Hot Toys Review | The Mandalorian & Grogu (Star Wars: The Mandalorian Season 2)

“Despite a weathering problem, this is the best Hot Toys figure of The Mandalorian we got so far. He comes with a lot of accessories and an amazing headsculpt of Pedro Pascal!”

The Mandalorian gets an update with this season 2 figure from Hot Toys. Like the season 1 figure, there are two versions – a basic version and a deluxe version with even more accessories! But can this new figure improve upon its predecessor? Let’s find out.

THE BOX AND ACCESSORIES

The box is your usual Star Wars collectibles box. It is a black box with a promotional picture of the figure, the Star Wars logo, and a colored strip. For the figures from The Mandalorian, you get an orange-brownish colored strip. Depending on the version of the figure that you got, the promotional pictures on the box won’t be the same. Whether you get the basic version or the deluxe version, you will still get a lot of accessories. When it comes to The Mandalorian, Hot Toys has always given this character exactly what he needed. Here, the deluxe version gives you additional accessories to recreate the opening scene of Chapter 10 ‘The Passenger.

No surprise here, the display base is your usual sandy environment with footprints, except this time the stand is a crotch-grabber instead of the dynamic stand so that’s better. Then, he has eight hands – two fist hands, two hands to hold the guns, two hands to hold the darksaber or the Beskar spear, and two open hands.

WEAPONS

In terms of weapons, Hot Toys has us covered. He comes with the Darksaber, which is the same one that came with Moff Gideon except it doesn’t have the action blade. You only get the normal blade and the handle tip without the blade. He also has the Beskar spear, it’s longer than I expected. It’s shiny but not chrome-plated like the armor, which is a bit disappointing. It would have looked better if both the weapon and the armor looked the same since it’s both pure Beskar. And from the previous releases, Mando has his pulse rifle, his vibro blade, and his IB-94 blaster pistol.

To attach to his armor, they re-used what came with the previous version – the whistling bird firing effects, the whistling bird launcher ready to fire its missiles, a flamethrower effect, a grappling, and a light torch to attach to his helmet. His jetpack is chrome plated, it really looks beautiful. The chrome plate gives it a realistic shiny effect. There is also weathering on it, I’ll talk about that weathering later because there is a lot to say about it. As usual, it works with a magnet. Then he has the detonator that he used in Chapter 9 The Marshall, which can be attached to his belt.

GROGU

Grogu is the same figure that was released before the Ahsoka and Luke DX, which means he has no articulated arms. He has another facial expression with his mouth slightly opened. It is a nice and cute figure. There is a satchel so that Mando can carry him like in Chapter 10 The Passenger. It is really simple, nothing fancy. That’s it for what you get with the basic version.

With the deluxe version, you also get this set of accessories – Boba Fett’s helmet and his jetpack. The battle-damaged paint is similar to what we got on the first Boba Fett figure from The Mandalorian. The interior of the helmet is fully sculpted. You have a knit bag to carry the helmet and a strap for the jetpack. There is another strap as well. Two wrapped packages equipped with a magnetic function to attach them on the Swoop Bike (the vehicle is sold separately). There is a dirt effect on them, it looks pretty good. Finally, there is a battle-damaged Swoop Bike handle. I don’t intend to display Mando recreating the scene where he carries all that stuff but I think these are nice accessories to have for a Mandalorian display. You can use them in the background.

THE FIGURE

I was waiting for this one for quite some time and it’s finally in my hands. I do prefer Mando’s season 2 look. The left thigh piece better fits with the rest of the armor and the shorter cape works better with the jetpack. And this version of the figure has chrome-plated armor, like I said for the jetpack, this looks better because it is shiny like pure Beskar. However, there has been a lot of talk online about the weathering.

Indeed, a lot of people have been complaining that there is too much weathering on this armor and I do agree on that part, there’s too much weathering. Actually, there shouldn’t be any. When you look at Din Djarin in the series, his armor has no weathering, it’s full-on shiny. The only weathering there should be is on the new thigh piece, that one is accurate. But here, Hot Toys has decided to give him a weathering on the rest of the armor too.

Plus, I’ve also noticed from pictures that people posted online, the weathering doesn’t seem the same on every figure. For some it seems to be quite heavy while for others like me, it’s alright. You can see the weathering but it’s not that bad. It’s not screen-accurate. Nevertheless, I think the figure still looks great, the chrome-plated armor makes all the difference compared to the previous release. For me, this is definitely the superior figure of The Mandalorian. With a fabric undersuit, you can really go all in with the poses. Even the cape can be posed. There are wires inside, this is perfect for action poses!

THE HEADSCULPT

The Din Djarin headsculpt was made by Yulli Choi and painted by JC Hong. As expected from Choi, the headsculpt is absolutely amazing! It really looks like Pedro Pascal there. They gave him that bittersweet expression to recreate his goodbye scene with Grogu.

GALLERY

VERDICT

Despite a weathering problem, this is the best figure of The Mandalorian we got so far. He comes with a lot of accessories and an amazing headsculpt of Pedro Pascal!

Sideshow Collectibles distribute the Hot Toys The Mandalorian and Grogu in Europe and the United States!

Will you be adding this figure to your Hot Toys collection? Where do you stand on the weathering debate? Sound off in the comments section.