Jaster Mereel

Jaster Mereel was a male Human born on the Outer Rim world of Concord Dawn. Mereel served as a Journeyman Protector, one of the planet's respected lawkeepers, until the day when his strong morals led him to kill a corrupt superior officer. Charged with murder, Mereel was exiled from Concord Dawn, going on to join the Mandalorian's. An accomplished soldier, Mereel's prowess in battle earned him the respect of his supercommando peers, and he would eventually go on to become Mand'alor, the leader of all the Mandalorian clans, and the Al'Ori'Ramikade - "Commander of Supercommandos". As Mand'alor, Mereel issued a new guideline for Mandalorian behavior known as the Supercommando Codex in which he asserted that the Mandalorians who wished to fight would simply be highly-paid soldiers, and should conduct themselves as honorable mercenaries.

Mereel would face opposition to his reforms both from the peaceful New Mandalorian faction, and the more dangerous Death Watch, a violent splinter group formed by the followers of Mereel's rival, Tor Vizsla. A civil war broke out between the Death Watch and the supercommandos loyal to Mereel, the early years of which would see Mereel's return to his home planet, where he saved the life of a local farmer's son, Jango Fett, when the Death Watch attacked the boy's home. Taking Fett in following the death of his family, Mereel raised the boy as a his son until the fateful Battle of Korda 6. Ambushed by the Death Watch and betrayed by his second-in-command, Montross, Mereel was killed by Vizsla. His body was carried back to the Mandalorians' landing zone by Fett, where Montross was exposed as a traitor and Fett succeeded his adoptive father as the new Mand'alor, in accordance with what Mereel would have wanted.

Figure Specs
Jaster Mereel was released in an online exclusive comic 2-pack together with Montross. The set was originally to be released during The Legacy Collection, but wasn't released until The Legacy Collection had already ended in late 2010. However, the packaging was still kept in the red Legacy-style, and even said Legacy Collection on the packaging. The figure is based on Jaster Mereel's appearance in the Dark Horse comic book series "Jango Fett: Open Seasons".

Just like Montross, Jaster Mereel has 14 points of articulation, including ball-joints in the neck, shoulders, elbows, knees and ankles. Both wrists, the waist and both legs were given swivel joints. The legs stance is in a neutral pose, and the figure balances out quite well by itself. Hasbro included 2 blasters, a blaster rifle, a jet-pack, a helmet and a soft-goods cape with the figure. The somewhat small blasters fit OK into both hands, but sit a little loosely. They do fit very well into both holsters though. Unfortunately, the blaster rifle doesn't fit well at all into either hand. The cape, the helmet and the jet-pack all fit well. The red cape has a hole in it, so that the jet-pack can either be attached on the figure without or with the cape on.

The paint application on Jaster Mereel is executed well. The only flaws are on both shoulders, which have unpainted, gray joints showing through, instead of being painted red. This really looks off. But, there is little, or actually nothing to complain about the sculpt. The figure has 14 well hidden joints with a fantastic head sculpt, which makes for an overall cool looking figure. We also liked the blaster rifle sculpt a lot, which even has a small Mandalorian symbol on the grip and a "tangled" rifle strap. Overall, Jaster Mereel turned out quite well (except for the shoulder paint issue), and can easily be recommended!