I imagine the process for creating this particular trooper went something like this:  The creative team approached Mr. Favreau and asked him what this new Imperial Trooper should look like.  Should it resemble a Stormtrooper?  Should it resemble a Mandalorian Warrior?  Should it resemble a Clone Trooper?  The legendary auteur pondered the question while stroking the whiskers of his goatee.  After a pregnant pause, he offered one simple word:  everything.  In essence, the Imperial Armored Commando is the Javier Bardem haircut of Imperial Troopers:

On paper, this army builder is all things to all collectors.  It’s hard to imagine a fan with whom this design would not resonate on some level.  Perhaps this emboldened Hasbro to push the figure into the deluxe category assuming its universal appeal would overcome the higher price point.  That may work in theory with characters that collectors need only one or two of, such as the recent Hammerhead or last year’s Jango Fett.  I know in my case, I was unfazed with the price point for Hammerhead, and I held my nose when I pushed the preorder button on Jango.  But I would be hard pressed to go long on army building at the deluxe price point.

When I looked at the accessory load out, I was initially cynical.  I thought Hasbro was gratuitously padding it out to justify moving the Imperial Armored Commando into the higher price point.  The indelible image I have of the character is when they rocketed up from the depths of Manadlore to meet Bo-Katan’s forces.  In that scene they are armed with their long blaster rifles, so initially I would have preferred just that rifle and the sidearm as accessories at the basic price point.  But upon reviewing the Mandalorian Season 3 finale, I have to admit that all of these accessories are necessary to represent the Imperial Armored Commando in all possible displays.  I have to imagine most fans will want to position the Commando going up against Mando himself, in which case the shield and electro-baton are critical (as well as the sidearm).  While army building a fleet of these figures might not be practical in the deluxe expression, you will definitely want at least a few of them to get all of these accessories.

As for the figure itself, I’m sorry to say that I find it disappointing.  It works best with the baton and shield, which is a saving grace, but it interacts poorly with the other accessories.  The poses with the long rifle are frustrating.  The right hand is sculpted too open for it to firmly grasp the grip the rifle.  The off hand has the middle hinge, which I increasingly hate.  Finally the ability of the arms to rotate toward the midline of the figure is negligible.  The arms basically stick straight out from the shoulders.  When you add up these factors, the only two-handed weapon grip possible is one where you basically make a box with the arms by bending the elbows ninetey degrees and getting the grip angles of the two hands to align.  That translates to the old shoot from the hip pose.  Any pose where the Commando is even hinting at looking down the sights of the rifle is straight out.  It’s not possible which is a shame.  The recent Snowtrooper can approximate such poses, and that character has much bulkier armor, so it’s a puzzle why it can’t be done here.

The sidearm is noteworthy.  It’s reminiscent of the familiar SE-14C blaster (i.e. the Dr. Evazan blaster), but it’s different.  According to Wookieepedia, tt’s actually the SE-14r light repeating blaster.  I’m fairly certain that’s the blaster that comes with K-2SO. That K2 blaster seems to accurately reflect the picture on Wookieepedia.  The version that comes with the Imperial Armored Commando is a different sculpt and lacks a scope, and it turns out that the scope-less version is accurate to the source:

Kudos to Hasbro for making the effort to sculpt this variation of the SE-14r instead of just repacking the inaccurate K2 version.  You might think the aforementioned loose grip would doom the interaction with the SE-14r, but if you hook the trigger finger inside the trigger guard it stays in place even if the pistol grip is effectively floating in the palm. Aside from the jetpack, the final accessory is the knife which is actually plays a role in the plot.  Mando disarms several Commandos of their blades to either cut his bindings or turn the weapon back on his attacker.  The problem is that the figure lacks a sheath to store the accessory, like Paz Vizsla, and both of the hands are sculpted too open to effectively hold it.  It’s destined to be lost, which I actually did at one point during the photography.

My disappointment with the figure doesn’t end with the arms and poor interaction with the accessories.  The legs are little wonky too.  The upper thighs seem disproportionately long.  When placing the figure in a crouch, this pushes the knees very far forward, and the figure then wants to fall over backwards.  In order to achieve balance in any aggressive fighting crouch, I had to fan the legs out in a POTF2-eque power stance.  On the plus side, the figure can perform a natural kneeling pose, which is combinable.  But I encourage you to take another look at the profile shot of the kneeling pose above.  Is it me, or does it look odd?  I feel like it gives the impression that the Commando’s leg is bending at about two thirds of the way up its shin.  I initially graded this figure a seven, but it’s better than that.  A seven would be a standard score for a TVC 1.0 figure, but this Imperial Armored Commando offers more utility courtesy of the barbell hips and rocker ankles.  So I’m giving it an 8 out of 10.

I’ve only had one Imperial Armored Commando delivered so far, so I apologize that the diorama shots are a little thin.  Mr. Nomadscout said he might have time to add some additional photos before publication, but I have no way of knowing whether or not he did at the time of this writing.  Between his New York night owl body clock and the fact that he’s three hours behind me, when and if he does add photos I will have been asleep for six hours.