Review : First Order Stormtrooper (and Gear) Star Wars Black Series (Hasbro) Wave/Series : Amazon Exclusive Released : November 2017
£34.99
Pros : Heavy Weapon vest works well and gives fans the Heavy Weapon trooper we've been missing Cons : Loads of design flaws such as shield not fitting the arms, figure unable to hold macrobinoculars to his face and the inability to hold the heavy blaster
When the Force Awakens hit in 2015, the Stormtrooper design was updated for this new era of Star Wars. These First Order troopers had a basic core set of armour with various add-ons or variants within the ranks. As part of The Force Awakens releases in the Star Wars Black Series, we were given a number of these Stormtroopers including the core trooper, the Flametrooper and Snowtrooper.
One Trooper who never made an appearance was the Heavy Weapons Trooper - the one we see on the Star Destroyer firing at Finn and Poe as they steal the Tie Fighter. This was an awesome design with his added vest, and I for one have been waiting for one for sometime.
Roll forward to Force Friday II 2017 and it was announced that Amazon would be selling an exclusive set containing a Stormtrooper and an armoury of First Order gear, including the parts to turn the Trooper into the Heavy Weapons trooper. The set was released in November 2017.
Interestingly, the set arrives in a brown outer Hasbro shipper box that is labelled as "SW E8 BL Ultimate Trooper Pack". Considering the shape of the set with it's curved front, this shipper does give the inner box some protection. However, you wonder if the wider reason for the shipper is the Amazon system and the ability for this to be stacked more efficiently in their warehouses and the larger barcode for identification?
Out of the box you get a curved fronted black box. This is quite a big change in physical design to the usual Black Series packaging. It also dispenses with the red spine. We do get the Star Wars Black Series logo at the top left, and the character name bottom left. This character name is in red and is simply "First Order Stormtrooper". The box front is made up of a large Gregory Titus art panel showing three troopers against a First Order installation backdrop. Each trooper is using a differing type of gear - one is Riot Control, one is standard but with a shoulder ammo pack and the third is the heavy weapon trooper with the large tripod canon.
While I am a huge fan of the Titus artwork. this box design holds a few problem for me - and I think Hasbro are aware of these issues as the small print reads "Fantasy Scene". It might have been better also stating "one figure included only" as you have just packed this in a box called "Ultimate Troopers Set" and show three troopers on the front. If this was on store shelves (which of course it is not) you may be expecting more than one figure? There is also an issue with the left Heavy Weapon trooper show is shown firing the Tripod Blaster from a standing position - again we will see how this is not accurate to the figure later on.
The back of the box is also a massive change to what we usually see on Black Series packaging. First off, it is nearly all white! We then see lined art of the figure and then each of the accessories that are included. This is reminiscent of a blue print type book - but it doesn't quite go far enough and to label each item.
Above this white panel is a black rail with the Black Series logo it then has three illustrations of Stormtroopers - these are again simplistic line drawings. To the side of these sits the text "3 sets of gear". Like the front, these images do portray the troopers in a way that may disappoint later on. The first shows a trooper with macrobinoculars to his helmet wearing the vest. The middle shows a Riot Trooper and the right shows a Trooper holding the heavy blaster and also wearing the vest.
All of the packaging we have looked at so far is actually a sleeve which is then slid off the main box underneath. The front of this main box is black with cut out panels reflecting an Imperial facility. It has a First Order logo front and centre, with the Black Series logo at the bottom.
The back of this box is more Black Series like. Here we have a single Stormtrooper illustration and the usual background text which simply talks about their "sleek armour and powerful weapons" and how they "enforce the will of the First Order".
We access the figure through two flaps, these are held in place by a Velcro pad sat under the central First Order logo. Once open these have a red reverse that extends right into the box as a backdrop to the figure. The figure sits inside a plastic tray and is immediately accessible once these panels are open - there is no window as such.
Seeing the trooper and all his gear laid out here against a red backdrop - you wonder why a standard window box would not have been preferable? How good would that have looked on display for MIB collectors of the Series?
The plastic tray simply lifts out of the cardboard tray - and now behind the tray you can see another First Order logo in the red backdrop itself.
There are no twisty ties or any complex securing system - everything pops out of the tray easily without any fuss.
The initial consensus when the is pack was first shown was it was a repack of the 2015 trooper. In actual fact the head is a new sculpt, as seen recently on the Executioner Exclusive.
While the changes are subtle, you can see from our comparison images that the new 2017 trooper helmet is slightly larger and the "beak" section at the front is more rounded. The helmet also looks brighter white than the rest of the armour.
