Friday 27 November 2020

Toybox REVIEW: S.H. Figuarts The Mandalorian (Beskar Armor)

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Release Date: September 2020
RRP: 7700 yen

The biggest problem when it came to toys from The Mandalorian was that every company had to strike whilst the iron was hot, despite not knowing anything about how the series was going to pan out. Take that brown and tan armour we saw the titular character wearing in all the promo images and footage for example - all those toys produced were slightly inaccurate within five minutes of the first episode and then by the third the armour had been completely discarded. It's only now a year after the completion of season one that the Disney+ series is getting the full action figure treatment, and this is one element of Star Wars that Bandai Tamashii Nations aren't going to drag their heels on. Following only a few months after their original S.H. Figuarts Mandalorian figure, Din Djarin returns in a new S.H. Figuarts The Mandalorian (Beskar Armor) variant! Despite only being a little bit more expensive than its predecessor, this is a far more extensive release that's able to fully capitalise on the success of the series in terms of design and accessories.

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With the Star Wars S.H. Figuarts packaging staying fairly identical across the board there isn’t really anything unique to say about Beskar Mando’s box, although that copper framing Bandai have been using for The Mandalorian releases remains consistent. Of course this figure also comes in the wider style boxes that’s seen much less in the line these days, which in turn is also thicker to accommodate all the accessories this guy comes with. As well as the nice profile shot on the spine the back of the box features numerous stock images of the figure, and given how many optional parts are included numerous photos were definitely required. Inside you’ll find the figure and all these accessories spread across a moulded plastic tray, and just behind it you’ll find another sunset backing card similar to that included with the previous Mandalorian. And since the box is bigger this time around the backing card is also much bigger, making it far more suitable for posing and photography as well! A nice little freebie, which is something many buyers will probably ignore.

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After handing the Child over to the Client in exchange for a camtono full of Beskar, the Mandalorian is presented with new armour forged by the Armourer herself. Gone is the makeshift armour of varying colour and design, replaced with a more uniform silver design that's able to withstand anything that stands in the Mandalorian's way. S.H. Figuarts The Mandalorian (Beskar Armor) is naturally a remould of the previous figure, keeping the base body largely the same (though with some colour changes) and adding brand new armour on top. The silver paint used is suitably shiny, giving the Mandalorian a fresh new look that works far better for a toy than the battle damage did on the previous version. The more extensive use of silver on the figure also makes details stand out that were present on the previous figure stand out all the more, since now they're not just getting lost in a sea of browns. As this figure reuses parts from the original, the helmet is still unfortunately a touch too small. From some of Bandai's initial photos it did look as though this might have been fixed, but a direct comparison of the two shows that clearly isn't the case. That said, the uniform armour certainly makes it less noticeable this time around and careful posing can certainly offset it all the more. It might be a dealbreaker for some, but it really isn't as bad as some make out (and even if you decide this figure isn't for you there's still plenty of alternatives out there). The soft goods cape really completes the look, and makes me all the more glad that Bandai are slowly but surely adopting it as standard with their figures. Sadly it's still not the case for robe/skirt pieces, but baby steps. 

This version of Mando might lack all the battle scarring of the previous one but that doesn't mean it's any less detailed. From the careful etching in each part of the armour to the detonators lined up on his belt, every little detail on this figure is sharp and the paint apps crisp to match. Human heads might still be a bit hit or miss but helmeted characters are Tamashii Nation's bread and butter, so of course they were going to bring their A game here.

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As you can see there are a fair few design differences between the two armours other than colour, but more surprisingly there’s some paint and material changes as well. I’ll cover the changes to the weapons further down in the review, but as for the figure itself the material used for the cape is slightly different. Whereas the first release used material that had a felt-like look and quality to it, the Beskar version has a woven cape with frayed edges. You can barely notice from a distance, but up close there’s a pretty stark difference between them. Why Bandai felt the need to change is a bit of a mystery because neither feels particularly more accurate than the other, however I suppose the worn/frayed effect is a bit more apparent with the Beskar one. It is a little concerning whether or not the frays will worsen with repeated movement/play, but for the time being it certainly works well.

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But despite all the aesthetic changes it's still exactly the same figure where it counts - the articulation. Just like the previous Mandalorian this figure features;
- Ball jointed head, neck, torso, waist and wrists 
- Swivel hinge shoulders, hips and ankles 
- Butterfly motion shoulders 
- Double hinge elbows and knees 
- Bicep and thigh swivels 
Then on top of all that the shoulder pads are both attached via raised ball joints that can lever up and down the arm to allow for additional shoulder movement, and both the hip guards and holster are also attached via hinges so they don't get in the way of the legs. The minimal bits of resistance that were there before, like the way the sash affects forward torso articulation, are all still present. All the joints are nice and smooth, and even if some feel particularly limited you might find with a bit of working they ease up a bit and aren't as bad as you initially thought (I found this with the ankles). Combine that with a nice soft goods cape that doesn't throw anything off and you're on to a real winner.

