Shoretrooper - S.H. Figuarts

S.H. Figuarts is a new standard figure series that incorporates the Bandai action figure "Art" under the theme "Pursuing Character Expression through Humanoid Action."

Let’s just come clean. The Shoretroopers were the coolest characters in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. And like any good squadron of soldiers, variations in the armor and color flashes set ranking officers apart from each other. When it comes to the S.H. Figuarts lines, they’ve chosen the Shoretrooper Captain instead of the generic Shoretrooper infantry soldier of the Shoretrooper Squad Leader, something that Hasbro has not tackled yet in their own The Black Series 6” line. It is one of the more colorful Shoretroopers in the film, but S.H. Figuarts did the character proud by making a figure out of high-quality plastics, an inordinate amount of articulation and paint operations that can make grown men cry. Interchangeably known as Scarif Stormtroopers as they are Shoretroopers, they’re also known as coastal defender stormtroopers as well. Their distinctly colored and shaped armor sets them apart from any other member of the Galactic Empire we have seen to date, but they look brilliant. They looked fantastic in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and they look equally fantastic as Star Wars collectibles, especially action figures. Let’s take a look at what makes the S.H. Figuarts Shoretrooper [Captain] so particularly special.

There is no way anyone can deny that the Shoretrooper is one of the finest releases in the entire S.H. Figuarts line. They’ve learned how to incorporate the perfect amount of functional articulation into their armored figures while maintaining screen-accurate aesthetics. Early figures in the line didn’t arrive with everything perfectly in place. But as they rode their learning curve they found ways to improve past mistakes and continually grow this line in a short time to where it is today. They produce the most screen-accurate and hyper-articulated action figures Star Wars collectors have ever seen. Some may have issues, but most impress discriminating collectors. Although they are very close to Hasbro’s 6” scale, the S.H. Figuarts line is in a scale that is ever so slightly smaller. Sadly, this does cause some problems when displaying the two lines together. Sometimes the figures interact nicely; sometimes they do not. Despite this, the Shoretrooper rises to the occasion and offers Star Wars collectors a premium interpretation of this character. Although the actual uniform varies from one Scarif Stormtrooper officer to the next, we’d love to see S.H. Figuarts bang them all out so we can complete a squadron.

The paint operations are particularly stunning. Their yellowed armored is a great palette for the bright bands of color that is placed here and there on the various armored plating. This Shoretrooper has a light blue chest plate with color added to the arm armor. He also shares the same belt and pouch of the more generic Shoretrooper infantry soldier, so it would be easy for S.H. Figuarts to give us another figure quickly in this line by reusing this mold. It’s the Shoretrooper Squad Leader that would need new tooling because of the outfit differences. Still, S.H. Figuarts is already using this Shoretooper mold already to give us new characters. The Combat Assault Tank Commander is mostly made up of Shoretrooper parts, save for a new cod section and head sculpt (and a complete redo of the paint operations obviously). We hope they continue to make good use of previously existing parts so we can get the rest of them. The Shoretrooper is moderately accessorized. He comes with two sets of interchangeable hands (which are a pain in the butt to attach and reattach). He also comes with an E-22 blaster rifle and the standard E-11 blaster too (which we know very well by now). He holds them perfectly and looks amazing doing so. This figure is fantastic. He’s a must-have purchase.