Sandtrooper (Tatooine Search) - OTC - Basic (’05 #12)

Imperial sandtroopers are specially trained and equipped to withstand harsh desert environments. Like all stormtroopers, sandtroopers are completely loyal to the Emperor and do his bidding without question. Sandtroopers go to the desert planet Tatooine in their search for the escaped droids R2-D2 and C-3PO.

One of the biggest surprises in The Original Trilogy Collection came after the official basic figure line had ended. After all 38 figure were released in 2004, Hasbro decided to keep a “Post” The Original Trilogy Collection line in circulation until 2005’s Revenge Of The Sith line made a big splash in April of that year. Affectionately dubbed the POTC line, a “new” Sandtrooper (Tatooine Search) figure was part of a third wave of repacked figures, making it the first time available in The Original Trilogy Collection packaging. Although technically a rehash of the 2001 Power Of The Jedi Sandtrooper (Tatooine Patrol) figure, the figure actually has a “newish” paint job that would irritate the average collector. What made things worse however was the obscurity of this third and final wave of figures. The figures in this wave in general weren’t easy to find, so this made the “new” Sandtrooper figure a hot commodity was the first to disappear from store shelves. Why this figure wasn’t considered as a candidate for the 2004 OTC lineup is beyond our comprehension. It’s a staple character that never received “vintage” treatment in any capacity. Clearly the selling point here is the packaging. Admittedly, the selling point of this figure was the packaging. It looked great.

There is no other way to put it. The figure is set against the hot Tatooine background and the diorama scene is encircled with the silver and black frame that we grew up with as kids. And then to see the word “Sandtrooper” on the reddish-orange nameplate just drove home the fact on how we totally were robbed as kids to never get this character in the original vintage Kenner lineup. The back of the card is just as enthralling. Red is the primary color and there is a picture of a Sandtrooper stopping Luke Skywalker from entering Mos Eisley until he can verify that those aren’t the droids he was looking for. In 2004, the 2000 POTJ Sandtrooper (Tatooine Patrol) figure still holds up well, but it still isn’t the most perfect specimen. More tweaking needs to be done to the sculpt before calling it a definitive version of the Sandtrooper character. (Editor’s Note: Obviously we have received a plethora of awesome Sandtroopers between 2005 and today now.) Armed with a healthy dose of accessories and scanners that actually clip to his survival backpack, this particular Sandtrooper holds up well in modern times.

What you may find most interesting about this version of the Sandtrooper (Tatooine Search) is that it isn’t a screen accurate Sandtrooper at all. Sandtroopers wear three differently colored pauldron. Orange denotes squad leader, white denotes sergeant and black denotes corporal. We’ll assume that this is just a dustier version of the corporal or a dirtier version of the sergeant. Either way, gray is not an official ranking of an Imperial Sandtrooper on any front. Consider it an off-screen character at best. If you do not really care about paint job variances, then this isn’t for you. But the 2005 POTC Sandtrooper (Tatooine Search) has a distinct paint job when compared to the 2001 POTJ Sandtrooper (Tatooine Patrol) figure. There is significantly more dirt on the helmet. The spattered dirt pattern throughout his body, leg and arm armor is lighter. There are now instances of speckled dirt on his gray pauldron. And lastly, there are dirt scuffs on the tips of his boots. It’s really not possible to say which one looks better. They just look different from each other. You may need time to find this figure for a decent price on the aftermarket.