Oh, Star Wars. What am I going to do with you? You’re cool, but you’re not my most favorite thing. You have plenty of collectors. Do you really need one more? Did you really have to finally make your case in the six-inch scale? Did you really have to be such great figures?
Well, I shouldn’t use the plural yet. I don’t know if they’ll all be great figures. I have one so far. A Sandtrooper. I have Wave One in my BBTS POL, so I didn’t need to buy any today when I found Wave One at TRU. But, hey, it’s a Sandtrooper. I can have two of those, right? Right?
The Sandtrooper may not look like the sexiest figure from the first bunch. He’s not even a unique character. But the base figure, the Stormtrooper, is just as iconic as anyone in the wave, if not a little more so. He’s been sitting on my desk since the photo shoot and I’m a bit mesmerized by him. First of all, he’s so “big”. Except not really – he clocks in at the expected 6”, but it is weird to finally see a Sandtrooper in my preferred scale.
I know there have been some awesome troopers in the smaller lines – I have a pretty exceptional 4” Shadow Trooper somewhere, still unpacked from the move.
But, see, that’s the thing. I’ve been here in the new place for about half a year. I still haven’t unpacked any Star Wars figures. Part of my collector brain wants to know what I’m doing buying Star Wars figures. The last Star Wars figure I bought, Darth Malgus, has never been opened. The one before that was some pink girl with a silver suit and a big head. Again, never opened. So as I’ve been contemplating Star Wars Black’s 6” figures. I’ve been cautious.
But there’s no tinge of guilt this evening. This Sandtrooper rocks.
I know because I haven’t been able to put him down all day. I could (& probably will) nitpick a detail here or there, but I’m not kidding when I say just about everything is working in concert to make this a great figure.
The sculpt, looks awesome even with all the smooth surfaces provided by the source material. The edges are well defined and the details appear to all be there. In fact, while we’ve gotten used to companies having to make some considerations due to the buck system, that’s not completely the case here. Sure, the Sandtrooper does subsidize the Stormtrooper, but now that we’ve seen the Stormtrooper (Series 3) we can spot a couple small differences that show Hasbro is trying to get these figure right.
The belts will be different, but that’s easy. But there looks to be other details that show that the Stormtrooper & Sandtrooper will feature unique upper and lower torsos just to get the minor differences right. And one part that really surprised me was the left knee pad. It’s a “V” on the Stormtrooper and a diamond on the Sandtrooper. It’s silly, small little detail and it blows my mind that Hasbro spent the money on it. I don’t think that’s something 6” collectors are much used to anymore.
Two other pieces are included to make this guy a Sandtrooper are the backpack and the shoulder pauldrons. Both pieces look sharp and are removable. The backpack even neatly plugs into a small circle area on the armor to maintain functionality and accuracy. It’s pretty neat.
Articulation is where the figure really shines. I have a bad habit of not posing the figures well in some of the reviews and, looking at the pics, I’ve gone and done it again. I assure you though that this guy can move. His articulation is just about everything I want in this scale. The head is on a hinged-ball-joint, there are standard ball-joints at the shoulders, wrists, hips, and ankles, there are swivels at the biceps and thighs, double-hinges on the elbows and knees, and finally a mid-torso joint with fantastic range. The shoulder armor blocks the shoulders somewhat, but it’s not bad and everything else works fantastic. The head and torso have great range. The double-hinges open up all four limbs for great poses. The ball-wrists allow for some great poses including two-handed poses on the three included weapons. The ankles are the new “it” thing where pegs go into the lower foot, greatly increasing their effectiveness. He’s a blast to play with. Continue to Page 2…
These are at TRU? Sweet!
Yes! Found them in SWMO today.
Sounds awesome. I know I’ll likely be getting every character from the Original Trilogy, but it’s good to know that Hasbro has knocked these out of the ballpark beforehand, especially when the initial review deals with an army builder. Can’t wait to see what you think of Luke and Han once you get to ’em.
I’m mostly in for a core dozen or so from the original trilogy, but I’m sure more will catch my fancy. Maul already looks pretty sweet!
But spot on comment on the army builder. If they’ll give him his little details the unique guys should be outrageous! The Lukes look good, but I’m not sure on Han. Harrison Ford is a tough likeness it seems.
