Artillery Stormtrooper - TVC - Basic (VC263)

Even if you might be growing tired of all of the concentration on characters from The Mandalorian, you’ll probably agree with us that the Artillery Stormtrooper is a nice departure from the boringness Hasbro recently produced for the line. The Artillery Stormtrooper has more accessories than their standard “Deluxe” figures but is housed and priced like a basic figure in The Vintage Collection. And we’re not complaining about that. Based on the Imperial Stormtrooper (Nevarro Cantina) Deluxe figure (oh, the irony), the Artillery Stormtrooper comes with a retooled torso to accommodate a new backpack that holds four thermal detonators (all separately sculpted accessories) and plugs into the back of the figure beautifully. Also new is the lower belt/cod section parts. Typically, this area comes with slices or separations to allow for a unique belt, but this time the belt and cod section armor is whole, without any cuts that create a smooth contour. The back-belted thermal detonator is gone on this figure, but that is because this character uses them to pump into a cannon to hit the necessary targets. Oh, and that all-new cannon breaks down into three parts and comes with ball-socket articulation, which allows you to pose it as needed for your dioramas. It’s a nice touch, and we have to credit Hasbro for thinking outside of the box here. In total, we get a lot of plastic here, and they could have done evil by us and made it a “Deluxe” figure instead. We should count our blessings.

There is no doubt that Hasbro is milking the updated Stormtrooper (VC231) figure. It should be no surprise. Hasbro released the Heavy Assault Stormtrooper (VC253) figure, a Gaming Greats Fan Channel exclusive, the Stormtrooper Commander (VC254), the previously mentioned Walmart-exclusive Imperial Stormtrooper (Nevarro Cantina) Deluxe set, and now this release. The Artillery Stormtrooper figure is rather excellent. We love the stormtrooper armor tooling, and the paint operations are fabulous. As you’re aware, Hasbro tapered the ankle armor for a streamlined Original Trilogy appearance. And although the action figure doesn’t have a holster, the figure favors what we see throughout the Original Trilogy and is a wonderful addition to the line. Also, this character didn’t have a holster in The Mandalorian, so, most importantly, it’s screen-accurate. You’ll love the new parts here, and we have to admit we’re surprised Hasbro worked in revised tooling here because they whine about how the slightest upgrade to a figure bankrupts them. It’s exhausting to hear these fibs over and over again. The Artillery Stormtrooper looks like they ripped it right out of The Force Unleashed, and for those who despise Disney Star Wars, we believe you can find this figure a viable option in your classic Star Wars video game displays. But The Mandalorian is popular, so you may want to update your collections based on the Disney+ series instead.

While we love the new accessories included, we must comment on the rubbery material once again used to cast it. We don’t understand why Hasbro cannot use more rigid plastics to give these toys the feel of higher quality. The legs of the cannon should be rigid, resist resistance, and not bow with pressure or gravity. We think the latter will be the case with this toy. We also find that the backpack is a bit too soft. But maybe that’s intentional, so removing and replacing the thermal detonators is easy. Whatever the reason, we hope Hasbro will find a way to use more robust plastics in its future toys. As briefly summarized, the paint operations are excellent on the Artillery Stormtrooper. We’re impressed with how this figure looks from a decorative perspective. It articulates well, and you can achieve many action-oriented poses that are realistic and look fantastic. If Hasbro must release “repacks and repaints” all of the time, this is how to do it. Perhaps they’re finally listening to all of the collectors’ complaining. The Artillery Stormtrooper is part of the basic lineup, which is interesting. It seems like when it comes to a repaint of a stormtrooper, Hasbro finds a way to make it exclusive. That’s not the case with this figure. We’re amassing quite an extensive collection of figures from The Mandalorian. Before we know it, we’ll have all of the characters from the show, and they’ll need to produce more episodes so Hasbro can make more action figures. It would be best if you considered the Artillery Stormtrooper for your collection.