Figure of the Day: Day 1,338: Dark Trooper Phase I

DARK TROOPER Phase I  

The Legacy Collection Shared Exclusive Expanded Universe Wave 

Item No.: Asst. 87535 No. 93301  

Manufacturer: Hasbro  

Number: #BD56  

Includes: Shield  

Action Feature: n/a   

Retail: $7.99  

Availability: May 2010  

Appearances: Dark Forces video game  

Bio: The dark trooper project is the creation of Imperial General Rohm Mohc to create advanced battle droids. The project is done in phases to refine the design. The Phase One dark trooper has an unfinished appearance and primitive programming. (Taken from the figure's cardback.)  

Image: Adam Pawlus' new bathroom. It's a very white bathroom.  

Commentary: How do you follow up a giant 2009 build-a-droid of such awe-inspiring bulk that you could never top it? Easy-- make its younger, thinner, lamer brother. Dark Trooper Phase I is a never-before-made character with a name fans should recognize. He has a shield accessory, and his vibro-blade is removable but stays on as if it were affixed there permanently. So you can take if off, but since it's part of his wrist, why would you? The figure's articulation is either exceptional or average, depending on what you consider 14 joints these days. As a robot, he works well-- red eyes, lots of silver, and cables galore. He looks like a rough first concept, and as he is one, that means Hasbro did a great job on a figure that some will find thrilling and others will find another toy for the box. I like it, but if it were never made, I wouldn't have missed it. Fans of the game need it, but everyone else? Let your appreciation of the design dictate your purchase. He's a very nicely done figure, but given you've got more than 1,000 choices, he may not be your first. (Unless you want to complete the BG-J38 droid, of which he includes a piece.)  

Collector's Notes: I never saw this one in the wilds of retail, as such, I assume your chances of finding one aren't great. Be sure to network and/or buy online, as I would assume this guy and his wave will either be in very short supply, or appear in some huge glut on clearance somewhere in the future. Either way, it's good to be prepared. --Adam Pawlus

Day 1,338: July 30, 2010

Figure of the Day: Day 1,299: Kyle Katarn

KYLE KATARN & Yuuzhan Vong
The Legacy Collection Comic Packs
Item No.: Asst. 87504 No. 87746
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #03
Includes: Lightsaber, Blaster
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $12.99
Availability: August 2009
Appearances: Star Wars Tales

Bio: Jedi Knight Kyle Katarn and New Republic agent Jan Ors help Imperial officer Pallin free a group of people on Ord Sedra who have been enslaved by the Yuuzhan Vong. But the flimsy cells in which the Yuuzhan Vong have been placed may not be strong enough to hold these cruel conquerors until morning. (Taken from the figure's cardback.)

Image: Adam Pawlus' yard.

Commentary: As part of one of the final waves of comic packs, fans were lucky that Hasbro cranked out a new Kyle Katarn before apparently self-imposing some sort of Expanded Universe hiatus. You may recall the first version of Kyle hit in 1998 and was a smidgen tough to find, and the 2009 release was damned near impossible to locate until 2010. This version was vastly improved over the original, but not without concerns. For starters, it's based on an issue of Star Wars Tales (arguably Dark Horse's finest comic series) and not the video games. For the purposes of the assortment, it makes sense-- it allowed Hasbro to combine a popular and in-development alien with a popular and widely known game character, but for some, we never really got a Kyle as he appeared in the original game. Which is to say, clean shaven.

Kyle's sculpt emphasizes his physique, as apparently Jedi of the future wear tight shirts and pants. (My stuff doesn't even fit.) His working holster is a nice touch, and the look of the figure is very Katarn-esque-- it's a good synthesis of the character based on his many appearances. The pants have a fair amount of wrinkles and detail, and it's pretty easy for this to be the most-articulated version of Kyle to date. He's even got a nice little shoulder pad. For fans wanting a Kyle, this is a solid release. It's not a gamer's perfect figure-- this will likely never happen-- but it's certainly good enough to warrant shelling out for. Unless these get dumped en masse, or interest falls more, I would wager this is a set you'll want to make sure you pick up even if it costs more.

Collector's Notes: At press time, you may luck into this pack as it continued shipping into 2010. In 2009, Hasbro released only two waves of comic packs and the red packaged assortment in which Kyle debuted was in incredibly short supply in most markets. Combined with the popularity of his Yuuzhan Vong co-pack, this is one of those sets that Expanded Universe fans should grab on site just in case they never see it again. Also, it's pretty impressive-- the sculpt is good, the accessories are fine, and it's a rarity in that you get two newly sculpted characters which haven't yet been done to death as toys. Good job, Hasbro! Except distribution, but hey, we know how it goes.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 1,299: June 7, 2010

Figure of the Day: Day 1,296: Rom Mohc

ROM MOHC and IG97 Droid
The Legacy Collection Wal-Mart Comic Packs
Item No.: Asst. 93269 No. 93609
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: Blaster pistol, IG97 with accessories
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $14.96
Availability: March 2010
Appearances: Tales

Bio: Rom Mohc is an Imperial general involved in the testing of advanced battle droids known as Dark Troopers. One of these droids ends up on Tatooine and becomes activated by scavenging Jawas. The Dark Trooper attacks three friends camping in the desert. But things change when the prototype encounters a clumsy IG97 Battle Droid on Tatooine, and the machines battle each other. (Taken from the figure's packaging.)

Image: Adam Pawlus' desk.

