Review of Star Wars Force Awakens Rey, BB-8
Sixth Scale Action Figures

Introduction

I just a few weeks, we'll have another chapter in the Star Wars saga. There will be no shortage of product either, with a 'Force Friday' coming up in less than 7 days. Retailers will be putting out all the new figures and toys anticipating another big holiday season.

My favorite aspect of the latest film is the character Rey. Bad ass, tough, no nonsense, she's a worthy successor in the hero lineage within the films. Hot Toys is producing two versions - so far - and I finally received my Rey/BB-8 two pack.  You remember BB-8 of course, the little droid that is R2's replacement. While he has some nifty new technology, he maintains the same cute personality. Wouldn't it be funny if he IS R2, a downloaded version of R2's memories and data residing within?

The two pack is running $290, although there's some places you can find it a few bucks cheaper.  If you don't want BB-8, you cold, heartless bastard, you can pick up just Rey for around $225.

Packaging - ***
The basic shoe box design hasn't changed.  Outer graphics are simple, although the interior card art, covering the single plastic tray, looks quite good.  The entire set up is collector friendly of course, with no real damage necessary.

Sculpting - Rey ***1/2; BB-8 ****
Hot Toys kills it when it comes to the realism of their sculpts. With a super fine texture in the hair, lips, and eyebrows, and a perfect skin texture, they've created another super realistic female sculpt.

They added a couple very thin, very fine strands of plastic hair in front of either ear as well, mirroring her hair style during the film quite nicely. The large eyes are expressive, with a reasonably emotive overall expression.  The mouth is slightly open, and you can barely see the teeth, and this expression can work with a number of poses and looks.

Is it a perfect Daisy Ridley though? Like most beautiful women, she has much in common with other beautiful women. It's easy to look at her and see other actresses - that's the curse of beauty.  Here's Daisy in real life, and here is her look in Force Awakens. The match here is very, very good, much better than I bet some people give them credit for. You can still find a few nits to pick (I think the eyes are just a little too large and round), but the actress is still quite recognizable, even if the head is not attached to the body. She stands about 11 1/4" fully upright.

BB-8 might be even better. He stands about 4 1/8", and has a fantastic, detailed, nicely cult sculpt that makes him appear robotic and mechanical. There are two small antennae that can be attached to his 'head', made from a soft enough material to avoid breakage, but not so soft that they would wilt over time.

The body has a terrific heft and weight that adds to the realism and sense of value. I'll get to BB's action and light features later, but for now, it's suffice to say the sculpt itself is outstanding.

Paint - ****
Hot Toys rarely has an issue with their production paint work, and they teach a clinic once again.  The slightly freckled skin tone is only obvious in macro photos, but it creates a life-like, warm look. They also carry this coloration to the arms, legs, and neck, avoiding a clash between the body and face that could ruin the overall look. The lips might be a smidge dark, and there's a little bleed in the eyes, but it's mighty minimal.

BB-8 has a manufactured look to his production paint, just like he should. Coverage is super consistent, edges are sharp and clean, and even the slight dirt and wear looks perfect. Both of these figures have about as perfect of a paint job as you can get.

Articulation - Rey ****; BB-8 N/A
The female TrueType remains a fantastic body, with excellent articulation and proportions. The costume is not particularly restrictive, and it allows the neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, waist, chest, hips, thighs, and knees to reach their potential. While the taller boots cover the ankles, they are soft enough to allow at least a little movement front to back and side to side.

The hands swap easily, but they don't fall off with the slightest touch. They are soft as well, making it easy to swap accessories and weapons.

One of the big advantages for this figure is the costume design, which hides the elbow, wrist, ankle, and knee articulation. This allows the figure to remain super poseable, and yet covers the unrealistic joints.

I was going to mention BB-8's amazing movement here, but I decided to put that in a category all its own further below.

Accessories - Rey ****; BB ***1/2
I'm not considering BB an accessory but rather a figure on his own.  Still, there's enough extras here to make everyone happy.

Let's talk hands.  There are 12 - 12! - of them in total.  She has three sets of bare hands and three sets of gloved hands, with a couple extra wrist pegs just in case. As I mentioned earlier, they sway easily, and they work terrific with the accessories.

I did find that the gloved left hands don't work particularly well with the small brown wrist wrap on that arm. You can either stretch out the opening of the wrap, or you can do what I did and simply not use it when using the gloved hands.

Rey also comes with several extra outfit pieces, including a pair of goggles and a hard plastic shoulder pad. Both of these have very good elastic bands that should hold up to long term use.

She has several weapons as well, including her father's light saber (with removable blade) and a small blaster.  I really like several of the new guns that we've seen based on the FA designs, and this is another winner. She also has her most critical weapon, the long, sturdy staff that she can wear around her shoulder. The sculpts and paints are outstanding, as you'd expect.

BTW, I shouldn't have to say that assuming Luke is her father is just speculation, but I'm often surprised by what isn't obvious.

Rey has some additional cloth costume pieces (I'll discuss them in detail in the Outfit section), and these extra pieces (along with the shoulder pad and goggles) are part of her 'scavenger' look. To complete the look, they gave her a great back pack, complete with 9 extra goodies. These tools, cylinders, and doodads look great, and make for a fantastic set up.

BB-8 doesn't have quite as many extras, but he is a simple round droid after all.  Still, he has the two small antenna I mentioned earlier, as well as two additional pieces that can be attached to his larger ball body. This is accomplished by popping off two of the panels, but be careful - you don't want to scratch the paint job in the process. Remove the panels, and you can attach a small articulated tool (which is part metal), or an extended compartment.

