Even before I saw the final arc of the Clone Wars, The Mandalorian Starfighter was a set that was high on my wanted list. The striking design of the ship and the exceptional minifigure selection caught my attention right away, and I immediately knew it would be a fine addition to my collection.

The Build

Mandalorian Starfighter: So was the Starfighter as good as I’d hope? For the most part, yes. I’ll get the negatives out of the way first, the gap in the cockpit is unsightly, it never should’ve passed over to the final product, the lack of proper landing gear is disappointing and lastly, the ship leans forward too much, the slightest bit of modification of adding 2 studs to the bottom of the ship fixes the problem though, so that one isn’t a big deal. Beyond those 2 issues, the rest of the ship is fantastic. The brick built detail on the wings and especially the blue stripes look striking, I like how no stickers were relied upon here. Even though the cockpit has that unwanted gap, it’s still decently constructed and the accommodation of 2 figures is appreciated. Now, onto the play features, it’s got the usual spring-loaded and stud shooters we’ve come to expect to see on Star Wars ships and the other features are the configuration abilities. The whole cockpit can rotate for a vertical flight mode, and the wings can fold up for its landing position. With either configuration, there’d be the underside of the wings with all the exposed anti-studs showing, although it obviously doesn’t look as good as the camera-friendly topside, it’s honestly not too bad, and I personally think it can’t be faulted too much. Overall, I love how this isn’t just another “gray blob” starship build, its design and colors are excellent. It looks fabulous on display, and it’s great for play as well. There are a few unfortunate shortcomings, but the positives more than outweighs the negatives for me personally.

The Minifigs

Bo-Katan Kryze: The starfighter on its own is already great, but the figures here are truly something else. Bo-Katan makes her exciting first minifigure debut in this set, and she looks absolutely stellar. Silver beskar armor plates are present on the legs and torso, the scratches and wear on the armor is quite some neat detail. I also like how the brown belt on the torso carries down to the hip print. As with the other 2 figures of the set, she comes equipped with a pearl dark gray Jetpack. The face prints include a smiling and an angry expression, both accurately featuring her headband. Her blue helmet features incredible printing and the antenna is also attached here, and thankfully, Lego included a hair piece so you have the option to swap the helmet out which is very much appreciated. Finally, her accessories are 2 blaster pistols. Overall, this figure blew me away, the prints and detail are beyond fantastic. Some arm printing would’ve been nice, especially given the price of the set, but otherwise a perfect figure.

Mandalorian Loyalist: This is perhaps the least interesting minifigure of the set since it’s just a “random” mandalorian, but despite that, this figure is also amazing. The armor and belt details across the torso and legs are once again great. A jetpack is included and underneath the helmet is a plain black head. The pearl dark gray helmet looks really awesome with its blue markings, and finally, the loyalist is equipped with 2 blaster pistols just like Bo-Katan. Overall, a fantastic Mandalorian figure with great extensive detail.

Gar Saxon: The final figure is none other than Gar Saxon, who is another character that’s exciting to have in minifigure form. The legs have print for red and silver armor plates and the torso features black and red armor, the overall design and color scheme here looks great. Gar comes with a jetpack and a new face print, the stern expression with the stubble beard looks suitable for the character. The new helmet piece with horns here looks stellar and perfectly corresponds with Darth Maul, the silver, red and yellow pattern print looks excellent as well, unfortunately though, no hair piece was provided. Finally, his accessory is a single blaster pistol, I see a missed opportunity to include a simple shield gauntlet build as an additional accessory, which only needed to be comprised of the clear Spider-Man web shooter holder piece and a translucent blue dish, but oh well. Overall, the lack of hair piece and shield gauntlet doesn’t detract from the figure whatsoever, it would’ve been nice inclusions, but I still find this highly collectible figure to be pretty much perfect.

Value For Money

The standard retail price of R1250 is absolutely ridiculous, I’m really feeling the Star Wars tax here. Perhaps an additional figure on Saxon’s side would’ve been ideal, and it’d help to boost the value a bit. The US retail price of 60 bucks is much more reasonable and should’ve been more similarly priced.

Overall Opinion

I really wish I could give this set a 5-star rating, but objectively, I can’t bring myself to do so. As it stands, the gap in the cockpit and the lack of proper landing gear hold it back a bit. However, even with its flaws, I wholeheartedly love the starfighter and the all-exclusive minifigure lineup here is really something special. So all in all, I’m very pleased with this set, I’d consider it a must-have for not just specifically Clone Wars fans but Star Wars fans in general. Following a good discount, I’d definitely recommend picking up this set.