Hello, friends.  It’s been so long since I’ve been around these parts that I almost forgot how to publish one of these reviews.  Due to the fact that Mr. Nomadscout isn’t very good at preordering, many of the latest figures have landed in my collection before they’ve found their way into his.  We ordered on the same day from the same place.  Mine shipped, his didn’t.  He needs to do better.  Imagine a collector of his experience and tenure being bad at such a fundamental part of the hobby. 

When this was announced, my initial reaction was that I didn’t need another Mandalorian or another Grogu.  The Vintage Collection has been filthy with Beskar armored Mandalorians.  In fact, when TWO such figures took up main line slots in 2024 with VC312 - The Mandalorian (Mines of Mandalore) and VC312A - The Mandalorian (Imperial Base), it lead many fans to declare full blown fatigue of figures wearing Mandalorian armor, myself included.  So the thought of me buying yet another such figure, let alone at the $28 deluxe price point, seemed laughable.

Then I saw THIS IMAGE from the press photos drop, and I was hooked.  I’m a sucker for figures that interact naturally with the long guns.  Seeing the rifle shouldered in a two handed weapon grip with the figure roughly looking down the sight pushed my excitement level to an eleven.  I couldn’t wait to take this figure for a test drive.  As they say, be careful what you wish for.  While it’s achievable, I can’t say that I had a lot of fun getting the figure there.  I found it mostly frustrating.  If you look at the rifle, it has a pistol-style grip.  The figure includes a swappable hand with an extended trigger finger to insert into the rifle’s trigger guard while the rest of the hand is sculpted to hold the aforementioned grip.  The problem is that the trigger finger doesn’t come close to reaching the trigger guard (see image 13 above).  So I had to examine the image from above to see what magic Monsieur Cohen employed, and if you check it again, you will see in his image that Din isn’t holding the grip.  He’s holding the rifle via the stock like you would with an old timey Model 1873 Winchester.

It actually looks pretty cool that way (even if it’s not the intent of the design), but this has become problematic because the grip of the hand isn’t sculpted for this pose, and therein lies the bulk of my frustration.  It took me some serious finagling to get the hand around the stock with the index finger inside the trigger guard.  I actually found it easiest to remove the hand, seat it on the rifle, and then reinsert the hand with rifle into the arm.  It’s all further complicated by the modern scourge of rubbery hands that aren’t so grippy (which complicates interaction with the dagger as well).  But the important thing is that, regardless of the effort and frustration level, this Mandalorian can get there, and looks pretty good once it is.  I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time discussing the interaction with the rifle because I believe that is the highest aspiration of a super articulated figure of any scale, and in a strict pass/fail grading, this release succeeds.  The rest of the articulation functions like a dream as you’d expect of a modern figure.  You will notice that a natural kneeling pose can be achieved, which is another aspect that distinguishes a modern figure as a “cut above.”  One last mention on the rifle (as it will be relevant to the articulation) is that it has a peg on it that I knew was meant to store the rifle somewhere on the figure when not in use, but I couldn’t figure out where it was meant to go.  Our fiend Mr. Miko hipped me to the fact that there’s a slot on the top of the jetpack into which it plugs.  I like the fact that the arm can even be contorted to grip it from its stowed position.

I love the way the Grogu accessory plugs onto the jetpack as it give the impression that he’s perched in Mando’s shoulder, which is clearly a callback to Yoda in Luke’s backpack on Dagobah.  Grogu is an accessory because aside from the swivel head, it’s an inert piece of plastic.  The problem is that once removed, the jetpack has an unsightly peg jutting out from the side.  It’s another criticism that keeps this Mandalorian from being a perfect release.  Considering the deluxe price point, it’s too bad a second standard jetpack couldn’t be include.  My final disappointment with this Mando is the fact that there is no place to stow the dagger.  It would have been nice to sculpt a sheath similar to what was done on Paz Vizsla.

Finally I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the silver paint used on this release.  It’s very lustrous and I feel like it stops just short of providing a reflective surface.  It’s hard to appreciate it in the comparison shot with VC312A due to the photography lamps, but in hand it really pops.  I also appreciate the fact that the grip of the pistol was painted, as are the metal inlays in the stock of the rifle.  These are the details that had been getting eaten away lately. 

As you saw on your way down to the written review, I deducted a point from this release to give it a 9 out of 10.  The constellation of disappointments prevents me from giving it a perfect score. I really wanted to love this figure, but instead I just really, really like it.  It might involve a little more frustration than I like, but it can get into some really cool poses.  Ultimately, it’s about the destination, so that’s all that matters.