THE MANDALORIAN Biker
Epic Hero Series Speeder Bikes
Item No.: Asst. G0363 No. G0372
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: Darksaber, rocket, launcher, bike
Action Feature: Bike rolls on wheels, removable launcher, launching rocket
Retail: $19.99
Availability: January 2025
Appearances: The Mandalorian Bio: The Mandalorian traversed Tatooine on a speeder bike, a vehicle capable of high-speed travel that requires skill and fast reflexes. (Taken from the packaging)
Image: Adam's photo lab.
Availability: Click here to buy it at Entertainment Earth now!
Click here to buy it at Amazon now!
Click here to buy it at eBay now!
Commentary: When
Epic Hero Series became a thing, Marvel's figures had ball-jointed shoulders, knees, elbows, and hip joints.
Star Wars had a ball-jointed neck and swivel arms and legs - until now! The biker assortment features greater articulation at the shoulders, elbows, knees, and hips, making this
The Mandalorian the best in class for this particular line. This level of articulation has been the norm for Mattel
Jurassic World humans and Spin Master's various Batman and DC Comicss lines, and they seem to do pretty well. If Hasbro made a "one size fits all" line with about this level of articulation, I think it would be pretty good - I dare say, good enough - if it meant getting more new characters in the line. If we could live in a world with Gunter or The Stranger or maybe a new Cantina patron with knees and elbows, I think we'd all be a lot happier than not getting them in the $16.99 assortments.
As a figure, he's great. He looks well, he poses nicely, the separately molded belt and bandolier stand out a bit more, but mostly it's nice to have a tiny bit more articulation on a toy figure made to be a bike rider. His cape and Darksaber are similar to the other releases, so the main reason to buy this figure is, well, the figure. And the bike. The figure sculpting is nice and crisp, but on a shelf it's going to look pretty similar to the ones you purchased last year.
The bike is pretty neat - but the interaction isn't fantastic. I love what Hasbro did with the vehicle. Clear wheels? Great idea. Removable firing rocket launcher with multiple mounting points? No notes. Great idea. A big peg on the back which serves no obvious purpose? Uh... I'll get back to you there. Presumably a future toy will interact with it, but right now the backpack hole fits. I assume that was not the intent, because why would you have a guy flailing back there? ...maybe I just answered my own question, having Mando drag a guy around might be fun. The rocket fires well, the colors and paint are good, the designers did a good job making a fun toy.
However, there's a problem. Mando is a good figure. The bike is a good bike. Mando is not good at sitting on the bike. I think if Hasbro dropped the foot pedals, this would be a better piece. The 1983 Speeder Bike cheated - you just put the Biker Scout's butt on the seat, hands on the handlebars, and that was it. It worked, it was fast, it was fun. This one requires massaging all the joints just-so to get the butt kind of close to the seat, with hands on the handlebars, and the feet will probably eventually pop off the foot pegs. It just doesn't work as intended - I'm not sure if it wasn't tested with physical product, or if the joints just aren't quite what the prototypes were, or what. The cape gets in the way, too, and there's no on-board weapon storage. If you are happy with 3 parts of his body touching the bike, it gets the job done - but it looks like they were struggling to pull it off in the packaging photos, so what chance do I have?
I'd recommend either element - the figure, or the vehicle - on its own merits, but together they don't hang as well as I would like. A figure that can't fit in the seat, or use the clearly provided foot pegs on the pedals properly, would be the kind of thing that annoyed me to no end as a kid. So if it bothers you, maybe skip this one. If you can settle for a hovering foot or butt or maybe only have one hand on the handlebars, I'd say it's good enough to give a try and I hope there are other vehicles in the works that may not require such a specific seating position tolerance.
Collector's Notes: I got mine from Entertainment Earth.
--Adam Pawlus
Day 3,212: February 4, 2025
No comments:
Post a Comment