Packaging - ***1/2
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I really like Hasbro’s gold stripe packaging. It’s just so neat and tidy, but eye catching at the same time. I just hope this style sticks around for a while.
Sculpting - ** 1/2
The sculpt itself is generally decent –it looks like the robo-waitress from Dexter’s Diner right down to the big bunny earflaps sticking out the sides of her head. The sculpt of the arms are fine in their permanent bent position, but I would have liked some elbow articulation.
There’s a little peg in her right hand that is supposed to attach to the bottom of her serving tray. It takes a while to find the right spot because of the curve in her palm, and it never seems to want to stay. A longer peg would have been better.
The choice of plastic used for this figure is piss poor; it’s really soft and weak. There are swirls and mold lines galore all over WA-7, and it doesn’t help when you’re trying to convey “metal robot”. Neither does the paint . . .
Paint - **
The figure is molded in a soft gold color. A dull, metalicized, vacu-form job would have been better. The painted plating is hit and miss and generally looks sloppy, as do the eyes. There’s some nice wear and tear added to the plating, but it doesn’t look as effective as it should. Maybe a deeper red-brown color would have worked as opposed to the pastel lavender used. It would have been closer to the movie.
Articulation - **
Does she come with super quick-draw, force-magnet, tray-flinging action? Nope. This girl’s action feature free baby, just the way I like my Hasbro figures.
However, with such an easy figure to articulate, Hasbro misses the mark. WA-7 comes with five points: ball-jointed shoulders, waist, wheel, and neck.
The ball-jointed shoulders are always a nice thing to have. WA-7 could have used some elbow articulation, but they’re stuck in their bent pose. The neck articulation is also a sore spot. You can only move her head back and forth; there’s no turning allowed. A slotted ball-joint here could have been a lot better.
The wheel is kind of slipshod in that it’s not permanently fixed to WA-7’s leg. The wheel is pinched into place by the two sculpted pistons on the sides of her leg, but the plastic is so soft that the thing barely stays in half the time.
Accessories - **
I really don’t know what Hasbro could have included in this category other than the obvious items already present, but I’m sure they could have tossed an extra or two in, such as glasses separate from the serving tray, or other diner stuff.
WA-7 comes with her serving tray and a floor base. The base is very nicely done and has very clean paint ops. WA-7 also can’t stand without it. There’s a small grooved section for her wheel to rest in, while the back of her leg clips over another notch to keep her from falling. It doesn’t work that well, but that’s due more to the figure itself than the base design. A quick fix is to use on of the many clear rubber bands used to hold various Star Wars figures in their inserts. Wrap it around the base and leg and she stands pretty well.
The serving tray has two glasses molded to it. I would have liked separate glasses but judging by the trouble she has holding the solid piece, I guess that wouldn’t have worked well. One glass is really ragged on the top while the other one is unevenly dyed red to suggest liquid. It just looks kind of sloppy. There’s a small hole underneath for her hand peg to attach to.
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