Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3,260: Rebel Fleet Trooper (The Retro Collection)

REBEL FLEET TROOPER Kenner Debut
The Retro Collection Target Exclusive 3 3/4-Inch Action Figure Set
Item No.: No. G1082
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: DH-17 blaster pistol
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $59.99
Availability: April May 2025
Appearances: Star Wars

Bio: The Star Wars Retro Collection features design and detailing inspired by the original 1970s Star Wars figures and features original figure design and detailing! Continue your collection from a galaxy far, far away. (Stolen from the marketing copy. Packaging has no bio.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at Amazon now!

Click here to buy it at eBay now!

Commentary: I'm a fanboy for The Retro Collection, but the Rebel Fleet Trooper is my least favorite. It's not awful - just undercooked. It's a trooper that has had some weird issues with almost every official release. Kenner made one in 1997 that was taller than Darth Vader. A few years later Hasbro made one with a unique twisty joint for the knees that kind of, sort of, let him kneel. Pretty much every figure before Vintage was just, in some way, different. This one continues the tradition.

The color picks are right-on. The face is pretty much perfect. The hands are a smidgen too small so the blaster may rotate itself a bit. It's not a great grip, but Kenner's figures didn't always have the best grip either. The arms are posed bowed out in a way that feels unnatural and maybe just a bit short. The legs seem a little too straight. The vest feels like it was sculpted digitally, and this might be a first draft. It's not awful - but compare it to Han Solo or Dr. Evazan and it just seems very (I know, I know) plastic. It's oddly lifeless when compared to other figures of even the old eras of toys. The colors and proportions are good, the face paint is great, and I don't mind the unusual helmet shape - weird is good, after all! I just don't buy it as a real Kenner figure. It's a little too smooth, and maybe a bit more care going into the blue arms pose or giving the knees a bit more of a flourish to make it seem lively would make all the difference. Perhaps a few more wrinkles near the crotch on the legs would help, or some bunched-up fabric at the end of the sleeves. His butt is almost comically flat with no definition whatsoever, it just looks like a curved but generally flat badonkadonk-sans-donk.

The helmet is much smaller than the prop, and is molded separately from the figure's head. That's different than the Death Squad Commander. I would have loved some hair peeking out the back of the helmet, like we got with the aforementioned Commander. It feels like someone turned in a work-in-progress and someone else said "perfect, let's run it." Another greeblie or two on the side would be nice, a little antenna vestige or some tiny bit on the side box. There's no chin strap, but as the Death Squad Commander didn't have one I am not going to hold it against anyone emulating that style. The movie helmet also has an extra shell on it that was left off of this design - but they did the same thing with the Death Squad Commander. The Empire's Star Destroyer Commander helmet from Kenner was very simple with the wrong silhouette, so I can only assume the design choice was an intentional nod to the 1970s. If you look at 1979 X-Wing Luke's helmet, it wasn't very detailed either and when I got one second-hand as a small child, I was not aware it was supposed to be Luke or a generic pilot. It could be better, it could be worse.

Functionally, the figure is OK. The hands are a tiny bit too small for the blaster - a common problem in this line - but he can hold it without dropping it. The head and arms turn nicely, but my sample's legs don't swing fully forward. You can get him in a vehicle, but it's a little weird the left leg doesn't want to swing all the way up. If I were a kid, I would assume the figure to be in some way broken - but I was a weird kid. I want those legs swinging forward all the way.

If this were the first "new" "Kenner" "figure" out in 2019 instead of Tarkin, I think fans would be cranky but a bit more forgiving. It's an interesting first attempt. Several years in, it's just not something that makes me go "wow!" Perhaps it's just the general softness of detail across Hasbro's Retro that hurt it, as there's no real texture on the Trooper clothing, very few interesting pleats or wrinkles, and the pleather vest just seems kind of lifeless. And the butt is just so, so flat. As a carded collectible, it gets the job done. As a standing figure on a shelf, it is real. It doesn't compare favorably to competitive Kenner-inspired toy lines from fans, Super7, or other manufacturers. Get this set anyway, but maybe don't bother to build an army of the Rebel Fleet Trooper.

Collector's Notes: I got mine from Target.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 3,260: July 22, 2025