Bandai Star Wars Movie Realization Mandalorian and Grogu

The Bandai Movie Realization series of Samurai-based Star Wars characters has been a bit of a slow burn of late. Not many new molds are being released, and it was really a given that they were going to release another Mandalorian figure.

But this time with Grogu to pay homage to the Lone Wolf and Cub manga series, this release has turned out pretty great! Click the link below to watch my full review over on the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel. Hope you can subscribe and stay tuned for more upcoming reviews! Scroll on down for more written thoughts and photos.

The set comes with a decent array of accessories, with my favourite definitely being the little Grogu himself. The cute little man bun hair do is just awesome! The figure articulates a little bit, but the joints are pretty tight so be careful. It also fits easily within the egg shaped baby carrier, that then also fits nicely in the wooden styled pram.

The pram is really nicely detailed, with the bamboo and wood having a pretty realistic mold and paint application. The wheels also move, and Mando himself has a couple of swap out hands that can hold the handles of the pram. Together, it really does make a great homage to the manga series.

Rounding out the accessories with his pistol, long rifle, wakizashi, and jet pack, it's a pretty complete set that goes great with his new beskar armour style.

For this beskar release, there are some aspects that are new and unique to this figure, but of course there are aspects of reuse from the previous Mandalorian and Fett figures. But the beskar armour paint application is nicely down, with some good weathering and black wash to bring out the sculpted details in the armour.

Articulation wise, it's pretty consistent with previous figures in the series. However, I do hate the new big ball joints in the elbows, that stick out badly when compared to the previous designs. I think they started using the ball joints at the elbow with the release of the First Order Stormtrooper, and it really is a step back from the original elbow design. I have no idea why they would make this sort of design change.

Compared with the previous Mandalorian figure, it's still a solid figure. Both look great in their own right, but I do have to say the original one does suit this Samurai style better. The previous figure also has the original elbow design, so I would say I prefer that figure.

But the new figure looks great, especially with the little Grogu and pram. I think fans of the show and the Mandalorian style will love either figure. It's pretty pricey at the moment, but I'd get in quickly now before it sells out and prices start to skyrocket.

Lego Mandalorian Helmet set

Here's my quick look at the new Lego Mandalorian Helmet set. A much-improved version over the original Boba Fett set, with better proportions.

Bandai Star Wars Movie Realization Mandalorian

I have the previous Boba Fett variants in this Star Wars Movie Realization series, so could not pass up the Mandalorian variant. Prices were certainly crazy on Ebay, and the official US Bandai retailer doesn't ship outside continental USA, which is damn ridiculous. But at least I managed to get the figure from Big Bad Toy Store, despite the markup. It was still far cheaper than Ebay, and I'm glad I managed to add it to the collection.

Click the link below to watch my full video review on the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel. Hope you can subscribe and give the videos a thumbs up too 😀

Packaging and contents are pretty much what's standard for this series now. The array of hands is nice, and the weapons are beautifully done too. Of course the main weapon is the long rifle that is prominent in the TV show, and Bandai did a great interpretation of it here.

The pistol looks nice too, and the shorter sword is on par with most of the other figures that also included it. Apart from these accessories, of course the main incentive to get this figure is for the Season 1 Mandalorian armour.

There is obviously a lot of reuse in the armour and figure in general, being mainly a Boba Fett variant. But there are also quite a few unique differences of note. The soft goods cape is definitely something to watch out for. It doesn't really hang naturally due to its material, and the rifle has to be attached to his back under the cape which is not show accurate.

Therefore I made a mod to the cape by making a small hole where the peg on the long rifle can use to attach to his back over the top of the cape. It looks much better that way and is something that Bandai should've done themselves!

The chest and torso armour pieces, and aspects of the gauntlets, kama, and shin armour have unique molds or variations. And of course the helmet itself is unique. The paint application is a great representation of the Season 1 armour, with lots of great weathering and black wash to really bring out the sculpted detail.

I heard that Bandai gave an interview where they stated more Mandalorian armour variants are planned, so I assume a beskar armour variant from Season 2 is coming. Not sure how much that is going to end up looking like Jango, but at least for now these four variants do look pretty damn awesome together. If you're a fan of this series, it's definitely a figure to add, especially since they're so slow in releasing anything new in the series! Hopefully you can get it for a decent price!