I skipped the original S.H. Figuarts First Order Stormtrooper and kind of regretted it after seeing Benty’s and Robo’s reviews, so I jumped on it when I saw the announcement of the Tamashii Nations Heavy Gunner First Order Stormtrooper. Let’s take a look!
The heavy gunner is also the last of the Stormtrooper variations from The Force Awakens that hadn’t been released, so that also motivated me to pick up this figure.
I liked the sculpt of the S.H. Figuarts First Order Stormtrooper, but I felt like the upper chest looked a little off, more like a sports bra than chest armor, but this figure solves that issue with the ammo chest packs.
The sculpt is amazingly sharp and the finish has a perfect Stormtrooper gloss. The arms seem a little short to me when I have the figure posed standing without his gun, but it’s not an issue because I think I’ll always have him holding the gun.
The packaging features nice photography and doesn’t have the usual window box, which I actually missed.
The gun has two stand pieces, one folded up for carrying and one folded down for stability. There is a little articulated handle on the gun, which I really want to have the figure hold, but it’s not really used in the film in that way.
The figure comes with three sets of hands: open, fist, and trigger/pointer sculpts, which is all I need. The figure also has the pistol that plugs into the leg armor.
The articulation is pretty phenomenal. I especially like the double elbows because the Hasbro figure’s elbows can’t even bend 90 degrees. The articulation is the same as the regular trooper, so check out Robo’s video for a walk-through.
Also check out Benty’s review of the figure here. I like all the extra articulation in the arms and shoulders and I think it will help the figure hold this heavy weapon properly. I have a hard time imagining the Hasbro version managing it.
Overall, this is a nice, high-quality figure and completes the trooper line up from The Force Awakens nicely for my collection. I’m glad I was able to secure this exclusive figure from Anime Export even though it was a little pricier than the usual figure.