After the helmet, everything else on the body is the same as the 2015 Force Awakens trooper. Some paint apps do seem to be tighter, with the belt section being a better colour match to the armour and the trimming around the hands neater overall.
Like the 2015 release, the sculpt on the armour couldn't be much better. It captures the sleek curved lines of the new First Order Stormtroopers. All the armour pieces are cast in gloss white with black details added including an insignia or similar on the chest and touches to the arms and belt. The knees seem a little sloppy in paint with some bleeding of the black and some bits not covered.
Articulation is 16 points throughout the figure, we will talk more about this as we look at the various accessory parts and how to pose them. But in summary we have a ball jointed head and torso joint. Arms have ball joint shoulders, rotating pivot elbows and rotating pivot wrists. The legs have a ball jointed hip, thigh swivel, double jointed knees and ankle pivots.
The first distinct gear setup we will take a look at is that of the Riot Control Stormtrooper. We saw this Trooper in The Force Awakens and a version was released in 2015 with this riot gear.
The 2017 set uses the same shield as the 2015 release. This is cast in hard white plastic with a triangular black panel (this was grey on the 2015 release) and four black studs - one on each corner - which are painted black and highlighted in silver. The reverse of the shield has two moulded hand holes and three black lines. The hands of the trooper slot through the straps to allow it to be hold.
The shield's straps do seem to have been tweaked since the 2015 release. They are shaped so they would naturally allow the shield to go on the right arm - the 2015 version was the opposite and designed for the left. If we line this up with the right arm, the first larger loop slides nicely up the lower arm - but the smaller second loop isn't big enough to go over the extended right hand. You therefore end up kind of balancing the shield in place.
If you try this on the left hand, then the first loop is too small to go up the arm at all. You could invert the shield, but then the triangular panel will be upside down? It looks to me like the loops and the rail they are attached to are glued into the shield and I think they are glued the wrong way on mine - if you have a different setup let me know?
The baton is a brand new piece that is now engineered to flip open into combat mode. The baton is not exclusive to this set and is also packed in with the Wave 13 Finn in First Order disguise. The baton is cast in white plastic and has black and silver detailing. The red we had on the original non-opening version has been toned down and is very subtle now on the black section.
The pivot on the opening arms works OK, and when extended the arms snap into position. Being quite a hard plastic and such a small joint, longevity may be a concern. The baton fits in either hand, with the right needing a little more coaxing
Stormtroopers would be anything without their core blasters. The set comes with the same standard blasters as the 2015 version. A small hand blaster and a larger blaster rifle.
These are the same cast as the 2015 releases. The paint job does vary slightly with the 2017 new versions having less detailing such as the silver stripe on the small blaster and less silver on the scope of the large rifle. The new versions do feel more robust, perhaps they are cast in a harder plastic?
Both weapons are designed to fit in the right hand, and this hand has a slightly flexible trigger finger to slot into the triggers of both weapons.
The smaller blaster, when not being used, can be hip mounted. This is the same engineering as the 2015 version where a slot on the thigh armour is used to slot the blaster into. It holds in place petty well.
Arm articulation is just enough to get two handed posing on the rifle weapon, with the left hand able to cup the barrel.
A new accessory is this pair of Macrobinoculars. These are cast in two halves and jointed in the middle. The joint can be moved so the binoculars can be folder together. These are cast in white plastic with black details added. The two handles either side fit into the hands of the trooper. But there is zero chance of getting the hands to hold these to the figures helmet like we saw in the box illustration. The elbows do not bend enough, they would need to be double jointed to give this pose any realistic chance. While these Macrobinoculars look OK and are a new addition to the line, there is very little you can do with them. This is frustrating as you'd have hoped Hasbro could have tweaked the figures arms - even for a few £ more on the box price - to make this the "Ultimate" trooper and make him able to use his binoculars.
The big selling point for me on this set is the inclusion of the Heavy Weapons vest - a figure I am so surprised we didn't get as part of The Force Awakens releases.
While the engineering on the riot shield and macrobinoculars has been poor - the vest is executed very well. It is cast in rubbery black plastic and contains a front section and then two straps that cross at the rear The three front pouches have some white paint added - this is the only paint application on the vest. In the pack the vest looks like there is no joint, but in hand you will find the left of the front section unclips by means of a large rectangular plug. This makes adding it to the figure a piece of cake and it holds in place very well. Being the same body on both the 2015 and 2017 Stormtroopers the vest can therefore be used on a Force Awakens Trooper if you wish. There is a smaller ammo pouch cast in the same black rubber. While this looks unpainted, up close you will find three small silver paint additions on the fastening of each pouch. There is a small clip on the back of the pouch which is designed to slot over the left or right straps of the vest. This is easy said than done. If you add before the vest goes on the Trooper it is easier, but will most likely pop off as you put the vest on the figure. If you add when the vest is in situ it will take some work - and a small tool may be needed to prise the clip open while you slide it over the strap. Once in place it looks good, but still is prone to popping off. While it is nice to be able to vary the look of the trooper, this may have been better simply attached to the vest.
