Original Review (edited from DTF Aurra Sing “pre-pack”):  Chris - 2/18/2012 07:05 AM

I’ll try to keep this brief because chances are you already own all the (new) Discover the Force figures by this time.  This figure is really belied by the lack of ankle articulation,  Many poses befitting of a Jedi hunter are not possible because of this.  On the plus side the detailing is amazing.  Items which Hasbro could have easily skipped painting, such as the back of Aurra’s vest, have multiple paint apps.  The accessory count on this figure is impressive to say the least.  Nevertheless, I can’t get past the lack of ankle articulation.  If a figure doesn’t need to strike action poses (Hoth Leia), I won’t ding it too much for a missing point of articulation. But this figure needs it.  7 out of 10.

Updated Review:  Bret - 8/14/2018 07:05 AM

Here’s a character that fans were obsessed with when she first appeared for about 12 frames during the Boonta Eve Podrace in The Phantom Menace.  Like many backgrounders, Aurra Sing took on a life of her own outside of the films.  Since her appearance in TPM, her story has been canonically developed in the Darth Maul comic series (which takes place prior to TPM) and The Clone Wars animated series. Sing worked with Jango Fett and a young Boba Fett, had a romantic relationship with Hondo Ohnaka, and ran in the same circles with Cad Bane, Bossk, and Ziro the Hutt.  She tried to assassinate Padme Amidala, but was captured and imprisoned.  Sing later escaped and helped free Ziro the Hutt, at which point she disappeared.  It was later revealed that Tobias Beckett had killed her some time before the events of Solo.

This figure was first released as a Walmart exclusive line which commemorated the release of The Phantom Menace in 3D.  For the record, Lucasfilm actually planned to release all 6 films made at that time in 3D format, but after TPM, Disney bought LFL and cancelled further development.  12 figures were released in the Discover The Force 3D line, and included a figure stand, a game die, and 3D glasses.  Four of those figures would later be repacked in The Vintage Collection (minus said figure stand, game die, and 3D glasses).  These 4 figures were only available online at the tail end of the first TVC run, even though they were numbered as VC71-VC74.

Chris’s review above is ripped straight from that Discover The Force release.  He was probably uninspired to re-write a new review for the same figure only a year later.  That guy really isn’t much of a self-starter.  Despite his apparent laziness, the review itself is spot on.  The figure is generally very good, with some strong paint applications throughout, with the face being especially well done.  The antenna sticking out of her skull is unfortunately a bit odd looking from the profile as you can see in the images.  A rounded antenna, rather than the included flat antenna, should have been used.  The sculpt is overall very good.  The biggest issue is the lack of ankle articulation, which might almost kill this figure.  As an action-oriented character, Aurra sing needs ball jointed ankles at a minimum, while ball jointed hips would be even better, but acceptable if not included.  Ankles are important for almost every modern figure, otherwise the leg articulation at the hips and knees is rendered almost useless.  Nevertheless, it’s an impressive looking figure. 

The real attraction here are the accessories.  Besides the fact that Aurra’s vest and belt are separately sculpted, giving some excellent depth to the figure, those pieces are actually removable, giving some alternate looks to the figure.  The holsters do a nice job of holding the twin blasters that are included.  I wish I could say the same for Sing’s left hand, as the grip is pretty loose and doesn’t do a good job of holding the blaster.  The right hand is much better for this.  Sing also comes with her sniper rifle, which slings over her back (perhaps a bit awkwardly) but is handled well in the THWG configuration.  Perhaps the coolest accessory is a brief case which includes 3 lightsaber hilts acquired from her victims.  The hilts aren’t exactly generic, as it appears one is Anakin’s and one is Obi-Wan’s, but all three are painted in generic colors to hide this a bit.  The case has room for a fourth hilt, and snaps tightly shut.  Sing can carry the case with no issue.

Overall, a solid figure.  This is the best version out there, but there are enough issues that it shouldn’t be considered definitive.  The accessories almost make up for the lack of ankles…but not really.  This hurts the figure enough to bust it down to a 7 (in line with Chris’s score), despite all the other good points.

Verdict: Re-sculpt (VERY low priority) 

Values on eBay aren’t that impressive, whether loose, carded TVC, or carded DTF.  There’s no rush to do anything with this figure, but if the time ever seemed right, it should be updated with ankles, ball jointed hips, and a rounded antennae.  It’s not definitive, but for now, this definitely deserves to find a spot in your collection.

Updated Review:  Bret - 2/21/2025 07:05 AM

Apparently my grace period for doing all 9 ARC Trooper reviews a little while back has expired.  Chris demanded I be the one to review this figure, and I can only assume it’s some kind of vengeance for Mookie Wilson.  IT’S BEEN NEARLY 40 YEARS, CHRIS!

This isn’t a fun review.  I’m going to get to what’s wrong with this figure, but also I wanted to first touch on this case assortment.  It has to be one of the worst waves in a long while.  The selection is not inspiring, and that’s even with some outstanding figures within the wave.  First of all, here’s the actual breakdown:

2x Snowtrooper
2x Dr. Evazan
2x Chopper (Imperial Disguise)
1x Lt. Callahan
1x Aurra Sing

Now, I’ll say that 4 of the figures probably make sense for a Fan Channel wave.  Snowtrooper?  Not sure why that guy is in here.  As I always like to say, I have no idea of the inner machinations of Hasbro’s decision-making process.  We must accept there is way more going on than we can speculate.  There’s a reason why one of the more demanded (and now hottest selling) OT army builders is part of a Fan Channel assortment.  I just have no idea what that reason is.  In my ignorance, I can just be annoyed that it’s not more widely available for the casual buyer. 