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Perhaps what’s most impressive of all about this figure is the accessory count, which is definitely feels like one of the most extensive Bandai have put out in recent years. It comes with everything that the previous Mandalorian Figuarts had, plus so much more. But looking at the previous figure‘s accessories (seven additional hands, pistol, pulse blaster rifle, alternate empty pistol holster, alternate piece for the rifle to plug onto the figure’s back and an additional plug for Mando’s sash when not using the gun) there are still a few surprising differences. Immediately from the promotional images fans would have noticed that this time around the Amban-phase pulse blaster rifle now featured metallic blue paint on its two-pronged barrel, but the deco changes are actually far more extensive than that. Whereas the original figure had both the rifle and blaster painted black, here the the pistol and trigger area of the rifle are metallic grey (with additional gold detailing on the rifle). This makes them that little bit more screen accurate, which is a nice touch on Bandai’s part when they could have just recycled the same thing all over again.

Of course since the parts haven’t changed the fiddly parts-swapping and extremely easy to lose plug parts are all still there as well. Rather than struggle trying to plug the rifle into the back it’s easier to just attach it to the shoulder strap and let it hang naturally. The holster swapping is still a bit unnecessary, but admittedly it didn’t feel quite as difficult to do here as it did with the original release.

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As for the remaining accessories, to start there's an additional four extra hands - bringing the figure up to 12 in total. Most of these are just open hands or various accessory holding ones, but one left hand is particularly notable as it's also holding a tracking fob. The piece has been permanently fixed the hand so there's no worry of it getting lost, and for something of that size it's extremely well painted. Moving on there's also an addition right shoulder pauldron with Mudhorn signet (which Mando was presented with in Chapter 12, vibroblade, an alternate front section for the pulse rifle with a protruding energy effect, alternate right wrist gauntlet with flamethrower effect and an alternate left gauntlet with Whistling Bird effect. Undoubtedly the eye-candy in this selection are the three effect parts, which immediately stand out in the swathes of silver with their brightly coloured translucent plastic. Each one is nicely moulded and coloured, without any confusion on what they're supposed to be. The whistling bird one even has the rockets at the tips of each smoke trail painted so that you can see them properly. Then on top of all that you have little items like the vibroblade and alternate pauldron - things that could have very easily been forgotten but Bandai were good enough to throw in anyway. It's selections like this that make me thankful when Bandai choose to release a Figuarts once a show/film has been fully released, because if they'd planned it any sooner that pauldron would almost certainly have been missing. Even better news is that with this alternate one, you can relegate the plain version to the previous Mandalorian and have a costume that's screen-accurate for more than just a few minutes!

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Rounding off the accessory count is the Rising Phoenix, which of course we (as well as most other people in the Star Wars universe) simply know as a jet pack. This staple Mandalorian accessory is painted all-silver, plugging directly onto the figure’s back once you’ve pushed the cape to the side. Though it does bunch the cape up a little when you attach it, the overall silhouette of the figure still looks pretty damn great. Plus it fixes on nice and tightly, so there’s no worry of the bunched-up cape suddenly pushing it out of the socket. Also included are two alternate nozzles with ignition fire, allowing for that perfect in-flight posing. The nozzles are very easy to switch over and look fantastic, which makes it all the more disappointing that Figuarts Boba Fett couldn’t have come with some as well. Sadly for those flight poses you will have to supply your own Tamashii stage (or similar stand), but that’s pretty much par for the course for Figuarts releases. Plus with all the other accessories this figure has it’s really hard to fault Bandai for omitting one.

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While admittedly S.H. Figuarts The Mandalorian (Beskar Armor) still has the same minor flaws and nitpicks of the original release, these become a lot more forgivable when you see just how hard Bandai have tried to make this the perfect (season one) Mandalorian release. Between that brilliant S.H. Figuarts sculpting and the incredible range of accessories, this is an all-encompassing release that other companies would have a tough time beating at this scale. Pretty much any pose you’d want to put your Mandalorian figure in, this one can cover it. But the craziest thing of all is that somehow this still only retailed for 1100 yen more than the initial Figuarts release did. It’ll be a little while before MAFEX’s offering is out on the market for a proper comparison, so Bandai definitely rule the roost for the time being.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Are you going to buy the mafex mando? I'm actually interested in that one but I've never purchased mafex compared to my dozen or so shinkocchou figuarts.

Alex said...

I’ve not preordered it but I’m going to check out early reviews, so may potentially end up with it one day. My experience with MAFEX figures is mainly with their comic/MCU figures, which I’ve found to look good but they’re A LOT more fragile than Figuarts (had a massive breakage issue with my Spider-Man, took half a year to eventually fix with Medicom customer service). That said, my partner has the MAFEX Boba Fett and compared to the Black Series and SHF releases I’d say it’s the best one. Hands are a little loose on the wrists and the sculpt and paint job are way more realistic and accurate.