Hasbro has released quite a few Imperial army builder figures in the Black Series line, but we haven’t built any rebel armies for them to fight. We did get a Resistance Trooper, and I suppose the Clones are technically good guys (until they aren’t), but I’ve been jonesing for some rebel soldiers. Let’s take a look at the Rebel Fleet Trooper!
The Fleet Trooper is the first glimpse we see of the Rebel Army, so it’s fitting that he’s the first Rebel Trooper we get. He comes packaged in the standard Black Series packaging with a really nice illustration of the trooper.
I can’t say that the drawing of the soldier or the head sculpt immediately jumped out at me as being a specific actor from the film, but both have a great look that feels appropriate for the time.
The sculpt looks great to me with lots of nice wrinkling details for the loose fitting clothing and that oddball helmet looks proportional and fits great. The only slight ding I’d give the sculpt is that there is damage on the brim of the helmet near the front. It almost looks like somebody inexpertly twisted the thing off a sprue and gouged it a bit.
The accessories are pretty great including the standard rebel blaster, the removeable helmet, and the disc with the Death Star plans. The plans are super tiny with finely sculpted detail and even finer printing.
The blaster is a standard rebel blaster that we’ve seen before with Maz Kanata, but it’s got a couple of shiny silver paint hits to jazz it up a bit. It fits well into the holster, but when in holster it kind of butts up against the vest and that could bend the gun depending on how you adjust it.
The removeable helmet fits on the figure’s head well and stays on securely.
The articulation is Black Series basic with:
- Ball and socket head and mid-torso
- Swivel/hinge shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips and ankles
- Hinged pectorals
- Swivel thighs
- Double hinged knees
The pectoral hinges allow for the figure to stretch his arms across the torso a little better, allowing for the Fleet Trooper firing pose where they hold the gun out in front of their body. The vest does slightly impede that motion, but it can still get there.
The thing that I think made that firing position toughest to get was that the right wrist has an up/down hinge rather than an in/out hinge. If it moved in/out I think it would be more helpful for getting that firing position right.
I did end up stretching out the left grip hand to make it easier for the figure to grab the blaster with both hands.
The paint is pretty minimal as most of the figure seems to be cast in the appropriate plastic color. The face print is pretty effective and his hair gets a bit of a wash. The only nitpick I have is with the helmet as the black part paint has scraped off already on a couple of my figures.
He only comes with one head, which is a bit of a problem for human faced army builder figures. First I tried a straight swap with the Death Star Trooper. The Death Star Trooper’s head is smaller and sits really low on the neck if you pop it on. The Fleet Trooper helmet would not stay on until I added a little sticky tack to the underside of the helmet for filler. The Fleet Trooper head fits tightly onto the Death Star Trooper’s neck peg and the helmet is a very tight fit.
I also went through my collection of figures from Marvel Legends to see if I could find a couple of swaps I liked. I tried out J.Jonah Jameson, Everett Ross, Scott Lang, Matt Murdock, Crossbones, Nick Fury, Steve Rogers from the Crossbones pack, an older Steve Rogers that looks more generic, and Bullseye.
I ended up really liking the way Jameson and Everett Ross looked. Ross has a look to him that feels like he could have been at Elstree in ’76 as an extra and Jameson has a fun yelling face. None of the heads I tried fit perfectly on the peg without a little help from some sticky tack filler.
Overall, this is a pretty great figure. It makes a really nice addition to that Vader Centerpiece if you have one. The only real nitpick I have is that I would have liked an extra head or two. I really hope that Hasbro continues making Rebel army builders as I want some Scarif, Hoth, and Endor Rebel Soldiers quite a bit.
