high quality that we can’t help but be impressed with what we’re seeing. Plus, Barbie dolls don’t have these impressive articulation systems. With over 30 points of articulation (we actually counted 33 points on Rey), fitted clothing and a nice array of accessories, you could do a whole lot worse with your $35. In fact, we think we ended up getting the better end of this bargain. With Hasbro’s cost containment woes that have been more chronic than ever before, it’s absolutely refreshing to see something like this for a “mere” $35. A figure like this would easily top $75 with Hasbro today. Is this line perfect? Probably not. But they are better than good or average. Some things need to be revisited. For example, Disney Store might want to consider molded hair next time around for the female characters. We personally don’t think the hairstyling is terrible, but it looks like it has too much volume in spots which makes the signature shapes of her multiple “ponytails” looks too thick. But the other soft-goods here like her costume are just beautiful. We’re thoroughly impressed with how they fit and look on her.

Rey’s head sculpt and face deco are going to the focus of disagreement. We see why people think it looks nothing like actress Daisy Ridley. But we do see some semblance of resemblance with the direction Disney Store took here. Sure, she has quite a bit of makeup on (which probably has been done too interest the young and Princess focused Star Wars fans), but at the same time we see that this approach does have merit and overall we’re pretty satisfied with how she looks. To our surprise, Rey comes with a nice dose of accessories. Her staff breaks down into two parts. She also comes with a lightsaber that looks to be incorrect. In our opinion, the hilt on the lightsaber is out of scale with this figure. And we wish the blade was removable. She also comes with a beautifully tooled backpack and blaster. In a shocking move, Disney added a set of differently shaped interchangeable hands so that the figure could interact with her accessories better, Typically this is something you only see done by high end licensees like Sideshow Collectibles and Hot Toys. What grabs us the most however is the wondrous articulation Disney Store has added to this figure. Across 22 areas of articulation, Disney Store worked in 33 points. The figure can move in any way you wish, and the joints are firm which allows her to keep these poses effortlessly. The Premium Elite Series line has our interests piqued. We can’t wait to see how they’re going to approach Darth Vader. It should be an interesting ride.