Friday, April 17, 2009

Figure of the Day: Day 1,003: Stormtrooper

STORMTROOPERS Troop Builder Set
Saga Fan Club Exclusive
Item No.:
No. 32519
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: Blaster pistol or rifle, additional figures
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $19.99
Availability: 2002
Appearances: Various

Bio: Stormtroopers were the elite shock troopers of the Galactic Empire. Like Imperial-class Star Destroyers and TIE Fighters, stormtroopers served as reminders of the Emperor's power, extensions of his will, and a method of keeping the Empire's thousands of star systems in line through fear. (Stolen from Wookieepedia.)

Image: Adam Pawlus' couch.

Commentary: Packaged in a plain white box with a barcode, this Stormtrooper represents much of what fans wanted from Hasbro in this era. The company skimped on packaging and used the best-available Stormtrooper mold of the delay to deliver a fairly priced Stormtrooper that was sorta kinda widely available. (Units were later blown out in Wizards of the Coast retail outlets.) The figure is a whiter version of a 1999 Hasbro Stormtrooper, but the key difference here is that it lacks the temperature-sensitive blast-damage in addition to the gun rack. Because it's clean, I'd say this one is slightly better, but your mileage may vary.

This figure has been rendered junk drawer fodder due to later, super-articulated releases, but it's still decent. It has jointed elbows and swivel biceps, plus ball-ish jointed shoulders. Aside from that it's a pretty stiff figure, but it's certainly good enough to man stations in a playset or a large vehicle or act "dead." (Especially the latter.)

Collector's Notes: The sculpt started life in late 1999 as a Power of the Force CommTech figure. It went on to become a carded figure in the Saga and Original Trilogy Collection lines.


Day 1,003: April 17, 2009

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