First Order Legion - TFA - Exclusives (Desert/Forest/Snow/Space)

Born from the remnants of the Empire, the First Order emerged as a power to be reckoned with years after the battle of Endor. In secret, the First Order amassed fleets of next generation Star Destroyers and TIE Fighters, and assembled legions of Stormtroopers armed with powerful new weapons. Now, the First Order mobilizes its forces to crush the New Republic, repel the Resistance, and impose its will upon the galaxy.

Boy oh boy. Has The Force Awakens launch been one big rollercoaster ride? For most, it’s either feast or famine with very few instances of normal stock levels at the brick and mortar level. Still, no matter what the stock looks like for the general release items, it seems that store exclusives have had a much easier time arriving at retail. One surprising delay was the First Order Legion 7-pack Amazon exclusive set. It finally arrived however at the beginning of January 2016 which was even earlier than what Amazon had estimated after the delay announcement. We’re not going to go into too much detail about five of the figures in this set. After all, Captain Phasma, First Order TIE Fighter Pilot, First Order Flametrooper, First Order Snowtrooper and First Order Stormtrooper are all straight repacks, with some having slightly better and cleaner paint operations than their basic Build A Weapon carded released. There are also some that come with worse paint operations. It’s all very inconsistent. There really is not rhyme or reason. However, overall we’re likely to claim that the Amazon exclusive figures tend to look a little better in our eyes. Your mileage may vary.

Obviously, the only reason to consider this set aside from its Rubik’s Cube packaging is the inclusion of two “new” figures which are really just straight repacks of the First Order Stormtrooper with cool new accessories. But dare we say that the two “new” figures are worthy of the price you’ll pay for all seven figures? That may sound ridiculous to some, but these two prominently featured stormtroopers should have been part of the basic figure line. And with the collector-focused The Black Series [Phase III] Walmart exclusive line chugging out a pitiful and mere five characters from The Force Awakens in its first three waves, we don’t have much hope that Hasbro will have enough room on their timeline to get everything out that collectors want to see. Had The Force Awakens come out even three short years ago, we probably would have had about 50-75 super-articulated action figures at this point. Goodness, gracious have times changed. Anyway, we’re happy to report that both the First Order Riot Control Stormtrooper and the First Order Heavy Artillery Stormtrooper are more exciting than you might expect they are. But the real bonus here is that all of their extra accesories can be removed easily and applied to 2015’s TBS [P3] First Order Stormtrooper action figure from Walmart’s exclusive line.

You can easily refer to the First Order Riot Control Stormtrooper as FN-2199, the official designation of the stormtrooper that called Finn a traitor. He comes with an awesome snap-fit shield and Z6 riot control baton which have been cleverly tooled so that they can interact with the standard 5POA Stormtrooper sculpt as well as the super-articulated version. It’s a dream to come true to finally have some versatility in this manner for products based on The Force Awakens. We’re however a little more impressed with the First Order Heavy Artillery Stormtrooper. The ammo vest is another brilliant addition here. It button snaps on the bottom left hand side and it’s amazingly easy to remove from the figure so you can fit it onto another if you wish. He also comes with a ton of other accessories. Included are a large heavy blaster cannon, a stand for it, something we’ve nicknamed a selfie stick for the cannon, and then an articulated and removable “foot” for the cannon stand. He also comes with the aforementioned removable ammo vest as well as a First Order blaster. At $47.99, you’re paying less than $7 per figure. it’s not a steal, but it is a bargain, sadly, in this day and age. This is a smart set. You get seven army-builders, save for Captain Phasma, in one fell swoop. Someone at Hasbro is thinking.