THE CLIENT

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“A mysterious Imperial who keeps a low profile in a safehouse on Nevarro, the Client is the face behind an otherwise faceless bounty, an off-the-record assignment with a high value”

Yesterday, I discussed one of the instances of The Mandalorian bringing back characters from elsewhere within the franchise, but how about all those new characters it introduced?  During the first season, we got quite a few new recurring characters.  Showing up in the first episode and remaining confined to the show’s first year was “The Client,” a mysterious, unnamed former Imperial played by Werner Herzog.  Though certainly not one of the show’s action-oriented characters, he nevertheless added a distinctive quality to all of his scenes, which helped to really sell the show as its own thing early in its run.  And, surprising everyone, now he’s an action figure.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Client is figure 20 in the Mandalorian sub-set of Black Series‘ Phase IV incarnation.  He’s the second of the three Mando figures in this particular assortment.  The figure stands just over 6 inches tall and he has 27 points of articulation.  His articulation scheme is more on the restricted side compared to the rest of the assortment, but it’s kind of sensible, given that he’s by far the least action-y of the bunch.  He’s still got more than enough mobility to pull any of the poses you’d really need from him…well, apart from sitting down, since the jacket doesn’t really allow for that.  The Client’s sculpt is all-new, based on his look in the show.  The real selling point, of course, is the Herzog likeness, which is pretty strong.  Not quite 100% there, but close enough to be recognizable in context.  The body replicates his outfit from the show pretty nicely.  There’s a lot of texturing, and a few separate pieces, which gives him a lot of rather nice depth to his design.  The Client’s paint work is generally pretty decent.  As with most of the Black Series, he’s on the drab side, but appropriately so.  The one thing I’m really not big on is the flesh tone paint on the bald spot, which is rather jarring compared to the molded skin tone on the rest of the head.  I’m sure there’s a production reason for the choice, but it just looks weird as is.  The Client is packed with a tracking fob, a camtono (aka the icecream maker), and two stacks of Beskar.  The camtono is actually a really cool piece, with a removable lid and opening panels on the sides.  Absolutely thrilled to have this prop in this scale.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Client is one of those figures that I didn’t really think I needed before he was announced, and even after his announcement I was kind of 50/50.  But, upon seeing him in person, and seeing the cool accessory selection, I decided to jump on him.  He’s not the most thrilling figure, I suppose, but he’s well done for a non-action-y sort of guy, and when else are we going to get a Werner Herzog action figure, right?

Thanks to my sponsors at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure for review.  If you’re looking for toys both old and new, please check out their website.