So Generic I Didn't Realize I Had A Power Of The Force Death Star Trooper

The Good: Generally decent sculpt, All right accessories
The Bad: Low collectibility, Later, better resculpts, General balance issues.
The Basics: The red carded Death Star Trooper is an inflexible, unbalanced, generic Imperial who is fair, but was recast later in a better fashion.


Sometimes, as I am going through my boxes of Star Wars action figures, I discover an action figure I did not know I had. Today, I discovered that I have one of the Power Of The Force Death Star Troopers. The Death Star Trooper, I realized, was one I must have purchased back when the Freeze Frame slides were the incentive. It was one of four exclusive figures released from the Star Wars Insider magazine (reviewed here!). Unsurprisingly, it is somewhat unremarkable.

The Death Star Trooper, was a black-helmeted, otherwise unarmored Imperial officer whose face is visible. The Death Star Troopers, seen briefly in A New Hope (reviewed here!) gave the orders to the Death Star Gunners when Tarkin ordered the destruction of Alderaan.

The 4" Death Star Trooper figure is rather simple and it has been improved upon by the subsequent Hasbro Death Star Trooper in the Saga Legends line, which is currently available in stores.

Basics

The Death Star Trooper is a man who gives the firing orders to the lackeys who will fire the Death Star superlasers. The figure stands 3 13/16" tall to the top of his helmeted head. The Death Star Trooper is dressed in a generic black jumpsuit that makes it almost indistinguishable from Imperial Officers, save that it lacks any rank insignia on the chest. The outfit has no shading or detailing outside a silver belt buckle and an Imperial symbol painted on either shoulder (one assumes it was a patch on the actual costume). The figure is made entirely of hard plastic.

This toy is a decent sculpt, looking precisely like the seldom-seen helmeted human. The Death Star Trooper is utterly unimpressive in his coloring detail, as far as tones and shading go, but this is consistent with the source material. These monolithically toned, black-clad Troopers lived in the clean environment of the Death Star, so it makes sense that it is very clean and sharp. The detailing of the insignias are nice and well-painted with consistency and a good eye for detail. The helmet on the Death Star Trooper is removable and the chin strap is molded onto the head of the figure, so it looks somewhat ridiculous when the helmet is off.

Unfortunately, there is no significant detailing on the face. The eyes are brown with white pupils and the skintones are monotonal.

Accessories

The Death Star Trooper, generic soldier of the Empire, comes with only one accessory, a blaster rifle. The blaster rifle was an accessory thrown in with any number of Imperial figures in the Power Of The Force line. The 2 5/8" black firearm has a giant barrel and scope that makes it appear realistic. Because of the figure's inflexibility, it cannot do any sort of two-handed grip and as a result, this is more decorative than practical weaponry. This is a giant, flat gun with no coloring detail to it. It is cast in monotonal black plastic.

As a Power Of The Force figure, the Death Star Trooper features a Freeze Frame action slide. The slide has an image of the Trooper aboard the Death Star relaying the kill order from Tarkin to the Gunners!

Playability

The four inch toy line was designed for play and the Death Star Trooper is fair in that regard. The figure is poorly articulated and he has poor balance. Flatfooted, the Death Star Trooper is of very limited poseability because his knees are partly bent. Bumping the surface the Death Star Trooper is standing upon makes this one tip over pretty easily. It is hard to pose this figure - which was usually seen on screen seated - in any fashion that looks like it is performing any real action.

The Death Star Trooper lacks significant articulation to make him interesting. The Death Star Trooper is barely poseable as his head turns only slightly because of the shape of the back of the helmet, which inhibits movement. He comes with only six points of articulation, all of which are simple swivel joints. He has joints at the groin socket, shoulders, neck, and waist. The elbows do not extend, so all arm posing is straight-armed.

The Death Star Trooper is ideal for use on playsets where one might be able to plug the Trooper into the pegs on said playsets. The Death Star Trooper has holes in both of his feet to allow him to be plugged into stabilizing holes. So supported, the Death Star Trooper can usually be posed holding the blaster rifle in an action pose.

Collectibility

The Death Star Trooper is part of the Power Of The Force four-inch series, a series of Star Wars action figures that was overproduced, though this exclusive figure was not that common. The Death Star Trooper was one of the few that was not overproduced, appearing only on the one card.

Even so, because the character has been recast for the new Saga Legends line, the value on the the Power Of The Force figure has depreciated.

Overview

The Death Star Trooper is a pretty lame support figure, but its collectible value was (up until recently) fairly good. Those looking to flesh out the full Star Wars universe with a full Imperial army inexpensively can go with this one, but otherwise for greater poseability, fans will likely enjoy the resculpt more.

For other figures from the Power Of The Force line with Freeze Frame action slides, please check out my reviews of:
Pote Snitkin
Darth Vader with Removable Helmet
R2-D2

4.5/10

For other toy reviews, please be sure to check out my index page on the subject by clicking here!

© 2011, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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