While Speeder Bike Scout Trooper and the Child does sound like a good band name, it is also a set of Amazon exclusive six-inch scaled action figures based on characters seen in season one of The Mandalorian. Let’s take a look!
The box is interesting because this is the first time I think I’ve seen the new kicker ramp box style in something other than the figures. I’m still enjoying this new look and the window is nice and big and the art on the side is bold and eye-catching.
The set comes with a speeder bike, a translucent stand, a Scout Trooper figure, a blaster, a “target” that kind of reminds me of a in-universe power-generator, and a bag with Grogu inside.
The translucent stand is sculpted with a bit of a dust cloud effect that looks pretty nice. I like it a bit better than the stands from the original speeder bike aesthetically, but I do like the variable height functionality on the those original stands a bit more so it’s a toss up for me. I did notice that while I could plug this stand into the old bikes, the socket on this bike was a little too loose to use the stand from the old bike.
The target is a little chunk of gray plastic and it represents the piece of Star Wars junk the troopers try to shoot in the episode. I don’t know if these things appear elsewhere in Star Wars, but I like it when they toy companies make weird little stuff like this I can add to displays and dioramas.
The Grogu figure is basically a ball jointed head that plugs into a bag that has some clasps so you can close it. I do like the texture and weighted feel of the sculpting on the bag and appreciate that the little greeblie on the bag has clean paint detail. I think it could use a little weathering or paint on the general bag because it feels pretty plasticy. I wish the lid of the bag laid down a bit better without being all the way strapped down. I’d like it if I could see Grogu a bit without the bag being flung all the way open.
It’s a little tough to tell at first, since he’s so dang tiny, but the head on this Grogu (on the right in the above photos) does have a slightly different expression than the original Hasbro Grogu. To my eyes he looks a little distraught, which seems appropriate for the scene. He doesn’t get much movement, but can get a little left/right swivel within the bag.
The nice thing is that you can swap this head onto the original figure if you like.
The Scout Trooper is all re-use from the original Scout Trooper, which is appropriate, but also not entirely accurate. These two numbskulls from Ch. 8 of The Mandalorian don’t wear their uniform quite right so the mid torso shows a lot of the black jumpsuit in the episode. I’m torn because I hate the way that looks in the episode, but I also like the figures to be as accurate as possible.
The blaster is the same teensy one we’ve had before and it fits a little loose in the boot holster, so I advise caution with that. One bizarre wrinkle with this particular figure is the hand guard on the pistol grip snapped apart on me. I’ve never had that issue before and I have quite a few of this particular figure, so that was surprising.
The bike also looks to be a straight repaint, but I like a lot of the weathering on the white parts. It definitely works better than what they did on the original speeder bike.
There are a couple parts where it is overdone, like the very front of the main body, but other pieces like the stabilizers on the front or the underside have a pretty effective chipping paint effect.
The weathering on the trooper himself is a little less successful. While I really like the dirty wash effect on the chest armor the face mask, shoulder pads, and boots have a pretty heavy over-spray. It looks less like dirt to me and more like a well toasted marshmallow in those sprayed areas.
Overall, I like the set, but don’t love it. I’ve heard that there is a running change with less overspray weathering on the trooper, so I’d be curious to see that one. I’d also like another Scout Trooper and white speeder bike to complete the scene, but at $50 I just couldn’t pull the trigger. I can see how Hasbro would price it this way since I think the original Biker Scout set was $40 and they charge ten bucks for Grogu, but it made me pause on army building this one. Maybe if it goes on a good sale I’ll pick up a second one.
