Each Star Wars sequel film added a couple new Stormtrooper variations and Rogue One is no different. One of my favorite new trooper designs from the upcoming film is the Scarif Stormtrooper, also known as the Shore Trooper. Let’s take a look at the Scarif Stormtrooper Squad Leader!
What the heck is a Scarif Stormtrooper? As I understand it, Scarif is one of the planets in Rogue One, so I assume these are specialized troops that are stationed at the planet. I know a lot of people complain about all the new stuff in this ostensible prequel that is not in films that come later.
I don’t have an issue with it at all, as it can be easily explained away in any number of ways in ancillary materials like books, but I don’t really need an explanation. I imagine it’s a pretty big universe and the Empire has all sorts of different specialized forces spread across the galaxy.
The Scarif Stormtrooper has a few different variations that we’ve already seen from convention displays and advertising materials and this version is the Squad Leader. A lower ranking Scarif Stormtrooper will be coming out soon exclusively at Walmart.
The sculpt on this figure looks to match the source material well and is proportional and very sharp. It reuses most of the parts from the Toys R Us exclusive Hover Tank Pilot with a new head and belt. I like the Tank pilot and Scarif Trooper armors look to use the same arm armor as a regular trooper. It helps integrate the new stuff in with the old.
The Squad Leader comes with a new blaster rifle that has a double barrel. I’m not sure if both barrels fire in the film, but it looks darn cool and feels perfectly Star Wars. Looking at it in the photo, I wonder if in-universe it’s a regular Stormtrooper rifle with barrel and stock modifications.
The sculpt is nice and sharp and though the plastic is a little soft, it seems to hold its shape pretty well.
The articulation is pretty standard with the following POA:
- Swivel/hinge neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, and ankles
- Ball-and-socket neck and mid-torso
- Double-hinged knees
- Thigh Swivel
The elbows have a 90 degree bend and the shoulders are designed well so that the figure can hold the rifle in a number of convincing carry poses. The skirt is soft plastic and is designed well so as not to impede articulation.
The mid-torso ball-and-socket joint has good movement, one of the better uses of this joint in the line, and the head gets nice rocker movement. To get an idea of range of movement check out Robo’s video review:
The paint is actually pretty nice. The rank markings have some neat wear and tear paint ops. There are also some convincing dirt splotches here and there. The boots have a great wash that brings out the details well, I just wish they continued it into the helmet and upper armor.
This figure is probably one of the best Black Series figures in a while for my dollar. My only real complaint is that I don’t have a squad of grunts for him to lead. I’m looking forward to building a small army of these guys.
Previous Wal-Mart exclusives (TBS6 Shock Trooper, Marvel Legends Civil War Falcon and Winter Soldier) showed up in solid cases, shipped once or twice, without a dedicated shelf space or any kind of advertisement or fanfare. However, with the marketing buildup of Rogue One seeming to match that of TFA, and with Wal-Mart actually advertising this figure, I’m hoping that we’ll see endcaps or displays of solid cases of this figure, making armybuilding easier.
If they do that, then making the troop builder the exclusive will make a great deal more sense. Wal-Marts are the most among the most populous stores in the US, and are damn near ubiquitous. There isn’t really a good way to ship solid cases of single figures outside of store exclusives (and online retailers, but that comes with its own limitations) for armybuilding purposes, so if the goal is to get lots of Scarif Stormtroopers into circulation so we can buy multiples, that would be a good way to do it.
Of course, that all hinges on Wal-Mart knowing what to do with these exclusives, and giving them their own display space instead of just treating them like any other TBS6 figure. So we’ll see if I’m right or not.
“Paint ops” is also regular industry jargon. I have had conversations with line managers/designers/engineers who use this term.
Pedantic fuck.
It’s not paint ops, it’s paint apps. As in paint applications, not operations.
Yes, those photos look amazing. I wonder how a really awful figure would look in that environment.
Fair enough on the cases. I have my doubts about seeing it in person at Walmart, though. I’m from Canada and as far as I know we never got the Shocktrooper. The first time I saw it? This past September at FanExpo. I didn’t pick it up because I wasn’t interested, though.
Because this squad leader will only come one or two to a case with the rest of the wave like Krennic, C-3PO, and some repacks from wave one, but the Walmart exclusive grunt will ship full cases. So a lot more at a time, making it easier to grab multiples all at once, but then it’s all to one chain that may or may not put them in every store. I can see the reasoning but doubt the execution.
It is mass market, in Wave 2 along with Krennic and red arm C3P0, and hitting stores now.
But there is also a Scarif captain I’ve seen a picture of, and I have no idea when/where that is coming out.
Is the Scariff leader mass market or will it be shop exclusive like the Walmart Shore Trooper?
The figure looks nice, but the surroundings look beautiful!
Eh, fair enough.
I agree it makes no sense, but I’m kind of glad. I just REALLY like the splash of blue on the officer and I think I may decide to troop build those more than the regular soldier. So it’s nice not to have to chase down multiples of the exclusive.
While I’m looking forward to picking this up, I’m still scratching my head over the fact that this is the regular release and not the rank & file version. I know, I know, that bit is becoming a dead horse but I still don’t get why they decided to do it.
I’m loving these new trooper designs. My only complaint about the figure though as well as the Hover tank Pilot (since they share a lot of the same parts) is the soft sculpt on the hands which make them seem a little too big and the feet which look a bit too small. But, otherwise great figures.