Review: Star Wars Black Series Cassian Andor (Sienar Test Pilot) from Andor, Galaxy Collection Wave 21
- Mephitsu
- a few seconds ago
- 6 min read
“I’ll see you along the road”
Cassian Andor in his Sienar Test Pilot gear was released in 2025 as part of Wave 21 of the Galaxy Collection. The Wave included Director Orson Krennic from the same Season 2 content, while the other figures were taken from other areas of the Star Wars Universe, including Moff Gideon and the Praetorian Guard from The Mandalorian Season 3, and Anakin Skywalker and Captain Rex from the flashback scenes in Ahsoka.
Test Pilot Cassian is number 15 in the Andor Galaxy Collection and features the established deep red focus colour on top of the matt black of the Black Series outer packaging. The red colour is used on the key text elements and on the side art where an unhelmeted Cassian is pictured cradling his blaster. The artwork connects directly to the Range Trooper from the same Sienar Base scenes at the number 14 slot, and onward into the Exclusive Dress Uniform release of Director Krennic in the wider montage for Andor, which now spans both Season 1 and Season 2. The back of the box carries the usual top-line overview for the character, while the cardback inside and behind the figure tray is also colour-coordinated and carries an embedded image of a nebulous starscape.
While we have had Tie Fighter Pilot figures in the Black Series before, this Test Pilot configuration is brand new from the ground up with an undersuit sculpted around the legs, mid-section, and arms in a duller black with fabric folds and creases. Over the flight suit comes the Tie Fighter gear with a gloss black chest unit complete with sculpted but inaccurate unpainted straps and buckles (they should be silver), and crisply painted control panels and switches using a variety of red, grey, blue and white paintwork. The back of the chest section has similar detailing with a larger red and grey vent and two grey, silver and black panels.
Flight straps extend from under the chest piece to the belt, which features a gunmetal silver buckle and panels. The straps then extend under the legs and loop around to repeat the journey back to the rear of the torso on the back of the figure. Boots and gloves are also a glossier finish to the suit, while the suit itself is given a splash of colour at the shoulders and neck with red paint applied, with the left shoulder also sporting a sculpted silver Imperial insignia. Final costume details are included with the code cylinders on the left arm and the control panel on the left wrist.
The unmasked head is not the same as the Season 2 Cassian Andor released in Wave 19, but they are similar. Diego Luna’s likeness has always been difficult to capture in the 6-inch scale, and this Sienar Pilot version is still not a perfect likeness. We do get a waxy skin tone, which may be deliberate, considering he would be wearing a helmet and in a stressful situation. Over this facial printing colours in the short-cropped beard, mouth and eyes. The hairpiece is its own piece and includes a straggled fringe and an unkempt look on the sides.
The hair is a slight inconvenience to the included helmet, and the fit is extremely tight. The helmet uses the same high gloss finish as the chest unit with twin, softer plastic, corrugated pipes extending out from the front and encircling the helmet to reconnect at the rear. The helmet’s only details are two red decals of the imperial insignia on either side of the helmet above the visor. The visor itself is left the same colour as the rest of the helmet.
Although he never put on the helmet in the episode, the helmet is provided as a wearable option and slips over the head snugly as mentioned earlier, and excess use will likely start to have a rubbing effect on the sides of the head.
Once engaged, there is no significant visible gap at the neck, although you do get glimpses of the skin tone neck and chin from some angles. This helmet turns the figure from just being a character release into an army-building potential, and while we didn’t see any other Test Pilots, these would work great as an off-screen expanded universe squad for anyone focusing a collection around Imperial Troops.
Cassian comes with a blaster and a working holster on the belt to house it. The blaster is one we have seen before around Imperial Troops, particularly in Andor, and was used on the Aldhani Mission Cassian from Season 1 and the Dark Times Imperial Officer from Ferrix. This SE-14R hand blaster is black in colour with visible detail down the main blaster and the sights, but with zero additional paintwork. It fits into Cassian’s right trigger hand or into the holster.
The articulation comes in at the new format, 17 points of pinless articulation, with the legs now missing the thigh swivel and that swivel built into the knees, which can also still bend past 90 degrees despite the single disguised joint. The ankle rockers provide stability when posing, while the hips have sufficient movement for some action stances, and can also get into a seated position for anyone who wants to try and replicate a diorama display in the cockpit of the Tie Fighter.
The arms feature jointed wrists, elbows and shoulders, with the latter inclusive of a butterfly shoulder to broaden the range of the arm movements. Again, there are plenty of options for display, either posing at attention, aiming or firing the blaster, or putting on or taking off the helmet. The main body features a hidden torso joint under the chest section, which gives some minimal ab-crunch options, while the dual joint neck works just as well with the helmet on or off, allowing Cassian to look up and down, side-to-side, and to cock his head.
As the titular character of Andor, and this now stretching two seasons, we would expect there to be multiple versions of Diego Luna in 6-inch form and to date we’ve had four (excluding Rogue One) where two are ‘standard’ versions of Cassian’s clothing, and two are disguises (Aldhani and this Test Pilot). Unlike Aldhani, this figure also comes with a level of army building options for Imperial collectors as it improves on the Tie Fighter Pilot proportions considerably if you look past the red ‘test pilot’ colouring on the upper shoulders and neck.
The likeness to Luna is still not nailed on, but none of the releases to date have been able to capture it fully. The helmet works OK, albeit a little tight, and the figure displays well enough in both configurations with sufficient articulation for displaying it in character, both neutral and in more dynamic stances. The blaster is a little bit sterile, as are most in the series, and there was little else in terms of accessory options we might have wanted to see, save the tiny code cylinder, or the much larger Imperial data droid, which would have pushed this set into Deluxe territory. All in all, a solid release, albeit very specific to the short sequence from Season 2, Episode 1.
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About Me : As a child of the 70's and 80's I grew up in a golden age for action figures and in my youth bought and sold myself through collections of Star Wars, G.I. Joe (Action Force) and M.A.S.K. while also dabbling in He-Man, Transformers and Ghostbusters. Roll forward and I am now reliving that Youth with the action figures of today and am a collector and fan of the larger 6-8 inch figures from my favourite movie and TV licences - including the ones mentioned above, but also the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Doctor Who and the Aliens. I launched The Mephitsu Archives in 2015 with a view of creating a UK focused site or these figures where fans can pick up the latest action figure news, read reviews and get information on where to buy their figures and what is currently on store shelves. I hope I am delivering that to you guys...