Sandtrooper - Real Action Heroes

300mm Tall!
Includes BLASTER RIFLE!
Includes four different glove variations to achieve multiple poses!
Boots molded in soft vinyl material!
Also includes figure stand!

Sideshow Collectibles developed and fostered an exclusive arrangement with Medicom Toy to distribute the Real Action Heroes line (and other products as well) to American markets. In 2007 during the 30th anniversary of Star Wars, Medicom Toy elected Sidehsow to distribute 1000 pieces of the Sandtrooper Real Action Heroes figure as a convention exclusive (which ended up being a SDCC exclusive that year). Building upon their hugely popular Stormtrooper figure, Medicom Toy tooled new parts to make it Sandtrooper specific and repainted it in a way that was able to disguise its Stormtrooper roots and make it wholly a Sandtrooper. The Real Action Heroes line focuses on making premium highly articulated figures that are as screen specific as possible. They cater to the high-end collectible collector. And for the most part they succeed in recreating the most beloved characters from the Star Wars saga, especially those from the Original Trilogy and Prequel Trilogy. After the Stormtrooper was released, most collectors figured that a Sandtrooper was inevitable, but many other collectors have been surprised that Medicom Toy never banged out the remaining Sandtrooper ranks. It’s a feat left unattended even today.

As mentioned, the Sandtrooper comes with newly tooled parts. New parts include the backpack, a new core armor section complete with pouches, new left lower leg armor and a squad leader ranked orange shoulder pauldron. In general, the armor is lightweight and made from soft vinyl plastic materials which is controversial for some, but appreciated by others. Interestingly, the backpack is for all intents and purposes hollow which really aids in the figure maintaining a great center of gravity. As a result, the Sandtrooper is very unlikely to fall over which is always a benefit to these expensive figures. Sometimes a fall could snap a gun or break other fragile parts of the figure and ruin it forever. The helmet is good, but not perfect. There is just something “wrong” about the black line of the helmet resting against the visor, especially with the sandtroopers in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. It’s not entirely a deal breaker for us, but of course we would prefer to have some white showing in between the visor and the band at the “brow” of the helmet. Yes, it sounds picky, but it makes a world of difference on the aesthetics of the figure. The new gun and the backpack are wonderful sculpts and proportionate to the figure. You’re going to love the looks of this figure thanks to thoughtfully planned sculpting.

Even the paint operations on this figure is quite excellent. Hasbro has been guilty of creating extremes on their Sandtrooper action figures. They’re either sterling white (clean) or they look like they’ve been dipped in mud and left to let it dry on their armor. Thankfully, the Real Action Heroes Sandtrooper is directly in the middle of that fire and ice. We get a fluid paint job that highlights the fact that this Sandtrooper has been in the desert and Tatooine sun, but it isn’t filthy to the point where you’re wondering how he could have possibly gotten that dirty while only on the planet for a short time. The hands in particular (which still suffer by being too small) barely have any yellowing or discoloring on them which is a slight disappointment, but there is enough “dirt” elsewhere to distract you. In summation, we’re overall impressed with the Sandtrooper from Medicom Toy. It’s a shame that the MSRP on these figures totally exclude a huge portion of the collecting community from buying this line. Between incredible articulation, updated armor pieces and a paint job which is refreshing as it is excellent, the Sandtrooper should impress those who are looking for stunningly produced one-sixth scale figures. Some tweaking will of course improve it further, but this should last a while as the “go to” Sandtrooper figure in this scale. The armor may restrict the full movement of the Real Action Heroes buck, but Medicom Toy has done their best to design this in a way so it remains functional.