Shock Trooper - Real Action Heroes

Distinguished by the scarlet colored ornamentation on their armor, SHOCK TROOPERS are among the elite of the clone trooper ranks and serve as Emperor Palpatine's personal guard. Among their many missions and duties, SHOCK TROOPERS were sent to search for Yoda following his battle with Palpatine in the Galactic Senate chamber, and they also accompanied the Emperor to Mustafar to retrieve the scorched body of his new apprentice, Darth Vader.

Most collectors know all too well that if a licensee creates a basic white clone trooper that the colorful variations of that armor are just around the corner. As you might suspect, Medicom Toys wasted no time painting up the popular Clone Trooper (Revenge Of The Sith Ver.) figure to make some of the other clones from Episode III. What probably wasn’t expected as much was that some would be become exclusives that you had to acquire through other channels. That’s what became of 2008’s Shock Trooper. StarWarsShop.com received exclusive domestic rights to sell this highly sought after one-sixth scale figure from the hugely popular Real Action Figures line. Let’s face it. And all-white clone is just plain boring, especially when it receives no battle-damage markings or carbon-scoring. And since Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith made a huge deal over the many colorful battalions in the Army of the Republic, it only makes sense for Medicom Toys to follow in the footsteps of the film and also produce quality figures that mirror it. The Shock Trooper is arguably a nice figure. Just like so many other Star Wars licenses experience, Real Action Heroes has also had clear difficulty in recreating the phase II helmet. It’s not a train wreck by any means, but we’re surprised that Lucasfilm, Ltd. didn’t ask for further enhancements to be made to give this collectible a relatively flawless appearance. Please note this is a great quality figure, but it could be perfect, and it’s sadly not.

We have thought about what is off about the helmet many times, but it’s difficult to articulate in voice or in writing. The thing that stands out the most for us is that it is too elongated vertically. In Episode III, the phase II helmet is very boxy, unlike the phase I helmet that is more rectangular. It appears that if Medicom Toys decided to go for that more rectangular shape of the helmet. It just isn’t correct and it’s the one sore thumb on this otherwise great collectible. Sadly, this issue puts this collectible at an unfair disadvantage because it is the “head area” on a collectible that grabs collectors first. If the head or portrait isn’t nearly perfect, the rest of the figure gets forsaken. We’re not however going to overlook the other many positive aspects of the figure because “that would be like junking a Mercedes just because it had a broken spring.” Medicom Toys has designed a very nice set of armor for the Real Action Heroes buck body type. The pieces interlock quite well and they drape very nicely on the figure. Underneath is a rubbery body glove to cover the articulated figure underneath, and while there is unquestionable inhibited movement, the Shock Trooper does possess the capabilities to freely move about and be positioned in a variety of ways. Again, the armor doesn’t allow for infinite manipulation of the figure, but you do get a fair share of meaningful articulation here that allows you to appreciate it without diminished aesthetics.

The Shock Trooper’s armor is quite pliable. There is a longstanding controversy on whether this is the correct medium to use for characters in the military who wear armor (stormtroopers, clone troopers, etc.). But we think it works well here. It keeps it shape, and it provides a little more give when you pose the figure. We find the material used to be more of a benefit than a hindrance. We suppose it will have to be your taste to either overlook it or like it. You should know that the Shock Trooper has been given a beautiful paint job. We don’t think Medicom Toys could have chosen a more accurate color red for the color flashes than they did. But on top of that they added finishing battle-damage touches like white paint (to recreate the scraped and scratches done by the Clone Wars) as well as a few black marks (to recreate some dirt and/or carbon-scoring from blasts) to give the figure some character. We feel like the Shock Trooper has been given a lot of imperfections in the paint job (like the imitation scratching and blaster marks), but it doesn’t overtake the paint job at all. They come across subtly and we feel they work as they were intended. Limited to only 1000 pieces domestically through StarWarsShop.com, the Shock Trooper commands a hefty $149.99. But those that waited discovered that StarWarsShop.com ended putting them on sale for half that very shortly after their release. We know better figures will come, but this is a great addition to the Real Action Heroes line. And since all of those figures are smaller scale, they look great amongst themselves.