swCollector - Sandtrooper

Sandtrooper - 037

: Published on Monday, 24 October 2011 17:46

Sandtrooper ™

The Saga Collection

	Year Released: 2006		Retail Price: $5.99
	Figure# 037		Collection: Escape from Mos Eisley
	Asst: 86830 / 85770		UPC: 53569 12350
	Card# 6495803000		Insert# 6548510000

	Figure Includes:
	• Blaster		• Backpack
	• Random Hologram Figure		• Lance
	• Thermal Detonator		• Figure Base

Sculpt:

Imperial storm troopers assigned to track down the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO on the desert world Tatooine used special armor for extreme conditions, and were dubbed Sandtroopers, in A NEW HOPE. Sandtroopers were seen several times on Tatooine, and eventually tracked the droids from the TANTIVE IV's escape pod, to the Jawas that sold them to Owen Lars, to the Lars farm, and finally to Docking Bay 93 in Mos Eisley. However, even after slaughtering the Jawas and the Larses, the Sandtroopers were too slow for the MILLENNIUM FALCON. This sculpt is based upon the 2004 Vintage Original Trilogy Collection Stormtrooper sculpt. There have been a few changes: there is a slot for the survival backpack, as well as a slot for the removable thermal detonator. (The figure can't have the thermal detonator on its belt and wear the backpack at the same time, but the detonator will fit inside the hollow part of the backpack for easy storage.) 9.5 out of 10.

Paint:

The figure is molded primarily in white, as would be the norm for any sort of Original Trilogy trooper (just about). There are black, silver, and gray paint applications to the helmet, with glossy black for the eye lenses. There are further black paint apps to where the black undersuit can be seen through the white armor's joints, especially at the neck, shoulders, elbows, hands, pelvis, and knees. The soles of his shoes are also black, as is the blaster holster. There is a sand-colored "weathering" on the figure in several places, but it's not terribly convincing, and is particularly noticeable by its absence on his feet! The pauldron and blaster are molded in black, while the thermal detonator is white. The black-molded backpack has several gray paint decorations. The vibro lance is molded in gray, with a silver dry-brushing to make it look "weathered," and a brown paint app at the "handle": 9/10.

Articulation:

Ball-jointed neck, shoulders, elbows, knees, and ankles. Planer-cut wrists and hips. It's basically super-articulated, okay? This is pretty much the "gold standard" of Stormtrooper articulation levels, and gets 10/10.

Accessories:

Character-specific figure stand, removable survival backpack, removable thermal detonator, vibro lance, BlasTech E-11 blaster pistol, shoulder pauldron (corporal ranking), and working holster: 8.5/10.

Packaging:

The same The Saga Collection card as the rest of the series, with a character-specific background image--in this case, Docking Bay 93 at the Mos Eisley Spaceport. The insert image is a composite image of the Sandtrooper and has The Saga Collection logo to the right of the character image. The figure's name is just below TSC logo, with its collection number (Sandtrooper is Saga #037) just to the right. To the left are the five white-orange triangles, indicating the position of the enclosed mini-figure. The cardback features a small film image of a Sandtrooper (although his pauldron is the wrong color), with text that explains his role in ANH, along with the diecut display area for the Exclusive Hologram Figure: 8.5/10.

Availability:

As of this writing, the figure has been appearing at retail for about a month and it sells out instantly, being highly prized by army-builders; it is also available from most online sources: 7/10.

Conclusion:

Troopers of all types are popular with collectors, and this one is a retooled version of a Stormtrooper that has pretty much set the standard for all modern line Stormies! The only change I'd like to see is to the holster, because it really just doesn't work all that well. And, how cool would it be if we got a retooled Dewback for the Sandtrooper to ride on, since they gave him the vibro lance? Hasbro really blew it, though, by making this a single-packed figure per case on initial release. Final score: 8.8.

Review Date: 7/3/06