Imperial Death Trooper - TVC - Builder Packs

Worst. Troop. Builder. Set. Ever. Complaining about a multipack with four excellent super-articulated action figures is difficult. But that’s what we’re going to do here. How often do we need the 3.75-inch Imperial Death Trooper action figure released in the Star Wars brand? Hasbro made ample opportunities for collectors to purchase as many of these as they wanted. We can’t see any reason to re-release this character as an action figure another time. We’ve had our fill. There are plenty of units out there. And the “trooper builder” exclusives MUST focus on characters not yet added to the lineup. What about the Clone Captain and Clone Commander from Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones? What about Naboo Starfighter Pilots and various crew? And let’s not forget about the endless amount of Rebel Soldiers from Hoth and Endor that collectors cry themselves to sleep over anymore. Hasbro doesn’t understand the 3.75-inch collectors these days, it seems. There are so many missed opportunities it’s becoming increasingly painful. Hasbro needs to stop shortcuts and get out the characters we all want for our Star Wars collections. And it would help if they, at least temporarily, move away from Disney Star Wars and focus on the George Lucas era of Star Wars characters.

The Imperial Death Trooper served as the de facto symbol for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. They're also part of The Mandalorian. And we all were excited for the action figure to arrive to support the film. But that was half a decade ago. The Imperial Death Troopers were featured prominently on the Rogue One line look packaging art. Hasbro got the figure into The Vintage Collection twice, once as a basic figure and once as a Walmart exclusive (carbonized). First released as a 6-inch figure in The Black Series [Phase III] line, the 3.75-inch super-articulated Imperial Death Trooper sadly started life in the Walmart exclusive line, much to the chagrin of collectors. At its original release, the Imperial Death Trooper was about as perfect as 3.75-inch super-articulated action figures come. This figure will always remain flawless, and Hasbro should be very proud of what they achieved in this action figure. From the sculpting to the paint operations, the figure meets collectors’ expectations. As an army builder, yes, we need plenty of this action figure. But Hasbro already made this a reality by re-releasing it multiple times. We don’t need to sully the “troop builder” program with something we don’t need. There is no newness here, and that’s a tremendous setback.

With an impressive 30 points of articulation, the Imperial Death Trooper accomplishes most positions and poses you desire. Hasbro blessed the figure with mostly ball-jointed articulation, allowing a trim figure to look mobile and agile on your display shelf in your collection. The articulation is so wonderfully added into the tooling that you almost can’t see. Hasbro has come far with its approaches in action figure making. For example, the Imperial Death Trooper wears a ribbed bodysuit, and the articulation looks hidden. Although the Imperial Death Trooper is primarily black, the figure does come with beautifully applied paint operations. The sheen on the figure is astounding. The character has a green visor, and there are other green details on the helmet as well. There are also gray and silver details. You’ll even find a dash of red color on his long rifle. And every highlight of color looks remarkable. Hasbro included one “captain” here, and it comes with extra gear, including a pauldron and vest, two rifles, and a blaster. But the other three figures come without the pauldron and only one weapon each. Is Hasbro for real? Couldn’t they have included four of the exact figures with all the parts and extra blasters as needed? They genuinely don’t know what they’re doing anymore.