Koska Reeves

You know you're running out of Star Wars names when you call a character "Costco Runn." A master of hand-to-hand combat, Koska Reeves is loyal to Bo-Katan and is a member of a band of Clan Kryze Mandalorians striking back at the Imperial remnant. Ah yes, the days when Star Wars Black Series releases had specific info on them, not just boilerplate. It's a good thing, too, because I certainly wouldn't have any idea about who Koska Reeves is or what she could do: she showed up in an episode of The Mandalorian as one of Bo-Katan's two sidekicks (the one who doesn't go to the bathroom in the bar and get left behind) and then again in the season finale. That's hardly enough time to make her have a memorable and distinct personality, so thank you, older packaging style, for filling us in. (This figure was allegedly released at the same time as Aurra Sing, but despite me actively looking for her, I cetainly never saw her in stores.) Koska was played by New Japan Pro-Wrestling star Mercedes Moné - the original plan was to hire WWE's Sasha Banks, but as you know, she sadly passed from a tragic case of zombiism. The likeness is good, if unremarkable, with the Photo Real printing adeqately reproducing the real woman's face. Koska's trademark look, a pair of braids crossed over her forehead, is a molded part of the head, with the rest of her hair being a separate shell glued in place. Although she's part of Bo-Katan's Nite Owls, Koska Reeves' helmet doesn't have the group's symbol painted on its face - instead, it's just two-tone blue with scratches where the silver underneath shows through. Actually, would that be "silver," or can you use "beskar" as an adjective? No, silver's probably fine, right? Like, real-world guns are made of steel and soda cans are made of aluminum, but you'd still say you were seeing "silver" if the paint scraped off, wouldn't you? To really be screen-accurate, the nasal point of the visor should come down a little lower (it needs to be below the upper corners of the cheek flaps), but at least the viewfinder is articulated, as it should be. You may not be surprised to learn that below the neck, this figure uses the same molds as Bo-Katan. Mercedes is only one inch shorter than Katee Sackhoff, so it's not like the characters' similar physiology would stand out, and they already wore the same kind of armor, so resculpting her from scratch would have been a waste of time. (Technically Koska should have different boots, but... meh.) They're differentiated by their colors, with Koska having more of her armor be blue, and a darker shade at that. Plus, she's got the Nite Owl symbol on her shoulders. Standing together on the shelf, they won't look like two copies of the same thing, even if the different shapes of their helmets don't stand out to you. The same body means the same articulation (head, neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, torso, hips, thighs, knees, and ankles), but it probably didn't need to mean the same accessories. Like Bo-Katan, Koska has the two little WESTAR-35 blaster pistols, though she should really only have one: her belt has a single holster, not a pair, so one of them will always be superfluous. She's also got the existing Mandalorian jetpack mold, though hers has less blue paint on it than Bo-Katan's did, so you'll be able to tell them apart even if they should somehow get mixed up. Mercedes has said that Koska Reeves isn't in Mando Season 3, but she's proven before to be quite good at keeping secrets for the show, and she was invited to the S3 premiere, so who knows? With the arc it looks like this season is taking, she may show up again after all. This isn't necessarily a figure you'd want to hunt down if you missed it, but I'm glad I found it when I did. -- 04/08/23

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