Sergeant Jyn Erso (Jedha)

There's a webcomic called Darths and Droids, which reimagines Star Wars as a tabletop RPG. It started with Episode I and is now almost to the end of Jedi. The authors have said they're interested in doing the new trilogy, but that won't be for years (you can't set up a joke in Episode VII if you don't know whether Episode IX will let you pay it off), but they could totally do Rogue One as a side-campaign that the DM runs when most of his usual players are indisposed. It'd work perfectly, becase (spoiler alert), other than a few existing player characters showing up briefly, it would turn into a TPK! A highly skilled soldier in the Rebel Alliance, Jyn Erso is an impetuous, defiant warrior eager to bring the battle to the Empire. Jyn has little patience for debate within Alliance High Command, enough so that she takes matters into her own hands. While the internet's dumbest dimwits were complaining about the lack of white male characters in Rogue One, Disney and Lucasfilm showed us what true diversity is all about, by daring to take the incredibly bold step of having the female lead in a Star Wars movie be a tiny brown-haired girl. How inventive! You're really sailing new waters this time, folks! Rogue One's tiny brown-haired girl was Felicity Jones, who's been in a few other things you may have seen, but isn't exactly a household name. The toy's likeness is good enough, but her face seems too round - the cheeks should be just a little narrower. The majority of the samples have her pupils painted in such a way that she appears to be looking up; I searched through the pegs until I found one where they were applied a bit lower, so she can look straight ahead. Took a while, but it was worth it. Part of the reason it was worth it is the articulation. Jyn-ny from the block, like the rest of the Black Series, moves decently, with joints at the ankles, boots, knees, thighs, hips, torso, wrists, elbows, shoulders, neck, and head. It's the head that's an issue. You're familiar with this sort of joint. The neck is a hinge and the head is a swivel, plain as day. But for some reason, the peg on this joint was not designed to extend straight up into the head, instead going in at an angle; for her to turn her head directly side-to-side, her chin has to be tilted up, leaving her looking at the sky. So if her eyes had been painted high in addition to that? It would have been too much. Thus, the search for paint apps that made me happy. Star Wars, like the best movies, has always used its costumes to convey its characters. "Look, Luke Skywalker is wearing all-black! He must be bad now! Oh, but wait, his shirt fell open and it was white inside, because he was good all along! Hooray symbolism!" Jyn wears dark earthtones because all she wants is to be overlooked, to evade notice, so the most colorful thing about her are the mustard yellow stripes down her sleeves. Her jacket is grey-green, beneath a short brown vest with a padded back, and above a grey shirt. She wears a holster on her hip like Han Solo, and even shares his taste in black pants (though no Corellian Bloodstripes on hers - that'd be stolen valor). Jyn is armed with the A180 pistol she "found." She can hold it in her right hand, or stow it in her holster once you undo the working latch. In the package, she's wearing her infinity scarf/hijab thing, but it's removable (and the figure looks a lot better without it than she does with it). Rogue One did a nice job of dancing between the raindrops, so to speak, fitting into and setting up the existing Star Wars story. Jyn Erso may not have been a huge departure from the previous heroines, and this toy is just on the high side of so-so, but there's no better way to get her. Plus, Walmart has recently dropped the Black Series figures to clearance prices, and for $10 she's a real winner! -- 04/09/17

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