Six Hot Inches of Star Wars

Hasbro revealed these yesterday as a USA Today exclusive – but today my inbox was hit with hi-res images of the first in their new Marvel Legends-scale Star Wars line, dubbed the Black Series:

This isn’t the first time they’ve tried a larger scale – Episode I saw a line with leg-squeezing Jedi slashing action, as well as a transformable Destroyer Droid. This is the first time they’ve done it at the same level of detail and articulation as the modern Star Wars figures. The initial wave, due late summer, will include Luke above, R2-D2, Darth Maul and Sandtrooper. They’ll retail for around $20, which isn’t bad when you consider that most lines at that scale and price point utilize heavy parts re-use.

I almost hate to nitpick, given the apparent quality, except I really don’t, because nit-picking is what we’re all about here, so here goes: if this were really to be an ultimate collectible, Luke would come with swappable gloves, so he could also have the white ones from Empire. But then I guess you get into wanting an interchangeable head with the face scar, and we see exactly how they’ll probably do a refresh down the line to allow for some re-use after all.

The 3-3/4 line will continue, because the whole point of it is to do affordable vehicles, and there’s a new movie coming. And I do love the quote from Hasbro’s VP of boys marketing…

“We consider them the best figures that Hasbro’s ever produced for Star Wars that meets the sensibilities of romancing the character as well as the playability and poseability that fans really appreciate”

I’m sorry, I know words’ meanings change over time, but what exactly does “romancing the character” mean?