Chirrut Imwe had almost no chance of not being one of the protagonists in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story for me. I was sold the second it was announced that Donnie Yen was cast. And he was just as cool in the movie as the Zen-like Force adept despite not being a Jedi.
I was looking forward to getting the entire Rogue One crew into my Black Series collection, but the price hike to $22.99 made me hold out until some decent sales came along. With the holiday season around, I was finally able to recruit the entire crew at incredibly low prices. Let’s see if the Force becomes one with this Black Series figure from Chirrut.
Packaging: I like that The Black Series uses a different accent color for each film/series. Rogue One has a teal tint. Chirrut is #4 in the Rogue One lineup. The wall image on the side is great, as it still depicts a stern Chirrut ready for battle.
Chirrut’s biography follows the same spoiler-free approach to a number of movie characters simply providing basic context without the broader context of his fate in Rogue One.
It’s good in this case, although I wouldn’t mind connecting him a little more to the other characters.
Resemblance: Chirrut is a warrior monk who presents Hasbro with a unique challenge on how to best approach his figure. Ultimately, they settled on a hybrid of a sculpted plastic top and fabric below the waist to best simulate her flowing dresses. Its strap/chest strap device provides a natural break point, so it doesn’t look bad.
The sculpted part of the outfit looks great. His right sleeve hangs naturally like fabric while his left arm has a wrap and wrist guard for aiming his light bow.
I love the head sculpt because there’s no doubt that this is Donnie Yen, even if the hairline is a little too far back. The expression is also great because it conveys a lot with a neutral expression.
MORE:
Paint:A There are no significant problems with Chirrut’s painting. This isn’t really a problem with Black Series figures in general and is more of an exception when a figure has sloppy painting.
The face print allowed for subtle details like light blue eyes and pale facial hair. I thought the off-white shade of his chest strap would be tricky, but it received enough paint applications that there was no bleeding or overly caked-on paint.
In some pictures it appears that Chirrut’s dress is dark blue with a bit of black on the left sleeve, but in various figures from different lines it is black, so I assume that is the desired color.
Ladder: Chirrut is not the tallest of the Rogue One crew as he should be about half a head taller than Jyn Erso and shorter than Cassian and K-2S0.
Joint: Chirrut should be able to move smoothly because he is the most active of the fighters in Rogue One. Although he is not a Jedi, he uses his staff similarly to a lightsaber and moves with the grace of one trained in the ways of the Force.
This is why the fabric bottom half was the right solution to accompany the figure, as a plastic section would have severely restricted his movements. Hasbro doesn’t believe in double-jointed elbows with this line for some reason.
This is an older mold, so it doesn’t have the same range of motion thanks to the deeper single-joint cuts. His right wrist has an up and down movement allowing for more dynamic staff holding poses.
Chirrut Imwe has:
- neck
- articulated shoulders
- elbow (with swivel)
- wrist
- wrist hinge
- torso
- hips
- thighs
- knees (double jointed)
- ankles
Accessories: Chirrut Imwe comes with its two essential accessories.
The first is his walking stick. Hasbro didn’t go cheap as it features stellar detail and is sculpted like a real piece of wood with thicker and thinner parts, the pattern changing throughout. The metallic midsection and tip give it that little something extra.
His other accessory is the Lightbow which he used to take out TIE Fighters. It is actually functional when the bow extensions fold and unfold and the barrel rotates. I’m always impressed with the level of detail the Black Series team puts into the weapons and how they match the movies and shows.
The Lightbow also features an exceptional amount of paint detail. It has a metallic gold and a flat brown accenting the black and silver base. There is a downside in that it is missing a strap so Chirrut can put it on his shoulder like he had during the movie.
It’s worth it? I bet I could wait for those numbers once Hasbro starts raising prices on the Black Series. This gamble paid off as I was able to get it for $15.
It’s been even cheaper than that in recent weeks if you take the right amount of time. Anytime under $20, it represents excellent value for money. Right now it’s available on Amazon for $17, which is definitely not a bad price.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10
The older body holds Chirrut back a bit in terms of articulation. I still love the figure thanks to all the solid details and the much improved head sculpt.
Where to get it? All Rogue One figures will be hard to find at retail except GameStop. Chirrut is still available on Amazon.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.