The Expanse: now in action figure form

During the pandemic, I went down the rabbit hole of collecting Star Wars action figures. I had picked up a handful of the 6-inch Black Series troopers, and somewhere along the way, I realized that if I picked up one or two more, I'd be able to do a whole "evolution" of the trooper from the franchise. It snowballed from there, and I have a pretty complete set of the troopers as seen from Attack of the Clones all the way up to Revenge of the Sith. It was a cathartic thing, and fortunately, Hasbro has let up on the gas a bit when it comes to new trooper figures, so I – and my wallet – have had something of a reprieve.

That might come to an end soon though: toy/media company Nacelle partnered with Alcon Entertainment a year ago to produce a line of action figures from The Expanse TV series, and last week, launched a Kickstarter campaign for the project.

This is pretty neat: I've been a fan of the series ever since I read an advance copy of the first novel, and I really enjoyed the TV adaptation that ran on the Syfy Channel and Prime Video. It's not the most toyetic of franchises, but it's one of those stories where I've definitely bought my fair share of merchandise.

Nacelle is looking to raise $225,000 in the next month, and fans can pick a selection of 1:12 scale figures of characters from the series: Chrisjen Avasarala, Amos Burton, Bobbie Draper, Camina Drummer, James Holden, Detective Josephus Miller, Naomi Nagata, and a Protomolecule Hybrid. Notably missing? The Rocinante's pilot, Alex Kamal. That's not a huge surprise: actor Cas Anvar was fired from the series after allegations of sexual misconduct and an investigation from Alcon. They all come with a variety of extras as well.

The price isn't too bad for this type of figure: you can back the campaign for individual figures (which'll run you $39 plus shipping), and there are some additional tiers that have some of the figures packed together (like Bobbie and the Protomolecule Hybrid). If they hit certain benchmarks, they'll unlock some additional things, like a stand for all eight figures, and some other things. Nacelle says that they're anticipating shipping orders in the spring of 2025. As with any Kickstarter or crowdfunding campaign, expect some slippage or potential bumps in the road that could push that date back a bit.

Kickstarter does seem to be the route to keep fans engaged with the series and characters: a year ago, BOOM! Comics launched a campaign for a spinoff comic series called Dragon Tooth, which is set after the series ended. I received my first pledge for it a while back, and I've been steadily picking up the issues from a local comic shop.

I don't know that I'd want to snag all of the figures, but there is one that I am eager to snag: Bobbie Draper. She's long been my favorite character in the series, in no small part because I thought Alcon nailed the look of the powered armor that she wears. She'll make a nice addition to the shelf alongside my other armored troopers.