As for the other figures:  Evazan is a nice figure, and while the articulation is lacking by today’s standards, I can accept a repack because I’d rather the tooling dollars go elsewhere.  With the Cantina coming soon, it’s not completely off the wall that he’s here, and he did get a nice paint update that could make him a worthwhile purchase even if you have the earlier version.  But he comes 2x, and I don’t think the demand is there for that.  I certainly hope I’m wrong and he sells through quickly.  Chopper was underwhelming, and falls into the category of “Figures That Nobody Asked For.”  That’s okay, because sometimes Hasbro can delight us with something we didn’t expect, but this wasn’t it.  It’s not surprising that Hasbro is going to milk the tooling on Chopper, but the problem is that they should make sure the sculpt is definitive before going wild on the repaints, because with each release, collectors can get more and more frustrated (lack of arm articulation, lack of removable arms, too small?), especially when there are fewer accessories included this time around.  Again, not sure if 2x is the answer here.  LT Callahan is a really nice figure, and we definitely should have her in our collections (or Porter) to pilot our E-Wings.  Her being 1x in the case was probably the right move in a vacuum, but I think she might have a shot at doing better than either Evazan or Chopper, so who knows.  There’s definitely demand for this sculpt to be repainted for future pilots.  And then we have Ms. Sing over here, another member of the “FTNAF” club.  She might be “Return to Tatooine” Adjace, but she didn’t seem to make the cut for the RTT figure poster.  Otherwise, why is she even here at all? 

So the assortment isn’t great.  As I said, I think the Snowtrooper should be in the Main Line.  If that were possible, I’d break it down this way:

2x Snowtrooper (Main Line Release)
1x Dr. Evazan (Fine, but lower the quantity)
2x Chopper (Imperial Disguise) (Fix the sculpt before repainting at some point in the future)
2x Lt. Callahan (OK, but maybe double up?)
1x Aurra Sing (No Release, skip this one)
2x Shirtless Kylo Ren
1x Repacked ASP-7 droid
1x ARC Trooper repaint #10
1x Expired Mounds Bar

By my calculations, that’s…4, 5, 6..carry the 3…square root times 9.8 m/s….and you get an infinitely better case assortment with enough figures that can fit in the newly oriented shipping case designed to eliminate bubble scraping.

If we can’t put the Snowtrooper in the retail assortments for reasons, then I would go with this assortment:

6x Snowtrooper
1x Dr. Evazan
1x Lt. Callahan

Okay, enough of that.  Let’s talk about the figure.  It hasn’t aged well enough for this.  Now, the Aurra Sing and Dr. Evezan figures are nearly the same age and sport the same type of articulation.  But Evezan is a civilian jerk, so we can accept his original articulation, especially given the improvement in paint apps and the upcoming Cantina thing.  Aurra, however, is a Jedi Hunter, so we cannot accept her original articulation, especially given the diminished paint apps and vanishing accessories.

Here’s the quick breakdown so we can move on with our lives:
1.  Reduced paint apps.  Check out the images.  She is missing painted braids in the “underside” of her hair, missing all the paint on the doo-dads she has stowed on her back, and missing details on some of the buckles and whatnots on her outfit.  Aurra also apparently has let herself go and no longer gets her manicures.  She’s going for the natural look instead of painting her nails.  And her pistols and rifles are also missing paint apps that were present in 2012. 
2.  Poor articulation:  While we would never accept this style of articulation on a new figure, if we’re going to get a decade-old re-issue, it can be acceptable depending on the character.  The fans went apes**t way back when Hasbro announced the reissue of Revan, which was about a 12 year old figure at the time.  Plans were scrapped, and we got an all new version.  It’s almost like people didn’t care enough about this character to raise an uproar.  But a Jedi Hunter deserves Jedi Level Articulation, Not only are the hips of the ancient swivel variety, she has no ankles, so help me god, no ankles!  What are we even doing here right now?
3.  Missing Accessories:  Aurra has her less painted blasters and rifle, but she doesn’t have her lightsaber trophy briefcase.  I guess it’s almost an acknowledgement by Hasbro that there’s no way an ankle-less Aurra is going to run down a Jedi, so it kind of makes sense she wouldn’t have the conquest trophies.  But maybe she got them from a friend, who are we to assume?
4.  Antenna:  As a straight repack, it’s not unexpected, but still disappointing that the silly flat “sword” sticking out of her head was not corrected to a more sensical cylindrical antenna shape. 
5.  PhotoReal:  Hasbro did try to upgrade the face paint apps.  It certainly looks nice, although I’m not sure if it’s a slam dunk that it’s better than the original.  It’s definitely not bad, but there may not be a measurable improvement.  Take it or leave it.

So what did we get?  A figure that nobody asked for with reduced paint apps, poor articulation, and fewer accessories.  This got a 7 when we last reviewed it 7 years ago.  I think it probably deserves a 6 or 7 today, if we were just looking back at the 2012 release.  But as a TVC 2.0 “downgrade” in 2025, I have to frustratingly give it a 5.