Black Series Mara Jade Review

 

I had been wondering when, or if I would begin to cover Black Series figures on my blog. While I am a die-hard Vintage Collection supporter and collector, I can appreciate the 6 inch Black Series line of figures. There is more detail in the sculpts, and more articulation. The downside is the price, and the occasional droopy lightsaber blade. But one thing they do make is a line of figures based off both the modern comic books, and those from Legends. Their comic book like has made figures like Leia Organa from the 2015 comic line (who will be in one of the photographs I post here), Kir Kanos from Crimson Empire and Mara Jade from Dark Force Rising. So for my first ever Black Series review, I chose Mara Jade!

Mara Jade is packaged in the plastic free packaging, but the front of her box depicts Mara from Dark Horse's adaptation of the novel Dark Force Rising. The box can be opened to reveal a picture of the figure and some biographical material. I have a couple other comic book line Black Series figures, and if you open them they are a pain. But, all of Mara's accessories are safely packed in, and unwrapping Mara from her paper wrap is simple enough so you won't damage the figure, or her accessories if you choose to open her.

The figure is not an entirely new sculpt. Her head and arms are, but the rest of the body was used to make Dr Aphra and Mara's apprentice Jaina Solo. Her arms have pinless joints at her elbows. Mara has swivel and hinge wrists which enable her to hold her accessories. Mara has 20 articulation points, 4 of which are the pin joints on her knees which bend both above and below the knee. Like the Vintage Collection she has thigh swivels, but honestly the Black Series figures don't need them. Mara can move her head, but her long hair in the back, and her goggles and scarf, which are plastic also restrict head movement. If you remove her head, you can remove the scarf/goggles but I have no clue how to do that so they will stay on her. I had no trouble posing or standing her at all. The only problem I had was getting her to hold her gear. Mara is right handed (revealed in the Mara Jade By The Emperor's Hand miniseries) and her right hand is posed in a way she can best hold her blaster. If you want to store her loose, she won't need a stand. Her paint apps on her face are well done, and her hair is not quite "red-gold" as described in the novel, but does match her hair as shown in the comic adaptation.

Now back to Mara's accessories, she comes with a blaster that doesn't look like the one she uses in the comic book, but one used by Dr Aphra. Her lightsaber is the same as the one that came with Jaina Solo. However, if you take a lightsaber from Rey or Luke Skywalker (ANH or ESB) she actually holds that lightsaber quite well, as you can see in the pictures below. Her blaster takes a little effort, but when you get the extended finger into the trigger, you're home free. Getting her to hold her accessories took the longest time to do, and it can be frustrating. But the good news is, she is well constructed so you aren't in any danger of breaking her. Her hilt can be placed on her belt, and removing the blades on the newer lightsabers are much easier now.

So how is Mara compared to other Black Series figures? I paired her with some other female figures to show how she fits in, and she is well scaled. Leia is supposed to be short, Aurra, Aayla and the Second Sister are supposed to be tall. Now pairing Mara with Luke, she is on the surface and in the photos below, nearly the same height. And the Luke I'm using is the Black Series Imperial Light Cruiser Luke. Luke is slightly taller than Mara, but not by much.

Overall, this is a good figure. Hasbro doesn't make a lot of Legends era figures lately so as a Legends fan, this was one figure I wanted to get once it was revealed she would be getting a Black Series figure. If I could change one thing about Mara it would be giving her Luke's old lightsaber. She is well sculpted, easy to pose out of the box, and if you want to get her, available at online stores like Entertainment Earth. While I'm not a fan of the higher price, it was worth it to get one of my favorite Star Wars characters. Below, I have other shots of Luke and Mara, as well as Mara with Thrawn and Palpy. I took all pictures except the open box, which I got from Entertainment Earth.

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