The Good: Great articulation, Wonderful sculpt, Cool accessories, Good coloring detail.
The Bad: Nothing I can find!
The Basics: The Imperial EVO Trooper is a very cool Star Wars action figure worth picking up for any Star Wars enthusiast!
Star Wars fans and collectors seem to be pretty tolerant when it comes to concept figures. Concept figures are action figures that are not, strictly speaking, cannon and are produced because they flesh out the larger universe. In the case of Star Wars, since the reboot in the mid and late 1990's, concept figures have been sprinkled in, including the whole Expanded Universe and Shadows Of The Empire toy lines. In the case of the Legacy Collection, a very popular collection of Star Wars figures that involved resculpts and improvements upon prior toy lines, the coolest concept figure peppered in is arguably the Imperial EVO Trooper!
The Imperial EVO Trooper was not present in any of the original Trilogy films and is essentially a bulked up Stormtrooper that looks pretty badass. Hasbro did an excellent job of articulating this figure and making it look like it belonged in the Star Wars universe!
Basics
The Imperial EVO Trooper is incredibly detailed both in the sculpt and while the coloring is simple, it ought to be considering the nature of Stormtroopers. Still, there is exceptional detail for both for the figure and his accessory. The heavily-armored humanoid stands 4" tall, which makes him a hair taller than most of the other Star Wars action figures. The Imperial EVO Trooper was released in 2008 as part of Hasbro's Legacy Collection with the Droid Factory bonus. The Imperial EVO Trooper appears on the Stormtrooper helmet-shaped card with the rounded plastic bubble.
This toy is a fairly impressive sculpt, capturing the powerful armor of an Imperial Stormtrooper and adding to it. The Imperial EVO Trooper is standard Stormtrooper armor with gray shoulder pads, additional tools on the belt and forearm and mustard-yellow boots. The boots have kneepads and supplies mounted to the sides that make the figure look like he could survive in the wilderness for some time. As well, the standard Stormtrooper helmet is modified on the Imperial EVO Trooper to include tubes that connect to a chestpiece. This makes the tough warrior look like he might be able to survive in outer space!
As for the coloring, the Imperial EVO Trooper is as good as it can be. The Imperial EVO Trooper is essentially an armor suit and this is a very clean version of the trooper. There are additional coloring details - on top of the molded plates - like a rank or division stripe on the helmet. The red stripe sets this Trooper in yet another way than the armor. The only other real coloring details come in the boots. The yellow boots look worn and they have a pair of faint red stripes on them that make them look distinct.
Accessories
The Imperial EVO Trooper, war horse of the Empire, comes with four accessories: a backpack, two handguns and a blaster rifle that looks like a cannon! The backpack is a 1 1/4" plastic block with an antenna on it. The pack plugs into a hole on the back of the EVO Trooper's back and it looks perfectly appropriate there. Outside a few outlandish poses, the backpack stays on and it looks good there. The backpack helps the EVO Trooper to look more armored and more able to survive for long periods of time away from the Empire.
The two blaster pistols are 1/2" long and are very compact-looking. Cast in a gunmetal color, they fit in either of the Imperial EVO Trooper's hands and they include a trigger guard and are surprisingly detailing in the casting. The Imperial EVO Trooper does not include any type of holster, so he may only hold one of these while holding his giant blaster rifle.
The blaster rifle is a pretty impressive piece of artillery. It is 2 3/4" long and is cast in the same weathered gunmetal as the pistols. The gun with the extensive barrel - it's 3/8" in diameter - looks both heavy and powerful and it casts this trooper as one of the more heavily armed Imperial figures. There is a soft plastic strap cast to the gun which allows the gun to be slung over the figure's shoulder.
This figure was part of the "Droid Factory" line of the Legacy Collection figures and the basic premise was that for every four figures you bought, you'd get a fifth which would be assembled from parts in each of the four toys in the collection. The Imperial EVO Trooper comes with the barrel section to R4-D2, an astromech droid. This black/dark navy blue droid body is cast and colored without any special markings or designs to indicate it is anything but an average Imperial astromech. All of the other Build-A-Droid parts for this particular droid connect to this piece, so this is the essential R4-D2 part!
Playability
The four inch toy line was designed for play and the Imperial EVO Trooper is exceptional in that regard. Not only does this Legacy Collection figure have great articulation, but he looks good while having increased flexibility! The Imperial EVO Trooper is solidly built and has great balance, which is nice after years of inflexible and tippable Imperial soldiers!
The Imperial EVO Trooper comes with fourteen points of articulation, many of which are not just simple swivel joints. The Imperial EVO Trooper has joints at the ankles, knees, groin socket, shoulders, elbows, wrists, neck, and waist and he twists at any of those points. The ankles, shoulders, elbows AND knees are all ball-and-socket joints and the head is on a ball joint, which allows his to nod up and down as well as look left to right, inhibited only by the breathing tubes.
For added support, should one wish to make improbable poses with the figure, there are playsets with foot pegs which fit into the holes in either of Imperial EVO Trooper's feet.
Collectibility
The Imperial EVO Trooper is part of the 2008 Legacy Collection four-inch series, a series of Star Wars action figures that was not incredibly common. Given that this is a concept figure, the Imperial EVO Trooper was underproduced and it has retained its value quite well as a result. This is selling above the ten dollar range most places and there are no indicators it will devalue as time goes on!
The Imperial EVO Trooper is GH4 in the Legacy Collection and is one that is ideal for collectors looking to bulk up their Empire without obvious, typical Stormtroopers!
Overview
The Imperial EVO Trooper is great and had there only been holsters for the small blaster pistols, it would have been absolutely perfect!
For other Star Wars concept figures and toys, please check out my reviews of:
HK-50
Expanded Universe Airspeeder
Shadows Of The Empire Swoop Vehicle
Power Of The Force Deluxe Luke Skywalker with Desert Sport Skiff
9/10
For other Star Wars toy reviews, please visit my index page!
© 2011 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
No comments:
Post a Comment