Resistance Trooper - TBS [P3] - Six Inch Figures (10)

Soldiers of the Resistance are well trained and well equipped, but must rely on hit-and-run tactics when faced with the overwhelming might of the First Order.

Although containing only two new figures in it, wave 3 of The Black Series [Phase III] line has an incredible sleeper hit figure that sadly we expect most of the collecting community to overlook. What’s ironic about this is that the generic Resistance Trooper may have been given some of the best paint operations and attention to detail than most of the more popular army-building characters like all of the troopers in the First Order. We get it. Hasbro put a tremendously horrible taste in our mouths for the Resistance Trooper, thanks solely to the horrid debacle that is the Build A Weapon figure. Almost an instant peg-warmer, the 2015 TFA Resistance Trooper (Build A Weapon) figure should have never been made. It should have been reserved for Walmart exclusive The Black Series [Phase III] 3.75” line because there are too many important features and details that have to be sacrificed on a simply articulated action figure. And let us not forget about that truly disastrous “banana visor” that Hasbro gave him. Hasbro should truly be embarrassed by such cheap shortcuts. Thankfully, The Black Series [Phase III] 6” Resistance Trooper is beyond impressive, and we’re glad we didn’t judge the merit of the character thanks to Hasbro’s terrible Build A Weapon figure.

Let there be no doubt at all how disappointed we are that the Resistance Trooper doesn’t comes with a removable helmet. The best we get is a hinge-jointed bottom portion of the helmet that flips up and back revealing the lower face of the character. Underneath is a darker skinned human male with a fantastic sculpt, facial hair and expressive eyes. Sadly, it’s hard to make out all of the features clearly because the clear yellow visor obstructs your view. But you can definitely tell that some clever craftsmanship went into making this figure’s likeness as excellently as possible. We’re impressed. But better than all of this is the detail on the helmet. Hasbro actually expended a few extra pennies to give the helmet brush strokes, texture and various insignias; all representing what we don’t know about these characters yet. But that’s alright because you should be able to appreciate the art of these figures without knowing all of the facts about them. The insignias in particular have been beautifully applied and it would be foolish to not appreciate how much effort went into developing the helmet. But it didn’t stop there. The costume is full of various washes which collects in all of the creases and crevices and it looks magnificent.

There have been outlandish claims that this character doesn’t look like something out of Star Wars. We’re dumbfounded by those types of comments. The Resistance Trooper looks as if he could fit right into the Battle of Endor with relative ease. But there is no need to act like an apologist for this figure either. If you’re a fan of Ralph McQuarrie’s artwork, you know that the Resistance Trooper is reminiscent of various trooper designs he made for all of the Original Trilogy Star Wars films. It’s evident that the Original Trilogy has inspired parts of the look and feel of the Resistance Trooper. The figure looks amazing. The Resistance Trooper is loaded with the standard articulation of The Black Series [Phase III] 6” line. The lower portion of his code inhibits the range of motion in his ball-socket hips. This is actually slightly problematic because you can’t get a good spread in his legs for aggressive posing purposes. So we find that to be a bad setback. Despite this, the Resistance Trooper can still attain a healthy amount of poses thanks to a complex articulation system. The last thing we’d like to say about this figure and The Black Series [Phase III] line in general is that it’s experiencing unacceptable distribution problems; something Hasbro promised a complete line reset would alleviate. They’ve got to lock that issue down.