Review: Star Wars Black Series Gaming Greats Purge Trooper and Patrol Trooper from Jedi: Survivor
"I worked with a Purge Trooper once before, a few postings back."
"Yeah? Any advice?"
"Stay out of their way."
Star Wars Black Series Gaming Greats multi-packs have been predominantly sold as Amazon Exclusives since the first releases in 2024 for Jedi: Fallen Order. Then, back at NYCC 2025, it was revealed that Walmart would be carrying an exclusive Gaming Greats 2-pack in the Spring of 2026, a set also based on the Jedi games from EA, namely the sequel Jedi: Survivor. The pack would be a troop-building set and would bring us tweaked versions of the Imperial Patrol Trooper (first seen in Solo: A Star Wars Story) and a Purge Trooper, as introduced in the first Jedi game.
The set began shipping as intended in the Spring of 2026, sold in the US in Walmart stores and available here in the UK via Fan Channel retailers. It follows the same design as all two-packs, with a wider box, but retaining the usual depth and height as single boxes. The main box colouring is matte black with the Black Series logo on the top rail above the large window. This window shows off the two figures, and sitting in the bottom right corner of this window is the hexagonal foil Gaming Greats sticker. Blue-hued colouring is used on the Trooper names and on the band carrying the source material, and this is the established colour for Gaming Greats. This colouring extends to the side art that includes a split shot of both Troopers, with the Purge Trooper at the top and the Shore Trooper underneath. Both shots are from the waist upward and have each Trooper cradling a weapon - a blaster for the Purge Trooper, and a stun baton for the Patrol Trooper.
These multi-packs are adjacent to the main collection; they are not numbered, and the side art does not connect in any way to the other releases or the larger Galaxy Collection Gaming Greats montage. The same artwork of the Troopers is repeated on the back of the box, split to either side with background text in the middle that confirms the Purge Troopers role to “rentlessley hunt remnants of the Jedi Order” while the Patrol Troopers are explained as featuring partial armour to allow for “greater mobility”. The two figures are backed in the box by a blue-hued backing card that features a wide planetary shot of Coruscant, as seen in the game and where the Patrol Troopers in particular are prevalent as enemies.
We have had a number of Purge Troopers across the Black Series, both the Phase I Purge Troopers from the Jedi games, as seen here, and also the Phase II Troopers which turned up in the Kenobi Disney+ Series. This 2026 Gaming Greats release is a revisit of the very first Purge Trooper from 2019, that one at the time being based on the first Jedi game, Fallen Order.
This time round, the Purge Trooper is moved onto the newer pinless Clone Trooper body and is assembled in the same way, with gloss black armoured panels connected by matt black, ribbed joints. Over the armour, we have a shoulder Pauldron in softer black plastic with a painted red shoulder over the right-hand side. The gloss black belt, featuring various pouches and ammunition, locks in a soft goods black skirt with a red applied trim around the edges. This soft goods doesn’t look as good as the softer rubber skirts of ARC Troopers, and has a tendency to sit too flat and ‘kinked’ out to the side if it wasn’t quite packed straight in the plastic.
The armour is decorated with a large red Imperial decal on the left shoulder, with white chevron markings on the forearms and on the right thigh. The back of the figure shows a bit more decor around the upper torso armour, with the four circular panels picked out in red, and the vents underneath in a gunmetal finish. The helmet, a version of the Clone Airborne Trooper helmet, is gloss black like the armour and is then painted around the vents in grey, with two red panels on either side of the front breather section. The red visor we see in the game is not attempted on the figure, with the visor left more or less the same black as the helmet. A slight red hue here would have been appreciated.
vs the 2019 release (right)
When you compare this new 2026 release with the 2019 original, you can see that the overall aesthetic is almost identical, including the markings. Proportionally, the newer Clone body has the updated Purge Trooper standing a little more naturally, doing away with the bow-legged look. The newer figure does give up a bit of detail on the right gauntlet, where the older figure has painted indicators and switches. The newer version also loses the trim around the belt, so we have no central silver ring and the attached red straps. This is more to do with the visual tweaks in-game for the Purge Trooper between Fallen Order and Survivor.
The articulation on the Purge Trooper is now all pinless, another enhancement vs the original, with 19 points of articulation in total. The legs allow for a wide range of positions, a benefit of the soft goods skirt allowing the Purge Trooper to kneel, be braced in firing positions, or walking/running toward his quarry. The Trooper has the floating knee armour, so with the knee bent, you can still position the knee section to look natural. I did find that one leg feels longer than the other, and getting a true neutral stance is more difficult, although the ankle rockers are tight and secure, and once stood in a stable position, the Purge Trooper holds fast.
The torso can rotate and lean in and out via the ball joint sitting between the torso and waist, while the head sits on a double joint; although here the movement is less due to the shape of the Airborne Trooper helm and how its flared base sits very close to the pauldron. The arms are butterfly-jointed at the shoulders, and with the elbow and wrist joints there is loads of range, and wielding the blasters is not an issue.
Those blasters include both the DC-15S blaster carbine and the longer DC-15A blaster rifle. Both are cast in a deep grey colour, with plenty of cast detail but no additional paintwork. There is no holster option, but Hasbro has given this Purge Trooper the newest hand format, so both right and left hands include a trigger finger, and therefore the blasters can be held in either orientation. The butterfly shoulders permit either blaster to be cradled with the other hand, while also raising the arms and blasters up to a firing position with the head & helmet looking down the barrel.
