Stormtrooper (Death Star Chase) - SW [S - P3] - Hall Of Fame

Within the Death Star, a group of Imperial stormtroopers are in hot pursuit of Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Chewbacca, as they attempt to return to the impounded Millennium Falcon. These military soldiers are unswervingly loyal to the Emperor and represent the most visible extension of the Imperial might. They strike with speed and accuracy, but are too late to capture the Rebels aboard the Imperial space station.

By the time Star Wars fans were gearing up for the first new Star Wars film in 16 years (The Phantom Menace), we began to wonder if Hasbro would do right by us and produce a better quality Stormtrooper action figure. The answer was yes when they released 1999’s POTF2 [FB/CT] Stormtrooper figure, the first Stormtrooper in the basic figure line with more than six points of articulation with the inclusion of premium ball-jointed articulation to sweeten the pot. Affectionately known as the “CommTech Stormtrooper”, this figure brought the shock troopers of the Galactic Empire to a whole new elevated level and these figures quickly became the talk of the town. Collectors bought him up like there was no tomorrow. With updated articulation, a great sculpt and awesome accessories, the Stormtrooper figure of the late nineties was a sight to behold. Not completely perfectly of course, the Stormtrooper was still a figure that fan boys and girls would be army building like there was no tomorrow as well as hoarding for rainy days. Complete with a silly yet acceptable action feature, the CommTech Stormtrooper is a modern day testament to what collectors find acceptable from Hasbro in the basic figure line.

Now a slightly revised version of this figure is now part of Hasbro's Hall Of Fame assortment as Stormtrooper (Death Star Chase). When we all received our first Stormtrooper action figure in 1995’s The Power Of The Force "2" line, we all knew something went awry. We asked why our Stormtrooper looked like He-Man in Stormtrooper armor and why the detail was very animated instead of being as realistic as possible. But in all honesty, we were just so happy to have new figures that their appearance did very little to stop us from buying them. Plus, it was our first Stormtrooper to have an articulated head, so again, we had very little to complain about with that release. It took four years, but Hasbro finally listened to our cries and developed a figure that is a tremendous leap forwards in a direction to where a definitive Stormtrooper action figure would be. The Stormtrooper also has some cool updated features, albeit all are not too useful. The inclusion of a holster is nice (but keep in mind it isn’t functional). But we have to state that we’re quite impressed with the new lean Stormtrooper frame and the inclusion of ball-jointed shoulders as well as a ball-jointed head. These points do wonders for the figure.

The special feature that utilized cold water (or cold temperatures for that matter) to turn the clear battle-damage marking black (so that it was visible) is now gone. We're glad to see the novelty eliminated, but we're sure that there are some collectors out there who would want to see the return of this special feature. Another bonus to the figure is the weapons rack. We would have loved to see the inclusion of an E-11 blaster (especially for this release), but all we get is the long rifle instead. That is alright, however, because we have plenty of E-11 blasters at this point that this figure can borrow. The weapons rack actually works well. We are quite impressed with it. Despite his relatively abundance from being included multiple times in multiple case assortments, this figure was indeed scarce at the retail level. Chalk that up to intense demand for multiples of this figure by everyone who pursued it, and not because it was a rare figure at all. Hopefully you have one by now. It’s a history making figure for sure. You should own one for posterity. And for 2004, this action figure holds up remarkably well, albeit not perfectly well.