Shortly after the announcement of the new Star Wars Black Series Galaxy Collection, four new figures were revealed as part of a mini assortment from the final season of The Clone Wars. The four figure wave would be a Walmart Exclusive in the US - and via the Fan Channel elsewhere - and yet would still be numbered and have the side art designed to line up with the general releases from The Clone Wars. The wave featured a new Ahsoka Tano figure, one of her 332nd Clone Troopers, a loyalist Mandalorian and one of Darth Maul's Mandalorian Super Commandos.
Packaging 4.0
The Mandalorian Super Commando is the 5th figure in The Clone Wars series of Galaxy Collection figures and the box design follows the yellow colour accent for the Clone Wars releases.
The art panel is in greyscale, with a yellow hue at the base of the image to add some colour. The Super Commando is shown in a dynamic pose with his blasters out. Overhead, we can see a planet which we assume is Mandalore with some ships approaching the planet. This image is repeated on the back with a short piece of background text.
"Darth Maul's Mandalorians modified their armor to reflect their allegiance to the Dark Lord. These super commandos wore red and black, and some even fashioned horns atop their helmet"
Like all Galaxy Collection figures, watch out for the numerous tape pieces holding the shaped box in check. The figure is accessed via the top or bottom flap and the tray and window slide out as a single unit with the window separate from the box to aid recycling.
Paint & Sculpt 3.0
The Super Commando is a figure that is based off animated content (The Clone Wars) and therefore like all translations of this nature there has been some element of moving the figure into a real world setting. This has been done using the existing Jango Fett figure as a base. That in itself has some issues in proportion - among other issues - and the figure is a little squat in its proportions.
The figure has new or repurposed elements to match the onscreen look of the Super Commandos. The upper arms are replaced vs Jango and now have a more angular and spiked Pauldron. The lower arms remain as per Jango with a grey plastic lower forearm that is also connected to the upper arm by some flexible black piping. The upper legs are also swapped out and have no armour at all and instead there are fixed holsters on the thigh.
The helmet is also new and looks to be based on the design of the more recent Din Djarin Mandalorian helmet in its shape - although it has been tweaked to add the horns on the top in a softer plastic. It is also much bigger and does also contribute to the proportion issues - although the Mandalorian helmet may be too small and there is some ground in the middle for perfect helmet proportions.
The body is painted in a soft brown with the armour then cast or coloured in gloss grey with red markings painted over the top. The same is applied to the helmet, with quite a detailed pattern in the very top of the helmet under the horns. Silver is used to create some level of weathering, but only on the chest plate, one shin guard and on one knee. Silver is also used to colour the wrist weaponry. Everything is well painted and the lines straight and with no obvious issues.
Accessories 3.5
Our Super Commando comes with a Jet Pack accessory. This is the same Jetpack as used with the original Jango Fett figure. It is cast in a dark grey plastic and has red and highlights painted around the top of each side thruster. It fits onto the back of the figure by way of three plugs that correspond to sockets on the Mandalorian back. Once in place the pack is well proportioned to the figure and sits very securely in place. There is sadly some warping to the plastic on my figure with the thruster on the right leaning off to one side as you look at the pack from the reverse.
For weaponry, the Super Commando has been given a pair of the Westar 35 MandalTech blasters which were originally included with Sabine Wren. These are cast in grey plastic and without the gunmetal finish that was applied to Sabine's weapons. They fit snugly in either hand, with each hand having a trigger finger option. When not in use they can be slid securely into the thigh holsters.
Articulation 3.0
As the Super Commando utilises the older body of Jango Fett - it comes in with a total of 16 points of articulation. Like the original figure, these are not the best set of joints and the elbow in particular is very weak for a Black Series figure and can't even bend to 90 degrees, making the wielding of the blasters very flat when posing. Pushing the elbow too far will also snap those thin wires on either side.
Head : ball joint pivot neck
Body : ball joint waist
Arms : ball joint shoulder, single rotating elbows, wrist pivot
Legs : ball joint hips, thigh swivel, double jointed knees, ankle rockers
In contrast the shoulders work really well with the pauldron withdrawing into the chest armour as the arms are raised which is pretty slick in the engineering. The head has full motion, and while it gets this via a pivot in the neck - the pivot is not overly obvious thanks to the black neck piece paint job.
The legs are actually much improved on Jango having had the top thigh replaced. With no armour to restrict movement, the hips work quite extensively although they are a little loose which causes issues with stability
The ankle rockers on first inspection are tight and very well ratcheted, but when you start to pose the figure they will frustrate you no end. They feet are designed as such that the bend on the rocker can't get to a true flat foot position because the armour panel on the foot hits the armour panel on the shin. When you couple this with the tiny feet to start with, and the fact figure is back heavy from the Jet Pack, we have a very unstable figure that I could not get to stand under any circumstance unaided.
Once dropped onto a foot peg stand, the issue is resolved. And like a number of Mandalorian Jetpack figures, the articulation will support flight poses with an appropriate aftermarket stand which actually brings the figure alive more so than any ground stances which all look a little clunky.
Summary
The principle behind the new Clone Wars Season 7 wave is essentially the same as any exclusive in that they are bringing us a new figure, but using a majority of existing parts and some tweaks and repaints. In a recent interview, Hasbro indicated that these types of re-uses are extra's to the main range and do not detract from the line as a whole. In this case, I guess we have what we have and if it wasn't going to re-use the Jango body with some tweaks and a repaint then we would never have had a Mandalorian Super Commando in the line.
That being said, we are still paying circa £25 for this figure and it is in short supply from what I can tell and looking at the secondary market prices. By this logic I kind of wanted a little bit more than a figure that looks great, but is based on a flawed figure to start with in terms of some of its proportions and the significant issues with the feet and having him stand on his own.
There are plenty of positives with the figure in terms of the paint job and the new helmet piece. The weaponry re-use is also fine as its consistent with the Mandalorian troops, and I am a converted fan of the new packaging and artwork.
We do however have here another short run army builder, and that is a shame as I often feel figures like these look so much better displayed as a group and that is unlikely for many collectors in terms of the availability.
I score the new Star Wars Black Series Mandalorian Super Commando an above average 3.0
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...
action figures, reviews, review, articulation, Star Wars, Black Series, The Clone Wars, Kamino, Clone Trooper