Starkiller

Press X to unleash Force. Galen Marek, code name "Starkiller," was a Force-sensitive human who became Darth Vader’s apprentice during the Galactic Empire's reign. Remember when Force Unleashed came out and all the True Fans™ complained about how overpowered Starkiller was, about how he was able to use Force powers to survive facing a super-powerful dark side user despite not having any formal training, and about how the story just seemed to be written as an excuse for him to show off? Oh, wait, no, that wasn't Galen Marek, that was Rey; it was fine when Galen did all that because it's only a Mary Sue if it's a girl being put in your sci-fi story, not a boy - there's no YouTube money in pretending to be mad when male characters do anything. Galen was played by Sam Witwer, the first of his many Star Wars roles. Guy's the official voice for both Darth Maul and Emperor Palpatine now, and it all started here. Plus, he seems to be a legitimate fan of geeky things, which is nice to see - he's having fun doing the things he does. Despite coming out in 2008, the game featured digitized likenesses, so this figure gets to look like Sam, as well. Surprisingly, Hasbro made seven Starkiller figures in the 3¾" scale, and yet none of them have been wearing this costume. This is his default look! It's the basic outfit he starts the game with! The clothes are black, because "Sith," and the sleeves are all torn up, because Anakin was not a gentle teacher when he still had skin, he's not going to have mellowed out now that he's permanently sealed into asbestos underwear. Galen has a bit of armor on his shoulders, and a single plate of it on his right forearm - there probably would be some on his left, if it hadn't been cut off in a fight. The mantle is a separate (but non-removable) piece, and the toy has a PVC loincloth/belt piece around the waist. Black Series Starkiller moves with swivel/hinge ankles, swivel/hinge knees, balljointed hips, a balljoint waist, swivel/hinge wrists, swivel/hinge elbows, swivel/hinge shoulders, balljointed neck, and a barbell head. In the same way Marvel Legends keeps cheaping out on the quality by not making shin joints, Black Series is doing it by getting rid of thigh joints. Probably because they never had shins to begin with. That's not so bad in this case, because the knees take care of the same range thigh joints would. The waist is incredibly stiff, though, and if you leave him in any given position for an hour or so, it feels like the post the joint is on is more likely to twist in half than that the ball will move in the socket. It would rock forward and back, it would rock side to side, but it wouldn't turn; I got it going initially by rocking it every direction wile trying to turn it slightly, and eventually it began moving better. There's not a lot of paint to talk about, but having bright flashes of pink skin against his dark clothes really does stand out, and the blood on his shoulder and forearm are vibrant. The short hair isn't painted great, but is there really any way to do that well? It needs more of a fade around the edges than a harsh edge. This figure was initially available in a three-pack designed to re-create the game's cover: Galen, two Stormtroopers, and a bunch of energy effects. It would have been a great buy, without the Stormtroopers, but since they were artificially jacking up the price of the set, it wasn't worth getting. Maybe if they'd been something other than just a rerelease of the standard armor. We're not surprised this "Gaming Greats" version doesn't include the Force blast base, but why not the hands? Why not the alternate heads? Why does he only have one lightsaber, when his belt has slots to carry five of them? This could have been great; instead, it just "is." Galen Marek, sold by himself with the energy effects, would have been a worthwhile release at that new slightly higher pricepoint, like Black Krrsantan, but axing everything and doing him at the standard five-dollars-too-high $24.99 is disappointing. It's good to get this fan-favorite character in the Black Series, but the final product is, at best, uninspiring. -- 10/05/24 Would there have been more complaints about Galen's power levels if videogame characters were prone to ever appear anywhere other than their own games? Tell us on our message board, the Loafing Lounge.