Snowtrooper - Mini Busts

Imperial snowtroopers are a specially-trained division of the stormtrooper infantry. Clad in hard white armor with custom thermal-retaining overgarments, the snowtroopers are well suited to the frigid climate of the ice planet Hoth. The snowtroopers utilize standard blaster rifles, and specialized teams use heavy repeating blasters mounted on tripods.

Probably the most favorite Imperial after the Stormtrooper is the Snowtrooper (we are strictly talking about the films here). And he has seen nearly limitless incarnations as a Star Wars collectible. Whether it was action figure after action figure (which progressively got better with every release), a 12" figure or a beautiful Kotobukiya vinyl statue, the Snowtrooper finally sees itself in the form of a very long overdue mini bust. Gentle Giant Ltd.. did initially play with the idea for him as a collectible and created a bust-ups figure. It was rather excellent, but it didn't equate to the same level of collectability as a mini bust or statue would. But here we are ready to celebrate the 30th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back and Gentle Giant is right on time with this long-awaited and stunning polystone mini bust. It took a very long time to see the light of day, but it is well worth it. It is a mini bust that is a clear result of the improved standards Gentle Giant has recently put in place where their product is manufactured. The Snowtrooper is rather simple (mostly in part due to his very solid uniform) but the simplicity works to make this bust stand out from the rest and exceed expectations from a collector's point of view.

Snowtrooper is honestly one of the finest paint jobs we have seen on a Gentle Giant mini bust. This may instantly sound ironic since not many colors are used to decorate him. But it is his lack of color that makes him shine. Gentle Giant created beautiful shadowing with only two colors (well, two obvious colors we should say). For the most part, the mini bust is primarily two-toned. The hard armor sections are cast in a bright shiny white while the rest of the uniform is in an off-white or yellowed eggshell color. The two tones work well together and are very faithful to the costumes seen in Episode V. And his side pouches rest very nicely on the standard black base of the mini bust. The entire pose is awesome. There are no outstretched arms or bizarre angles for the limbs. He has a rather compact and contained pose and he is holding his Imperial blaster close to his body. Looking like a scene right out of the film, the Snowtrooper is a fine example of one of the better sculpts Gentle Giant has applied to their long-running line of mini busts. Snowtrooper satisfies in every way and we are so happy he was released to commemorate 30 years of Episode V. Sometimes the spirit behind collectibles has a lot to do with making them so special to us.

Gentle Giant also spent quite a bit of time to get the back of him just perfect too. His backpack is of an impressive design and has the right accents of color sporadically placed here and there. In fact, there looks to be some Aurebesh written on the top left corner of it and it looks quite cool. He also has a thermal detonator attached to his back and it looks like the same kind that is used by the regular stormtroopers. All of the Snowtrooper's parts come together well to produce a very fine collectible that even the most discriminating collectors would welcome into their homes. The Snowtrooper mini bust looks awesome posed next to the AT-AT Driver and TIE Fighter Pilot mini busts. (And he looks even better next to the Stormtrooper mini bust.) It is nice to know that there seems to be an all-around refocus on all things Original Trilogy. But in particular, 2010 should all be about The Empire Strikes Back. So far, Gentle Giant has announced no less than a half dozen mini busts based on characters from Episode V and we cannot wait to get them into our collections. While we wait for the others, we will thoroughly enjoy the Snowtrooper.