Hasbro Star Wars: The Black Series: The Mandalorian (2019 edition) and Bo-Katan Kryze 2 in 1 Review

Image © Dan's ToyBox 2023

Hey, welcome back to another Dan's ToyBox 2 in 1 review. Today we're looking at a couple of the gifts from my recent birthday. The Star Wars Black Series "The Mandalorian" (2019 issue) and Bo-Katan Kryze. As I've begun to "flesh out" my Mandalorian collection, I'm excited to consider which of the armored warriors I'll be adding next! In fact, that might be the subject of my first ever Dan's ToyBox GIVEAWAY!!! If you aren't a member of the Dan's ToyBox Facebook group, or a subscriber here, you will need to be, in order to participate.

If you are unfamiliar with the Disney + The Mandalorian series, I highly recommend jumping in and binge watching the first two seasons. Season 3 launches on March 1 and you'll want to get caught up. As I've discussed Din Djarin previously, our background focus will be on the deadly Bo-Katan Kryze. She was first introduced in The Clone Wars, as a member of the Death Watch, a terrorist faction of Mandalorians. Their only goal; to restore the ancient warrior ways of their planet, Mandalore. She is the sister of Duchess Satine Kryze, the pacifist ruler of Mandalore. Because of their differing political views. the two sisters are estranged from one another. At one point, she allies herself with former Jedi Ahsoka Tano and the Galactic Republic to liberate Mandalore from Darth Maul. In the animated series Rebels, Bo-Katan is gifted the Darksaber by Sabine Wren and declared the new ruler of Mandalore, while in The Mandalorian, she, along with her small team of Mandalorian warriors, seeks to recover the Darksaber from Moff Gideon after the Purge of Mandalore. Of interesting note, actress Katie Sackhoff initially provided the voice for Bo-Katan in her animated appearances and later portrayed her in the live action Mandalorian series.

Let's dive into our four primary categories: Accessories, Appearance, Articulation and Affordability to better appreciate these two figures. As with previous 2 in 1 reviews, the scores will be reflective of both figures and the overall rating at the end will also apply to each, individually.

Image © Dan's ToyBox 2023

ACCESSORIES

The Mandalorian comes with his Amban Rifle and blaster pistol, while Bo-Katan comes with a removable helmet, jetpack, and her two blaster pistols. The armor design that Mando is wearing on this figure was prior to him getting a jetpack of his own and thus his accessories are missing that one key component. His cape is removable, but as it comes already in place, I don't really consider it an accessory. Bo-Katan's helmet though does count as when we meet her in the series, there are several instances where she removes it. As we've seen these accessories with Mando before there really isn't a lot to say about them and since I've never seen Bo-Katan with really anything else, I'm content with what she has. The accessories aren't terrible, so I'll give them a 6 out of 10 for being accurate to the characters.

Images © Dan's ToyBox 2023

APPEARANCE

Both of these are very solid representations of the characters. Starting with Bo-Katan, her costume design, paint applications, and details are really well done. The paint apps for damage/dirt on her greaves and shin guards, along with the shoulder pauldrons is neatly applied although a bit too symmetrical to look authentic. I had hoped that her chestplate would have some scuffing and scraping on it, but it is very clean. Though it's a nice look, her armor does have a worn look to it in the series and you can see visible scrapes and scratches. While I get that her gunbelt and holsters are a lighter brown, mine almost have an orange appearance to them and it really sticks out badly. Had there been some wash applied over it, I think it would have looked much better. The detail on her helmet is also very painstakingly applied and looks fantastic. Aside from the "too bright" colors, this is a really well-done figure. Perhaps if the blues were just a tad more muted and as mentioned, the belt were a touch darker, the look would have been even more screen accurate. Mando's garb is very indicative of his initial appearance in the first few episodes of the series. The armor is dented, discolored and overall, very disheveled in look. I LIKE IT! This is the look of a man that has faced many adversaries, been through the battles, and came out, not always unscathed. I love the grimy look to his helmet and the just "beat up" look to his gear and equipment. I really enjoy the fact that his body suit under the armor is painted different colors as well, which shows the attention to detail in trying to reproduce the figure. I do have ONE huge complaint though. The T Visor on my helmet appears to be cracked/dented.

Images © Dan's ToyBox 2023

My packaging was in great shape, and the tape was undamaged so I can tell the box wasn't opened, so how this might have happened is absolutely beyond me. I've never heard or seen any other Mandalorian figures with this issue, and let's face it, they all use the SAME body, but with updated paint schemes. If anybody else out there has this issue with their version of this figure, please let me know. So, while I really do like both of these figures, those paint gripes on Bo-Katan and Mando's cracked visor are point killers. They get a combined 6 out of 10 for appearance.

Images © Dan's ToyBox 2023

ARTICULATION

As with previous Star Wars figures we've reviewed, there isn't much to brag about with the articulation engineering on these figures. Bo-Katan's head has independent up/down movement, which does get a boost from the neck also being on a ball peg, so even with the helmet, there is some up/down movement. Mando can look up to a degree, but again, is limited because of the helmet. Both heads turn side to side easily and Bo does have some head tilting capability. The arms will rotate a full 360 degrees at the shoulders and can be elevated out to decent T poses, be careful though as the shoulder pauldrons on both figures will bend if pushed too hard. There is no upper bicep swivel in each, instead the swivel is built into the single-jointed elbows. These bend to just a bit past 90 degrees on both figures. The wrists have good pivot to them and the hinge is vertical for weapons display accuracy. Both figures have limited upper diaphragm joints which do rotate and tilt to a degree, but the ability to crunch is severely limited. Neither figure has a waist swivel which is disappointing. The holsters are soft enough that the figures can do decent splits and forward kicks. Both have very well-hidden thigh cuts that work fine. Mando does have a double-jointed knee which bends in fairly good enough, but Bo's knees are a single hinge and don't go much past 90 degrees. Mando's ankle hinge and rocker work very nicely, but Bo's are absolute trash. I can get very limited movement from mine outside of a generous ankle rocker. I hope that with season 3, Hasbro maybe engineers a new buck for Mando, because this one, while good looking, is really not a great example of an "action" figure. I'm also fairly disappointed with Bo-Katan and so feel like these are average at best with a 5 out of 10 for both.

Image © Dan's ToyBox 2023

AFFORDABILITY

So, as mentioned, both of these figures were birthday gifts. Free is always good! However, if you want to add them to your collection, both are available online at different outlets. Mando retails between $20.99 and $24.99 and Bo is retailing in the range of $17.99 to $22.99. Are they "great" figures? Maybe not, but they do make nice additions to any Mandalorian styled collection and as such, the pricing isn't terribly prohibitive. I'll give them each an 8 out of 10 for affordability.

Overall, while I enjoy having them and think they look nice with my Mandalorian collection, they are really lacking in the posing/playability factor and man, that damaged Mando visor really hacks me off. As such, my copies of these figures earn the slightly above average:

6 out of 10 ToyBoxes

As rough as I am on these figures, I will admit that I enjoy the look of the different Mandalorian armors and am seriously looking at expanding my Mandalorian shelf. As I do, you'll get more objective looks at these action figures. As always, thank you for visiting and until next time... GEEK OUT!!!