Toybox REVIEW: Star Wars Black Series Mandalorian Loyalist

Release Date: October 2020

RRP: $24.99/£24.99

Between the Siege of Mandalore finally being realised onscreen in Star Wars: The Clone Wars season seven and The Mandalorian season two as a whole, 2020 has been a great year to be a Mandalorian fan. Hasbro obviously feel that way too with the amount of Mandalorian-based merchandise they've released over the past 12 months, with their Walmart-exclusive range of Black Series Clone Wars figures not featuring one, but TWO Mandalorian figures. The Black Series Mandalorian Loyalist represents the members of Death Watch that rejected the rule of Darth Maul, fighting back for the liberation of their planet under the lead of Bo-Katan Kryze - the sister of former ruler Duchess Satine, murdered by Maul's blade.

Like the rest of this Clone Wars season seven wave the Mandalorian Loyalist is among the earliest Black Series releases to adopt the new style of packaging, taking the plain old black boxes away and replacing them with a new thinner variety that features an angled spine with combining character artwork. The artwork, lettering and borders all share a vibrant yellow colour, which is the specific colour Hasbro have chosen to represent The Clone Wars (each aspect of the Star Wars universe having its own designated colour). The front of the box is fairly basic in design, mainly consisting of a large window to view the figure trapped inside. At the top is the Star Wars Black Series logo, with the name of the figure at the bottom in a yellow border. The flat spine continues that window with another logo, whilst the angled spine sports the aforementioned character artwork. The back is mostly designed the same as it previously was, featuring a short character bio and a close-up version of the character artwork. Opening the new style boxes (it's the easiest to do from the top), you'll find the entire transparent plastic piece slides out, as the window piece is a lid piece for the tray underneath.

The Mandalorian Loyalist is a reworking of the 2016 Jango Fett figure, which was also used for the accompanying Mandalorian Super Commando figure. As such large sections of this review will be exactly the same. Other than them both obviously being Mandalorians though there's a lot of differences between the two visually. Like the Super Commando the Mandalorian Loyalist has a newly sculpted helmet (with no helmet underneath ala the Boba Fett figure), but this is a more traditional Mando design that simply lacks the range finder on the side. Other changes to the original mould include a new belt sporting generically sculpted panels as opposed to pouches, and reworked upper legs that lack armour and have more basic blaster holsters that lack the fastenings around the legs. The Mandalorian Loyalist retains the dark grey and blue colour scheme of Death Watch/the Nite Owls, with the undersuit being blue and the Beskar armour in dark grey. Other colour highlights include gunmetal wrist gauntlets and knee pads, red markings on the shoulder pads and helmet as well as silver bits of battle damage across the armour. It's not quite as striking or visually intimidating as the Super Commando, but for fans of The Clone Wars it's an iconic Mandalorian armour that was long overdue a figure. Despite the mould's age the proportions on the figure are great, standing comfortably against even the newest Black Series releases. To paraphrase Return of the Jedi, it's an old mould sir but it checks out.

As a four year old figure the articulation here isn't quite up to par with Hasbro's current efforts, but as previously stated this is a mould that's proved to have a lot of longevity and certainly shouldn't be counted out. Altogether the Mandalorian Loyalist features;

- Ball-jointed head and hips

- Swivel hinge neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists and ankles

- Double hinge knees

- Bicep, gauntlet and thigh swivels 

Elements like the swivel hinge elbows are more uncommon on male body figures these days (especially paired up with a bicep swivel), but overall it isn't too different to what we see on Hasbro figures today. The new shoulder pads have been designed slightly better in that they withdraw into the torso a little bit when the arms are raised, but even then they're still a reminder of the restrictive variant Hasbro used on so many different figures in this line. The elbow design was pretty terrible though and remains unimproved, sporting a pretty lacklustre bend that barely even manages 90 degrees. Similarly the ankle joint isn't all that great either, having very little bend from the hinge or much rocker motion because of how long that shin armour is. Interestingly despite them being released and (presumably) manufactured at the same time the Loyalist's joints weren't anywhere near as tight as the ones on the Super Commando. This not only meant that it was a bit easier to pose, but balancing wasn't as much of an issue either. Of course, the jetpack still makes the figure somewhat top-heavy, so you still have to look out for that. This, along with any Mandalorian with a jetpack, really is a figure where you'll need a display stand to get the most out of it, because nothing beats those mid-air flight poses.

The Mandalorian Loyalist comes packed with a jetpack and twin WESTAR-35 blaster pistols, both of which have been repurposed from pre-existing figures. The jetpack is once again from Jango Fett, whilst the blaster pistols were originally included with Sabine Wren. The guns are metallic silver (as opposed to the Super Commando's gunmetal grey), whilst the jetpack is the same dark grey as the armour. The jetpack does however feature some additional paint apps - not only does it have the same red and silver highlights around the side cylinders as the Super Commando but it also has a central red rectangle frame in the centre and silver streaks running across each side. As the jetpack was also intended for use with this mould, its a perfect fit and the two additional tabs at the top of the piece give far better support than the main tab would have been able to on its own. In comparison the blasters fit perfectly into the figure's hands, but are an extremely tight fit into the holsters on its thighs. Since these seem to be newly done holsters its a little strange that Hasbro didn't get the fit perfect, but even with the tight fit there shouldn't be any worry of damaging the figure or accessories. Given the metallic finish of the blasters it's fair to assume these are painted, but after repeated use there doesn't seem to be any sort of paint rub from either the hands or the holsters. Overall its a basic, but nevertheless comprehensive range of accessories for a nameless Mandalorian soldier.

Death Watch are a huge part of Mandalorian history in the current Star Wars canon, and between the Siege of Mandalore story arc in The Clone Wars and Bo-Katan Kryze's appearance in The Mandalorian they definitely came into the spotlight this year. Much like the Super Commando the Black Series Mandalorian Loyalist was a figure that would have benefitted from a more regular release to allow for army building, but to finally get one after all this time is a dream enough in itself. The mould is getting on a bit in age now and has its shortcomings, but the fact it can still be rolled out like this and result in such a great figure just shows its longevity. The Mandalorian Loyalist is definitely one to pick up while you still can - it looks great facing off against the Super Commando, and it'll look even better alongside the Bo-Katan figure coming next year.