Hot Toys Star Wars Stormtrooper

[Iggyrox]

 

[rubio95]

The magnets used for holsters seem to always come apart... I can see being bothered by it, but it's just part of the hobby.

So I got my set in today, and I'm in love. When just casually checking them out the Sideshow figure still looks pretty good next to the Hot Toys set, but when you pay a bit of attention there are a number of key improvements HT has made that really make them an excellent set. It feels like Hot Toys paid attention to what Sideshow didn't get right on their troopers and fixed all of the complaints.

They added the gloss to the armor, refined the helmet (especially the little microphone pieces), have a much better body (tight, well proportioned and seems very solid), got rid of the cankles and gave him a generously sized cod piece. If I had one minor nit on the figure it's that the ankles are a bit gappy, but they pose so well and you can easily address it by moving the armor around.

I love all the extra hands, the included mouse droid (goodbye Hasbro stand-in) and the weapons are really well done. And again they seemed to have found ways to improve upon the Sideshow ones weapons; not only do they look a bit cleaner, but the moving parts work better and they just feel more durable.

I really hope this set is a sign of things to come from Hot Toys and their Star Wars license, if every figure is this good I'll be one happy collector

And here's a quick side-by-side with the Sideshow... again, it's not like the Sideshow is garbage, far from it. But the HT is just all around a nicer figure. Not to mention it took me quite awhile to find a sweet spot where the Sideshow would actually stand, whereas the HT never moved a hair while I was photographing them

Great write-up, galacti!

It's pretty apparent that the Hot Toys detailing is sharper and crisper. Just looking at the left knees of the figures shows that.

Do you have the Snowtrooper? I'm asking because I have one, and I thought that the SSC Snowtrooper E-11 gave Hot Toys a run for it's money. Some of the details of the SSC E-11 were sharper, while other details were softer. I'm not sure if the SSC Stormtrooper has the same blaster as the SSC Snowtrooper, though I would guess it does.

Anyways, glad you're enjoying the figure and keep those photos coming! Especially shots that have both the SSC and Hot Toys!

 

[jedijim3002]

I'll have my 2 pack EX on Monday.!

 

[ksteezy]

I asked earlier, but I guess my question was overlooked, do all 2 packs come wth that gun rack?

 

[Iggyrox]

I asked earlier, but I guess my question was overlooked, do all 2 packs come wth that gun rack?

No, only the EX versions come with the rack.

 

[ksteezy]

Ah gotcha, thanks for the reply...unfortunately no awesome rack for me

 

[Smudger9]

I'll have my 2 pack EX on Monday.!

Me too! It just landed on UK soil. I have Monday off, so plenty of playing time.

 

[Pixelpiper]

It's funny the sort of unofficial role-reversal we've had with Star Wars now that Hot Toys has started making figures. You'd always hear the "they can only do aliens and robots" line for Sideshow, but after all the reveals and shipments this year, Sideshow are clearly the ones knocking human figures out of the park while fumbling a little on a little droid, while Hot Toys is only showing decent armored figures and aliens, and even then not quite consistently - their humans on the other had are 2 for 2 on the atrocious wagon.

 

[Khev]

Shoot the EX two -pack is shipping? Still haven't gotten a conversion.

 

[rubio95]

It's funny the sort of unofficial role-reversal we've had with Star Wars now that Hot Toys has started making figures. You'd always hear the "they can only do aliens and robots" line for Sideshow, but after all the reveals and shipments this year, Sideshow are clearly the ones knocking human figures out of the park while fumbling a little on a little droid, while Hot Toys is only showing decent armored figures and aliens, and even then not quite consistently - their humans on the other had are 2 for 2 on the atrocious wagon.

Well, that entirely depends on what exactly you're referring to. Regarding Hot Toys, they've only released the Shadow Trooper and the Stormtroopers, and 'decent' isn't a very good word to use describing them, because (I can't speak on the Shadow Trooper - not interested) they're stellar. Because of the fact that many have been able to get them from overseas in advance of Sideshow's North American release, I think that they've been kind of pushed to the side. In the next two weeks or so, I imagine that thread to blow up with pictures and praise as we here in the states start to get them en masse. As far as their humans, Han Solo's likeness isn't great at this time. Hot Toys tends to update and tweak their sculpts prior to release, and I anticipate they will rework the sculpt, as they did with their Reeve Superman. Maybe they won't, but there is a strong possibility they will. I won't even tackle the Obi-Wan headsculpt, because I know you hate it and I...don't. But my point is it's hard to qualify released figures vs. unreleased figures at this stage.

