Scout Trooper (Endor Raid) - OTC - Basic (’05 #13)

Scout troopers are stormtrooper soldiers in the evil Empire. They are specially trained to ride fast speeder bikes through the forests of Endor. The troopers patrol the woods and guard the Empire's generator that runs the Death Star battle station. When a band of heroic Rebels arrive to destroy the generator, the scout troopers chase them through the woods but the Rebels escape.

One figure that created feverish army building for collectors was 2000’s POTJ Scout Trooper (Imperial Patrol) figure. In fact, the demand for this figure was so off of the charts that Hasbro reissued it less than a year later (in the same Power Of The Jedi collection mind you) with a dirty paint job to help widen availability and satiate demand. A great sculpt, the Scout Trooper (Imperial Patrol) quickly became a collector favorite action figure. It’s sculpt is so good that it trumps its lack of articulation. What elated fans the most about this figure was perhaps the functioning holster that housed his small blaster pistol. It wasn’t too often in 2000/2001 that we received functioning holsters, so that was a huge benefit for collectors. Hasbro thought that this sculpt would make the perfect candidate to release in The Original Trilogy Collection as Scout Trooper (#11) and fans became giddy once again to get this modern classic and it beautiful new Kenner-esque packaging.

It has now been re-released as Scout Trooper (Endor Raid) in the The [Post] Original Trilogy Collection. Always a brisk seller, the Scout Trooper exceeded collectors’ expectations and surprised everyone with how well it sold so many years after its original release. Frankly, the packaging saves this figure from certain doom. Placed in front of a gorgeous Endor backdrop, Scout Trooper is one of the nicest looking figures packaged in the entire The Original Trilogy Collection and now the carry-forward smaller line for 2005. Far from definitive, it still is hard to find fault with this figure that has a beautiful sculpt with the most accurate proportions as well as a pose that is relatively simple, yet poignant. With only six points of articulation, the Scout Trooper action figure proves that minimal articulation works well when done appropriately. He may not be able to attain the most aggressive poses, but as a display piece he shines.

The Power Of The Jedi line really brought collectors some brilliant action figures. Please don’t interpret our use of the word “brilliant” as perfect because that’s not what we mean. But how can you deny that some of the stellar figures from that collection including K-3PO (Echo Base Protocol Droid), Tessek and Scout Trooper (Imperial Patrol) aren’t well done?? The Power Of The Jedi line was the first basic figure lineup that took the scale to heart. Likewise, Scout Trooper is in perfect scale to other Star Wars characters in the basic figure line. If Hasbro can approach a super-articulated version of this character by going this route for a sculpt, collectors will be in for a real treat. (Editor’s Note: Hasbro released the definitive Scout Trooper and released it as 2006’s TSC Biker Scout Vintage figure.) The Scout Trooper (Endor Raid) figure is indeed a very nice figure to see again. But this may be the last time we see it since Hasbro made a definitive version.