Onmitsu Shadowtrooper - Meisho Movie Realization

When it comes to high-end collectibles, licensees have to reuse or tweak existing sculpts to make the line affordable. In the beginning, it feels like collectors get one new release after another, but then after a while, the repeating begins. Bandai has been pretty good by not oversaturating the market with basic retools and repaints of figures. More specifically, the Meisho Movie Realization line has had an obligatory repaint/retool of course, but for the most part, the line has remained new and fresh. The latest release is the Onmitsu Shadowtrooper, which is the equivalent of a Shadow Trooper in the “real” Star Wars universe. In Japanese culture, the Oniwaban (how about that near-perfect anagram?!) or niwaban (another near-perfect anagram for Obi-Wan) was a group of onmitsu government-employed undercover agents established by the 8th Tokugawa shogun, Tokugawa Yoshimune (1684–1751). They are also sometimes described as "ninja." They’ve taken this concept and applied it to the standard Shadow Trooper.

We’re not sure why Bandai confuses the spellings of troopers’ names so often. It’s perplexing to us. Shadow Trooper is comprised of two words, but they have it arranged as a single word. Ultimately the way a figure’s name is spelled is not an issue, but we tend to notice things that stick out to us. The Onmitsu Shadowtrooper is a beautiful action figure. As you’re probably aware, the Meisho Movie Realization line is a larger scale than the 6” figure line by both Hasbro and S.H. Figuarts. Based on Japanese inspired warriors, the Onmitsu Shadowtrooper captures all of the detail that the Ashigaru Stormtrooper brought to the line, but with plenty of differences. The helmet, upper body, shoulder armor and cod section/belt are all newly updated with revised tooling. There is so much newness here that it might be fair to consider this release an all-new figure. The figure is primarily cast in black colored plastic, but there are some bluish/purplish details throughout the figure’s body that accent it beautifully.

The Onmitsu Shadowtrooper comes with plenty of hand attachments. But they are needed to accommodate the diverse weaponry included with the figure. Each hand attachment has been expertly crafted to allow for the optimal grip with the included accessories. The weapons are pretty cool too. Onmitsu Shadowtrooper comes with a sword and sheath. (The sheath also can be placed in a holster on the left side of his waist.) He also comes with two daggers. Our most favorite accessory is the blaster pistol which is not only gorgeous in design but is the single accessory that gives this figure it’s most distinct look. Thanks to a marvelous articulation system, Onmitsu Shadowtrooper can be posed in an incredible amount of poses. We had a blast configuring the figure in a variety of ways. What makes this even better is that the figure has great balance and a near-perfect center of gravity. He will hold his poses well and looks fabulous doing so. Retailing for $89.99, the Meisho Movie Realization line isn’t for everyone, but if you can set aside a portion of your budget for some of the figures, you won’t be disappointed at all.