“Cheap variant opportunities.” Hehe. I only have an unmasked Batman because I had an extra Bruce Wayne head from getting the prototype suit/Jim Gordon pack, after having gotten the single-carded prototype suit figure when it was first sold on Matty, and an extra Batman body from the DKR line to get the part for the Batsignal. To think of all the teeth-gnashing when the DK figure line was out…
Mine was similarly constructed. 😀
Apparently these are gonna be $40 by the time they hit Australian stores. >_<
Hopefully Amazon gets more in again…
I always forget to mention price! Is that a bad sign that I don’t much care what things cost??
I don’t know about $40, but I did forget to point out that I didn’t mind paying $20 one bit.
Hopefully, you can find some online cheaper though, yeah. I always applaud the dedication of international fans. I don’t think I could do it!
It’s just the markup Australian stores do. I’m sure other countries are similar. Usually, we expect things to be about twice the price you guys pay, but you can get them cheaper if you know where to look…. 😉
Its the same in mexico. i paid $300 pesos (about 24 bucks) for a marvel legends mark 42 iron man. And I had luck!
Huzzah! Amazon comes through again!
3 Troopers and R2 for AU$103 shipped!!
Apparently they’ve been spotted in a Melbourne store for AU$50 a piece!!! O.O
I feel your pain – I’ve been dying for the Sandtrooper to hit our shores (South Africa) as I’ve wanted a 6″ trooper since forever. Coughed up equivalent of $50 (incl postage) today to get the only one I could find locally…
Oh Hulk, you never fail to amuse! LOL
also: “Sandtrooper Luke”? I think you meant “Stormtrooper Luke and Han”? 😉
(and Rorschach is “hrm.”)
I’m only interested in this line for the custom potential to ML and DCUC, so no sand/Stormtroopers for me. It is nice to see how they fit in with the other lines, tho.
and you had the grey GBII sets down there? JEALOUS!! Nary a sign up here!
and we’re having an Ecto-Con soon…? (Hope to see Lynn at Contamination this weekend to get more info from him!)
Nope. Sandtrooper. And what if we can find that Han Solo is secretly Boba Fett?
Headswap!
I found these today at Warshington Target.
Sandtrooper – just barely glanced at him. This review pretty much covers him.
Darth Maul – hard to tell, as he’s wrapped up in his cloak, but has two (identical??) heads. One on body appears to be part of the full body cloak, so…?
R2-D2 – they’ve released 6″ astro-mechs before, so nothing impressive, but he does come with a TON of arm attachments! I just can’t see paying $20 for this R2, tho. :/
X-wing Luke – SNAG!
He looks pretty good and appears to have rocker ankles? left is slightly turned in package (haven’t opened yet). only drawback is the orange on forearm behind glove is a bit thin, letting the black plastic show through a bit just above the glove (most of body appears to be orange plastic?). Left hand appears cocked at an odd angle, too?
but GREAT likeness and the helmet has a clear yellow visor! SHWEET!
(even if I’m going to custom a 6″ GI Joe “Ace” from him! I did an in-store size comparison against Klaw, Hope, and IM. and Sheamus. LOL)
If you see him, grab him, because a lot of people are going to want him to army build just like the Troopers.
Great review and excellent pics. Man, you are making it harder to refuse buying this 6″ line. If it weren’t for my Greedo / Rodian focus, I would refuse to even touch these. Because the problem is, just buying one turns that into a “gateway” figure, and I’m already committed to getting agood MOTUC collection. Must be strong. Not even a Stormtrooper. ESPECIALLY not the army-builders. Must be strong. It helps that individual Sandtroopers are sold out on BBTS. Must be strong. Just Greedo and maybe Amanaman, if they ever bring him out. But that’s it. Must be strong.
Having said ll that, Wave 3 of the 3.75″ series looks amazing!
Having been a major Star Wars fan all my life, I’ve barely been touching the figures for years now. Part of it is just that they keep redoing the same characters over and over, part of it is the cost (I’m still having a hard time paying more for a 4″ figure now that I did for a 6″ figure three years ago), part of it is because I’m not huge into the 1/18 scale, and part of it is because the figures I want are usually the more difficult ones to find (I saw a Vintage series Aayla Secura once, and didn’t have the cash on me, and the next day she was gone).
The 6″ line cuts down on some of those concerns. Not only is the line in a scale I much prefer, but by upping the size, I don’t feel like I’m just rehashing the purchases I made 10 years ago. The cost is still an issue for me (at $10 a pop, these things could become very expensive very quickly), as are space limitations (most of my figure collection is in storage, and my current apartment is really running out of space for more toys).
