This is where I usually write “I can’t trust MAFEX, blah blah blah” but I’m actually hearing great things about the ESB Boba Fett. I wouldn’t know, mine seems to be in Midwestern Post Office hell. But if I believe the reports, and I do, Medicom lives to fight another day on my shelves. Which is good because I like options and this Death Trooper is looking pretty sweet.
Although to be perfectly honest, I was looking forward to saving a little money by deciding to pass the line altogether. Medicom does seem to alternate between good figures and bad figures, so I’m not making any final decisions just yet. I’ll still pre-order this Death Trooper but pre-orders can be cancelled.
Impossible to see, the future is.*
By now we have a lot of options for the Death Trooper, but when it comes to troopers, the more the merrier. And I’ll admit, the MAFEX version looks good.
Medicom could have given us just the basic Death Trooper but like the Bandai model kit, they go above and beyond to give us included optional parts to make the Death Trooper Specialist too.
The additional pauldron, ammo packs, and loaded webgear look awesome. I’m a little thrown off at how lanky the design of the troopers are so the added bulk of the specialist gear completely does it for me.
Even an extra head to finish the Specialist look is included, along with full weapons array.
I don’t believe I have seen the long rifle included with other Death Trooper action figures. Or I’ve slept since then. But that along with the pistol and other rifle makes this figure look ready for anything.
The Medicom MAFEX Death Trooper is scheduled to release August 2017 (!!) and will run about $50.
*Oh ho ho, hit you with a Star Wars reference, but one from the prequels. You don’t know what to think now. You want to be impressed but at the same time you’re a bit let down that I busted out Attack of the Clones instead of “Difficult to see. Always in motion is the future” from The Empire Strikes Back. There was an excitement mixed with confusion, followed by an uncertainty built upon a foundation of familiarity. Take all of those emotions, jumble them around, and you’ve got my feelings about MAFEX.
“*Oh ho ho, hit you with a Star Wars reference, but one from the prequels. You don’t know what to think now. You want to be impressed but at the same time you’re a bit let down that I busted out Attack of the Clones instead of “Difficult to see. Always in motion is the future” from The Empire Strikes Back. There was an excitement mixed with confusion, followed by an uncertainty built upon a foundation of familiarity. Take all of those emotions, jumble them around, and you’ve got my feelings about MAFEX.”
This is great.
5mm taller than other SHF troopers puts them up to almost the height of the model kits and Black Series.
But if you’re doing all SHF then that should be perfect!
Interesting. They’ve deviated from the design a little bit. The loop holster has been replaced by a place to peg the blasters onto the belt.
Yeah, scale is important, but it’s worth noting that iirc the SHF Death Trooper is listed as 5mm taller than the other SHF troopers. And if I wanted to play it safer, I’d bet the plastic models would be better scaled with Black Series than MAFEX. Fortunately, its not really an issue for me because almost all my live action property figures are at the SHF scale anyway.
I’ll tell ya what: I picked up the MAFEX Boba Fett on Friday, and it’s easily the best Fett in any scale I’ve collected. My only concern is the range finder. It’s not as thick/solid as the Figuarts Jango Fett’s, and I do worry that it’ll be the first/only thing to break down the line. Otherwise, great figure.
As for the Death Trooper… I think I’m gonna go for the Figuarts version over MAFEX. Still a little wonky with the proportions, but that could very well be the characters as they actually appear in the film.
My thing is that this will probably fit into the overall collection better as the SHF troopers usually skew small. And I see what you’re talking about with the shoulders but it looks like it can hold the pistol with both hands out in front, and the gaps are for the specialist gear. Damn, I’m defending a MAFEX, the end is nigh.
Not bad. Accessories look nice. Concerned about those shoulders and shoulder pads, but that could probably be hidden in most poses. Not really that much more affordable than an SHF, but that pauldron is pretty tempting.