Stormtrooper Commander - 1:6 Scale Figures

Soldiers unswervingly loyal to the Emperor, stormtroopers represent the most visible extension of Imperial might. They were shock troopers meant to strike with speed and accuracy, quelling insurrections and maintaining order on the far-flung worlds of the Empire. Stormtroopers serve both the ground-based armies of Emperor Palpatine's forces, and the space-based Imperial starfleet.

Stormtrooper training stresses complete indoctrination in the tenets of the New Order, and officers are followed without question. Stormtroopers abandon individuality in exchange for loyalty, obedient to their orders without regard to the rights of others or even their own safety. They are completely encased in a white armored spacesuit shell, commanding officers denoted with colored shoulder pauldrons or other colorful visual splash. Their helmets contain comlinks for long-range communications, and they are armed with blaster pistols or blaster rifles. Specific environments call for specially trained and equipped stormtroopers, such as the snowtroopers that besieged the ice world of Hoth and the lightly-armored scout trooper that patrolled the forests of Endor.

The Stormtrooper Commander is always found on the front lines, leading his troops into any combat situation. This highly trained Imperial soldier is intelligent and resolute, as capable and fearsome as the ARC troopers of the Clone Wars era. They face perilous and dangerous missions without reservation, unswervingly dedicated to their orders and their obligation to the Empire. Enhanced with added protection and gear, the Stormtrooper Commander is clearly visible on the battlefield due to his uniquely detailed armor.

The Hasbro Stormtrooper Commander action figure did not make collectors happy at all. As a poorly distributed and ultra limited edition release, it frustrated to the point of rage and Hasbro poured a little salt on the wounds by releasing it as a Comic Con exclusive in new packaging when those who missed out from the Gamestop promotion really wanted it in the 30 (77-07) line look. Sideshow must have picked up on these vibes and quickly added the Stormtrooper Commander to their repertoire and released a genuinely wonderful masterpiece of unprecedented quality and gave all a fair chance to pick this character up in 1:6 Scale form. The final result will ensure a smile on your face. The Stormtrooper Commander builds on the original 1:6 Scale Imperial Stormtrooper (based on Episode IV) and then tweaked a few things for the better and thereby creating a result that is superior to the original. You may or may not recall that the original 1:6 Scale Imperial Stormtrooper had a few issues. The figure was obviously a learning curve for Sideshow and it would no doubt take a few releases for issues to get cleaned up. But Sideshow listened to the constructive criticism of collectors and nearly addressed almost every issue with clever resolve and common sense ingenuity. A beautiful design, the Stormtrooper Commander is a truly fresh take on a popular Star Wars character and indirectly pays homage to the very popular 501st legion seen in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith. The dark blue color flashes in addition to the arrangement of the armor patterns are very reminiscent of the battalion of soldiers we saw wiping out the few Jedi on Coruscant. And if you were able to add the Stormtrooper Commander 3.75” action figure to your collections and love it, then you will be overwhelmed by the 1:6 Scale Figure. Sideshow held nothing back as far as the decoration of this figure is concerned and it is such a beautiful displaying piece that will likely stand out from the rest of your 1:6 Scale Figure collection.

If you have the original Imperial Stormtrooper 1:6 Scale Figure, you are aware that the figure has an issue with its chest plate armor. It didn’t hug closely to the body at all. This made the figure look sloppily assembled and it was a shame that the issue wasn’t addressed before the large run was produced. Sideshow remedied this problem by adhering fabric strips inside of the chest armor which pull the front and back pieces together and very tightly against the body. What it has done is ensured a lean and sleek silhouette for the Stormtrooper frame and it just looks plain amazing. As a result of this enhancement, it makes the chest armor non-removable now unfortunately, but the aesthetic of the figure has reached an all-new high. Another issue that Sideshow improved upon (but needs to continue to improve) is the loose joints issue. Loose joints are frustrating because Sideshow should have had the quality control checked on the new armored body frame before mass producing it. But although not entirely perfect yet, the Stormtrooper Commander has significantly tighter joints and this adds a whole new level of positivity to this figure! If you play with the figure too much, we expect that he will not remain as tight as you may want him to be so we recommend not futzing with him. Nothing can be more irritating to pose your figures and have a joint or joints give out and the figure topples. Let us reiterate, the Stormtrooper Commander is not perfect, but it is a vast and marked improvement. Exclusive collectors may be happy about the “battalion-specific” stand, but we would have preferred a unique gun or other accessory. Still, we admit that when the figure is displayed with the stand it matches quite well. But if you’re not looking to add colorful stands into your collection, then the regular version may be a better fit for you (because the black plain stand doesn’t come with the exclusive version).

One of the lowest produced figures, Stormtrooper Commander sees a limited release of only 2500 total pieces. This may be a gauge on the size of the current 1:6 Scale Figure collector market as more and more figures are seeing lower edition sizes. While we are excited of the improvements and enhancements made, we are probably most impressed with this figure’s paint job. Rivaling most other figures, the Stormtrooper Commander has been given paint operations that are simply too good to express in words. Not only is the base blue color perfectly matched to the character in the video game, it has been given a breathtaking ‘scratched’ and ‘battle weary’ look. The “paint chipping” on the armor comes across in a speckled pattern giving an almost textured look. The lines of the blue patterns are clean and crisp and provide the Stormtrooper with a whole new pre-Episode IV personality. You will find sporadic carbon-scoring throughout the figures body and while the figure looks to be “dirt” free, it certainly has enough marks to show it has seen some action. A very stunning and artful aspect of this figure is the outlines found at all the crevices on the armor. These black outlining ‘lines’ give the figure a whole new form and shape that wasn’t accented in the original Imperial Stormtrooper. Apparently a wash was applied to the figure and then wiped clean except for the edges and crevices or at least this is the impression we get when looking at the figure. Anywhere the wash would have accumulated has stayed including any pockets and deep areas of the armor. It is probably the most effect use of deco we have seen on Sideshow’s very impressive line of figures. The figure looks nearly the same as the prototype and we are thrilled that not too many sacrifices were made to the figure’s final paint job. The Stormtrooper Commander will be wonderful addition to The Force Unleashed fans or any 1:6 Scale Figure collector. We think it is better than the Imperial Stormtrooper, but of course, your own opinions may vary.