When you first start playing ether Fallen Order or Jedi Survivor, you might find yourself hating these Rocket Launcher Troopers.  You spend a lot of time honing your lightsaber skills, and then you come upon an enemy who is initially impervious to saber attacks due to the ranged attacks.  The way you dispatch the Rocket Launcher Trooper without taking damage is to Force Push the rocket back at him.  It takes somewhat precise timing.  If you try to rush this trooper for a saber attack as depicted in the last photo, you’ll end up taking a couple of rockets off the dome.  Once you learn the timing, it’s quite fun to run around hoisting these guys by their own petard.  I learned that idiom from Family Guy and not from Hamlet.

Continuing a recent trend, this figure is mostly based on an existing figure.  Just as VC370 - Crosshair is largely based on VC269 - Hunter, and VC371 - Cobb Vanth is largely based on VC343 - Cobb Vanth (Mandalorian Armor), this Rocket Launcher Trooper is almost entirely based on the VC231 - Stormtrooper* release with the following changes:

• Adds a newly tooled rocket launcher
• Adds a red pauldron
• Removes the holster

*Technically it’s based on the deluxe Imperial Stormtrooper (Nevarro Cantina) which predates VC231 and also does not have a holster, but I feel VC231 is better recognized by the community.  Regardless of which figure you attribute as the source, they both date to 2022, and those 2022 figures are themselves are using most of the tooling from 2019’s VC140 - Imperial Stormtrooper from Rogue One.  Six or even three year old tooling can be getting long in the tooth these days, but this sculpt still holds up well today.

My biggest concern was whether or not this figure could interact well with the rather large rocket launcher.  I happy to report that it does, and quite well at that.  It takes a moderate amount of futzing, but you’ll be able to put the trigger hand on the grip, the off hand on the foregrip, and sling the launcher over the shoulder.  That’s pretty good.  It’s partially made possible because that off hand has a center hinge, which is something I have despised on 99% of other figures (to include VC231), but here it actually aids the figure in accomplishing its mission.  What can I say?  A broken clock is right twice a day.  We know that the rest of the articulation works very well because of the aforementioned VC231 (and its multitude of derivatives).

Bret initially gave VC231 a 10/10 score back in 2022, but lowered the score to 9/10 when it was re-released in 2024 dues to the fact that it doesn’t have the new barbell hips, which is the standard today.  I agree with that, and it’s the reason I’m also giving this Rocket Launcher Trooper a score of 9 out of 10, but it’s largely based on principal.  Considering that Din Djarin and the Scout Trooper have been upgraded to barbell hips, the base Stormtrooper buck should also be upgraded.  But I’m not sure it will make this figure any more posable.  These old style ball jointed hips work pretty well in this instance.  Also, I’m not sure if I could take it if the Stormtrooper were upgraded to barbell hips.  It would put the man to the test.  Would he upgrade his 50+ strong army of VC231 figures?

One thing that has me thoroughly confused about this release is the fact that it’s not EV-9D9.  I can’t even find the words to articulate how I feel about this, so I’ve contacted the ghost of Johnnie Cochran:

Ladies and gentlemen of this supposed web site, EV-9D9 is a droid.  She lives on Tatooine.  This figure is a figure, but it’s not EV-9D9.  Now think about it.  That does not make senese.

Thank you, Johnnie.  People reading these reviews in the future are going to be very confused by these random EV-9D9 mentions.  Bret is going to be confused by the South Park reference.  I feel like I’ve done my job here.

This is not the most exciting release.  I’m not going to pretend it is.  But it’s a Stormtrooper with a rocket launcher.  You should allow at least one to sneak its way into your collection if you haven’t done so already.  We’re now caught up on all the latest releases, and I am heading out on vacation next week.  Hopefully Bret will be able to keep you entertained, but I’m sure I’ll be popping in with some Gunship content.