A talented young rebel pilot from Corellia, Wedge Antilles survived the attack on the first Death Star to become a respected veteran of Rogue Squadron. – Star Wars The Black Series Wedge Antilles (#102)
In 2019, during the runup to the premiere of the ninth and final Skywalker Saga film, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Hasbro – the Pawtucket, RI based toy and game manufacturer – released Wedge Antilles, the 102nd character based 6-inch scale figure in the Star Wars The Black Series collection. It is based on the Rebel pilot played in all three of the original Star Wars trilogy films (plus a cameo in The Rise of Skywalker) by British actor Denis Lawson.
Wedge Antilles is 5.5-inches tall and is depicted in his orange-and-white Rebel Alliance-issued flight suit, complete with a chest-mounted life-support unit, black flight boots and matching pilot’s gauntlets, as well as a grey G-force harness, a customized Rebel-issue flight helmet with yellow tinted visor, and a DH-17 blaster rifle similar to the one used by Lando Calrissian in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.
Kids and collectors alike can imagine the biggest battles and missions in the Star Wars saga with figures from Star Wars The Black Series! With exquisite features and decoration, this series embodies the quality and realism that Star Wars devotees love. Star Wars The Black Series includes figures, vehicles, and roleplay items from the 40-plus-year legacy of the Star Wars Galaxy, including comics, movies, and animated series. – Promo blurb on Hasbro’s official web site.
My Take
As with all of the other Star Wars The Black Series action figures in my modest collection, Wedge Antilles is a good representation of a supporting character from the original trilogy. Although he doesn’t have much screen time in the four films in which he is portrayed by Denis Lawson[1] (who is also famous for being uncle to the Prequel Trilogy’s Ewan McGregor, who plays the young Obi-Wan Kenobi), Wedge is – along with Luke Skywalker – one of the few veterans of the Battles of Yavin, Hoth, and Endor.
The 6-inch scale Black Series Wedge Antilles action figure is detailed to look like the character from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, featuring premium detail and multiple points of articulation. – Promo blurb on Hasbro’s official web site.
The sculpt and paint job on this Star Wars: The Black Series figure is excellent. The detailing is so good that the figure bears a resemblance to the then-29-year-old (when he was cast as a supporting cast member in Star Wars: A New Hope) Lawson. In figure #102, Wedge is rendered in the variant of the flight gear he wears in both A New Hope and Return of the Jedi, even though Hasbro’s product blurb touts the figure as a representation of the talented Rebel pilot as he appears in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.[2]
Although the figure’s multiple articulation points are so obvious that it mars its verisimilitude – after all, #102 Wedge Antilles is a “mass-market” toy and not one of those pricey collectible character replicas for adults, they do allow Star Wars The Black Series fans to display it in life-like action poses. This simply wasn’t possible with original Star Wars licensee Kenner’s Star Wars “micro-action” figures from the late Seventies to the mid-Eighties because those toys had, at most, five points of articulation and could only be posed in a few and rather stiff-looking stances.
This Wedge Antilles can be posed in various ways and can be shown wearing his flight helmet and wielding his Rebel-issue DH-17 blaster – the latter of which we never see him do in the films. Or, if Hasbro ever releases an X-wing fighter vehicle in the 6-inch scale, you could probably sit this figure in the cockpit and relive his harrowing experiences in the space battles which resulted in the destruction of two Death Stars.
What’s in the Package?
MOVIE-BASED CHARACTER-INSPIRED ACCESSORIES: This Star Wars The Black Series action figure comes with 2 Wedge Antilles-inspired accessories that make a great addition to any Star Wars collection. – Promo blurb on Hasbro’s official web site.
Because Kenner, which Hasbro acquired in the mid-1990s during a period in which the erstwhile toy manufacturer changed ownership at least twice, never made a Wedge Antilles figure for its Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back line of 1980-1982, the Star Wars The Black Series figure does not come in a reproduced “cardback” package with Star Wars: The Empire Strike Back 40th Anniversary or “Kenner” livery.
Instead, the figure comes in a standard red-and-black Star Wars The Black Series box which has a “window” on the front panel so you can display Wedge Antilles without opening the packaging. Inside, you’ll see:
- Wedge Antilles (#102) in his flight gear
- Rebel issue flight helmet as customized by Wedge
- A DH-17 “Bespin” blaster – so-called because it was prominently wielded by many Bespin-centric figures in Kenner’s original 3.75-inch Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back collection
Overall, this is a good figure to add to any Star Wars collection. Of all the non-top billed supporting characters in the original Star Wars trilogy, Wedge Antilles is one of the most prominent on the Rebel side, and unlike many others, he actually has a few lines in each film. So it is fitting that Hasbro (formerly known as Hassenfeld Brothers) would feature the stalwart veteran of three major battles (Yavin/first Death Star, Hoth, and Endor/second Death Star) as its 102nd Star Wars The Black Series offering.
Well, this wraps up another Star Wars Toys & Collectibles review. I enjoy writing these writeups because I get to share my views on my favorite collectibles, and I hope, Dear Reader, that you enjoy reading them as well. So until next time, may the Force be with you, and I’ll catch you on the sunny side of things.
[1] Wedge does get his due in many Star Wars novels and comics, both in the old Expanded Universe (Legends) continuity and in Lucasfilm’s official canon. He is a major character in the long-running X-Wing series of novels inspired by the classic Lucas Arts games of the X-Wing trilogy, and he is also a central figure in Chuck Wendig’s 2015 canon novel Aftermath. A younger version of Wedge Antilles also has a story arc in the canonical Lucasfilm Animation/Disney XD series Star Wars Rebels (2014-2018),
[2] I usually don’t quibble with Hasbro’s marketing scribes, but the gear replicated in #102 Wedge Antilles does not resemble costume designer John Mollo’s “winterized” flight uniform and footwear issued to Alliance pilots based on the ice world, Hoth.
A Certain Point of View, Too 
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