The accompanying Patrol Trooper is a direct repack of the 2018 figure released for Solo: A Star Wars Story. This means the figure is an older construction which does rely on both pinned joints as well as parts cast inclusive of the joints. The armoured elements remain glossy white and are most prevalent on the chest, torso, groin, shoulders, lower arms, and shins. The rest of the suit is the black combat suit, most seen in the trousers, which are sculpted as though cloth, and then trimmed in white down the sides. In this example, where white is painted onto black plastic, the white finish is dull; this can also be seen on some of the belt elements and on the hands.
Conversely, there are more numerous elements of black painted on white, which does get better coverage but can leave messier edges than if white armour had been connected to a black joint, as seen on newer format Troopers. The Patrol Trooper detailing on top of the base armour and combat suit is solely limited to the chest section panel with a green indicator.
The helmet is also cast in gloss white with painted black decor around the main ridge of the helmet, the breathing components, and across and down the side cheeks through to the back of the helmet. Grey is featured on a couple of the side and rear panels, while the visor is picked out in a glossy dark green but is only really visible under strong light. Overall, the figure is well proportioned and a good likeness to their live-action but brief scene in Solo and against the game visuals for Jedi: Survivor.
vs 2018 Solo release (right)
Side by side against the 2018 Solo release, there are no differences as such, with only minor paint variations that you would expect across different factory runs 7-8 years apart. Articulation is unchanged and 21 points in total, representing a time (in 2018) of transition in the Black Series line: moving away from but not having fully ditched the pinned double-joints in the knees while starting to include the the butterfly shoulders and twin-jointed neck. The legs also use both a thigh and boot swivel thanks, so while the knee is fixed, rotation on the legs is not an issue.
The Patrol Trooper has a large range of movement from kneeling positions up to and including battle stances with the various weaponry, and even the ability to ride a speeder if you have one spare. All of the joints on the figure feel tight and secure, and our Patrol Trooper is simple and stable to pose standing.
Accessories are plentiful with the Patrol Trooper, giving it a number of offensive options. The first of these is the small holdout Blaster, as seen and released previously with Imperial Scout Troopers. This smaller blaster is cast in black and slots into a right-hand side holster, or into the right hand of the Patrol Trooper where the two top fingers are split from the bottom two to hold the blaster in a firing position.
The figure also retains the same stubby baton seen on the Solo release. This is made up of two ridged black rods connected in the middle by a small silver-painted section. It too can be holstered by way of a twin-looped sheath on the left-hand side of the belt. Or it can be raised in anger as a melee baton in either the right or left hand.
To align the Patrol Trooper with the Jedi: Survivor look, the set also comes with the electrostaff and riot shield as originally packed with the Jedi: Survivor Riot Scout Trooper, the Troop type that is replaced on Coruscant by the Patrol Trooper skin. The electrostaff is a grey/blue accessory with a thick, textured grip and then a slimmer neck that can be extended outward. The head of the weapon is a triangular and rounded ‘spearhead’ piece that also comes with an electro effect piece wrapped loosely around it in blue translucent soft plastic.
The shield is cast in white with a black upper section and what should be an orange translucent viewing slot. The front panels of the shield are sculpted to be pitted and worn, and there is a faded Imperial cogwheel emblem embedded in the centre. Round the back of the shaped shield is an articulated handle and a wrist strap. This allows the left arm of the Trooper to hold the handle and take the weight of the shield on the wrist with the strap, enabling more secure positions with the shield up and raised.
This combination of the electrostaff and riot shield does look best when combined together, and the relatrively wide ranging articulation does create some very neat-looking display options with the Trooper ready to face off against Cal Kestis.
As a set, the two figures are tied together via their Imperial roots and their appearance in Jedi: Survivor, and side by side are very complementary on display, while they very much can be split up and placed into other contexts, enhancing the Purge Troopers we already have with another version, and extending the Patrol Troopers from Solo if needed.
For £44.99, this is a well-priced army-building option that ticks the boxes of both being a nice addition for fans of the game, while not being essential to the main collection. The Purge Trooper is probably the better of the two in terms of it being a fully updated body and therefore improving on what you may already have in terms of articulation and aesthetics. The Patrol Trooper was always a neat figure anyway, regardless of the older body components, and I wouldn’t expect Hasbro to be fully redeveloping this body for such a niche Trooper unless it shows up more in future media. The addition of the Riot Shield and Electrostaff provides it with multiple display options, and the figure already had the articulation to accommodate these for more dynamic posing.
While Hasbro has explored other Trooper Building sets such as the smaller closed box 2-packs, I can see this format being one that could see wider success in the future, linking into the Gaming Greats source material to bring Troopers back on sale as Troop builders, and we are already looking forward to the second of these with the incoming release of the Magna Trooper and Shore Trooper. I will be interested to see where we might go from there.
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About Me : As a child of the 70's and 80's I grew up in a golden age for action figures and in my youth bought and sold myself through collections of Star Wars, G.I. Joe (Action Force) and M.A.S.K. while also dabbling in He-Man, Transformers and Ghostbusters. Roll forward and I am now reliving that Youth with the action figures of today and am a collector and fan of the larger 6-8 inch figures from my favourite movie and TV licences - including the ones mentioned above, but also the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Doctor Who and the Aliens. I launched The Mephitsu Archives in 2015 with a view of creating a UK focused site or these figures where fans can pick up the latest action figure news, read reviews and get information on where to buy their figures and what is currently on store shelves. I hope I am delivering that to you guys...
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