This takes the Star Wars Black Series about as literally as it gets. The Imperial Shadow Squadron has been showing up in Targets recently, so let’s take a look at what you get with this set.
These, like the Walgreen’s exclusive all-white “prototype” Boba Fett, are not linked to the official canon of the movies, so whether or not you really need them is going to be dependent on how slavish you are to the movies and how awesome you think black toys are. They hit both notes just right for me, so I was pretty happy to see them announced. I think I need an all-black Boba Fett now.
The packaging is your basic SWBS window box that we’ve seen on all the figures and the previous regular Speeder Bike. There’s a pretty cool insert featuring a scene of the Millenium Falcon in the Death Star hangar that could make a decent display piece if you’re so inclined. There’s a nice sense of depth to it.
As far as the figures themselves are concerned, there’s nothing at all new here that hasn’t previously shown up in the SWBS line. The Speeder Bike is just a mostly black repaint of the recently released one (reviewed here), and the trooper is just a repaint of the Sandtrooper (reviewed here or here), except without his backpack. I’m not quite sure why they didn’t go with a repaint of the regular Stormtrooper instead of giving us a black Sandtrooper. I don’t really mind it as the pauldron sets him apart a little bit from a regular Stormtrooper, but it does seem to go against what I would have expected. Without his backpack there are only nominal differences, and you can always remove the pauldron if you’re so inclined, but I think I’ll leave mine on.
The Sandtrooper does come with all three of his signature weapons, though, so he wasn’t shorted on firepower. The Biker Scout comes with his tiny gun as well, so don’t lose it.
I like this set a lot, and I’ll admit it’s purely because of all that lovely black. It’s one reason why — in addition to the ebon-clad Darth Vader himself — the TIE Fighter Pilot has always struck a chord with me, and I’m thinking I’ll be getting an extra of him just to stand in solidarity with the Shadow Squadron here.
Now, I know I keep saying black, but truthfully neither one of them are ALL black. Both of them have some requisite white detailing here and there including mask detailing, sigils, and a few other points, but it’s really the armored parts that are black, with the fabric underneath actually a greyish color that prevents them from being a solid chunk of basic black. The small color difference really perks up the figures and gives them a very small but nice contrast. Likewise, the Speeder Bike also has some random touches of color, either white for the sigils and other markings, or some gray touches also.
The regular Speeder Bike in its earthy browns and weathered grays looks like it was made for places like the forest moon of Endor, but this sleek black speed machine seems colder and more at home in towering cityscapes like Coruscant or somewhere like that.
You can probably find these fairly easy at Targets everywhere because if I was able to get it, they can’t be too hard to find. Check Target’s website often too. The set is an even $50, so be prepared to spend some cash, but it was well worth it to me.
