S.H.Figuarts Captain Phasma

One of the most intriguing things to be revealed in the trailers for Star Wars: The Force Awakens was a mysterious Stormtrooper in chrome armor. We were given a name - Captain Phasma. Then it was revealed this Stormtrooper was played by Gwendoline Christie (best known as Brienne of Tarth from Game of Thrones). Around the internet there was much rejoicing. And some bitching, but it is the internet after all.

Sadly Captain Phasma didn't really get to do a whole lot in The Force Awakens. She had a strong start leading the First Orders Stormtroopers as they raided a village on Jakku. But after that she really didn't do much of anything except be the subject of an admittedly funny trash compactor joke. Here's hoping she gets to play a larger role in Episode VIII.

Star Wars has had a long history of giving action figures to just about every character that appears on screen. And often many that don't. So it's not surprising that Captain Phasma has received a decent amount of merchandising despite her minor role in the film. So here's a look at the S.H.Figuarts take on the leader of the First Orders Stormtrooper army.

Packaging:

This is the same style box as the Stormtrooper figure. Simple and to the point. The window nicely displays the figure so you know exactly what you're getting. There's only one piece of tape to be cut to get into the box which makes it very collector friendly. As I said in my Stormtrooper review this suits me just fine. The sooner I can get my toy out to play with it the better.

Sculpt:

The sculpting on Phasma is fantastic. The details are sharp and clean. There does seem to be some parts recycled from the Stormtrooper but this is to be expected. Her helmet, hands, shins and feets are all new.

Her cape is also very well sculpted. All the little folds look nice and it's not quite hanging straight down. This means the shape works for some in action poses. There's plenty of room underneath for the shoulder pad but oddly enough it comes packaged unattached.

Sadly the shape of the cape means it always has to be draped over her left shoulder. This means it can interfere with the articulation. That said it's still going to look good in most poses.

Paint:

The majority of the figure has been cast in the appropriate color plastic to keep paint to detail work only. The color matching is spot on though. The areas painted silver match the areas cast silver perfectly. Slightly different details on her armor are picked out compared to the Stormtrooper. Knowing the care that goes into these figures I'm confident this is accurate to what's seen on screen.

My Phasma does have the tiniest bit of paint slop on her cape. It's near the neck and not noticeable unless you're looking right at it. These sorts of things are bound to happen on a few figures. Otherwise all the paint applications are spot on.

Articulation:

Articulation on Captain Phasma is identical to the Stormtrooper. Double jointed neck which is nice and expressive.  Ball joints in the chest and waist help make poses more dynamic. Ball and hinge joints in the shoulder with articulated shoulder pads plus swivels on the bicep and forearm and double jointed elbows give the arms great range. Double jointed knees, thigh swivels and universal hips give similarly great range in the legs. And the pouches are articulated to get out of the way of the legs as needed.

The cape can hinder things a little bit. It's made of a soft enough material that you can get it out of the way most of the time. As mentioned before the shape of the cape means it always has to be draped over the left shoulder to look natural. A cloth cape would've given her a bit more freedom when posing.

Accessories:

As pictured above Phasma comes with three sets of hands - open, fists, and a pair for holding her blaster - and her blaster. The blaster - apart from being a different color - is a slightly different sculpt from the one that came with the Stormtrooper. There is an additional stock and the grip and trigger guard are different. Her hands are also a different sculpt with armor on her fingers not just the back of her hands.

Unfortunately the combination of Phasma's trigger hand and the blasters stock make her a bit harder to pose with her weapon than the Stormtrooper. Where the Stormtrooper's trigger hand hand the fingers and thumb closed with just the trigger finger extended Phasma's trigger hand is open. This means her blaster is prone to popping out of her hand while getting her arms into the right pose.

I've found she'll grip her blaster solidly if held single handedly or with two hands when firing from the hip. But I haven't been able to get her to securely hold her blaster with both hands and the stock shouldered. The cape plays into this too limiting the movement of her left arm for support. It's not a big deal but it is a little bit of a step down from the Stormtroopers.

Final Thoughts: 

Captain Phasma does have a few minor limitations but is overall another fantastic figure. She looks great paired with the S.H.Figuarts Stormtroopers and Kylo Ren. And I think you get the most out of her with a couple of Stormtroopers to lead.

Like the Stormtroopers she's going to set you back more than the Black Series figure but I do think you'll get a lot more out of her. The shiny silver plastic/paint used her look gorgeous in person and in my opinion is nicer than the darker silver of the Black Series figure (which is by no means a knock against the Black Series toy!). I don't own the Black Series toy but from what I've seen I believe it is slightly taller which might make a difference to some.

I'm very happy to have her to lead my Stormtroopers. She looks great, poses well, and should fit in to any 1/12 Star Wars display well.