There just seemed to be something different about these figures. Maybe something called to me. Maybe it was time again. Star wars and I spent some time apart, so I decided it was time to get together again.

So was it a good idea to renew our relationship, or did it just end in another messy break-up? Let’s find out!

Packaging: ***
The package on these guys works really well. It got me to buy them, and I haven’t bought a Star wars character of any sort in years. The figures are displayed elegantly, against a plain blue background, and a very nice graphics covers the “additional accessories” touted on the box. The back has brief explanation of the characters featured, as if they needed an introduction. The graphics are nice, clean and well-presented. The box itself is MIB-friendly, as the tray slides in and out with ease, and the characters can be placed back into their plastic stasis chambers if you feel the desire to do so.

Sculpt: Jango: ***, Boba: ***1/2, Mandalore: ***
All three of these guys boast great sculpts, certainly the best I’ve ever seen in a star wars line. But there are certain elements of each sculpt that need further examination.
Let’s start with Mandalore, Grandmaster of the mandalorians. His armor is intricate, but still retains a Neanderthal-like quality, a very important thing, since this guy is from a pre-prequel universe. There is little texture details on his helmet, making it look like it’s made of a stony material. The cloth is sculpted well, looking very natural and folding where appropriate. All his other bits and pieces look really nice too. In the box, he was my least favorite, but in my hand, he nearly beat the Fett boys for my favorite overall.

Speaking of, Jango is the primary reason why I bought this. As I said, all of  them looked great. But Jango just called to me. And when I got him out, it all made sense why. He’s really a gorgeous little figure. The armor, the clothing, all of it has the exact right texture. It all seems to sit just right, and it all looks perfectly natural. All folds and seams are hidden where they should be hidden, or displayed where they ought to be displayed. So as MC often says, why not four stars? It’s the head underneath the helmet. He’s got a sculpted little Temura Morrison/Jango face under there. And while I know who it’s supposed to be, I suspect that is only because I am so familiar with the actors face to begin with. Really, the head is too small, and bears only a vague resemblance to the man it is supposed to be. And because they opted for this feature, which I do appreciate, the figure suffers. Looking at the photo on the package, the helmet is a bit bigger. If they had used a larger helmet and head, the overall look would have improved considerably.

The above description applies to Boba Fett as well, except he escapes with an additional half star because the sculpt on his teeny noggin looks a whole lot better than his poppas. He’s scarred, and his head is wrapped in what I would say is a Dengar-ish wrap. Maybe when Dengar saved his butt in the comics they shared fashion tips. I’ve never seen Boba without his helmet, but this looked pretty great, and replaced whatever was floating around my brain before. The antenna is a shade small, but nothing I can’t overlook.

Paint: ****
I like the paint job on all of them. There is no noticeable slop or bleeding on the costumes. The faces look good, too.

Articulation: Jango: ***1/2, Boba: ***, Mandalore: ***1/2
Basic rundown: All of these mandalorians feature ball jointed heads, shoulders, elbows knees and ankles. They also have cut wrists/gauntlets, and a t-crotch. Jango and Boba have an interesting semi-ball joint in the stomachs as opposed to the cut they gave Mandalore. But all of em’ work great.

These guys can do pretty much whatever you want them to do, except the splits. Mandalore is the best of the bunch, as his sculpt is one of a wider fighting stance, compared to Boba and Jango’s more casual poses. This allows him to do the most, and his skirt and shoulder pads don’t get in the way of any of his potential.

Here’s a category where Jango finally beats his boy. Boba has a holster on his right leg for his extra pistol. This gets in the way of some posing. Jangos holsters are separate pieces, and as result, allow for a better range of motion than his son has. They can crouch, lean, sit, whatever, quite well, without any need for support. And the joints are all tight, and will hold however choose you place them. I have to mention the ab-ball they used here. I’ve never seen it before myself, but it works great. It has a realistic look to it, because the  sculpt on both Fett bellies hides it. It allows a great range of motion in a bunch of directions, but it restricts movement just enough to keep things looking humanly possible. I hope we get more and more of this, assuming they can hide it as well as they did here. These little figures have come a long way in terms of articulation.

Accessories: Jango: **, Boba: **, Mandalore: ***
The accessories on these guys are adequate, if not underwhelming. I’m not counting helmets, since they were and are essential parts of the presentation on these characters. 

Mandalore comes with his axe, a way small shield that resembles a bagel, and a staff with a cucumber on the end of it. The axe is sculpted nicely, and looks dangerous. But the odd designs on the other weapons just didn’t do it for me. Maybe I’m a fool and missing out on some great, comic or game inspired work, but to me, they look rather ugly. None of the weapon fit in his hands the quite way they should, and it took some finagling to get him to hold them, with exception of the shield, which has a handle he can grasp and a strap for his forearm.

Boba comes with a blaster rifle, and a pistol I’ve never really noticed before. It fits nicely in his leg holster, but looks a little cartoonish to me, like maybe he got it in a box of cereal and painted it black. 

Jango has his dual pistols and the helmet/headset dealy he used in his ship AOTC. It fits nicely on his head, and helps him look a little less asinine with his helmet off. It is cast in one color though, and as a result, looks a little cheap.

Fun factor: ****
These guys won’t break. They are made of a great, semi-soft plastic that has just enough give. The helmets may get lost, but it would take a bit of effort, as they stay on pretty darn snug. I had a lot of fun posing and battling these guys, and any kid would too, though they would most likely lose all the accessories. Even without weapons, Mandalore is a killer design, and would be a great fill-in bad guy for any 3 ¾” series. These are great toys, and I wish I would’ve had these when I was a lad.

Value: ***1/2
I waffled a bit here. The set cost me twenty bucks. But given today’s figure market, where a single SW figure could cost you ten dollars, these guys were a decent deal.

Things to watch out for:
Keep your eyes on the package itself, as the edges of some of the panels got dinged on mine. Other than that, you’re golden.

Overall: ***
You can’t buy these individually. But if you could, I’d still tell you to get all three. I know I whined about Jango’s head, but just leave the helmet on and you’ve got a grade-A Bounty hunter. Boba is an icon, and detailed and superbly articulated one at that. Mandalore is really a great looking and well constructed figure in his own right. He was so good, I’m going to go out of my way to learn about the character, something I haven’t done since I was much, much younger. All three look and act great, and the price gives you more bang for your buck than the average single Star Wars figure. Great sculpts, great articulation, great toys.

Score Recap:
Packaging - ***
Sculpting - Jango: ***, Boba: ***1/2, Mandalore: ***
Paint - ****
Articulation - Jango: ***1/2, Boba: ***, Mandalore: ***1/2
Accessories - Jango: **, Boba: **, Mandalore: ***
Fun Factor - ****
Value - ***1/2
Overall - ***

Where to Buy -
I found them at Target, but they’re at Wal-mart, Kmart and Toys R’ us, too. On the old interwebs, Bigbadtoystore.com has them, as does Toywiz. I’ve also spotted a few on eBay. But if you can, get them from a brick and mortar retailer, as these guys haven’t been very cheap anywhere online, and they’re only going to become more scarce.

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