And that’s where I have to stop at a minute and really marvel at something. The earliest 6” Batman & DCSH figures looked pretty, but had a few flaws. Mattel had to find their footing to get the sculpt & articulation balanced. What they learned was then applied to MOTU and that has helped that line be really consistent for five years.
Similarly, this 6” Star Wars line must have the benefit of everything Hasbro has learned from making Marvel Legends*. These are the very first figures in the line and they’re awesome. There’s no stumbling with this Sandtrooper. No odd thing I just have to accept. The learning curve came from ML and it’s been put to good use here. The Sandtrooper doesn’t even need to be this well-articulated, but he is and that makes me positive that the Jedi’s or any martial arts-type characters that need to move are going to be fantastic.
* – One other thing I thought was neat was the ball-jointed heads being inadvertently swappable. I know Hasbro isn’t consistent with size (and the trooper’s neck ball is so big it rivals the Hulk’s instead of a normal figure, but I’m excited at the prospect of swapping some heads around on these guys. Is a Sandtrooper Luke possible? Hopefully, I’ll find out soon…
Also included were three movie-based props. The blaster, the blaster rifle, and the heavy blaster rifle. The weapons all appear to be screen accurate and fit in either hand or, with the great artic, in both hands. I’ve favored the smaller blaster so far, but it was pretty neat to get that iconic pose of the trooper cradling the heavy blaster in the crook of his arm too! The weapons were probably my one source of disappointment – they are a little too soft. The softness used on the accessories comes in handy on the backpack (and particularly the shoulder pouches connected to it), but I always worry that soft gear will droop over time, so some more solid weapons would be one of the few things done to improve these figures.
The paint was pretty solid on my figure. It’s probably the one area that pales a bit because it’s not as fantastic as everything else, but it is still pretty sharp. The helmet and armor details are a real highlight, but the black “under armor” areas are a little sloppy. There just doesn’t seem to be as much care given to those areas, but they’re also at or near articulation points, so I can understand it not being as easy. I did have the black paint dry on my figure’s right knee, which did freeze it up for a second, but it came free easy enough with a small white spot on the knee where the paint stayed stuck where it was.
The dirty detailing is great though. I’m excited to see a few more of the Sandtroopers and see if there are any vast differences, maybe some really dirty troopers to go with a relatively clean one like mine. It would certainly make for an interesting display if you could find a few with different levels of dirt.
Overall, I know this is another review where I sound gushy, but I assure you it’s different. If I get really excited about the upcoming DCUC Huntress figure, that’s partially because I just really want a Huntress figure and that one can have a few warts and I won’t care.
As a more casual Star Wars fan, I don’t have that same affinity for a Sandtrooper, but he’s won me over. To put it another way, I’ve been touting NECA’s Dutch as a figure of the year – he totally is – and I’ve commented my disappointment that I would’ve preferred that NECA had the Classic TV Batman license instead of Mattel. The figures would be better and we all know it.
That’s not the case here. Hasbro, yes Hasbro, knocked this Sandtrooper out of the park. On their first try in this scale. I already thought this line had a lot going for it, but if they keep making figures awesome like this, they won’t need to ride on the hype or past success. We’ll just keep buying because the figures are awesome.
I’m still sure that I won’t “need them all”, but I will want a few more than I thought if they’re all going to be this good. I can’t wait for my BBTS shipment to get here with my other figures. It’s a good time to be a 6″ collector. Star Wars has finally joined the 1:12 ranks.
For more Star Wars Black reviews, check out our
Star Wars Black Collector’s Guide.
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.