Lando Calrissian Skiff Guard (Archive) — Star Wars The Black Series

Overview

Lando Calrissian at the Archive Collection captures the canonical Return of the Jedi Jabba’s Palace infiltration configuration — Lando having shifted from schemer to genuine Alliance leader, joining Princess Leia in the mission to rescue Han Solo from Jabba’s captivity by disguising himself as a skiff guard. Released late May/early June 2022 single-carded as part of the Wave 6 Archive Collection. Mainline non-exclusive at $22.99 — Phase 4 standard mainline pricing. 19 joints. Two accessories: a force pike (vibro lance) and a removable skiff guard helmet. The figure is a re-pack of the 2018 Black Series Lando Calrissian (figure id=16301).

The Photo-Real Portrait: Phenomenal

The photo-real face printing technology on Lando is described as phenomenal — the likeness to actor Billy Dee Williams is amazing. This is the headline upgrade of the Archive Lando re-release and it’s one of the strongest photo-real portrait implementations across the entire Archive sub-line. Among all the Archive Collection photo-real upgrades, this portrait stands alongside Anakin Skywalker (Archive) and Han Solo TFA (Archive) as among the most impactful individual portrait improvements.

The canonical Billy Dee Williams facial features — the distinctive bone structure, the expression, the specific likeness commitment — read correctly through the photo-real application in a way the pre-photo-real 2018 source body’s hand-applied paint couldn’t deliver.

The Force Pike and Removable Helmet

Lando came with a removable helmet and a vibro lance (force pike). The weapon fits well into both of Lando’s hands — standard ambidextrous weapon-grip engineering — and he can even hold it with both hands at the same time. The two-handed grip capability supports canonical skiff guard combat-deployment configurations where the force pike is wielded with both hands for reach-weapon configurations.

The helmet fits nicely over the head and can easily be removed. Specific helmet-removal engineering commendation — the clean pull-over-head removal mechanism supports both helmeted and unmasked display states without requiring any forced component disassembly. For collectors building canonical Jabba’s Palace undercover-Lando display configurations, the removable helmet supports both the disguised-skiff-guard state and the unmasked-Lando-during-rescue-sequence state.

The force pike’s blade was given a wash which looks great. Specific weapon-paint commendation worth flagging — unlike the Wave 6 colleagues Dengar (Archive) and C-3PO (Archive) whose weapons ship without paint detail, the Lando Archive’s force pike receives a dedicated wash. The washed blade reads with appropriate screen-accurate weapon-texture depth that single-colour-no-wash approaches can’t deliver.

The Outstanding Costume Detail

The details found on the entire figure are outstanding. The silver gauntlet on Lando’s right forearm, the shoulder bells, and the chest plate were given small dents which adds a life-like appearance. Specific sculpt-and-paint-detail commendation across multiple costume-component categories — the canonical Return of the Jedi skiff guard armour configuration includes specific distinctive equipment elements (the silver forearm gauntlet is particularly notable as a Lando-specific costume detail) and the small dent damage across the chest plate and shoulder bells captures appropriate operational-environment wear-and-tear.

The outfit was given subtle weathering and the wash on the front and back feels real. Specific environmental-detail paint commendation — unlike Wave 6 C-3PO’s clean-finish approach, the Lando Archive’s full-outfit weathering wash delivers canonical screen-accurate lived-in appearance for the undercover Rebel-operating-in-criminal-territory configuration.

The figure looks great overall — the head sculpt is phenomenal, the details on the outfit look great, and the figure’s overall appearance captures Lando Calrissian’s look from the Jabba Palace scenes in Return of the Jedi very well. All in all this is a strong Archive Collection release.

Articulation

19 joints. Ball-jointed top neck, ball-jointed lower neck, ball-jointed shoulders, ball-jointed elbows, ball-jointed wrists, ball-jointed upper body, ball-jointed hips, swivel thighs, swivel joints above the knees, swivel joints below the knees, ball-jointed ankles. Above the 17-joint baseline thanks to dual-axis neck engineering. The figure has no balancing problems. Standard human-scale character-class standing-stability engineering supporting multiple display-pose configurations.

