Star Wars The Black Series Count Dooku figure review
Count Dooku is one of my favorite characters in the Star Wars franchise — not just the prequels. Christopher Lee gave the series a unique villain who was very different from the cackling Emperor, sinister Darth Maul or intimidating Darth Vader.
The SH Figuarts version left me underwhelmed enough that I decided to check out Hasbro’s far more reasonably priced Star Wars The Black Series figure, which also seemed to be more screen accurate. Let’s see how this Duel of the Sith (figures) plays out.
Packaging: There’s nothing new at this point in the line. I do have some of the newer figures with the updated packaging, but I’m wrapping the old guard first.
It’s the traditional grayscale image on the front and a mini-bio on the back. Hasbro does pretty solid bio writes up for the Black Series line as they’re pretty comprehensive despite the limited space.
The red insert shows off the figure really nice. Dooku is #107 in the series. I’m curious out of 107 how many I actually have in my collection.
Likeness: I liked the SHF head sculpt well enough, but the face printing technique from Hasbro actually gives them the edge in this category. Check out the deep sunken bags under Dooku’s eyes, the indented right cheek, forehead wrinkles and hairline. Score one for Hasbro on that front.
Dooku’s outfit also looks better with this sculpt, which is less bulky and segmented than the SHF figure that sacrificed sculpt for articulation. Count Dooku’s tunic has more natural folds and creases as well.
The SHF figure had a metal chain — a nice bonus — but the cape was positioned weird on his shoulders. Hasbro got it right with a more subtle cape drape that covers both the shoulders and the upper arm.
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Paint: Yet another win for the SWB version — sensing a trend? Dooku’s costume was a dark almost black shade of brown. He certainly wasn’t in very many well lit areas save the Genosis arena and even then, it doesn’t have the hazel nut color of the SHF figure. There’s a little slop around the belt, which is far more tolerable on a $20 figure.
The work on his face is impressive with a wash to bring out the wrinkles and red under the eyes. Even the beard is a good mix of light and dark grey.
Scale: Count Dooku should be a bit taller than Anakin and noticeably taller than Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Now I’m curious how this figure matches up with the SWB versions as he is pretty well scaled with the SH Figuarts versions.
Articulation: OK, here’s the real test — can this Dooku hold up against the SHF version? Again, Dooku isn’t a dynamic fighter like Maul or Obi-Wan and Anakin. He’s more of a calculating, smooth swordsman. I didn’t feel like any articulation was missing and was happy he could strike all the poses I really need from Darth Tyranus.
Count Dooku has:
- neck
- ball-jointed shoulders
- elbow
- wrist
- wrist hinge
- torso
- hips
- thighs
- knees (double jointed)
- ankles
Accessories: Count Dooku comes with his sweet red lightsaber. The hilt has the appropriate level of detail with a strong paintjob for the various segments. The red blade is not tiny and shouldn’t break from the hilt too easily.
I was a little worried about breaking the lightsaber swapping it out for the motion blade version. That’s a nice touch that Hot Toys started incorporating in their figures and it’s great to see it at this scale too.
Of course the one thing missing is the Force lightning hand. We really only needed a right hand one. Maybe I can swap that hand with The Emperor?
Worth it? I got Count Dooku for $20, which is a fair deal even without the standard Build-A-Figure piece found in other lines that have a lot more accessories.
Rating: 9.7 out of 10
Ugh, if only I listened to Yoda and shown more patience. This is a much better figure than the SH Figuarts version in just about every way. I’m glad I did grab this one and prequel fans should definitely grab this one. The lack of Force Lightning is the only thing missing.
Where to get it? Hasbro Pulse has him in and out of stock; Amazon has him for slightly above retail, but to guarantee him, Entertainment Earth is probably your best bet since they still have him up for pre-order.