Shoretrooper - TBSA - Six Inch Figures

Specialist stormtroopers stationed at the top-secret Imperial military headquarters on Scarif, shoretroopers patrol the beaches and bunkers of the planetary facility.

One of the biggest missteps by Hasbro in 2016 was making The Black Series [Phase III] 6” Scarif Stormtrooper a Walmart exclusive. How could they make an infantry member a retailer exclusive item? It made no sense. To make matters worse, Walmart also has exclusivity for the 3.75” The Black Series [Phase III] Scarif Stormtrooper [Squad Leader] figure too. So the only way you could purchase this character in any super-articulated scale was to visit your local Walmart and hope it was in stock when you went. Years later, collectors exclaimed that Hasbro didn’t come close to meeting demand. So, they reissued the 3.75” figure as 2018’s TVC Scarif Stormtrooper (VC133), and now, part of The Black Series Archive line, they’ve reissued the Shoretrooper in The Black Series Archive line. You’ll be happy to know that there are some notable differences in how Hasbro applied the battle-damage deco. The two distinct paint operations help us to army build with some diversity, meaning all of them won’t have the same distress marks and battle wounds as each other. Still, the revised deco only gives us “one” other infantry member, so we’re not sure how much good that will do.

The Shoretrooper is everything we expected it to be. It took a half of a decade, but the Scarif Stormtrooper, now Shoretrooper, will hopefully be easily attainable this time around for the many 6” collectors that never saw this figure at retail. Like any battalion, there are multiple differently ranking Scarif Stormtroopers, and now that we have two of them, we hope Hasbro gives us all of the different rankings for the line. The Shoretrooper has amazingly sculpted armor. The detail etched into the figure is superiorly executed. But for us, it is the beautiful paint operations that make this figure look beyond impressive and set it apart from its predecessors. Since exclusives are typically based on previously existing sculpts, it’s evident that Hasbro hasn’t deviated too far from the original release. The Shoretrooper has excellent articulation, but one point where it’s inhibited is the lower skirt. It inhibits the hip movement, so that still disappoints us a bit after all of these years. Regardless of the figure’s setback, it’s gorgeous. The paint operations are astounding, and we’re reminded once again why this figure looks so good after five years. It’s a timeless action figure.

The best part of the Shoretrooper is the upper body and arms. You get the most movement from these areas, and the figure can hold the included blaster rifle with one or two hands remarkably well. And you can make the figure “run” all thanks to this outstanding balance and functional articulation. We need to once again focus on the paint operations given to the Scarif Stormtrooper. Hasbro has done a fantastic job making this figure look as beautiful as it does. The Shoretrooper has equal excellence with the paint operations that the Squad Leader received. The Shoretrooper is the picture-perfect example of what a collector-focused Star Wars action figure should look like in 2021. We’re letting the issue of a single accessory go because this figure looks so tremendous. We still take issue with this figure’s availability. We hope that collectors took the opportunity to purchase a ton of these. This version is superior to the original. Hasbro is raising the bar with the troopers in this line. Hasbro seems to be improving the line with the many quality issues it has had so far. We hope they keep up this trend. The Black Series Archive line provides an ideal medium to get some of the most incredible action figures out again.