Shoretrooper - RO - 12-Inch Figures

Specialist Stormtroopers stationed at the top secret Imperial military headquarters on Scarif, Shoretroopers patrol the beaches and bunkers of the planetary facility.

The Shoretrooper character was an immediate hit with longtime Star Wars fans, and Hasbro may have a task on their hands before they’re able to get out enough to meet demand. Although there are three different ranks of this character in the film, Hasbro has been smartly focusing on the general Shoretrooper for a while now. No matter the format, 3.75” super-articulated and 5POA or 6”, one thing is for sure, and that is the Shoretrooper (in general) is a popular character and desired action figure from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. It’s not that Hasbro isn’t producing enough of the different varieties of figures. They’re certainly doing that well. But as an all-new army builder, there just aren’t enough units out there to meet both fan and collector demand. The character is so popular that Hasbro has just added the Shoretrooper to their 12-Inch Figure line, but the line itself is suffering from terrible case assortment choices (as well as releasing only one new figure amongst a pack of straight repacks). Thankfully, some of the 12-Inch Shoretrooper figures did manage to squeeze their way out from Hasbro’s distribution center, although we’re just not sure how far into the market this figure will get out to retail. He is released in multiple quantities in this case assortment, but retailers have to buy other previously released figures to get this new addition to their shops. As a result, the Shoretrooper may ultimately not see widespread release at retail.

So now that this figure is “sort of” out now, how does it fare? If you know the 12-Inch Figures line well, you know that these are about as simple as an action figure you can get. Hasbro abandoned the standard super-articulated buck bodies and instead have just molded larger scale 5POA figures with some added articulation. But in all honesty, the Shoretrooper doesn’t look half bad. It’s an army builder action figure, but we wonder how many kids are going to want multiples of these for their playrooms. Collectors will likely be doing most of the purchasing here. It will be interesting to see if this figure will gain popularity among the longtime collectors like the 3.75” action figures do. The figure is far from terrible, but it’s too static for our tastes. It does have some very nice sculpting and neat details too. The figure can easily stand. It can hold its weapon. And it has been painted beautifully for a budget figure. As you know, the various Scarif Stormtrooper officers don’t differ that much from each other, but most of their differences can be found in the torso area. Well, Hasbro cleverly added a rubber-like belt to this figure for easy removable replacement (at the factory level – not for our use) which will enable them to make the other officers in this scale relatively easy. The redundancy that exists in these characters makes toy making a breeze. So we hope that we will see the other officers soon in this larger scale. Honestly, the Shoretrooper is pretty nice for what it is. The troopers looks infinitely better than any human character they make in this scale.

Like the Scarif Stormtrooper Squad Leader, the Shoretrooper is visually beautiful even with fewer colors. As a standalone figure, it serves an important purpose in the line. We have received feedback from readers throughout the years that this line serves a wonderful purpose for kids with motor skill issues – that they’re able to grasp these figures a whole heck of a lot easier. We have been told that the interactivity these figures provide for kids with these developmental setbacks has been very therapeutic in many ways. It’s all true. From the ease of placing the weapons in the hands to the larger surface area the feet cover to help these figures to stand unassisted, this line does have merit in the Star Wars collecting community. There are different colors, stripes, lines, insignias and other small details that have been replicated here with such precision and care should not be overlooked. Hasbro didn’t have to go this far with a budget line, but they did. Let's run through the figure’s articulation. He comes with a ball-socket head, swivel shoulders, swivel wrists and swivel hips. Because of the simple articulation, there isn’t much you can do with this figure from a posing perspective, but again, that isn’t the purpose of this line. Besides, the Shoretrooper looks fantastic despite its simple articulation. The Shoretrooper comes with a blaster rifle, and it fits well in his right hand. The weapon itself is sculpted very nicely as well. Overall, we’re glad to see more troopers get added to the Star Wars 12-Inch Figures line. They excel at these.