Regarding Sideshow's Han and Luke, they are very good figures, for sure, but far from home runs right out of the box. So far, TK0083 has the only home run Luke, and I'm really excited to see what Chakaman can do with Han's fur lining on the parka. But a disturbing thing is that on both threads (and especially the Luke thread), the biggest topic of discussion (for the 'more-than-casual' fans) so far is about which body to swap him onto. The Pro 1.1 or 1.2 is not even being taken serious from the word 'go'. Sideshow needs to change that. Badly.

Now if you're referring ONLY to the headsculpts, then I'll definitely agree that the Han Solo is great, though I won't go so far as to say it's out of the park. More like an inside-the-park home run because he runs so fast. I'm looking forward to you getting yours, so that you can have an in-hand look and share your thoughts. It seems like more and more this hobby is changing - in-hand vs. pictures have never been so night-and-day.

Long post.

 

[Tom Day]

Long post.

But a great read.

 

[Pixelpiper]

I was of course referring to the usual dismissive posts we see on the subject, so I didn't think it was appropriate for me to add too much depth to my own comment. There will always be exceptions, but IMHO, Hot Toys have had serious issues in the sculpting department and they seem to be getting more pronounced. While they're on a slide, everyone else seems to be on the rise. There is certainly no "clean sweep" as some people were expecting (or hoping for). SSC can more than hold its own, even if they still make some really poor decisions and sometimes inexplicable decisions.

BTW, I had to use the word "decent" to average out "armored and aliens" because I was putting Chewbacca in with the Troopers, and most people don't think he's at the same level. Both are high up on my shopping list.

Hot Toys tends to update and tweak their sculpts prior to release,

IME, this is the opposite of what HT typically does. They tend to show production-ready samples right from the start. A lot of times people think the sculpt has changed, but it's down to lighting or bad photography (DX07 Luke perfect example). If you want to have a baseline, this is the rule. The exception is a change to the sculpt, but then it's not guaranteed to be better and can be far worse (Alice a terrific example). I don't anticipate any further changes to the Solo nor Kenobi sculpts.

I don't know if you've noticed, but in discussion (forum, comments) Hot Toys often gets a pass where no other company does.

Just today they've shown a 1:1 Thor on Facebook - ouch. Hawkeye earlier in the week. Ugh. The figures getting the most praise (deservedly) are the Troopers. If they don't cut back production on Solo and Kenobi, I'm predicting we'll see them linger "in-stock" and discounted for a very long time. The pass given in dialog doesn't necessarily translate to opening of wallets en-masse. I was really looking forward to HT doing a farmboy Luke and ANH Leia - now I'm really apprehensive about it.

 

[TonTon]

Just watching Star Wars now and looking at the torso part of these figure, it looks like the tall one is closer to how Luke's looks than the short one.

 

[Pixelpiper]

Just watching Star Wars now and looking at the torso part of these figure, it looks like the tall one is closer to how Luke's looks than the short one.

"Aren't you a little tall for a Stormtrooper?"

 

[TonTon]

"Aren't you a little tall for a Stormtrooper?"

Exactly. It should have at least been: Aren't your legs a little short for a Stormtrooper? Cause your torso seems fine. (As Leia plays with 1/6 HT dolls in her detention bedroom.)

 

[Darth Mangler]

SSC is hardly knocking their recent figures out of the park. It is unfair to compare released figures with unreleased prototypes as well. These stormtrooper's are really good. I would reserve judgment on Chewie until it acutually comes out. SSC has not made one in 1/6 scale, and they have had the license a lot longer than HT's. Even if HT's Han is off, it is better than the SSC one of several years ago. That one is going in the garbage.

 

[VintijDroidGutzz]

SSC is hardly knocking their recent figures out of the park. It is unfair to compare released figures with unreleased prototypes as well. These stormtrooper's are really good. I would reserve judgment on Chewie until it acutually comes out. SSC has not made one in 1/6 scale, and they have had the license a lot longer than HT's. Even if HT's Han is off, it is better than the SSC one of several years ago. That one is going in the garbage.

 

[shocktrooper_au]

Ok something just possesed me to wake up at 2:30am and order this, ok back to sleep now

 

[jedijim3002]

I guess it just depends on what images you look at. There are several moments in the film where Luke's suit looks somewhat normal but it's most likely due to the armor pieces falling out of place. Most of what I remember the suit looks like the chest is almost sitting on the belt.



It's funny because SSC had promo pics that showed Han and Luke Stormtroopers were going to be different heights but when they arrived it was a different story.

 

[VintijDroidGutzz]

Come on.. not relevant.

The SSC figures are Xmas ornaments now.