Review - STAR WARS The Force Awakens Captain Phasma SH Figuarts by BANDAI

 One of the most anticipated new characters from The Force Awakens was the intimidating Captain Phasma, with her suit of metallic Stormtrooper armor she was one of the coolest new designs in the Sequel Trilogy. While she didn't have much screen time, the filmmakers were able to turn a throw away character into something that could become really special. Since the release of the movie nearly two years ago I've been able to pick up a handful of the SH Figuarts and today I'm going to be taking a look at the incredible Captain Phasma figure.

Special Thanks to Kevin.

The one thing I really like about the Figuarts PACKAGING is how compact it is. There is absolutely no wasted space in the box. It's kind of refreshing in a way. There's also no twist ties or rubber bands holding things in place, it's all held in with a low profile plastic cover. I also love the gold STAR WARS logo over the plastic window, it looks fantastic. The graphic are all really attractive, and the back of the box has some really nice images of the figure in action.

The SCULPTING on Captain Phasma is pin point accurate. The sculpted armor actually helps hide a lot of the articulation, preserving the look of the sculpt. There are no soft lines in the sculpt, everything is beautifully sharp and precise. It's really impressive. The only thing to distract are a couple of seams where two halves meet, such as on the helmet. The sculpted cape also looks great, and flows off of her shoulder nicely. It's made from a softer plastic material giving it a little bit of play when you're posing. The character actually comes with the left shoulder pad removed so that the cape sits as naturally as possible, however it is included with the accessories if you want to remove the cape entirely. My only nit pick is the scale. Captain Phasma towers over her Stormtroopers but this figure only stands a fraction of an inch taller than the regular trooper or Kylo Ren. She is just too short.

The PAINT, just like the sculpt is beautifully accurate. No slop at all and lots of clean sharp lines. Most of the fine paint work  is on the hands, helmet and blaster rifle, with the majority of the body being silver. The metallic silver of the armor is all really nice and consistent and looks fantastic.

A lot of people were unhappy with the Captain Phasma figures from The Force Awakens because the majority of them were painted rather than being Vacuum Metallized, I never had a problem with this because to me she always looked more like polished metal than chrome. Well it looks like that's all changed for The Last Jedi; along with some minor costume tweaks the good Captain looks much more chrome this time around. It will be interesting to see how the toy makers will handle this change and whether we'll see a big return of the Vacuum Metallization process.

The amount of ARTICULATION this figure has is incredible. The engineering that goes into making these figures is always impressive and Phasma is no different. Like I said earlier, the armor hides a lot of articulation so it's difficult to pin point how many actual points there are. Even the pouches on her belt are individually jointed. The posing possibilities are endless.

Phasma is a little light when it comes to ACCESSORIES. She comes with two extra sets of hands, her left shoulder pad, and her blaster rifle. The hands are a little tricky to swap out, but snap nicely into place and work really well with the rifle. The shoulder pad is really difficult to attach but once you get it in place it holds firm.

OVERALL, Captain Phasma is an incredible figure to behold. With a beautiful sculpt, and incredible paint work the SH Figuarts live up to their prestigious reputation. To date I've only picked up two other figures; Kylo Ren and a First Order Stormtrooper. I'll have to get my hands on some characters without the bulky armor and costumes and see if they hold up as well. I have no doubt they will.