Sandtrooper (Sergeant: Tatooine) - Militaries Of Star Wars - 1:6 Scale Figures

Added: October 22nd 2009
Category: 1:6 Scale Figures
Reviewer: Paul Harrison
Score:

Name: Sandtrooper (Sergeant: Tatooine)
Collection: Militaries Of Star Wars
Number: Item #2138
Edition Size: 1000 (Exclusive) 3000 (Regular)
Scale: 1:6 Scale Figures
Source: A New Hope
Availability: October 2009
License: Sideshow Collectibles

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The Empire encompassed thousands of worlds, with countless climate and terrain challenges. Their stormtrooper ranks reflected this through specialized units trained and equipped to operate in specific environments.

The sandtrooper is a desert terrain stormtrooper. Their armor consists of an 18-piece anti-blaster cocoon shell with heat-reflective coating worn over a temperature-control body glove. The sandtrooper helmet features automatic polarized lenses, a built-in comlink and breathing filters. These stormtroopers are specifically designed for high temperature environments. Instead of depending on machinery that may not function in hostile environments, sandtroopers make use of local creatures for transportation.

The stormtrooper detachment dispatched by Lord Darth Vader to investigate a crashed escape pod on Tatooine just prior to the Battle of Yavin consisted of sandtroopers. They had heavy weapons, survival gear, and shoulder pauldrons denoting rank.

Sideshow Collectibles continues to amaze us with their 1:6 Scale Figures. The Sandtrooper (Sergeant: Tatooine) is a testament to Sideshow’s unwavering commitment to produce high end Star Wars collectibles with unparalleled attention to detail with an aim to create small masterful works of art. And this figure is atonishingly beautiful. It is hard to look at the 1:6 Scale Sandtrooper and refer to it as a large super-articulated action figure. It is indeed a marvelous masterpiece that captures every aspect of our favorite Tatooine Stormtrooper. If you’re looking for an exact scaled replica of some of your favorite Star Wars characters, look no further than the Sideshow 1:6 Scale Figure line, for they deliver products that will leave you speechless and incite you to check out their many other collectibles as well. The Sandtrooper is breathtaking in every way and we almost are unable to comprehend all the fine points of the character they transferred to the figure from the film. In addition to a top notch sculpt, Sideshow has yellowed the armor on the figure in its entirety. It is not a white armored body with dirt marks. It is essentially a "yellow" Stormtrooper splattered with brown marks to replicate intense desert wear. The joints have been tightened up a bit from the Stormtrooper, but Sideshow has a little ways to go before we will consider them tight enough. Interestingly, we thought the Stormtrooper Commander made strides to correct this, but apparently Sideshow has taken a few steps back with the Sandtrooper. We are confident [at least hopeful] this will be corrected in time for the next armored figure.

As we stated earlier, there are so many fine details and Sideshow has ensured that they captured them all. The Militaries of Star Wars line has been taking good advantage of the new armored body and with each release, Sideshow continues to evolve the sculpt of this frame to become better and better with each release. (That doesn’t go say that further improvements can’t be made.) But it is refreshing to know that Sideshow is receptive to fans’ comments on how to make their products exceed our own expectations. After all, we are a high-maintenance group of people and for those us of that collect the higher end merchandise, well, that even tends to makes us more high maintenance. No worries here though, the Sandtrooper will satisfy every presumptuous hope you may have about it and then some. Sideshow treated us to wonderful fitting armor set. The chest armor stays close to the body and the pieces of armor just seem to fit better than ever before. Fans will be delighted to know that Sideshow just did not simply repaint the Imperial Stormtrooper 1:6 Scale Figure and make it a 1:6 Scale Sandtrooper. This time around, the Sandtrooper has a brand new helmet faceplate, left shin armor design and new abdomen armor. This thrills us, because other licenses use the Stormtrooper and Sandtrooper parts interchangably. The Sandtrooper uniform is indeed unique and Sideshow has paid attention to this flawlessly well. While the armor is aged from head to toe, the paint operations on the prototype faired a bit more authentic than the final product. The Sandtrooper is nonetheless painted spectacularly. The Sandtrooper is loaded with accessories. While the exclusive accessory (an extra hand attachment with droid part) is not entirely impressive, the sum of all the accessories together make for an exceptional mix. The backpack will require you to pick up your lower jaw from the floor.

Composed of MANY individual pieces and then assembled as one, the backpack is a piece of art itself. We do wish to however caution you that the two nylon straps are not too functional and make it nearly impossible to secure the backpack tightly against the figure. Spandex type straps would have been much better here. The Sandtrooper has pouches attached to both his upper left shoulder and right posterior. They too are incredibly sculpted accessories and they fasten close to the body of the figure. His long rifle is as intricate as his backpack and is also composed of multiple parts. Sideshow always travels the extra mile when it comes to expertly crafted accessories and the same is true for this figure. While the gun seems much too delicate to play with, it is so realistic that it is almost perplexing. He also comes with the standard Stormtrooper blaster and this was a nice touch. We seem to forget they carried these guns around since the larger weapons are much more memorable. Collectors will be interested to know that the paldron is cast in soft-goods and it drapes very nicely over the right shoulder. This was a nice surprise. In summary, the 1:6 Scale Sandtrooper is a phenomenal addition to Sideshow's ever-growing and very impressive 1:6 Scale Figure line. We know that additional military figures are inevitable. Hasbro has to amoritize tooling costs of the armored body over multiple releases. We don't mind if they keep producing incredible quality pieces like this 1:6 Scale Sandtrooper (Sergeant: Tatooine) figure. And we would personally love to have a 1:6 Scale Dewback to go along with him as well. While we wait, we will thoroughly enjoy this beautiful figure! We recommend that you should as well!

Collector Notes

Sandtrooper (Sergeant: Tatooine)

Announcement Date: TBD

Pre-order Date: TBD

Status: Sandtrooper (Squad Leader: Sergeant) is an all-new figure that utilizes the Armored body type.

Articulation Count: 31 points

Articulation Details: ball-socket head, ball-jointed neck, double ball-jointed shoulders, double ball-jointed elbows, double ball-jointed wrists, double ball-jointed torso, ball-jointed waist, ball-jointed hips, swivel upper thighs, double ball-jointed knees, 2 swivel shins, 2 ball-jointed ankles, 2 swivel feet

Accessory Count: TBD

Accessory Details: fully detailed sandtrooper armor set featuring: new helmet faceplate, new left shin armor, new abdomen armor, pauldron with white rank designation, bodysuit, shoulder pouches, belt pouches, MG-15 rifle, detailed backpack, display base with Star Wars logo

Sideshow Exclusive: Hand holding droid part from the Tatooine crash site

Retail: $109.99 USD

UPC: 747720209091

Market Value: Click here to check the latest prices based on Click here to check the market value on eBay! listings.

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