Mandalorian Death Watch Airborne Trooper - TVC - Basic (VC247)

Along with the Mandalorian Super Commando (VC243) and Mandalorian Super Commando Captain (VC246) figures, we now have the Mandalorian Death Watch Airborne Trooper (VC247) to add to our collections. It’s lovely to see Hasbro work in so many yet-to-be-released characters into The Vintage Collection, but when they use the same tooling within six months to produce three distinct characters, the novelty wears off rather quickly. Instead of getting excited about these figures, it translates into more of a “meh” than anything else. But that lackluster feeling goes away quickly. The bottom line is that we’re getting some of the best-tooled figures of Hasbro’s long career of producing super-articulated 3.75-inch action figures. Even if a figure like the Mandalorian Death Watch Airborne Trooper is repetitious, it still is a fantastic action figure. And the new paint operations make it feel new again, even if there is very little new regarding tooling. Collectors should expect this trend to continue as Hasbro’s budget is diminishing.

Hasbro added the head sculpt from 2022’s TVC Death Watch Mandalorian (VC219) figure, which features an articulated rangefinder. It also is a pivotal part of this action figure to keep it from looking like the other Mandalorian characters from The Clone Wars in The Vintage Collection lineup. Hasbro then repainted the figure to ensure it came with its unique traits and color scheme. The final figure turned out well and is a lovely addition to The Vintage Collection. We don’t believe you can deny our assessment. Characters from The Clone Wars left an indelible mark on those who watched and enjoyed the series. Unfortunately, many characters that collectors want to see Hasbro produced get lost in the shuffle. Hasbro is now doing its best to play catch-up with the long list of characters the brand avoided over the last decade, and perhaps making us wait so long is paying off for them. Mainly created from the Mandalorian Super Commando (VC243) action figure, much like the Mandalorian Super Commando Captain (VC246), you should know what to expect here.

The Mandalorian Death Watch Airborne Trooper is well-armored and has a decent amount of accessories to make most collectors happy. The jetpack is removable, and then Hasbro also included a blaster rifle and two blaster pistols, which fit into the molded holsters on the figure’s thighs. The weapons and the jetpack have simple paint jobs and look slightly unfinished, but Hasbro makes up for it more than expected with the paint operations applied to the action figure, and the action figure has stunning detail that exceeds our expectations. The flame insignia on the shoulder armor is fantastic. And so are all the other details throughout the figure. Out of the three figures that use this tooling, the Mandalorian Death Watch Airborne Trooper appears to come with the most engaging card art, in our opinion. We’re happy to see Hasbro implement thicker card stock here, but the printing needs A LOT of work. They need to find a better way to apply the black background to prevent it from flecking and reduce the nameplate a bit. It’s HUGE.