Rose (First Order Disguise)/BB-8/BB-9E - SW [TLJ] - Two-Packs

Let’s be honest. There is a striving for inclusion in the Star Wars films by Disney. There is nothing inherently bad about that, but it should never outdo the goal of a good film and story. If done right, it works beautifully. If you look back, however, inclusion has always been a focus of the Star Wars films, so we’re perplexed by the obsessive focus now. It’s just seemingly become an issue as of late. Even one of the screenwriters, Chris Weitz, of Rogue One” A Star Wars Story went on record saying “Please note that the Empire is a white supremacist (human organization).” His co-writer, Gary Whitta, then replied, “Opposed by a multi-cultural group led by brave women.” Either point has never crossed our minds. Why is “white” important to emphasize? Bad people come in all colors. It's not a far leap to assume this same mentality applies to the First Order as well. If this is the mindset of the new Star Wars outlook, aren’t Rose and Finn going to stand out like sore thumbs in First Order “disguises” in a white-supremacist organization trying to breach the latest “Death Star” or whatever it is in this film? We hope that the whole point of these disguises is woven into Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi with conviction and believability. Because if it isn’t, there are going to be some major problems with this film right from the outset. It would be fantastic if there is a twist in here and something we just can’t calculate in our minds right. We just need a solid story for this next chapter in the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, because the last film just didn’t come close to meeting expectations.

That being said, we have high hopes for Rose. Both her character and her action figures have us engaged. Despite her short stature, she seems to have a head on her shoulders, and we hope this gets translated well into Episode VIII. Right now, however, the newest action figure of her isn’t delivering as well as it should. The first Resistance Tech Rose Force Link action figure is a great action figure and was done so nicely that it supersedes its super-articulated counterpoint easily. So you have to understand why we’re a little bit disappointed with this version of her in First Order Disguise because this figure is a few steps backward. And it has to do with the woeful paint operations. As usual, the sculpt looks rather fantastic. But our sample of Rose (First Order Disguise) has uneven eyes, a blotch of black paint on her right temple and the details on her uniform just don’t look that great. She isn’t terrible, but her paint operations could have been approached with a little more accuracy. Sadly they’re not up to snuff here. Again, her sculpt is excellent. Hasbro gave us the basic five points of articulation here. You get a nice amount of movement in the head, and she has great posture and an even better center of gravity. Hasbro gave her a functioning holster which house the gun accessory she has been given. What’s more, the blaster can be held in both of her arms beautifully, and she looks cool holding it. Surprisingly, Hasbro has added a First Order megablaster and its stand with Rose. It looks like this girl may kick some butt in the film.

Thank the maker that this Two-Packs set (actually a three-packs set) comes with two BB units. Included here are BB-8 and BB-9E. They’re not nearly as good as the ones made by Disney, but they hold up well enough for the 5POA basic figure line. These all-new sculpts are based on the digital files of previous versions of BB-8 (plus or minus some new tooling here and there). The paint applications, while not perfect, looks great compared to past versions. And they have a shiny outer coating that makes them look incredibly better. We think they’re a large improvement to what we have received in the past. All three figures in this set come with Force Link technology. Rose (First Order Disguise) speaks five lines. Nothing noteworthy is expressed by her, but she does come across as some sort of tour de force (if you were to judge her by these five lines alone). It sounds like she is mostly communicating with BB-8, but that’s just a guess. BB-8 and BB-9E each come with a wide array of sound effects. What’s impressive about what they “say” is that you can easily tell them apart. BB-8’s sounds are higher pitched and full of energy. You can hear the urgency in his sounds. BB-9E, on the other hand, has lower and slower sound effects, almost as if he is a bad mood by comparison. Both droids complement Rose (First Order Disguise) beautifully, and all three together make up an interesting trio. Does BB-9E bust Rose and BB-8 colluding? Do BB-8 and BB-9E get into a scuffle? The possibilities are endless. You do get a deal here: three figures for $14.99. That may be enough to persuade collectors to take the plunge.