Yeah, space is a big issue for me, too. Apart from MOTUC, I’ve really got to cherry-pick carefully these days.
Fortunately, Hasbro hasn’t released much worth having in the last couple of months.
I’m all over their Marvel Legends and accompanying figures (like the 6″ IM3 figures), but maybe it’s a blessing in disguise that distribution on them has been so amazingly poor.
When I started my neglected “ReCollect” series, space was going to be a factor – I want/wanted to pare everything down to that one 12-cube shelf… that’s not gonna happen. I need a eght-cube addition… at least.
That group photo makes me very happy. This is truly a great time to collect action figures.
It really is!
I haven’t seen these on the pegs during any of my hunts lately. Is Toys R Us the only brick & mortar retail store selling them? $20 is sadly pretty standard for a 6″ fig nowadays, but as I’ve been buying 6″ Iron Man figures lately (mostly from the Armored Avengers line) that come with very few accessories, I am very glad to see these SW Black figures coming with a bunch of them. It makes the $20 much easier to swallow.
Very nice review. You really did show off a lot of detail on this guy. I usually feel that “dirty” effects are just haphazardly sprayed on, but that detail looks particularly well done. I can’t wait to see some of the others in hand!
TRU is the only place they’ve been sighted so far, though I have to imagine that Target, Walmart, and any other place that sells action figures will be stocking them in the not-too-distant future. It’s Star Wars merchandise, it’s essentially a license to print money, especially when it’s this well done.
My local TRU has a peg for the 6″ figures, but no stock (my area is a big collector/scalper market, so no surprises there), but 4 full pegs of the 4″ line. Nice figures, but nothing I really want, especially with how nice it seems the better scale figures are turning out.
I think I was just lucky when I happened across them.
It was making up for my being very unlucky finding an Acidstorm (though a friend has since hooked me up! woot!)
A man just died. Oh, Hawkeye. LMAO! That made me laugh wayyyyy to much.
Would you believe that I almost didn’t add that in??
Isn’t he a little short for a Sandtrooper?
LOL
And the winner of the comments is Jester, lol
Agreed!
Oh why why does another line have to catch my eye. I am liking this and troop building is fun. I half expect these to fly off the shelf.
Just with MOTU, MLs (me), WWE (one cuz), Marvel U & Transformers (another), and Monster High (a fem cuz). Wil I.have money for these.
It’s easy to get caught up, isn’t it?
Were Leo’s eyes painted white or did you photoshop that?
I painted them white after I bought him.
You can also scrape the pupils off with your fingernail. I accidentally did it to my Mikey
Hi there.
Can you tell me the box size??
I’m asking this because I have to buy it online and wanna know if I can buy the entire wave in one shipment.
Thanks =)
23 cm x 14 cm x 5 cm
9 in x 5.5 in x 2 in
I picked up the Sandtrooper in Central IL Friday afternoon. The four boxes all looked the same size to me.
Thanks man.
I’m gonna buy the entire wave 😀
Thanks, Bill!
Ironically, it looks like they fit in best scale-wise with the Mattel MM and Ghostbusters figs!
Yeah, Mattel has kinda piloted that “6” Heroic” scale which helped the DC figs fit with MLs, but then their other “six-inch scale” lines all seem short.
It’s kinda like newer 1:18th scale figures have migrated to 4″ and then true 1:18th scale figures look outta place.
Man this is a dream line. I never got into the smaller line with the hope that they would eventually do a 6 inch line (also it was just too many toys and vehicles to keep up with while collecting DCUC, MOTUC and NECA toys). I have these in my POL at BBTS and cannot wait to see what else comes next. WOW! Thank toy Hasbro. Series 2 looks amazing too and I am looking forward to your reviews!
I’ve had the rest of these in the BBTS Warehouse for a week! I might cry!!
These do look amazing though. I will not be completist (I’m looking at you Greedo!), but I’m going to want a lot more than I thought.
GREEDO IS THE FUCKING BOMB HOW COULD YOU OMG YOU HURT MY FEELINGS
I picked up Darth Maul and R2 a few days ago, both really nice, especially Maul. I’m mostly interested in the main cast from the OT, but who can resist Darth Maul?!
I’ve read nothing but good things about the Sandtrooper, so kinda regret not buying him when I had the chance. Great review as always!
Nice review. I was similarly blown away by the Sandtrooper here. That is a real highlight of the year for me.