Light Feature - Rey N/A; BB ***
The light up feature is simple, but very effective, and a great example of a light you can easily use.

The head and body are two separate pieces (more on that in a minute), and on the underside of the head there is a battery compartment and switch. There is a single white LED (only requires two batteries which are included) that lights a red lens on the bigger 'eye' and a blue lens next to it.

While the feature is easy to use, the red light is almost impossible to see.  The blue is visible in a lit room, but you'll need to be deep in a cavern in the bowels of the earth to see the red.

Action Feature - Rey N/A; BB ****
Obviously, Rey doesn't have anything that would quality as an 'action feature', but BB certainly does.

Inside the heavy, large body, is a rotating 'self balancing mechanism' as described by the marketing documents. The underside of the head has three small rollers that allow it to move freely over the surface of the body. There are strong magnets that hold the head to the body, but as the body rolls, these magnets maintain an upward position!  That means that as it rolls, the head slides along the exterior, staying on the top...generally speaking. It works great, and it's a very cool feature.

In fact, this is the sort of innovative feature that sets Hot Toys apart, and makes a figure like this stand out from the pack.

Outfit - ****
I have nits to pick with the outfit, but the simple reality is that the overall look and quality is amazing.

The outfit includes the plastic boots, pants, shirt, arm covers, and belt.  She also has an extra cloth belt, an additional cloth wrap, and the cloth hood, all necessary for the complete scavenger look.

The clothing has a nice, slightly worn look that's not too extreme but adds just the right amount of realism. The tailoring is outstanding, and the overall quality is top notch.

The plastic belt fits high on her hips and includes a small cloth bag. This bag has another small tool attached to the outside, and adds some more detail to the overall costume appearance.

The sheer amount of costume pieces also means you can get a ton of different looks, some more, some less screen accurate.  She can wear the hood and goggles covering her face entirely, she can tuck the hood under her chin and skip the goggles, she can add the goggles around her forehead or neck...there's plenty of ways to go, and they all look terrific.

As I mentioned, I do have a couple nits. The instructions tell you that wearing the hood long term could result in staining, which is a big enough problem. But you have to stretch the face covering out quite a bit to get it below her chin, and wearing it that way long term is likely to make that stretch permanent. That's too bad, because that's my favorite look overall.

My other nit is with the snaps on the cloth belt and shoulder wrap. Fortunately, you don't HAVE to unsnap and snap the wrap - it will fit over her head and shoulder just fine.  But you do have to unsnap and snap the belt, and they went with the cheap plastic versions once again.

Still, these nits are overwhelmed by the outstanding quality of the clothing.

Fun Factor - ****
No problem here - you have a ton of options for posing and re-posing, swapping in the outfits and accessories.  Add in the super cool BB-8 action feature, and you'll have a ton of fun setting this pair up and showing them off.

Value - ***1/2
It's pretty rare that a Hot Toys figure even gets an average score of **1/2 stars in this category. With their average prices running $220 - $230 and with fewer and fewer extra accessories, it's getting tough to justify the cost.

But this time, they went well out of their way to create a two pack well worth the cost.  Let's pretend Rey is going for the standard $220 - she has enough outfit pieces to create multiple looks, and a ton of additional accessories, making her a solid value on her own. Add in BB-8 for another $70, and you're getting a figure with a light up feature and one of the coolest new concepts in the self stabilizing mechanism that I've seen in ages.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not much. The instructions tell you not to toss BB's body around too much to avoid damaging the mechanism, but normal handling should be fine. Everything else is sturdy and well made, with little chance of breakage or damage.

Overall - ****
This pair is a terrific example of everything that Hot Toys does right...when they do it right. Rey is a beautiful portrait with a ton of excellent accessories and an amazing, realistic costume that does not restrict her posability. BB-8 also has a great sculpt and paint job with some cool accessories, but his terrific action feature elevates him well above the norm.

If Hot Toys does manage to produce her speeder, which they had on display at SDCC last summer, they may not include another Rey. This one, with her scavenger outfit, will be in hot demand then.  You might prefer the 'resistance fighter' version that is still on pre-order, but getting the right figure to go with the speeder, as well as getting this exceptional BB-8, makes this set a must buy.

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ***
Sculpting - Rey ***1/2; BB ****
Paint - ****
Articulation - Rey ****; BB N/A
Accessories - Rey ****; BB ***1/2
Light Feature - Rey N/A; BB ***
Action Feature - Rey N/A; BB ****
Outfit - Rey ****; BB N/A
Fun Factor - ****
Value - ***1/2
Overall - ****

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- Sideshow has the two pack for $290.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
I've covered a ton of Hot Toys Star Wars releases, both old film and new.  Most recent was the Battlefront Shock Trooper, Finn and Riot Control Trooper, Captain Phasma, the FO Flametrooper, the FO Snowtroopers, and the First Order Shock Trooper. Other Hot Toys Star Wars figures include Kylo Ren, Darth Vader, C-3PO, Tatooine Luke Skywalker, Luke in his Shock Trooper Disguise, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Han and Chewbacca from ANH. If you'd like a bit more of a regular Shock Trooper, they've done him as well, along with a Blackhole version. Sidseshow has helped out with the Original Trilogy, with their Jawa set, Hoth Han, Hoth Luke, Tauntaun, Speederbike, and Scout Trooper. They also did a Shock Trooper back in the day.

You should also hit the Search Reviews page, in case any other applicable reviews were done after this one was published.

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