Death Star Trooper - TAC - Basic (30 13)

Wearing black uniforms and distinctive helmets, Death Star troopers are chosen from the ranks of the Imperial Navy Troopers to defend key installations. When not in combat, these well-trained soldiers and guards provide security, handle hangar traffic control, and monitor sensor arrays.

Sometimes there are figures that just make us scratch our heads as to why Hasbro drags their feet updating. Can you think of a better figure to fit this bill than the Death Star Trooper? One of the first twelve original Kenner figures from 1978, it was the “last” of the original twelve to get updated in The Power Of The Force “2” line when it was released as 1998's POTF2 [FF/TKC] Death Star Trooper figure. And history sort of repeated itself again because as definitive or near-definitive versions of the original 12 started being revisited in the modern line (multiple times in some instances), it wasn’t until 2007 that a definitive version of the Death Star Trooper made its way into collectors’ hands checking off the “vintage 12-Backs” list to completion. Of course getting the Death Star Trooper in 2007 was more than worth the wait. It has all the bells an whistles that we expect figures to have and impressive technology has allowed action figure to be the best they’ve been in years. But before we begin raving about this figure, we’d like to make it clear that many collectors do not agree that the 2007 TAC Death Star Trooper is the modern update to the 1978 vintage Death Squad Commander. Are you surprised that controversy like this exists on an action figure? Some figures are much clearer than others on whether they have been updated or not. The same isn’t true for the Death Star Trooper.

If you notice, the vintage figure has a gray uniform and distinct ranking badge. There is a scene in A New Hope where a character very similar to a Death Star Trooper can be seen, yet his uniform looks lighter than black and have a unique “phone cord line” communications device hanging from his helmet (which is also the picture on the vintage figure’s card back) And what makes this even more confusing is that the packaging art on the 2007 figure is wearing a “gray” uniform, albeit a very dark gray. It’s clearly not black. So while this is indeed the best Death Star Trooper on the market today, it’s arguable that the original vintage figure has yet to be updated. But let’s say for the moment that this figure does satisfy the requirement for the modern update of the vintage figure. It can easily be said that the Death Star Trooper is excellent beyond words. He has one or two small issues, but overall this is one great action figure. Like his wave mate the Rebel Honor Guard, we think his stance is too wide. It’s not terribly distracting and actually works well depending upon your need for him. The points of articulation are well hidden and work to the figure’s advantage, but we think where the pants bunch up at the knees gives the illusion of “balls” for knees and we’re not sure how aesthetically pleasing that is. We understand what Hasbro was trying to accomplish here, but it definitely looks slightly awkward when it gets translated into the sculpt of the plastic.

Hasbro created a beautiful and extremely accurate removable helmet that unassumingly hides his face and comes complete with a working holster and nicely painted Imperial blaster. He has a little too much of a tan for our liking, but his head sculpt is absolutely terrific and it’s hard to gauge the exact expression on his face. Complete with 22 points of articulation, the Death Star Trooper has the capability to attain a nice selection of action poses, but we kind of prefer to pose him in a “guarding” stance more than anything else. The 30 (77-07) line’s purpose it to celebrate 30 years of Star Wars in general, but we have to be honest. It’s a lot more exciting when we are celebrating with figures from the original film and more specifically, updates to the original Kenner figures. While Hasbro is all over the place when it comes to which figures will include running changes, we think the Death Star Trooper should have been a no-brainer. But hopefully we’ll see others come in Battle Packs or other multipacks. The Death Star Trooper is an excellent action figure and a must-have for fans of the vintage Kenner line. It would be quite an amazing thing if Hasbro reissues this figure on a modern vintage card back one day. But while we wait to see if that happens, be sure to find a way to get this figure into your collection! It’s an absolute must-have!