Review: Star Wars Black Series Imperial Praetorian Guard from The Mandalorian, Galaxy Collection Wave 21
- Mephitsu
- Jul 14
- 5 min read
"We already received your request…three Praetorian Guards. Sounds like someone is concerned about an assassination attempt."
The armoured Praetorian Guards were first seen in the Sequel Trilogy, acting as guards for Supreme Leader Snoke. They were the natural successors to the original red-robed Imperial Royal Guards who protected Vader and Palpatine, and in Season 3 of The Mandalorian, we perhaps saw a missing link in that evolution by the introduction of the Imperial Praetorian Guards.
These red-armoured Imperial elite warriors made their action figure debut in Wave 21 of the Star Wars Black Series in 2025, released alongside their commander, Moff Gideon, as well as figures from Andor and Ahsoka. As a release from The Mandalorian, the black box is highlighted in a deep orange colour for selected text and the side artwork. The Praetorian is number 43 in the Galaxy Collection, and that side artwork connects between the Imperial Armoured Commando and Moff Gideon in Dark Trooper Armour.
The rear of the box talks a little about the role of the Praetorian Guard and their deployment by the Imperial Shadow Council. The figure itself is presented against a coordinated deep orange cardback that also incorporates shadowy scenery from the hidden complex on Mandalore.
The Praetorian does borrow heavily from the original First Order Praetorian releases from 2017, including a direct re-use of the lower legs and knee joint. The torso may be the same as the First Order versions, but a new Imperial-inspired chest piece has been added over a mid-section that has similarities to that of a stormtrooper. The arms feature segmented armour down the shoulders and biceps with full wrist bracers and armour across the back of the Guard’s hands. Each of the armoured panels is cast in high red gloss with no paint decor apart from colour matching over the base plastic where needed. This base plastic is a deep burgundy, with a cloth sculpt to represent the suit worn under the armour.
The original Praetorian varied between soft goods skirts and sculpted skirts, with the usual pros and cons between the two finishes. The Imperial Praetorian goes with a soft goods option made up of a rear skirt and a front panel held in place by a sculpted belt. Additional layers are then created by a half cape that comes out of the chest armour at the rear and flows to a similar length as the skirt. The fabric used is delicate and with a good colour match to the cast red armour, but like all soft goods at this scale, it lacks any definition and hangs very flat and very sterile, even considering the fluid movements of the Praetorian in combat.
The helmet has a Mandalorian feel to it, cast in red with a T-visor painted in black. It is soft in the plastic but is not a hollow helmet; it's just that the design has left a large void under the base of the bell-shaped helmet, giving it space to incorporate the neck of the figure.
Our Praetorian is essentially an army-builder release, coming with two different weapons, allowing you to display the figure as two of the three seen in The Mandalorian Season 3. The first of these is a vibro blade cast in grey with a glossier silver blade at one end. It is a two handed piece, with both hands gripping the piece securely and providing a number of offensive of guarding options.
The second weapon is the segmented sword, which is created in its flexible, whip-like configuration. It starts with a black cast grip and segmented silver sections with a hint of the pink electro components painted into the recess of the silver section. This is a single-handed weapon, and can be held in either hand with a secure grip. The weapon has a degree of flexibility in its length, but cannot convert back to the fixed blade configuration.
The third weapon wielded in the battles with Paz Vizsla and Mando is not included and therefore presents a gap for anyone wanting to assemble all three Praetorian Guards for display. The weapons have also not gone heavy in the effects department, and save the subtle pink colouring on the sword-whip, the bright purple electro effects seen on screen are not replicated in the way we have seen done recently, as either paint work (Commando Droid) or effect pieces (Magna Guard).
Articulation is a mix of old and new, with the legs actually featuring pins thanks to their 2017 origins, but Hasbro has created a new upper leg and discarded the thigh swivel, leaving zero rotation in the legs. There is a benefit to the older joints as the knees are extensive in how far they can bend coming with dual joints rather than the more modern single joint. The legs also carry over the loose ankles of the First Order figures; there is free movement in the sides of the ankle rockers, allowing the figure to slip off to the side with no real effort, although the forward motion does feel more secure and with more robust ratchets.
The upper torso incorporates a ball joint under the softer plastic chest section, while the neck reverts to a single joint. Arms include butterfly shoulders, enhancing the movement for the melee weapons included, supported by single-joint elbows, and a side pivot wrist. In total, we have 16 points of articulation.
The Imperial Praetorian Guard is certainly an enhanced version of the original First Order versions with a more expandisve range of movement in the upper arms and torso than those 2017 figures. The lower legs are a step backwards, mainly by reusing some of the original pinned legs, but not all, creating a definite gap by having no way of rotating either leg from a front-facing position. The Guard also struggles a little with weakness at the ankles, but not quite as bad as the older figures.
The overall look is comparable to the red high gloss we see on screen, and the soft goods work reasonably well while not sacrificing the articulation of a very agile Elite warrior. By using multiple layers, these soft goods panels work better than a single skirt or cape, but do still lack character. By including two weapons, Hasbro are inviting us to buy more than one of these - had they bunged in the third Praetorian accessory, we might have been tempted to buy three. A figure with some niggles, but overall a strong addition to the ranks of the Remnant Imperials and providing a bit more balance for Season 3 displays, which have been heavily weighted to the Mandalorians so far.
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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...
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