Moloch - SW [S] - Basic

It’s a fantastic feeling to witness the inordinately strong ties to the Original Trilogy that are part of the two standalone Star Wars films under the Disney Star Wars regime. Their episodic films are divisive like no other Star Wars films before them, and it appears that the “Star Wars stories” are going to be the healing glue to hold the Star Wars community together. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story was an Original Trilogy fans dream come true. Now Solo: A Star Wars Story is looking just as promising. With a great cast of characters as younger versions of our most favorite heroes, Hasbro is producing a line of figures that help reinforce the point that we’ll be seeing a lot of familiarity in the Solo film. Their Force Link 2.0 figures in the Star Wars [Solo] toy line are hit or miss, but there are some wonderful characters in the line. And some of the nicest ones so far are part of wave 2. Moloch, a character we generally know nothing about, is one of the unique Star Wars characters we’ve seen from Disney thus far. In some stills and the trailers we see him interact with Imperial operatives. And although very little is known about the character, the action figure is telling a great deal about this peculiar alien. Let’s find out more about him.

Moloch is a fun action figure. We’d even go so far as to refer to him as “great.” The character contains elements of species we have seen all across the Star Wars galaxy so far, but he still clings to his uniqueness quite well. He doesn’t look like any one character in Star Wars, yet he still has the quality that makes you think you’ve seen someone looking a lot like him already. Moloch is weighty and thick. This alien species is humanoid in a couple of ways, but very alien in others. For example, he comes with two normal arms and hands, but he is legless and has the body of some wormlike creature instead. Interestingly, he still wears stylish clothing and pairs himself with ornate accessories. Oh, and he has a cool blaster that rests in a holster worn about his chest. The figure itself is simply articulated, but you’re probably not going to care all that much. He comes with swivel wrists which help with posing the figure with his staff. He feels like a leader, but until we see the film that is only a guess. Hasbro painted Moloch very nicely. Also, the tooling on this figure should not be taken for granted. Hasbro went above and beyond and gave their best to produce this simple action figure for both kids and collectors alike. He should be a hit if his name gets out there.

The best feature of Moloch could be considered an Easter egg. Something’s coming over this latest Solo: A Star Wars Story character. Moloch’s got a secret. The figure has a “hidden” removable mask feature and reveals a cool character that resembles a skesis from The Dark Crystal. The paint operations on the face are simple and don’t do too much to highlight this creature’s facial features, but enough has been provided to make a point. The head/face is attached via a ball-socket joint, so you get a great deal more movement than you might expect. You still cannot expect a free range of movement, but it’s more than what swivel articulation provides. Overall we're quite intrigued with the Moloch action figure. Hasbro has bee faithful to choose characters that are large and bulky and outside the standard 3.75” scaled size average, and this is something that makes us quite happy. But we also hope the character is remotely interesting in the film. A cool-looking character is nothing without a great role. As with all Force Link 2.0 action figures, Moloch grunts and groans quite a bit, but we’ve been unable to isolate and dialogue from the sound effects. We’re sure our Force Link 2.0 device is working as intended, but who knows if it’s not working properly with this figure. Either way, this figure should be on your wish list.