Star Wars The Black Series The Mandalorian (Beskar Armor) figure review
Much like I’m trying to stop calling The Child by the simple Baby Yoda nickname, I find myself struggling to say Dyn Jarren instead of The Mandalorian or Mando. Either way, along with The Clone Wars final season, The Mandalorian is responsible for rekindling my love of Star Wars. And my renewed interest in Hasbro’s Star Wars The Black Series.
Today I’m taking a look at Dyn himself, which feels weird since it seems like it’s been months since I reviewed Cara Dune. Since he only appeared in his early armor for two episodes, it made more sense to me to hold out for the Beskar armor version. Let’s see if that was the (right) way. Sometimes these puns are easier than others.
Packaging: I’m completely sold on this new package scheme and it’s a change I’m glad Hasbro made after 115+ plus with that black and red setup. The golden brown was a good choice as it hints at the colors used in the post-credits scene.
I love the side artwork. The SWB bios are written with a sense of storytelling even if doesn’t do a comprehensive summary of the character.
Likeness: One of my favorite aspects of The Mandalorian is the personalized elements that distinguish him from the mainstream Mandalorians Boba and Jango Fett. The shoulder strap with capsules and belt with holster came out nicely as well. I like the bunched up nature of the outfit and the right kneepad with the extra capsules.
The Beskar armor was a major shiny visual enhancement over Mando’s original outfit. I love the sculpting elements of the armor including the mudhorn on the right shoulder pad.
Mando’s cape has been somewhat controversial as its plastic instead of soft goods. The cape is relatively soft, but it is molded in a way to bunch cup in the way Mando wears it. That does restrict the ability to wear the jet pack along with the cape in a way that looks right.
Paint: I really like how Hasbro did the paint job. All of the armor elements have a metallic sheen to them. All of the more detailed aspects to the attire like the brown and pads, armor boots and the dark grey elements.
Scale: So far there are not a lot of figures to really compare in terms of his scale. I have a massive wish list of figures I want to see already, but for now it’s more Mandalorians and Cara Dune. He’s appropriately scaled and taller than her. We’ll see how this looks when Greef Carga comes around.
Articulation: Mando has terrific articulation despite his armor preventing the butterfly shoulder point. His armor bits are made of a soft plastic that has some flexibility instead of rigid, blockers that limit movement.
It’ll be fun coming up with poses for him capturing scenes from the series.
The Mandalorian has:
- neck
- ball-jointed shoulders
- butterfly shoulders
- elbow
- wrist
- wrist hinge
- torso
- hips
- thighs
- knees (double jointed)
- ankles
Accessories: Dyn Jarren is geared up to handle any situation. He’s got his pulse rifle disintegrator. As usual, Hasbro did a tremendous job on capturing the look of the source material.
It plugs into a hole in his back so you can have the default resting look.
Mando has his smaller blaster, which fits in either hand and the holster. Finally, he comes with his jetpack. There’s not a great way to work the jetpack and the cape together so you’ll have to ditch the cape for a proper jetpack pose.
Worth it? The Mandalorian clocked in at $20, but he’s likely to be very tricky to find for that price. I imagine he’ll get more releases maybe even with a Season 2 look if there’s any outfit updates so I wouldn’t overpay for him just yet.
Rating: 9.5 out of 10
Mando is really close thanks to the great articulation and commitment to getting his outfit right. Better implementation of the jetpack and the cape are the only things holding him back.
Where to get it? I have only seen two figures from this wave in stores so going online might be a less stressful option. Amazon has him at a higher than retail price point. Entertainment Earth has him available for $20 with an April release.
