Dark Trooper - TBS [P4] - Six Inch Figures (TM28)

Hulking Imperial combat droids with gleaming black armor and powerful jet boots, the Dark Troopers are a powerful design.

Hasbro is up to its old tricks again. They want you to believe that a figure that requires all-new tooling needs to cost you more than a Clone Trooper repaint or Credit Collection figure posed as an all-new character for the line. The all-new Dark Trooper figure will set you back a laughable $33.99 if you want to order one immediately for your collection. And it doesn’t come with anything noteworthy or unique to warrant the additional cost. That said, the Dark Trooper character, which originated during the George Lucas era of Star Wars, became a popular character in the Disney Star Wars The Mandalorian Disney+ series. It’s a lovely addition to the line, but collectors are likely getting burned out by Hasbro and their games. How long will it be too long to pass off newly sculpted action figures as “deluxe” releases? We’re over it, so we imagine others are as well. The Dark Trooper figure has noticeable differences from the characters we saw in the original Expanded Universe. But it’s also faithful in many ways. Loaded with detail and articulation, collectors will appreciate what Hasbro did to bring this figure to life.

The design of the Dark Trooper is clever. In the series, the droid has hinge-jointed mechanics. But Hasbro used the appearance or style of hinge-jointed parts but converted them to ball-jointed articulation for the action figure. It appears this figure comes with limited articulation. But once you pose the figure in your hands, you see that Hasbro held nothing back from incorporating a wealth of movement into it for maximum posing ability. The Dark Trooper has everything from ball-jointed elbows and knees to “rocker” ankles. And the range of motion you get from the action figure is remarkable. Hasbro utilized a gleaming plastic to cast the figure. It looks gorgeous, and the black and silver details complement each other nicely. Hasbro also worked in some red details in the photoreceptors and chest plate to mimic the style we see in the series. Our only concern with the design of the Dark Trooper is that the joints seem a bit weak in spots. We’re not sure if this issue arose because it’s an all-new figure with different proportions, but we hope it doesn’t become a significant problem with frequent use or time. Overall, we’re impressed with what Hasbro achieved.

The Dark Trooper indeed comes with more accessories than a standard The Black Series 6-inch figure, but certainly not enough to warrant this a “deluxe” release. They did, however, include a pair of interchangeable hands, fists in particular, which looks great on the figure once installed. Hasbro also included the signature blaster rifle, and the figure holds it well with the “non-fisted” hand attachments. The shoulder armor is also removable, but it’s a rather pointless detail, and not sure why Hasbro did this for the 6-inch Dark Trooper, something they also did for 2010’s LC Dark Trooper (Phase III) (Build A Droid) action figure too. The bonus accessories here are two flame attachments. You install them into the foot holes to recreate the flying effect. In The Mandalorian, “the fly now,” Hasbro faithfully recreated this trait for the Dark Trooper 6-inch figure. The Dark Trooper is unequivocally a stunning action figure, but there is no way it is worth $33.99. Hasbro needs to stop pulling the wool over the eyes of the 6-inch collecting community. Deluxe figures are a scam. There’s no other way to describe them at this point, so we hope Hasbro ceases producing them.