The Stormtrooper with Blast Accessories was originally planned as a 2018 Toys R Us Exclusive. With the collapse of the retailer, the set was thrown into confusion but was finally confirmed as a Disney Store exclusive, but only in the US. While some import stock has been available in the UK, collectors have had to wait until the Summer of 2019 when stocks were finally brought en masse to the UK via The Entertainer.
Packaging 3/5
Our Stormtrooper uses the same design principles as the other Phase 3 packaging, but the box is a bigger version - similar in size to that used for the Deluxe releases. The front of the box shows off the figure through the window with the blast accessories to the side. There is no normal red backdrop, but instead we have an imperial ship backdrop - more on this later.
The side of the box has no number as this is an exclusive. Round the back we have a pretty standard packaging reverse although there is an added piece bottom right that shows the figure and the FX pieces. This image does kind of make the blast parts look like they light up - but this is not the case.
The rear of the box then has the bio for a Stormtrooper, a little longer than the usual write up.
"Stormtroopers are elite shock troops fanatically loyal to the Empire ad impossible to sway from the Imperial cause. They wear imposing white armor, which offers a wide range of survival equipment and temperature controls to allow the soldiers to survive in almost any environment. Stormtroopers wield their blaster rifles and pistols with great skill, and attack in hordes to overwhelm their enemies."
Paint & Sculpt 2/5
The figure is essentially the same Imperial Stormtrooper sculpt from the original phase of figures. The sculpt has always been strong and therefore I have no immediate qualms about the re-use from a sculpt point of view.
This version of our Stormtrooper is designed to be blast damaged - perhaps similar to what we see on the EA Battlefront II game. That means the crisp white armour is painted over with some brown paint panels that look more like mud than the blast effect I think they are meant to represent.
The colour of the helmet damage is different to that on the chest and arm which is a little annoying.
Accessories 2/5
The selling point of the set was a large amount of accessories. This all starts with the odd inclusion of a display stand - the first used in a Black Series release. The stand is rectangular with shaped corners. It carries the Star Wars logo engraved on the front part of the stand. And this centerpiece can be flicked off and reversed into a grid imperial floor design.
There are peg holes to either end of the stand. The issue with this is that they are too wide apart to be of use to the Stormtrooper in a wide stance. Instead you can use one or the other, placing the Trooper at either side of the stand and not central.
Our Stormtrooper has an E-11 blaster, the same cast blaster as has come with the previous Stormtrooper releases. It is cast in black with no paint apps. There is then a blast accessory piece which is well engineered to slot over the end of the blaster to simulate a firing effect. The fit is OK on this, but it is not a tight fit and the FX piece has a tendency to drop off.
And then we have the larger explosion pieces. These are cast in translucent orange plastic with some paint apps on the ends of the explosion to darken them. Both parts are hollow, but there are no lights inside which would have been a neat feature.
And while it is not quite an accessory I will talk about the card insert here as we get a full cardboard backdrop which is an illustrated Imperial wall panel and door frame. This stands on its own, but does present the undecorated brown cardboard on either side. It could be used as a backdrop with some tweaking.
Articulation 3/5
Our Stormtrooper comes with the same 18 points of articulation as per the orginal release, and this is two points more than a more recent Black Series figure thanks to the double elbow joints and bicep swivel.
Head : ball joint and pivot neck
Body : torso ball joint
Arms : ball joint shoulders, bicep swivel, double jointed elbows, pivot wrist
Legs : ball joint hips, thigh swivel, double jointed knees, ankle rocker
The top half of the trooper is very well articulated and even with the armoured shoulders the Trooper can achieve two-handed weapon poses. The issues like with the legs with the hips barely poseable having been restricted by the thigh armour. Wider action stances are OK, but anything else does get a little blocked off.
The Stormtrooper stands well enough, but can look a little bow-legged. It can also be a bit frustrating getting the ratcheted ankle rockers flat to the floor to keep the figure stood.
Summary
Our Blast Accessory Stormtrooper is a bit of a let down in most areas. The box gives the indication that there could be more to the set (lights) than there is. And the figure has a very ugly paint job where a normal Stormtrooper would have actually been better and allowed for army building.
The stand doesn't work and is unwieldy for a display - it is also a one off, so there is no option of uniformity with other figures. And the blast pieces are OK, but are too dull without lighting - although they have been left hollow so you could work out lighting them yourself.
At the original RRP of nearly £50, this set would be a huge let down. At the recent price of £24.99 at The Entertainer it was more palatable. and since it dropped further to £14.99 (£9.99 with a voucher offer) it is now certainly worth picking up - even if you carefully strip off that painted blast marks.
I score the Stormtrooper Blast Accessory Exclusive a 2 out of 5.
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