Commentary: This Rom Mohc figure is a mishmash of existing figures, and the sum of its parts is pretty good. I mean, it's a new character, which is cool but it's not terribly authentic. For example, the torso is that of the Revenge of the Sith Grand Moff Tarkin, often cursed for his iffy arms and difference from traditional Trilogy-era Imperial costumes. The legs are from Janek Sunber, who we'll be looking at soon, and those are actually pretty good with their knee joints and whatnot. The head sculpt is new, but not exactly true to the game-- the character is generally portrayed as a little older, a little greyer, and a little fatter. So even though this is from the comic-- where he is a little younger and trimmer-- the figure itself looks to be in significantly better shape.

If Hasbro packed on a few more pounds, odds are this would be a pretty solid figure as resculpts go. It's certainly not awful, it's just not as accurate as one might expect from a new sculpt. Since the comic packs are generally made a little more cheaply as of late, it's no surprise that a minimum of new parts were employed to make this release. The head looks closer to an actual real-life person than it does the illustrations of Mohc, but eh, such is life when transitioning 2D stylized likenesses in to plastic. I really can't complain too much, and even though I had to chase this figure down quite a bit to find it, I think it was ultimately worth grabbing. It's not like we have a ton of non-movie Imperials, after all.

Collector's Notes: I hear that in some markets, this set is abundant to the point of being a pegwarmer. In Los Angeles, it sold through pretty much before I ever saw them and had to make a massive sweep of stores more than 20 miles away just to see it-- and I saw one, only once, and bought it. I just moved to Phoenix over the weekend and saw like a dozen so far. Is life fair? No, it is not.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 1,296: June 2, 2010

Figure of the Day: Day 1,202: Dark Trooper

DARK TROOPER Phase III  

The Legacy Collection Build-A-Droid Wal-Mart Exclusive 

Item No.: Asst. 14860  

Manufacturer: Hasbro  

Number: n/a  

Includes: Gun, backpack  

Action Feature: n/a  

Retail: n/a  

Availability: August 2009  

Appearances: Dark Forces  

Bio: The dark troopers were advanced battle droids and infantry exoskeletons that featured heavy plating that resembled the armor of a stormtrooper, powerful weapons, and jumppacks for increased flexibility and tactical advantage. (Taken from Wookieepedia.)  

Image: Adam's back yard.  

Commentary: The biggest (and therefore best) build-a-droid from Hasbro's ongoing program is this massive Dark Trooper which towers over most other action figures in the line. While not an exact match of the game design, it's certainly cool enough and close enough to be worth tracking down. Each massive limb has at least two joints, plus there's a jointed waist, neck, and the usual spots. It kicks the butt of the 1998 release, which it certainly should given its higher price and the fact you have to re-buy figures you may already own to complete it. His unique stance and massive upper-body require extra support, so if you get one be sure to employ a display stand of some sort to keep him standing. The deco is good, the sculpt is nice, and he seems big enough to crush any of your usual Imperial action figures. Plus he's basically black, not silver like the previous release. What's not to like? (Aside from the price tag and Hasbro's making this figure hard to get, that is.) Someone is sure to want to army-build these, but this will likely remain cost-prohibitive for us mere mortals. Still, anyone can save up to afford at least one of this nifty figure and fans of the classic PC game should probably run out and do this. And who knows, maybe some day Hasbro will make a Dark Forces-specific non-bearded Kyle Katarn to go with it.  

Collector's Notes: It comes in five pieces with various Wal-Mart exclusive two-packs which, depending on your location, may have sold out incredibly quickly. Given that completing this item had an initial retail price just south of $100, the secondary market prices tend to be higher than that of other build-a-droids. It's worth getting for fans of the games, or robots, or Imperials. Really, you ought to get one of these.  

--Adam Pawlus

Day 1,202: January 21, 2010

Figure of the Day: Day 301: Kyle Katarn

KYLE KATARN from Dark Forces Video Game
Power of the Force Collection 2
Item No.: Asst. 69605 No. 69893
Number: n/a
Includes: Blasters
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $5.99
Availability: Fall 1998
Appearances: Dark Forces

Bio: It is a period of civil war. The Rebel Alliance struggles to free the galaxy from the clutches of the evil Galactic Empire. Discovering that Imperial forces have begun developing a new type of stormtrooper, the Rebels call on mercenary Kyle Katarn. His mission: seek out and destroy the secret Imperial project called Dark Trooper. A rogue mercenary loyal to no one, Kyle Katarn has accepted a near-impossible mission to destroy the Empire's ability to develop an army of unstoppable stormtroopers known as Dark Troopers. (Taken from the figure's cardback.)

Image: The toy shelves of Adam Pawlus.

Commentary: If you loved figures based on the games, books, and novels, then 1998's assortment of Expanded Universe figures like Kyle Katarn must've been awesomely exciting for you as it was for me. Kyle wasn't exactly a perfect replica of the character in the game, his packaging illustration is a cut scene from the original Dark Forces with a beard drawn on it. The figure itself fared a little bit better, with a decent set of armor, a unique shirt, interesting armor, and gloves. He had some problems holding his weapons, but the figure looked decent for 1998 and this is the kind of figure collectors should be jumping on, especially with the Dark Trooper about to be reissued. There is nothing striking about this figure's sculpt or appearance beyond the fact that it exists. There are so few game-based figures that the fact that you can buy this is reason enough to do so. It's not so much that it's bland, but it's not like the Pote Snitkin figure released around the same time that had a breathtakingly good sculpt. It's just OK.

Collector's Notes: This figure was actually somewhat hard to get, and quite popular for a variety of reasons. While based on a mishmash of Kyle Katarn's appearances from Dark Forces and Jedi Knight, a lot of fans who played neither game jumped on this figure because we all thought it looked a little bit like George Lucas. (Oh, how foolish and young we were.) The figure also has a pop-up diorama on the packaging of the Imperial Shuttle, which was the only modern Imperial Shuttle which would be available until about 2003. Kyle should set you back $6-$15, depending on where and when you get it.

Day 301: March 3, 2007