One of the many new characters introduced to fans in Star Wars: The Force Awakens was Maz Kanata. She was the owner of her own bar and fortress, and the keeper of Anakin/Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber until someone worthy was drawn to it. The castle was ended up being destroyed by The First Order in the film. The figure is part of the new The Last Jedi 6″ figure collection. There is a lot of mystery surrounding Maz Kanataas to how she came into possession of the lightsaber, and this is just one of the many unanswered questions left in The Force Awakens, which will hopefully be answered in The Last Jedi and future films.
Maz Kanata was provided to press as part of a thank you gift bag by Hasbro for attending their New York Comic-Con 2017 event.
Availability: September 2017
Maz is part of Hasbro’s The Black Series The Last Jedi figure collection, which is series 13. Her sculpt is more unique than most of the Star Wars figures released in the 6″ scale in the last year or so, and given her height is similar to Yoda, she is one of the shortest figures ever released in the line. She is also one of the best sculpts Hasbro has offered fans in the line, with an incredibly detailed likeness that looks almost like she did in the film. We can’t say that about some of Hasbro’s offerings, but Maz is truly something special. The sculpt is offered in several textures in her clothing and head, and she is also packed with many different colors as seen in the film. In addition, her thick bifocals can be lifted up and down as seen in the film. Her outfit is certainly unique, and does give off that elderly woman wardrobe look to it, with the multicolor boots. While the boots are certainly colorful, she is painted in some darker tones such as the brown pants, turquoise sweater, removable grey vest, orange belt, gold and silver wrist bands and rings on her fingers, and a dark grey hat.
Even though she is short, she has some about the same articulation compared to taller figures in the line. This includes a ball jointed neck, ball-hinged elbows, swivel-hinged elbows, swivel wrists, waist rotation, ball jointed hips, swivel thighs, swivel-hinged knees (it’s hard to move this joint), hinged and rocker ankles. Some of these points of articulation are also restricted, including the neck, elbows, hips, and knees. This of course is due to her small size and the way she was designed, Still, articulation is part of the point of doing a 6″ scale figure, and these restrictions do take something away from the figure.
The metallic deco on her skin gives it a nice detail and makes it stand out compared to other figures in the line. In addition, the metallic on the bracelets and rings bring attention to them, and all of the deco has clean lines and there is no bleeding. Her eyes are painted in orange, with black pupils, which is definitely a unique color for eyes, but given she is an alien anything is possible. The eyes aren’t the best painted feature on her face or sculpt for that matter, and she does look much better with the glasses down.
Maz Kanata includes the lightsaber used by Anakin and Luke Skywalker, a blaster, and the trunk that was shown in the film that the lightsaber was kept. The trunk features a great sculpt and a realistic detail, textures and deco. The trunk can open, close and lock, and the rest of the contents inside are painted, and that is definitely a nice touch.
Overall, Maz Kanata is one of the better painted figures in the line, with a great sculpt to match, she makes one great action figure. It’s always good to get a new alien to the line, and given her unique appearance, she will definitely stand out on any toy shelf or display. If you only pick and choose Star Wars characters like we do, then Maz is defiantly one to own.
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