Friday, January 10, 2014

So Many Options! The Legacy Collection Sandtrooper Figure Is Wonderful!


The Good: Incredible sculpting, Amazing poseability, Exceptional detailing, Awesome balance, Decent accessories!
The Bad: Comparatively clean for a Sandtrooper.
The Basics: The Star Wars Legacy Collection Sandtrooper is another amazing rendition of the Sandtrooper with so many incredible accessories that it is bound to make collectors rebuy one of the most prevalent figure types in the Star Wars toy line.


I cannot remember the last time that I was evaluating a Star Wars action figure and found myself truly blown away by an accessory in the figure. Yet, when I opened up the new Amazon.com exclusive Sandtrooper figure and began going through it, I discovered that Hasbro had completely redesigned the Imperial blaster accessory. The blaster pistol on this figure is hinged and unfolds into a pretty cool alternate version of the pistol that seems unique for the Star Wars figure. The thrill of discovery was wonderful with this figure and this version of the Sandtrooper has an excessive amount of accessories and playable options that make it well worth picking up.

For those unfamiliar with the Sandtrooper, they are the Imperial Stormtroopers seen on Tatooine in A New Hope (reviewed here!), searching for the droids that escaped from the Tantive IV. This is essentially a Stormtrooper with a shoulder guard.

The 4" Sandtrooper figure is another generic shock troop which may be stocked up on and because this is such a good figure, it is worth doing so. This Sandtrooper also excels for current collectors because it fits on the latest Dewback toy (reviewed here!)

Basics

The Sandtrooper figure stands 3 7/8" tall to the top of his helmet. He wears the white and black armor of the Imperial Stormtrooper with a solid black shoulder guard. This toy is a great sculpt and this version of the Sandtrooper goes for a true rendition of the soldier; it does not have a removable helmet, so it remains a generic, inscrutable soldier of the Empire. Unlike some of the Sandtroopers, this is neither a filthy, worn-looking figure nor a completely clean version of the Sandtrooper.

As one might expect from the fact that the Sandtrooper is based on the Stormtooper, the new Sandtrooper is an amazing sculpt. The figure's armor includes such realistic details as a soft belt with molded flap-like pockets/holsters and the texturing on the arm guards. The armor on the Sandtrooper's outfit looks slightly worn, which makes sense given that the Sandtrooper works in a desert environment. The coloring details on the Sandtrooper's armor are also pretty wonderful and this looks exactly like the Sandtrooper's in the pictures (and in the movie). The seeming simplicity of the figure is undone by the fact that the figure is so detailed that it includes the fine detailing like the black vents on the sides of the helmet and the more general wear coloring that keeps the white figure from looking clean, white and simplistic.

Accessories

Sandtrooper is an Imperial stormtrooper and comes a plethora of accessories, which include an Imperial blaster pistol, a blaster cannon, probe droid (and “floating” stand), backpack and a Build-A-Droid piece! The blaster pistol that the Sandtrooper comes with is a new sculpt of the standard Imperial blaster that seems like a pump-action gun. The 1 1/8" long gun fits in either of Sandtrooper's hands and looks entirely proportionate. It unfolds to change the lower part of the barrel into an extended butt, making the pistol into a handgun that measures 2” long. The monotonal black weapon looks great in a one-handed or two-handed grip.

The blaster cannon is a massive gun seen on the shoulder of the Sandtroopers in A New Hope as they storm around Mos Eisley. The 2 3/4” cannon is huge, with a barrel that is 3/16” in diameter. The weapon is gunmetal colored, with an attached strap that is a drab green/brown that looks just like the ones in the film. This gun is easily slung over the figure’s back or held properly in a two-handed grip. While it may be held in a single hand, it tips the figure over when it is held that way.

The backpack is one of the neatest accessories of the new Sandtrooper figure. The black, gray, and blue backpack accessory is 1 7/16” tall by 1 1/16” wide and 1/2" thick. The backpack plugs into a slot on the back of the Sandtrooper. The backpack is, interestingly, reversible, to look for authenticity or act as a connection point for the clear stand for the probe droid. When oriented properly, the backpack locks into the back of the figure perfectly to solidly attach to the Sandtrooper. Flipped upside down, the connection is slightly looser, but it puts at the top of the backpack the cylinder that fits the stand on the probe droid.

The probe droid is the replica of the silver and black droid used by the Sandtroopers as they went door to door searching for the droids outside the Cantina. This accessory is 1” long, 1/2" wide and tall floating camera droid. It is molded with such fine details as the navigational vanes on the bottom of the droid. The droid comes with its own accessory, a 1 1/2" long clear plastic tube that connects the droid to the backpack and makes it look like the probe droid is floating just off the Sandtrooper’s shoulder!

Like the rest of Amazon’s 2013 Legacy Collection figures, the Sandtrooper features a droid part. The Sandtrooper features the head of TC-70. The copper head looks appropriately like a protocol droid’s head. This features a peg that sticks into the torso of the figure. This is a pretty basic droid figure head with minimal detailing; the triangular marking on the forehead and bright yellow eyes.

Playability

The four inch toy line was designed for play and the Sandtrooper is exceptional in that regard. The Sandtrooper has great balance and even better poseability, illustrating the latest in molding technology. The Sandtrooper is articulated at fourteen points, only one of which is a simple swivel joint! The Sandtrooper is articulated at the ankles, knees, groin socket, bust, shoulders, elbows, wrists and head. The head is on a ball-and-socket joint, as is the bust of the figure. The knees, ankles, groin joint, shoulders and elbows are all hinge joints on the ball-and-socket, giving them exceptional poseability and playability. The wrists have simple swivel joints which do all they truly need to do.

Collectibility

The Sandtrooper is part of the Legacy Collection with the build-a-droid figure that was released in 2013 exclusively through Amazon.com. The Sandtrooper was released with equal frequency as the rest of the line. Given how this is Sandtrooper easily interfaces with a number of toys and has multiple playable options, it is one that fans might be willing to stock up on, especially considering that one can never have too many Sandtroopers. As a result, this is one of the Sandtroopers that might well appreciate in value.

Overview

The Sandtrooper is one of the best Sandtrooper figures made by Hasbro for their 3.75” toy line and is well worth picking up!

For other Sandtrooper figures, please check out my reviews of:
Vintage Collection VC14 Sandtrooper
Vintage Collection VC112 Sandtrooper
Power Of The Jedi Tatooine Patrol Sandtrooper
Power Of The Force Patrol Sandtrooper

10/10

For other Star Wars toy reviews, please check out my Toy Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2014 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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