"Crush them! Make them suffer!"
The IG-100 MagnaGuard was one of the most dangerous droids seen during the Clone Wars, and it made its Black Series debut in 2023 as part of Wave 12 of the Galaxy Series. Wave 12 was a mixed wave also including figures from Return of the Jedi, and The Bad Batch. There were three other Clone Wars releases with the Mk2 Clone Trooper and Ahsoka Tano released with the MagnaGuard. Wave 12 was the final wave to feature plastic-free packaging so our MagnaGuard arrives in a window-less box using a combination of artwork and figure imagery to confirm the contents. The MagnaGuard is number 15 in The Clone Wars Galaxy Series and uses the golden yellow accent colour. The side artwork connects to the Phase II Clone Trooper from the same wave and then leads into ARC Trooper Fives release which arrived a few months ahead of the MagnaGuard.
The Black Series MagnaGuard is a full new figure and the look taken from the Body Guards used by General Grievous complete with their Kaleesh warrior inspired head wraps and capes. The Guard uses a black skeletal structure that incorporates most of the joints. The armoured sections making up the bulk of the body are then connected into the sub-skeleton and are cast in light grey and feature a significant amount of weathering and battle damage. Further details are then added with gunmetal silver around some key components like the knees and chest, with a red central power core.
The head features red eyes and a gun-metal grey mouth/nose section. The cloth wrappings are sculpted around the head in a lighter white finish. The robes are then executed in soft goods, with a tailored white robe connected and fixed under the head. The stitched panels then shape the cloak around the right-hand side of the body and the piece is finished with cloth printing with some burgundy arrowed icons. The soft goods do sit quite flat and lack the definition, folds, and creases we would see in a sculpted cloak. The trade-off is the articulation, with the soft goods allowing a full range of motion.
That articulation comes in at just 14 points which feels low, but in reality, provides a wide range of pose-ability. The joints are all designed into the robotic nature of the body and in the main are single joints with both a pivot and rotation included. There was a lot of noise on the figures release about stability and the ankle joints. This is an issue out of the box with the feet not sitting flat and overbalancing the figure. With just a bit of hot water treatment and some repositioning, the issue is soon fixed. Another problem, that I haven’t solved, is the two shoulder armoured pieces which are loosely clipped into the arms. The clip is a hinge of sorts allowing the shoulder panel to move with the arms, but they do pop off with alarming regularity.
The Guard features two versions of the electrostave weapons used through The Clone Wars. The first is the one we see most of in the animated series and this features a simple grey staff with two component ends housed in a clear acrylic dome. The second one is the one we see more on-screen during Revenge of the Sith and has a similar shaft but with a simpler cone end. This second one can also be combined with a pair of soft plastic translucent pink/purple electro effects. These are shaped to sit and hold in place around either end of this version electrostave, but the shape isn’t compatible with the enclosed version.
Our Guard can wield the electrotaves in one of both hands with a wide range of posing stances either neutral in terms of posing these MagnaGuards alongside General Grievous in a guarding position, or in more dynamic fighting stances. It is worth noting the design of the hands with thumbs on either side of two central fingers makes it a little bit more difficult to get the weapon into position.
As our Separatist Droid armies grow within the Black Series, the MagnaGuard is a welcome addition to display alongside the B1 Droids and General Grievous. It is really well executed with a good sculpt, impressive paint job, and great articulation. There are niggles with the feet and stability and those pesky shoulder panels, but these can be worked around and the weaponry and effect pieces enhance the figure with more display options. The droid also lays down the option for further variants such as the uncloaked version and possibly evolving some parts into a Commando Droid figure in the future.
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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...