Star Wars: The Black Series First Order Snowtrooper Commander

Following in the grand Imperial tradition of noting rank via shoulder pads, the First Order Snowtrooper Commander sports the orange. A Toys R Us exclusive, this is a slight variation of the eventual First Order Snowtrooper figure.

By now, I’ve handled and reviewed a number of First Order troopers, but this was actually the first one I bought. And I was very impressed with it immediately. I liked the new blaster, which is a different weapon than the one the standard First Order Troopers carry, I realized later, I liked the helmet design, despite the eye slit being comically thin. The skirt does limit the poseability of the legs, as is common with these figures due to the skirt being plastic. I really like the legs, as they are thick and sturdy legs, and my biggest complaint with the First Order Troopers is their legs. The Snowtrooper can take a good, solid pose and you won’t have to worry that walking by him is going to prove too much for the legs to handle. 

In fairness to the First Order Stormtroopers, once you get them set in a standing position, they do tend to stay that way. It’s getting them set which is sometimes a pain. 

The helmet here is a mix between the First Order pilot and the OT Snowtrooper, but it is a real fresh look, unlike most other troop helmets that we’ve seen so far in Star Wars from any era. In the same way that the Imperial Snowtrooper helmet has just enough callbacks to the Stormtrooper helmet to be something familiar yet totally different, this First Order Snowtrooper helmet does the same. Enough reference points to the standard Trooper helmet, but enough of a difference to set it completely apart.

 

Again, a good, thick set of legs. They have a thigh swivel, something fairly uncommon with the Black Series figures. The Pilots have them, and this guy, and Vader and Boba Fett, but in terms of the collection I’ve amassed that’s a pretty small number. Not much is required to get this guy to stand upright.

The chest is nicely done as well, sporting a sort of catchers’ chest plate thing, but being different from the regular Trooper body. Back when I reviewed the 3.75” Trooper and Flametrooper I was impressed that they were different bodies, and not just the same body with different helmets and accessories. When it comes to the Black Series, I expect that level of difference, but for some reason I am constantly surprised by the amount of individuality each of these figures has. 

 

What this makes me hopeful for is an eventual release of the Imperial Snowtrooper, perhaps after the Episode VII buzz wears off a little, so sometime in 2016. Pictures of some of the later Episode VII figures have begun surfacing, so we know a little about who’s coming down the pipe and how much longer the line will focus on Episode VII characters; but eventually, it will return to other characters, and the Snowtrooper is the only OT Trooper missing, so I’d bet it’s coming.