The next accessory is the backpack. This is identical to the ones used by Snowtroopers and was included on the 2015 Snowtrooper releases. It has been tweaked on the reverse with the plug being replaced by a shaped socket. It is cast in gloss white plastic with black details and a touch of silver on a small vent on the front side and again within the circular section on the left. The black line on the base of the backpack went unpainted on the 2015 version, and here it is coloured black.
The only way the backpack can be worn is with the Heavy Weapon vest. There is a peg on the back of the vest that corresponds to the slot on the backpack. Even with the softer plastic of the vest, this still slots in securely and holds well. While you can choose not to use the backpack, be advised the plug is quite large on the vest and may look unsightly - although being at the rear of the figure might make this a moot point.
The backpack was not present on the Heavy Weapon Troopers in the Force Awakens as far as I could see and has not been included on the 3.75" release or Hot Toys release of the same character. That means the backpack addition might be The Last Jedi specific - we will have to wait and see.
So with our Heavy Weapon Trooper geared up we can now arm him with the large Heavy Weapon blaster. This is cast in black plastic and has white paint added around the grip and towards the end of the barrel.
The grip and trigger on the gun is thick and there is no way the Trooper can grip the weapon with the hands included. The best way you can arm the trooper is by propping it as best you can between the two hands. This is a shame and it would have been preferable to see Hasbro reduce the thickness of the grip or to have included extra hands. We do however go back to the arm articulation here, and even if we did have working hands - without double jointed elbows, the weapon could still not have been posed in a firing position
The blaster does not have to be held of course, and can be assembled into a tripod. There are two corresponding pieces in the set. The first is the tripod which is a white stand with black detailing and two black feet. It looks to be two part at first and you might hope the height can be adjusted - but the sliding piece is sculptural only and the height is fixed. The stand slots into the central part of the blaster - and once in place you can rotate the blaster on the stand.
There is then this secondary post which is cast in back and has a look of Admiral Ackbar's staff from the original vintage collection. This slots into the rear of the weapon and seems to act as a further support? Having looked around, none of the other releases of this figure (Hot Toys etc) have included this piece - again it may be The Last Jedi specific?
The blaster stands just as well without this post - and if you want the figure to be firing the gun, then this rear post only gets in the way and is probably best discarded. The illustration on the box shows this gun being fired from a standing position. But without the height being adjustable, this is not possible. You therefore need to employ that leg articulation and get the trooper kneeling. The hips bend just about enough to achieve this until the thigh armour starts to block movement - I'd have preferred the leg to bend to a full 90 degree to the body at the hip. You then bend the knee using the double joint to get two lower legs into position. Whichever leg is at the rear will need the foot bending at the ankle rocker to have it flat to the floor. While the pose can be achieved, the issue of gripping the gun still remains and neither hand can actually hold the weapon and are just posed either side. You will also find the front front seems to clash with the feet of the stand - frustrating again.
This Amazon exclusive certainly gives you a lot of options for your First Order troops - both for the one figure included, and for you to use to arm up the previous releases if you wish. You do however pay a price for this. At $34.99 in US, and a £35 price tab in UK once you have it shipped across, you are paying an extra $10 / £10 for the extra weapons.
I think I'd have been happy with Amazon releasing just the heavy weapon gear as an exclusive, even with an extra fiver on top. The other parts are all just fillers and may are poorly engineered (shield) or are not useable with the figures current level of articulation (macrobinoculars). Even the heavy weapon blaster is flawed with the inability to adjust height, that weird rear rod and the fact the figure can't get anywhere near holding it. Only the vest is designed really well.
The question this set asks is do we fans want accessory sets like this - either with a figure at a premium, or perhaps in an accessory set in the future - similar to what NECA are doing with the Aliens range? For me, I'd have paid £10 for this as a pure accessory pack - and would have then multi-bought the trooper in the basic range with its tweaked helmet - something I am sure is coming in 2018.
As a release I am going to score this Amazon exclusive a 3 out of 5. It gives you the Heavy Weapon trooper you want, but with a lot of stuff you may not want - or may not be able to use thanks to either a design issue or an articulation restriction on the figure.
