First Order Flametrooper - TFA - Build A Weapon (Desert)

Specialized stormtroopers of the First Order, flametroopers carry incendiary weapons that can transform any battlefield into an infernal blaze.

It seems that The Force Awakens will encapsulate every Original Trilogy battle and trooper in a few short moments of the film. Could we see something like a modern Clone Wars/Order 66 type of intergalactic battling going on in the opening of the film? It sure seems that way since Hasbro has made it a point to release almost every type of First Order trooper in the The Force Awakens line via the different type of lines and sub-lines this new line look offers. One character that has stood out from the rest is the First Order Flametrooper. Aside from its release in the Build A Weapon line, it was also repackaged for the Armor Up line for $5 more. The character itself is a very interesting one. It is really the first time we have seen a trooper of this type in a Star Wars film, as The Clone Wars television show was really the only other place to highlights these specialized troopers front and center via a live (animated) action medium. Now we know that these troopers are part of the First Order and hopefully we will see them in some cool action in Episode VII.

In short, the First Order Flametrooper from the Build A Weapon line and the First Order Flametrooper from the Armor Up line are identical figures. Although it appears a running change has been found out in the wild, it hasn’t made a return appearance yet as far as we know. It may have been a factory mistake at this point. Obviously, you have some options to army build the First Order Flametrooper. Although we don’t see kids and collectors defaulting to the Armor Up line to do this. We don’t think it is that much a novelty to get an Armor Up accessory that collectors will be buying them up right and left. We also don’t see kids getting too interested in this gimmick either and they have less money than collectors do. Besides, kids are into electronics and when it comes to toys, they likely are into LEGO – something buildable and a little more interactive. But despite our criticisms of the Armor Up line, the Build A Weapon version of the First Order Flametrooper is pretty darn cool. And he comes with enough accessories to make him even cooler. Let’s just say that we wish some sort of “Flametrooper” made its way into the Original Trilogy.

The First Order Flametrooper has five points of articulation. This includes a ball-socket head, two swivel shoulders and two swivel hips. This is about as simple an action figure can be as far as its articulation is concerned, but it seems to work for this action figure. The sculpt is beyond excellent. It’s most bright shiny white and has been accented with very fine black details. The figure is without any real uniqueness like no identifying insignias for example. And we might be poor at explaining this to you, but there is something very mannequin like about so many of the white First Order troopers. This is once again true for the First Order Flametrooper. We must admit that seeing all of these great sculpts makes out hearts ache to see them in super-articulated fashion. But we hope that the Walmart exclusive The Black Series 3.75” line really takes off and gives Hasbro reason to make more and more super-articulated figures from The Force Awakens as well as the Original Trilogy and Prequel Trilogy, especially as far as the First Order Flametrooper is concerned. His canister pack and flamethrower are stunningly detailed and he couldn’t look better fully outfitted with them. We’re very happy with this figure aside from the obvious issues.