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| Regular, Pilot and Flametroopers |
So
Friday, September 4th, 2015 was Force Friday, release day for the
Star Wars Episode VII toys. My English professor side thinks that sentence was
a complete mess.
Anyway,
despite being pretty broke, I was able to find a few of the new figures, both
in the 3.75 scale as well as the 6” Black Series.
As far
as the 3.75s are concerned, they’re pretty much a mixed bag. My intentions
regarding pretty much everything Episode VII toy related are just to pick up
troopers, as I’ve got a love of Imperial army building and, as yet, I have no
real interest in any of the new characters. While I’m sure that once I see the
movie I’ll develop some affinity for Finn and Rey and whoever else, right now
they’re simply “new Star Wars characters I know nothing about”. The last time I
was excited about “new Star Wars characters I know nothing about”, it was Darth
Maul, and, well, he wasn’t much more than a visual anyway.
I
picked up three First Order troopers: the TIE pilot, the Flametrooper, and a
standard Stormtrooper. They all share the same basic five points of
articulation body, with a few aesthetic details setting each one apart. The
Stormtrooper has the fairly standard Stormtrooper body; the TIE pilot has his
chest pack deal; the Flametrooper looks like he’s wearing something similar to
the chestplate/bib that the Snowtroopers usually have, as if he were wearing a
vest of some type, or like the chest protector a catcher wears in baseball. All
three have shoulder, hip and head movement, but that’s all. Elbows and knees
are gone, and apparently the main line of 3.75 figures won’t have them at all,
but by now, this is a pretty well-known ‘development.’ The figures from the
recent cartoon Rebels line are all these 5 poa toys as well, as have been
Original Trilogy figures sold under that banner. Each comes with a weapon – a pistol
for the pilot, a slight update of the classic Imperial blaster for the
standard, and a flamethrower and backpack for the Flametrooper – as well as a
piece for a buildable weapon made from pieces included with other figures in
the wave.
I have
to be honest, I don’t care for these build a weapon things at all. The best Star
Wars figure pack ins were from 2007-2009 when they would include the cardboard
weapon locker full of random weapons. They were random assortments of weapons,
and mostly Clone weapons at that, but they gave you an armory in each package
and, as I army build, this was usually a good deal. This was a better approach
than a buildable, because there was no need to buy a complete wave to complete
the bonus toy. And let’s be honest, because we all know it: waves of Star Wars
figures are less than 50 – 50 propositions. At best. There’s always one or two
real good figures, one or two mehs or duds, and then one or two that you’ve
already got, and are naturally actual characters, like Obi-Wan or Anakin Vader
or Chewie. You know you never REALLY
need multiples of those guys, ever. I own several, several Darth Vaders, and I’m
fine with that. But I don’t see the point in army building a specific character
other than him. But, you know. Whatever makes you happy. My point is that these
build-a-somethings make you need to buy the entire wave or waves in order to do
that, and that’s never really been something I’ve gone for. Not with comic
figures, or Star Wars figures: I usually feel that I’m just going to end up
with more figures that I don’t want than with any thing that I actually do. So
it’s an easy pass.
Anyway.
The helmets for all three of these dudes are updates of the originals, giving
them all a fresh yet familiar new look. The TIE pilot looks like the helmet
includes a visor of some type, but it doesn’t move on this figure, so I honestly
can’t say if that’s really the idea or if it is supposed to serve some other purpose.
I am
kind of conflicted here. I do like the figures, and they are pretty nice
looking. I’d say they’re essentially on par with most of the trooper figures
ranging from the Attack of the Clones line until The Clone Wars line. For a
bunch of guys who are basically just white, the Imperial trooper has always
benefit from the well-placed black paint in-between armor segments or on the
fingers and such. These troopers are no exception there. Despite their lack of
joints, they do manage to strike a very specific profile, due to the elbows and
knees being molded at slight angles. And while that alone does not make up for
actual posability, let me say this: I am 37 years old. I don’t think I had an
Imperial solider who could bend his arms or legs until like 2003, when I was
25. As a kid, I was more than used to troopers having to fully extend their
arms at 90 degree angles in order to fire their weapons at someone.
My
first impression of the troopers was a recollection of those old 70s/80s/90s figures,
forever standing at stiff attention and performing simple physical actions like
pointing and sitting with terribly uncomfortable looking rigidity. I think this
lack of articulation sucks, but there is the Black Series, both in the 3.75 and
6” formats, so I feel less upset about these. It’s not ok, but it’s ok. I feel
like the existence of the Black Series figures makes up for the cheaper nature
of the standard size: at least there is a good line of figures on the market,
so it’s not like I don’t have a choice of what to buy. And let me tell you, I
have really come to love the 6” Black figures. But more on that some other
time.
These
new figures are also a little smaller than an older 3.75” figure. Here’s the
standard trooper next to a Cobra Viper from 2007. You can see that the new
trooper is slighter and shorter. So all around, these figures are lacking a lot
in comparison to other 3.75s. Now, I know, I’ve read it all over the Internet.
Times have changed, toys are for children, think of the poor company and their
profit margins, the price of oil. The simple fact here is that newer figures are
smaller and generally less engineered than they were eight years ago. Whatever
that means to you is fine, but I’m not really a fan of it. I don’t expect a
3.75 figure to have mind blowing articulation or anything, but knees and elbows
are/should be standard. As is, we’re getting smaller, less engineered toys
without even any real noticeable improvement in accessories to make up for it.
Sure these things come with some build-a-weapon part, but that’s not doing it
for me.
All in
all, while I do like these figures, I am not willing to commit to the entirety
of the line, and will (maybe) only be picking up a few other troopers if/when I
see them in stores. My wife has an interest in the Captain Phasma, as do I, and
I’m interested in essentially any other troopers that get released. But a
revelation Sunday evening about what the 6” Black Series holds for the Episode
VII line – basically various troopers – has me cooling off on these smaller
ones real fast. I don’t dislike these, I don’t feel robbed for having bought
them. I just feel neutral, and that might actually be a worse response to a toy
than disliking it.
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