Sandtrooper [Sergeant - Version 1] - TAC - Saga Legends

Jedi mind tricks often work on the weak-minded. Such is the case when a squad of sandtroopers asks Jedi Maser Obi-Wan Kenobi about the two droids that are with him in a landspeeder. Obi-Wan tricks them into concluding, "These aren't the droids we're looking for."

In 2007, it was almost hard to decide which collection of Star Wars figures to be more excited about: the basic figure line or the supplemental Saga Legends line. While this may seem ridiculous to you, the newly dubbed Saga Legends sub-line was a very exciting basic figure lineup during its first couple of years. Some great characters were included in the line and the packaging was nice as well. It goes without saying that the 30 (77-07) basic figure lineup was infinitely more interesting. That’s a no-brainer. But the complementary Saga Legends line allowed fans to be part of the process, something that doesn’t happen all that often (but should). Things are always more exciting when we’re offering Hasbro our own two cents instead of just accepting what they want to offer us instead. Even the candidates in the Saga Legends line that weren’t part of the Fans’ Choice poll, and instead choices made directly by Hasbro, have brought something very appealing to the 3.75” scale as well.

The Sandtrooper is a clear army builder figure. Hasbro has made some great updates to this character over the years and between the figure from 2005’s ROTS Stormtrooper To Clone Trooper Evolutions sets and the 2006 TSC Sandtrooper (SAGA 037) basic figure, they have some top notch sculpts to include in the 2007 Saga Legends line. That’s exactly what they did, but with a twist. Instead of simply repacking figures, they made a few unique variants especially for the Saga Legends line. First on their list to knock out was the Sandtrooper sergeant. What’s especially interesting about this figure is that it’s the 2006 TSC Sandtrooper (SAGA 037) figure, but done in a dead ringer paint job of the Evolutions Stormtrooper (Sandtrooper sergeant) running change set [Version 2]. It’s quickly become one of our favorites in the Saga Legends line and it can be considered a “new” figure for your Star Wars collection. While we believe in our hearts that the Evolutions sculpt is much better, the paint job makes the 2006 TSC Sandtrooper (SAGA 037) rise to the top. This figure just looks absolutely amazing.

If you own the 2006 figure already, you get all the same accessories here. Included are the sergeant ranked pauldron, thermal detonator, vibro lance (for proper dewback steering), BlasTech E-11 blaster, and the awesomely sculpted survival backpack which fits like a glove on the figure’s posterior. The figure looks stunning and has incredible upper body articulation, but it fails below the waist. And this is the only thing that bothers us about this sculpt. It’s affected every release of this style of Sandtrooper. His legs are much, much too close together. Sandtroopers need a wider stance (like the Evolutions sculpt offers). It’s nearly impossible to attain any natural action pose with the 2006 sculpt. Go ahead and try it. We challenge you to prove us wrong. But if you prefer to have this particular Sandtrooper just stand around and guard your collection, then it’s the perfect action figure. Besides, your collection needs this beautiful paint job. Seriously, this figure looks gorgeous.