Darktrooper - TAC - Saga Legends [Fans’ Choice #1]

The goal of the darktrooper project was to create better battle droids. These "super stormtroopers" were used against the Rebels after the Battle of Yavin, but the project came to an end when an Alliance mercenary destroyed the production facility.

Really? You guys and gals out there in the cyber collecting community really chose 1998’s EU Dark Trooper figure as the #1 Fans’ Choice figure in the 2007 TAC Saga Legends poll? Why? With all of the great action figures out there that really needed a rerelease why did you choose this one? It’s not that we despise this figure, but with all of the other "better" choices out there why was there such a strong impetus to get this one out again? Part of 1998’s Expanded Universe lineup (a sub-collection of 1998’s The Power Of The Force line), the Dark Trooper (correctly spelled as two words back then) was certainly a hot commodity. Based on the Dark Forces video game, it looked a lot like a gray stormtrooper on steroids. Sure, that kind of has a cool ring to it, but in an era of collecting where we’re obsessed with articulation, going back to five points just to get a stab at a figure that needs a completely new basic figure release anyhow is not the ideal way to go. (Editor's Note: Thank goodness Hasbro updated this character in 2009's Legacy Droid factory Walmart exclusive line.)

What’s more, those collectors looking for a straight repack of the 1998 figure may be slightly disappointed (depending upon how strong your obsessive-compulsive disorder is). Not only are there variances in the paint job (very slight folks, don’t get too worked up about this), the figure has an all-new 2007 data stamp which means the original tooling has been altered. Does this mean that new casts of the figure were developed or was part of the foot resculpted to accommodate this update? We don’t know and probably most of you don’t even care, but it's still important to document these changes because this keeps the original 1998 pure from an archivist's point of view. To make things extra special for the Darktrooper’s second release, Hasbro created a cool gold Expanded Universe coin to accompany the figure. Gold was the new “silver’ in 2007 and Hasbro kept this theme going above and beyond the gold-foiled Ultimate Galactic Hunt carded "chase" figures. (Those action figures also come with gold coins.) But all that glitters is not gold. The Darktrooper is egregiously outdated and it’s not a figure we wanted to see again nearly a decade after the fact. Obviously we were the minority.

Alright, maybe we shouldn’t have been so negative about the Darktrooper’s inclusion in the Fans’ Choice Saga Legends line. Obviously this figure won for a reason. We just don’t fully understand it. It was a great figure in 1998, but in 2007 it’s hard to find favor with it, or at least no where near the same extent that we did previously. Besides, the Saga Legends line should be proative in keeping the best articulated figures in the current line (aside from a few exceptions liek droids we suppose). Despite how we feel about it, the Darktrooper sold like mad and didn’t even meet enough demand its second time around in 2007. We’re actually surprised that Hasbro didn’t order additional case assortments to meet the need. Whatever your lot on the Darktrooper, he has remained popular all of these years. Perhaps we shouldn’t question his reigning status as the #1 Fans’ Choice figure of 2007. He comes with the same accessories this time around also and these include a removable backpack, assault rifle and removable shoulder armor (where the left and right is joined by a bar and is one piece instead of separate pieces). Again, we’re not disappointed so much that he was chosen a final candidate, but why did he have to be #1?