The Mandalorian is a treasure-trove of toyetic characters and even though I have a decent Mando shelf right now, I feel like they are just barely scratching the surface of potential Black Series figures from this show. Q9-0 is a good sign that they plan to continue to mine the world of The Mandalorian for the Black Series and he’s a really nice figure to boot. Let’s take a look!
I’m still digging the new packaging, especially the pop of show-specific color, but mostly because it’s really fun to just reach in there and yank the figure out. No cutting required!
Zero comes with a blaster that’s a bit of a riff on Boba Fett’s Return of the Jedi rifle, so I was half expecting a re-release of that gun, but this is a new weapon with slightly different dimensions and details. The details are mostly sharp and the plastic is fairly solid, but I have noticed a stress mark on the handle right where the trigger guard meets up with the stock. It doesn’t look like it’s going to snap off, but there is a white mark there. The gun is mostly black plastic with brown paint for the stock and I think it would have benefited from a silver dry brush.
The sculpting is nice and detailed and looks pretty show accurate as far as I can tell. The antennae is a little thicker than I’d noticed on the show, but it’s not so bad that I’m feeling the need to replace it. I really like how clunky the lower legs feel as they have the big open articulation points at the knees and ankles that feel more robotic than the usual Star Wars droid played by a person in a costume. It does seem like re-use in this line has really increased of late, so this fully unique figure is especially nice and the engineering works well with the articulation so he moves as good as he looks.
Q9-0 has:
- Swivel/hinge shoulders, elbows, hips, knees, wrists and ankles
- Ball and socket head, mid-torso, and neck
- Swivel thighs, forearms, and shoulder-pads
- Butterfly hinged pecs
The ball hinges all get some impressive tilt movement and the head works well with the up/down hinge at the wrist for rifle holding poses as he can easily sight down the barrel. The thigh armor doesn’t quite fit underneath the crotch piece, so you have to turn the thigh to the side for a crouching pose, but I don’t find that as objectionable with Zero’s leg design as I do with say a Clone armor. This is also by far the most successful and least crappy looking swivel/hinge knee they have implemented in the line so far.
Paint is good with the figure mostly cast in the gunmetal gray of the robot, but it seems to me that there should be some more metallic feel to the gray than there is. There are some nice paint hits for the wires in the arms and abs and there is also a little bit of weathering, but Zero could definitely use a brown wash on the web gear and pouches. I do find the silver of the eyes a little disappointing. They are so shiny in the show, so I wish they stood out a bit more here.
Overall, this is a really fun figure of an interesting minor character and I hope Hasbro continues in this vein and makes Xi’an, Burrg, Qin, Mayfield, Ranzer Malk, and the security robots from the season 1 episode, The Prisoner.
Source: Fwoosh
