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Year Released: 2009
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Retail Price: $12.99
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Asst: 93455
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UPC: 53569 43085
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Insert# 6930880000
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Card # 6910050002
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Exclusive: SDCC
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Figure Includes:
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• Removable Helmet
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• Blaster
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| Sculpt: |
| In the early days of the Galactic Empire, following the execution of Order 66, the Empire's new Stormtroopers were led into battle against the enemies of Emperor Palpatine's new regime by Commanders picked for their loyalty and dedication to the Empire. These commanders wore bold markings on their otherwise starkly white armor, which might have been a holdover from the days of the Clone Wars. 2007's Thirtieth Anniversary Collection Stormtrooper was given a paint-job tweaking and released as the Stormtrooper Commander to tie in with the release of the videogame STAR WARS: THE FORCE UNLEASHED, as a GameStop exclusive. Poor distribution led to its re-release as a San Diego Comic-Con International exclusive in 2009. There are still some problems with the sculpt that haven't been fixed: useless holster, and a very loose mid-torso joint. Also, the removable helmets are too flat on top: 8.5 out of 10. |
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| Paint: |
| Stormtrooper Commander is molded in white, with black, gray, and silver paint decos in all the usual places. He has blue Commander markings on his helmet, arms, torso, and right leg. There is white weathering to the blue markings. The head is molded in black, with a dark tan flesh paint app to the exposed areas of the face, and pink decos to the visible scars he sports: 8.5/10. |
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| Articulation: |
| Stormtrooper Commander has a pop-off ball-jointed head, with ball-jointed shoulders, elbows, knees, ankles, and waist. The wrists are planer-cuts. Total points of articulation are fourteen. The figure can hold its blaster in either hand, as well as in a two-handed stance. The waist joint is still rather loose: 8/10. |
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| Accessories: |
| Stormtrooper Commander comes with the smaller version of the POTJ Imperial blaster, molded in black with no paint details. It fits awkwardly into the slit in the Trooper's holster on its left hip. The removable helmet is too flat on top, and sits too far forward on the figure's head. He looks like he's craning his neck forward. The TAC release came with a dark gray figure stand that had the character's name spelled out in silver metallic paint, but The Legacy Collection re-release is without the stand: 7.5/10. |
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| Packaging: |
| The Legacy Collection has gone through a redesign that now uses a rectangular-shaped, die-cut card. Painted imagery of the characters are in the top left corner, with the STAR WARS logo in deep red in the upper left corner. The blister insert contains the character's name. The cardback features info on each character and a more detailed image of the actual character. The SDCC 2009 release of the Stormtrooper Commander has a San Diego Comic-Con logo sticker on the clear plastic blister. If you buy it online, it comes in a protective clear plastic case: 8.5/10. |
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| Availability: |
| As of this writing, the figure has been appearing online for less than a month. Not surprisingly, it has sold out at both HasbroToyShop.com and StarWarsShop.com, but it seems to be replenished at regular intervals. It's also available from other online sources at inflated "collector" prices: 6.5/10. |
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| Conclusion: |
| The Stormtrooper Commander was one of the most hotly anticipated characters from THE FORCE UNLEASHED. It's original exclusive release through GameStop was a legendary example of a promotional offering gone horribly wrong. Hearing the cries of outraged collectors, Hasbro vowed to make the figure available again. But the $10 pricetag at Comic-Con and the $13 online price still meant it was a bit too limited, even if finding it this time was as easy as a few mouse-clicks: 7.9/10. |
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