The Black Series
Sandtrooper
This is not an original Original Trilogy Sandtrooper. For more reasons than just the inclusion of the IMG-099 Imperial Mark IV patrol droid, this is a Special Edition Sandtrooper with the exception of the orange pauldron. To the best of my knowledge, all of the Sandtroopers inserted into the Special Edition wore a black pauldron. In the original Original Trilogy, there were several subtle differences between the Sandtrooper armor and the Stormtrooper armor. You can read about them on the Look Sir Droids website. The top of the page says that a Stormtrooper + a pauldron ≠ a Sandtrooper, yet that, plus a sandy wash, is typically what Hasbro has done to bring us Sandtroopers, as in this case. Due to the fact that the Tatooine scenes were shot very early in the production of A New Hope (then, simply Star Wars), the Sandtrooper is more or less a production rough draft. By the time the Stormtrooper scenes were filmed, the armor was more refined.
When it came time to make the Special Edition, LFL made many additions and corrections. Some were for the better. The cash-strapped nature of the production of A New Hope impacted the story telling in some areas. In the case of the Tatooine scenes, it appeared the Empire, with its near limitless resources, only sent a small detachment on its most important mission. The Special Edition took the opportunity to flesh out the ranks of that expeditionary force so that it didn’t look so anemic. You can quibble with the herky jerky insertion of CGI Dewbacks, but adding more troopers is a positive, in my opinion. As you might expect, those inserted Sandtroopers are wearing the “finished product” Stormtrooper armor, to include the white pouched belt seen on this figure, and not the rougher Sandtrooper armor. Thus the Special Edition inserted Sandtroopers are the source of this figure. For the most part, the sculpting differences would be really nitpicky at this scale, but I definitely wish Hasbro would have included the OT belt with the black pouches over the hips. Hasbro has actually made a 3.75” figure that comes very close to capturing all the minutiae of the Sandtrooper armor differences, to include the proper belt, with the ROTS line Clone Trooper to Stormtrooper Evolutions set (sponsored Ebay). Also, as much as it pains me to say so, I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that Hasbro absolutely captured all the subtle differences that have been discussed with the TBS 6” Sandtrooper.
This TBS 3.75 Sandtrooper is, of course, a re-release of the Vintage Collection VC112 Sandtrooper which traces its ancestry all the way back to 2004’s Vintage Collection Stormtrooper. A lot of the figure has been retooled since 2004, but it still contains traces of that original figure’s DNA, specifically the arms. I’m going to be honest. I’m getting tired of reviewing descendants of that figure (or more accurately posing them). The hands are completely unforgiving. The left hand is rigidly cast to precisely receive the grip of the original 2004 E-11 blaster. It is molded specifically to its shape and angle. It’s also the only hand that has a properly floating index finger meaning your THWG option is a rigidly preordained sinistral cross body sling. The right hand is equally as unforgiving as the left. It’s equally as shallow and inflexible. You have to almost pry it open to get it to receive the barrel of the E-11. I didn’t even attempt placing the barrel of the blunderbuss-tastic T-21 light repeating blaster in the figure’s right hand. It would have exceeded my frustration limit. Instead I posed it gripping the T-21 closer to the narrow section of the rifle.
It’s high time for a new Stormtrooper, Hasbro. It’s not due. It’s well overdue. I will buy all of them if you make one on par with the VC45 Clone Trooper. And if you want to repurpose that new mold to crank out a bunch of Sandtroopers, as long as you give them the correct belt, I will overlook the other inaccuracies.
That VC112 incarnation of this figure was the first release of an E-11 with a working collapsable stock in this scale. It was very neat at the time. But it’s sort of reminiscent of the old animated “email” gifs from the mid-nineties. It started as “neat”. Then settled into “meh,” and finally ran out the string with “enough already”. This feature does more harm than good. That narrow right hand discussed earlier is hopeless to grip the wide collapsed stock. Instead it will just pop the butt free from the arm. I have been removing the stock completely on my figures that come with this accessory. The novelty of this feature has definitely worn off for me.
The figure is not without merits. The lower body articulation is easily workable thanks to the ball-jointed hips which were one of the big evolutionary steps for that old 2004 VOTC Stormtrooper. The ankles, while not rocker ankles, have great range of motion. The accessory count is notable with two weapons and the aforementioned patrol droid which attaches to the backpack via a floating arm. The wash, while not really accurate to the on-screen source, works for this scale. It’s one of those inaccuracies you have to accept as part of the miniaturization process. Working the figure into a pose you like isn’t as easy as I’d like, but once there, it does look decent. The paint apps to the helmet are not nearly as clean as on the Vintage Collection counterpart, yet for some strange reason, this actually works for the more haggard Sandtrooper. I gave that original figure a 9. Between the bloom being off the rose on the collapsable stock, and my growing frustration with the hands, I’m lowering this rendition to a 7 out of 10. Due to the positives discussed, this is one of the few later wave Black Series figures that Walmart.com does not have in stock, so you’ll have to dip into the secondary market if you want one.