SANDTROOPER Tatooine Stormtrooper
Power of the Force Collections 1 and 3
Item No.: Asst. 85770 No. 86770
Manufacturer: Kenner
Number: n/a
Includes: Backpack, rifle, Freeze Frame in 1998 release
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $4.99-$5.99
Availability: November 1996-December 1998
Appearances: Star Wars

Bio: A sandtrooper, or desert trooper, was an Imperial stormtrooper equipped with modified armor and equipment to withstand the harsh climates of desert planets like Tatooine. (Stolen from Wookieepedia.)

Image: Adam's toy shelves.

Commentary: One of the most common customs from the Vintage line was the Sandtrooper, so it's no surprise that Kenner would make it a point to crank one out fairly early on. What's interesting is how this, the very first official Sandtrooper action figure, was wildly awful but we all loved it at the time. Kenner just resculpted the limbs, added some dirt, and tossed on a shoulder pad and a backpack and called it a day. There's no sign of the ammo pouches, uniquely sculpted lenses, different belts, unique knee armor, or other changes that, for the most part, still go ignored today. In case you haven't already guessed, the figure didn't age well. The muscular armor sculpt just doesn't really work in 2008 unless you can justify it as some variant special forces of the Empire that nobody talks about anymore. It was a gorgeous figure for the time, but today it really does just seem old hat.

Collector's Notes: The Sandtrooper with Freeze Frame is one of few very hard-to-find variants that really was hard-to-find, just like the Weequay. The figure had several variants. The first release was in an orange package, followed by a green one with numerous bubble and sticker changes, and ultimately all these were followed by the Freeze Frame version. The figures are identical, and for the most part cheap, but there's quite a large vertical collection to collect if you just get Sandtroopers. The figure was called "Tatooine Stormtrooper" on the orange cardbacks but "Sandtrooper" on all other releases. It's also worth noting that the orange card release was once considered quite rare, and then a point came where most fans realized they didn't care about packaging variations and it's pretty much just as worthless as all the rest of the figures from 1995-1999. [ MORE IMAGES ]

Day 664: February 29, 2008