Stormtrooper Commander - LC - Basic (Exclusive)

The stormtroper commander patrols the front lines, leading his troops into fierce combat on the fungal planet Felucia. Clearly visible with his enhanced, uniquely detailed armor, he confronts the Felucians with a mighty BlasTech E-11 blaster rifle – and the pure willingness to pull its trigger.

If there was one action figure that put the collecting community in an uncontrollable kerfuffle…. twice…. It would unequivocally have to be The Force Unleashed’s Stormtrooper Commander. Released BOTH TIMES as an exclusive figure, this action figure may be considered one of Hasbro’s greatest failures as far as communication and distribution are concerned. It’s not that they didn’t try. But they chose the wrong mediums to get this action figure out to the masses. In 2008 as the 30 (77-07) line was wrapping up, Hasbro at the “last minute” announced the fate of the Stormtrooper Commander action figure. (Images of it were popping up on the web everywhere with NOT ONE explanation from Hasbro.) Three days before The Force Unleashed II video game’s street date, Hasbro released a press memo which stated: “We have gotten word from LucasArts regarding the much-anticipated The Force Unleashed Stormtrooper Commander 3-3/4" figure – and we wanted to make sure you were equally informed to share the info with your readers! In the U.S., it will be available at GameStop at midnight on Sept 15th (the first day of sale will be Sept. 16th everywhere). It will be available while supplies last, with a priority for those who pre-order the game.” But as you might expect, stores sold out of this figure much, much sooner than the game. In fact, some stores allowed reservists to plunk down only $5 and take the Stormtrooper Commander home with them. Other stores got smart and only gave out the figures with the games. Either way, it was a disaster for hardcore collectors and fans of The Force Unleashed who just wanted the darn figure.

Once the obscurity and rarity of the figure of the figure made itself known, the community went ballistic making the Stormtrooper Commander a hot commodity which began fetching a premium on eBay. Immediately, fan sites and collectors began pleading with Hasbro to re-release this figure in stronger numbers so that they could secure one (or two) for their own collections. And they listened…. sort of. It took almost a full year, but Hasbro re-released the Stormtrooper commander as a 2009 San Diego Comic Con exclusive. The issue? They placed the figure in Legacy Collection packaging. Collectors begged for Hasbro to simply re-release the figure in the TAC packaging because it was so much nicer and mixed in beautifully with The Force Unleashed wave released as part of the 30 (77-07) line. Although the red phase of the Legacy Collection was so much nicer than the blue phase of The Legacy Collection, they both equally paled in comparison to the 30 (77-07) and it’s a shame that Hasbro couldn’t have just done a fresh re-release of that pesky GameStop exclusive Stormtrooper Commander figure. It didn’t look nearly as cool in the Legacy Collection packaging. In fact, it didn’t sell nearly as well as anyone had hoped either. There were hundreds (if not thousands) leftover from SDCC and it was clear that collectors were going to expend their energies (and dollars) to secure the TAC version. We don’t blame them. We’re not big on packaging, but we have to concede that the 30 (77-07) line look is one of the most exciting Hasbro has ever done. It’s almost a crime that this figure didn’t get the full distribution it needed in the collector-friendly line look.

Whether or not this is adding insult to injury, the personalized action figure display stand was omitted from this release. As Short Round would say, this is a “big mistake." Would you also believe that the Legacy Collection Stormtrooper Commander is actually a repaint of the 2008 TAC Stormtrooper Commander figure too? Before you freak out, we will admit that the differences are slight, but they are there. The most noticeable difference is in the application of the “whitish” battle-damaged markings. They are or pronounced, brighter and stand out so much more on this version than the TAC version. The helmet is still loose, but the black paint operations along the visor look cleaner now. And there is less “white” in the lenses now. Hasbro seemed to have taken care to ensure that the visors look really sharp for this release. The torso is also sadly a little too loose still. But the other joints are tight and despite the legs being too closely together, this figure can achieve a variety of poses which makes us happy collectors. Generally speaking, the paint operations on this figure are gorgeous. The blue color flashes are clean and don’t bleed onto parts they shouldn’t. And the final touches (like the battle-damage for example) add those fine details that make the figure look truly spectacular. It even looks like some of the paint is metallic based. This figure does look really incredible. For $12.99, attendees of 2009’s SDCC had the opportunity to by multiples of this figure, but we suppose the packaging just didn’t meet collectors’ expectations. We have to agree that the 30 (77-07) version is the better version (just because of the packaging), but the Legacy Collection version looks brighter And whiter and we think the paint operations are a little cleaner.