Star Wars The Black Series Koska Reeves figure review
Cool Star Wars characters don’t need long to make their mark. Koska Reeves had a head starts since she was played by WWE star Sasha Banks aka Mercedes Varnado. It’s always neat seeing wrestlers make the transition to the small or big screen in a fantasy world beyond Vince McMahon’s warped imagination.
Koska Reeves was part of Bo-Katan’s trio of Clan Kryze Mandalorians that had a bit of a culture clash with Mando in Season 2. After finding common ground, the quartet battled the Empire remnants. And when he needed some backup to get Grogu, he recruited Bo-Katan and Koska. Boba Fett even took a tornado DDT (wrestling!) from Koska. While Axe Woves missed the big battle against Moff Gideon, Koska was alongside Mando, Bo-Katan and the others.
I was excited when Koska was announced for the Black Series as that gets us closer to re-enacting that immediately iconic season finale. Now that puts the onus on Hasbro to knock out Axe Woves to complete Bo’s trio. But let’s see if Koska actually soars.
Packaging: The golden orange/grey color scheme continues for The Mandalorian characters. I can’t quite place the ship behind her as it doesn’t look like the Imperial frigate Mando and Bo’s trio hijacked.
The bio is solid as usual for the line, explaining Koska’s strengths and her role in this particular period of the Star Wars saga.
Likeness: Koska is essentially a repaint of Bo-Katan. They matched up pretty evenly size wise on the show so it’s not a case of Hasbro being cheap.
It just made sense. All of the elements from Bo-Katan are carried over here so we’re getting the highly detailed armor and outfit and armor pads. The major difference is Koska only has a single holster instead of a double like Bo-Katan.
I’m still impressed with the folds, piping and patterns along the outfit, which has plenty of texture work
Hasbro did exquisite work on the outfit and armor elements. Bo-Katan’s attire has many layers from the Nehru collar to the Beskar armor parts along her chest. The depth of the armor is intact as well so it’s not a simple matter of having the paint cover all the detailing.
Of course the unique aspect of this figure is the head sculpt. And I do definitely appreciate having the ability to put the helmet on and off. Koska’s likeness is pretty solid right down to the X-braid over her forehead. The expression captures Koska’s determined demeanor.
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Paint: The big difference with Bo-Katan’s figure is the paintwork. I’m curious if the Lucasfilm design team was playing up Sasha Banks’ blue hair phase and went heavy with the blue color scheme on Koska’s attire as a result.
This makes for a welcome contrast to Bo-Katan, who had more silver with lighter blue color accents. Koska’s outfit features a different paint scheme with scuffs and burn marks to further help distinguish her from Bo-Katan. All of the paint apps are clean with the scorch marks in particular standing out.
Scale: Koska is the same height as Bo-Katan (naturally) and looks up to Mando. Scale is important for me and this subset line hasn’t messed up on that front yet with everyone scaling just fine so far.
Articulation: The Bo-Katan mold doesn’t have double-jointed elbows, but otherwise has tremendous articulation. And Hasbro implemented enough range with the single-elbow joint that it’s about as good as double-jointed elbows.
Her neck joint also has plenty of range allowing her to hit very well convincing flight poses. The holster don’t limit her hip and leg movement either.
Koska Reeves has:
- neck
- ball-jointed shoulders
- elbow (with swivel)
- wrist
- wrist hinge
- torso
- hips
- thighs
- knees (swivel)
- ankles
Koska can also hit some deep stances and is another impressive modern SWB figure for me.
Accessories: Koska Reeves reuses Bo-Katan’s accessories. That means we get the great blasters again that are properly scaled and fit comfortably in her hand.
The jetpack is the same sculpt although the paint job is a little different with more silver than blue.
Her final, equally important accessory is her helmet, which fits snugly without falling off.
Worth it? I got her for under $20. Target had a sale so I was able to avoid the price hike and for a few dollars cheaper. Koska is well worth the $20 and wouldn’t be a disappointment at the newer $22.99 price.
Rating: 10 out of 10
As much as I liked Bo-Katan it was gonna be hard for Koska to be a letdown. This is another terrific figure from The Mandalorian and a well executed take on one of Season 2’s standout characters.
Where to get it? I found her at Target, but if you strike out at retail you can always go the Amazon or Target.com route, which currently have her sold out. Entertainment Earth currently has her up for pre-order.