Distribution and the Wave 6 Cluster

Standard mainline Archive Collection release at $22.99 — released late May/early June 2022 as part of Wave 6 alongside C-3PO (Archive), Dengar (Archive), and Emperor Palpatine (Archive). The Wave 6 cluster covers original-trilogy character-class restoration across four distinct character types — the Lando Skiff Guard is structurally the highest-effort release in Wave 6, with the force pike wash and full-outfit weathering representing notably more paint commitment than the C-3PO zero-accessory no-weathering Wave 6 companion.

For collectors building canonical Return of the Jedi Jabba’s Palace rescue-mission displays, Lando Skiff Guard is essential — he’s the infiltrating Rebel operative whose skiff guard disguise is required for the canonical Han Solo rescue sequence. Pairs with Princess Leia Boushh (Archive) for the canonical Jabba-infiltration pair, both characters in disguise for the same rescue mission.

Other Lando Calrissian Figures

Lando has been a recurring Rebel-Alliance-leader and smuggler character-class release subject. Other notable releases include the Original Trilogy Collection The Empire Strikes Back release (figure id=99), the 30th Anniversary Collection Smuggler Outfit variant (figure id=103), the Legacy Collection Battle At The Sarlacc Pit 5-Pack (figure id=281), the Vintage Collection General variant (figure id=690), the Power of the Jedi Bespin Escape release (figure id=747), the Vintage Collection Sandstorm Outfit (figure id=1027), and the 2018 Black Series source body (figure id=16301). The Archive release joins this character-class catalogue as the dedicated 2022 Wave 6 Archive Collection re-pack with phenomenal photo-real portrait upgrade.

Secondary Market

Single-carded Archive Collection release with dedicated Archive cardback packaging, late May/early June 2022. Available through wide retail channels at MSRP and the secondary market. Verify both accessories — the force pike and the removable skiff guard helmet — are included.

Verdict

Lando Calrissian Skiff Guard (Archive) at the 2022 Wave 6 Archive Collection is one of the strongest individual Archive Collection releases in the sub-line — the photo-real Billy Dee Williams portrait is phenomenal and stands as one of the most impactful portrait upgrades across the Archive Collection, the full-outfit weathering wash and small dents on chest plate and shoulder bells deliver screen-accurate wear-and-tear, the silver forearm gauntlet and costume-detail commitment is outstanding, the force pike blade wash delivers appropriate weapon-texture depth absent from many Wave 6 companion accessories, the removable helmet supports helmeted-and-unmasked dual display states, and the two-handed force pike grip supports canonical reach-weapon combat configurations.

If you missed the 2018 release, this is an easy recommendation. And even if you own it, the portrait upgrade is worth considering.

Buy this figure if you appreciate the Billy Dee Williams photo-real portrait as a collecting priority (one of the best in the Archive sub-line), if you build canonical Return of the Jedi Jabba’s Palace rescue-mission display configurations (essential alongside Princess Leia Boushh Archive for the canonical infiltration pair), if you missed the 2018 source release, or if you collect the Archive Collection as a complete set. Skip if you already own the 2018 figure and are specifically comparing portrait quality on your shelf — though even then, the upgrade may be worth it.

The schemer-turned-leader who infiltrated Jabba’s palace to rescue Han Solo. The figure with the phenomenal Billy Dee Williams photo-real portrait, the full-outfit weathering wash, the small-dents armour detail, the force pike with blade wash, and the removable helmet. The Lando Skiff Guard that anchors Wave 6 Archive Collection as its highest-effort paint-commitment release. Mainline distribution, late May/early June 2022, Wave 6.

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Part of Star Wars The Black Series | Phase 4 Archive Collection. Related: C-3PO (Archive) P4-ARC-3PO | Dengar (Archive) P4-ARC-DG | Emperor Palpatine (Archive) P4-ARC-EP | Princess Leia Boushh (Archive) P4-ARC-05.