First Order Snowtrooper Officer/Poe Dameron - RO - Two-Packs

First Order Snowtrooper Officer: The latest generation of cold-weather assault Stormtroopers, Snowtroopers wear advanced insulated armor and helmets that reduce the glare of the icy terrain.

Poe Dameron: An ace pilot, Poe Dameron is a leader in the Resistance's fight against the evil First Order. He soars into battle behind the controls of a modern X-wing fighter.

Wash. Rinse. Repeat. That’s what more than a few of the Rogue One products from Hasbro are beginning to feel like. It seems that so many opportunities for the line are passing right before our eyes, and Hasbro wants to instead concentrate on “different enough to make you mad” repacks characters (that may or may not be in the latest Star Wars films) and other characters in obscure outfits that can barely be seen as well. Enter the First Order Stormtrooper Officer/Poe Dameron set from the Two-Packs line. Ugh. Did any of us really need ANOTHER Poe Dameron figure. And probably more poignant than that, did any of us need another First Order Snowtrooper Officer? We’d give a resounding answer of “no!” to both of those questions. But that’s what we’ve been handed and this Two-Packs set is part of the first wave in the Rogue One line part. Sure, there’s an all-new figure here, but firstly, do you want another Poe Dameron, and secondly, do you want a Poe Dameron figure that looks like a young Ernest Borgnine (hair and all)? We didn’t think so, but that’s what you’ll be getting in the First Order Stormtrooper Officer/Poe Dameron Two-Packs set. It’s simply a snooze-fest.

While we have expressed in the past, especially during The Force Awakens line, that typically the First Order Snowtrooper Officer has been the star of these sets or as pack-in figures, they’ve simply become worn out over time. We’ve lost interest in them so to speak. We have seen this action figure multiple times in The Force Awakens line already obviously. It’s time to move onwards and upwards. A newly colored pauldron doesn’t necessitate another purchase, especially not for a 5POA action figure. This time we get another officer, but with a white pauldron instead of a black or orange one this time. In old school Star Wars, this would mean this First Order Snowtrooper Officer would be a sergeant, but who knows at this stage of the game if similar things apply in the First Order. As you know, the First Order Snowtrooper Officer has been derived from a fantastic sculpt, so getting him again in a slightly different variation is something that pleases army builders, but we’re personally just tired of it already. While it’s nice to get something different, it really just feels like more of the same. These characters may be in the film, but we’re not entirely sure.

The “real” reason to buy this set is for the all-new Poe Dameron action figure. For a few seconds at the very end of Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, you can see Poe Dameron don this outfit, but it’s almost like a “blink and you’ll miss it” sort of outfit. While longtime collectors ATE STUFF Up like this in the basic 3.75” line, it just doesn’t have the same affect in the 5POA line. The figures are mediocre, the sculpts are better than average, but the paint operations are just terrible. We think Poe Dameron looks terrible. Your own opinions may vary on that however. But for us the likeness is terrible because of how the paint applications have been applied. He has a dramatically painted face (which never helps) and it looks like he’s wearing a ton of makeup instead of having any natural skin complexion whatsoever. The rest of this figure is OK we suppose, but there just isn’t enough here to make us happy. While the First Order Stormtrooper Officer figure is modestly outfitted, Poe Dameron comes with a blaster pistol in addition to a harnessed double-barreled cannon. This is for extra play value, but in all honesty it looks a tad too ridiculous. Hasbro has done better than this set for sure.