The Child action figure was released in the Star Wars Black Series in May 2020. It was a special mini release, following the same packaging size and layout as the Porgs from 2018. The Child, or Baby Yoda as he has been named online, is in scale with the 6 inch Black Series figures and comes with a number of tiny accessories.
Packaging 3/5
The Child arrives in a tiny box, that will surprise many in terms of how small it actually is. It measures just 72mm across (just under 3 inch), 82mm high (3 inch) and 23mm deep (just under 1 inch). This is the same dimensions as the 2018 Porg release. It follows the same design principles as the other Black Series Phase 3 figures in terms of colours with a red side spine and red backdrop to the figure window.
The Black Series logo sits above the small window. Beneath this, and out of line with usual principles, is The Mandalorian TV show logo with the character name of "The Child" in bold grey to the side - not red text as we would see on the main releases. There is no room for any Gregory Titus artwork.
It is interesting to see the Disney logo front and centre with Hasbro, usually this is round the back. The same warning logos, and 4+ logos are squeezed in to the front of the box.
The back of the box has no room for anything other than a whole raft of warnings and copyright info in various languages. This is a shame that we miss out on the usual character bio, although at this stage there is not much to tell about The Child.
You can see how tiny the release box is when you line it up with a standard release box.
Paint & Sculpt 3/5
The Child stands just 1 inch high. He is well sculpted with a good proportion to his head and body and pretty screen accurate considering the tiny scale.
He is cast in the base plastic colour for each element - the head, hands and feet in green and the robes in beige. The head gets a number of paint apps over the top with the dark eyes and shading around the ears. The robes are left the base beige and this is a shame as there is some good detail in the folds of the cloth which would have been great washed in with a darker colour.
Similarly the head detail would have been brought out much more by a darker green wash.
A lot has been said about the scale of the figure alongside the other 6 inch Black Series figures. If you initially look at reference photos or watch the show, The Child is often about as big as the Mandalorians upper arm (as seen when he is being held or they are in the Razors Crest cockpit) in which case the figure is certainly in the ballpark - but gut feel and eye still says he is too small.
If you go more technical with the height comparison, online info has The Child at 406cm / 16 inches tall, and this is backed up by Sideshow's 1:1 scale figure which is also 406cm / 16 inches in height. Converted down to the 1/12 scale of the Black Series, our Child should be around 3.3cm, so at 2.5cm he is undersized by 0.7cm, or slightly under a third of an inch. This doesn't sound a lot, but it is 25% shorter than he should be. In fact, The Child is closer to 3.75" scale, where he should fall in about 2.2cm tall vs the 2.5cm he actually is.
It will be interesting to see if Hasbro revisit The Child for Season 2 or in further sets - or if this will be the mould for all of The Child figures going forward - giving us another R2 situation. It will also be interesting to see how the SH Figuarts version sizes up with Hasbro (watch this space).
The Child is certainly not the smallest figure in the line, as he is taller than both the Porg and Babu Frik.
Accessories 3/5
Despite his size, The Child comes with three accessories. The first is the control knob from The Razors Crest. Up close this is a very tiny and poorly cast piece - its not spherical and has a cast spur on the top. It fits into either hand, but it is not gripped - just balanced, and that will mean the part will most likely get lost very easily.
The second accessory is the bowl, which is much crisper and better sculpted. It is cast in the brown colour and shaped circular, much better than the control knob.
Accessory three is the frog from Sorgan. This is another lumpy sculpt with very little detail. Painting is also a bit off. It captures the single eye, but the dark markings are only down the back and not down the legs - again I appreciate the scale and how hard it would be to paint at this tiny size.
The three accessories are provided in an acrylic clear box - which makes sense to keep them all safe. This is quite robust and does the job its designed for.
The issue with all these accessories is that they aren't the ones we wanted. We all wanted the hover cradle with a suitable clear flight stand, as seen in the first couple of episodes, and this would have made this a much improved release.
Articulation 4/5
The Child is articulated, despite its size, with 7 points of articulation. The head can move in the socket of the robes allowing some articulation and expression. The arms rotate in the shoulder via a ball joint -but do pop out very easily so be careful of that. The hands rotate in the sleeves which is great for posing and carrying the accessories.
The feet, under the robes, are also jointed and this allows The Child to lean backwards. The Child stands fine with no need for other support or tricky balancing.
Summary
The Child is halfway to being a brilliant release. The sculpt is there, but it would benefit from a darker wash on the skin and the robes to bring out the detail.
The accessories are OK, but they are too small to be of much use and including the hover cradle would have been a far superior option - even if it meant the need for a bigger box and a few quid on the price.
Price wise, this is circa £11 in the UK which is half of a full figure. You therefore do have to question the value for money for this set. But in the end, the is The Child and he is certainly filling a need that Collectors have had since his November debut on the show. With some work he does look great poses with Mando on display, particularly when you get him balanced with the Mando holding him.
I score the set a 3 out of 5.
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 mandalorian, the child, baby yoda