“Why Should We Lay Our Lives Down Yet Again? Because We Are Mandalorians”
Paz Vizsla, as voiced by Jon Favreau, has seen quite a few Star Wars Black Series releases since his debut in Season 1 of The Mandalorian in 2019. His first two releases were under the generic name ‘Mandalorian Heavy Infantry’ and in the Deluxe format, with the second being part of the Credit COllection on a retro-inspired card-back. In 2022 he had two more releases with a Carbonized variant and a Convention Exclusive ‘unmasked’ edition that paid homage to Favrue as Paz never actually unmasks in the show. Despite these four releases in a 5 year period, Hasbro has deemed it necessary to release a fifth figure in 2024 - a repack of the original 2019 figure, but now in the Galaxy Collection packaging allowing Paz Vizsla to join the numbered Mando series and to add his artwork to the wider collective montage for the show.
This 2024 release utilises a Deluxe Galaxy Collection box with a wider format to fit in the larger figure but with the same height and width as a standard figure. Paz is number 36 in the Mandalorian collection and he sits between R4-6DO and the Mines of Mandalore Mando release.
Paz Vizsla is an impressive figure in terms of his height and proportions, standing half a head taller than Mando and the other Mandalorian releases, and with a bulkier body shape with broad chest and shoulders and thick legs and arms. The body is predominately a blue shade of armour complete with silver scratches and dings and a Mandalorian Mythobeast decal on one shoulder. Like the on-screen look, the figure also uses some contrasting coloured parts with two shades of brown on each of the forearms and with the lighter of these shades used again on the knee pads and the right shin armour. The outfit is finished off with a thick dark brown belt, with pouches, and from the rear of this a soft plastic skirt that hangs to the knees of the figure.
The helmet uses the same blue as the main armour, with a lighter blue panel on each ‘cheek’. We also have a stubby non-articulated range finder and some more dints and scratches with silver paint. Paz Vizsla’s enormous repeating blaster is fed by his jetpack that slots into the rear of the figure and is coloured yellow with silver and grey component parts. A single grey pipe in softish plastic connects to a socket on the jetpack and then feeds into a similar-shaped socket on the right arm. A larger ammo feed then snakes out from the base of the jet pack and connects directly to the blaster itself. The blaster can be rear-mounted on the jetpack by way of a plug-in socket and this allows Paz to use his other weaponry on the forearms. Unlike other Mandalorian releases, I am pleased to confirm that the plug and sockets used for both the jetpack and the blaster are tight and secure once engaged.
The blaster stands as tall as Vizsl’s chest and is dark grey in colour with a transition to silver and then metallic blue on the combined three-outlet barrel. We have a handle grip at one end, then a short way down the barrel, and again on the halfway point with this last one being articulated so it can be rotated in 360 degrees depending on how you want Paz to hold the blaster.
Vizsla does feature 21 points of articulation including a well-hidden pair of butterfly shoulders and a rarely-seen forearm swivel just below the elbow. Both of which aid in gripping and posing the blaster. That being said, the sheet size of the weapon and the bulk of the body does limit posing options to relatively standard firing or neutral poses. The smaller grey pipework connecting the jetpack and the left forearm is also restrictive to some more extensive arm movements and it has a frustrating tendency to pop out, needing a more rubbery flexibility than the marginally soft plastic that we have been given.
Putting aside the other variations of this figure as Carbonized or Credit Collection, there are paint variations here vs the original release that are a touch more than we might expect to see between two factory runs. The blue is a differing shade, and most noticeably the right shin armour is lighter than the original release. If you are inclined to have two Pazs in your collection, then this newer 2024 figure could be put in as the Season 3 version of Vizsla where the exterior lighting for the Mandalorian Covert and then on Nevaro do show the brown armour as a lighter colour vs his appearance in the dimly lit scenes of The Mandalorian Season 1 and The Book of Boba Fett.
2024 release on the left, 2019 on the right of the image
Paz Vizsla is certainly not a figure that has been hard to find since he arrived in Season 1 of The Mandalorian and therefore is a a slightly odd choice for a full Galaxy Collection re-release, although it is unclear if the Archive Collection would or could incorporate a Deluxe figure. For the RRP of circa £33, you get a well-sculpted figure with great decor including weathering and battle damage, and one of the largest blasters to date in the Black Series. He poses well, looking great with the Armorer or indeed with the wider Mandalorian figures led by Bo-Katan Kryze.
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About Me : As a child of the 70's and 80's I grew up in a golden age for action figures and in my youth bought and sold myself through collections of Star Wars, G.I. Joe (Action Force) and M.A.S.K. while also dabbling in He-Man, Transformers and Ghostbusters. Roll forward and I am now reliving that Youth with the action figures of today and am a collector and fan of the larger 6-8 inch figures from my favourite movie and TV licences - including the ones mentioned above, but also the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Doctor Who and the Aliens. I launched The Mephitsu Archives in 2015 with a view of creating a UK focused site or these figures where fans can pick up the latest action figure news, read reviews and get information on where to buy their figures and what is currently on store shelves. I hope I am delivering that to you guys...
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