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Are you familiar with that thing where "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo" is a fully correct and grammatical sentence, wherein the meaning is "Bisons from Upstate New York, who are purposefully confused by other bisons from Upstate New York, also purposefully confuse other bisons from Upstate New York"? Because today we're reviewing The Mandalorian, who's the Mandalorian from The Mandalorian.
His body is shielded by beskar armor,
his face is hidden behind a T-visored mask, and his past is wrapped in mystery. The Mandalorian is battle-worn and tight-lipped, a formidable bounty hunter in an increasingly dangerous galaxy.
Set in the years between the fall of the Empire and the rise of the First Order, The Mandalorian is one of the premiere offerings from the new Disney+ streaming service. It's set in the outer reaches, so it's basically a space western: he's Clint Eastwood, tromping from desert town to desert town in the Old West, making a living hunting fugitives and bringing order to a lawless land. At least, that's what we're led to believe by the sum total of two minutes and five seconds of footage that's been revealed so far - it's possible that's a misdirect, and there'll be an Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath-type tonal shift when we least expect it.
The thing that makes a Mandaloian a Mandalorian is the helmet.
From Boba Fett to Sabine Wren and all the weirdos in between, the fact that they have common taste in hats is the thing that has united the disparate Mandalorian characters. This one is totally silver, though it's a dark shade and the painted-on dirt or rust or what have you is heavy enough that it makes the helmet look like it has random brown panels mixed in, an illusion furthered by the rest of the costume design.
The Mandalorian With No Name looks like he's been living in the frontier for some time, and repairing his armor with whatever he can find. Boba may have looked all dinged up, but at least his armor matched: this guy's stuff is piecemeal, appearing to be assembled from at least two different sources, if not more. The gauntlets, breastplate, left pauldron and right leg are brown, while the gloves, right pauldron and left leg are light tan. The parts all blend together to create a fairly cohesive whole, but it's clear from the colors and the shapes that they didn't start out that way.
He accessorizes his armor with various straps and belts,
each with small devices on them - things that are meant to look like bullets in a bandolier, but are surely some kind of more advanced tech since this is Star Wars. A holster hangs on the right side of his waist, and he's got a pistol that fits in it. He also has a long rifle that's based on the weapon seen in Boba Fett's animated debut.
It's meant to be able to plug into his back for storage, but make sure you feed it through the hole in his strap as well, or else the peg will be too long to fit. We've all been there. Without the extra depth the sling provides, it'll fall out at the slightest touch.
The Mandalorian looks like it's going to be pretty badass, what with the cool armor and the guild of bounty hunters and the Werner Herzog and whatnot. Plus: space western! Those are always successful! Even if the show turns out to be dull, this figure has a cool design and is fun to play with, thanks to the usual Black Series articulation, which is probably why he's being snapped up so fast.
-- 11/09/19
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