Hot Toys The Force Awakens Exclusive Stormtrooper Squad Leader.

[Tee-Kay]

Finally, today, after an eleven days errand at chek lap kok airport duty free shops, it seems my squad leader (along Storm Luke) felt it was time to move on and boarded a flight to his final destination. Maybe he'll bring a nice gift to apologize for his tardiness.

 

[Jaycepticon]

https://www.instagram.com/p/-eGJLYp1Js/

Just collected mine today! Pretty happy with the figure, except that the its hard for the trigger hands to hold the blasters, especially the smaller blaster.

nice pic, I gave it a like and follow

 

[kazukijun]

nice pic, I gave it a like and follow

Thks man, followed back! Always nice to meet fellow collectors on other platforms as well.

 

[BatBrain]

Got charged bright and early for this guy today. I honestly had totally forgotten he was shipping this week. Freaked me out a little when I saw a $200 charge pop up on my phone.

 

[KerotanFrog]

https://www.instagram.com/p/-eGJLYp1Js/

Just collected mine today! Pretty happy with the figure, except that the its hard for the trigger hands to hold the blasters, especially the smaller blaster.

Cool pic! Helmet looks nice and shiny!

 

[jacerc130]

Got charged bright and early for this guy today. I honestly had totally forgotten he was shipping this week. Freaked me out a little when I saw a $200 charge pop up on my phone.

I'm right there with you. I was about to call my wife and ask her what the hell she bought LOL

 

[DarthAlias]

Lame split shipment. Mines been changed to Dec 25th.

 

[wadeit0ut]

Never saw an email but mine did indeed ship today. So excited.

 

[momaw]

So you got Luke Stormtrooper unable to load, and this one delayed twice?

UPS in HK doesn't seem to be working out as reliable as FedEx in the US - which operated like clockwork every time.

My Luke Stormtrooper was processed on the 17th - unable to load once.

TIE Pilot was processed on the 20th and was given a delivery ETA of the 26th.

Luke X-Wing was processed on the 20th at the exact same time as the TIE, but no ETA given.

Yeah, this Hong Kong shipping isn't really working to well. First fig I had ship about a week after charging, but luckily caught a direct flight and arrived 3 days later. My Tie Pilot was charged on a Monday night, shipped the following Saturday and it's now 4 days later and still in transit when Hong Kong is a 10 hour flight from here. Meanwhile a Spacetrooper was charged and shipped last Friday and arrived on the Monday from Cali.

Listening to others it seems like they only ship from Hong Kong on a Saturday (local time) regardless of when SS bills you and then it's a crap shoot as to whether it gets on a direct flight, a flight back to china then on a tour around Asia spending a full day sightseeing at each stop or just misses the plane altogether.

I guess even with 2 week delivery on something that should be two days (especially with the shipping cost they charge) is still quicker than waiting for it to come into stock in the US.

 

[Tee-Kay]

TFA Storm has now been on the road for two full weeks since UPS picked it up at Sideshow. It took 10 days to get custom clearance, then a couple more days to actually be loaded on a plane and it's now stuck in Germany due to a flight delay after a short trip to Dubaï.

Good news is it apparently travelling with my Stormtrooper Luke (which was picked up at SIdeshows 4 days later).

Bad news is, X-Wing Luke and Tie Pilot are now experiencing the same issues having troubles boarding an aircraft in HK

 

[jacerc130]

Got my shipping notice today. he should be on my door step Monday!!

 

[Asta]

Yeah, this Hong Kong shipping isn't really working to well. First fig I had ship about a week after charging, but luckily caught a direct flight and arrived 3 days later. My Tie Pilot was charged on a Monday night, shipped the following Saturday and it's now 4 days later and still in transit when Hong Kong is a 10 hour flight from here. Meanwhile a Spacetrooper was charged and shipped last Friday and arrived on the Monday from Cali.

Listening to others it seems like they only ship from Hong Kong on a Saturday (local time) regardless of when SS bills you and then it's a crap shoot as to whether it gets on a direct flight, a flight back to china then on a tour around Asia spending a full day sightseeing at each stop or just misses the plane altogether.

I guess even with 2 week delivery on something that should be two days (especially with the shipping cost they charge) is still quicker than waiting for it to come into stock in the US.

Another bonus is that it's cheaper. I'm saving an average of £11 per delivery over what I budgeted to pay with FedEx.

 

[WWEJedi]

This shipped for me. Was going to cancel and wait for orange pauldron, but decided to keep it. Should have it by Wednesday

 

[momaw]

Another bonus is that it's cheaper. I'm saving an average of £11 per delivery over what I budgeted to pay with FedEx.

So far, even from Hong Kong, it's still costing over $30USD delivery (for me). I can't work out if it's cheaper or not since sideshow can't seem to make up their mind if the shipping is $30 or $40 from Cali these days Best case, it's the same as I've been paying on all my previous figs.


Did a live chat with SS this morning and they brought forward my final flex and it looks like the Squad Trooper is shipping today With luck, since I think this will ship from Cali, I'll have him Monday (my time).

 

[K1NG J0RDAN]

Mine shipped as well. I'm excited to have my first TFA figure!

 

[Blackout]

I'm a bit confused about the pauldrons in Force Awakens. In the OT it basically worked like this:

Orange=Squad Leader (Commanding Officer/Captain)
White=1st Officer (Executive Officer/Sergeant)
Black=Enlisted (Soldier)

But now in TFA we have a white squad leader (this release) and an orange captain (that magazine scan). Orange/red in TFA is also referred to as an "Officer" in toy packaging. In other toy packaging, black TFA pauldrons are referred to as "Sergeants." In the US Airforce, a squad leader is usually a Master Sergeant from what I understand.
So far it seems like the pauldrons in TFA got promotions. Red/Orange is now something like platoon leader with white being squadron leader.

TFA Red=Captain (Platoon leader, Officer)
TFA White=Squad Leader (Enlisted)
TFA Black=Sergeant (Enlisted)
TFA None=Standard Trooper

One thing that is strange however is that based on the screens of the First Order army, it seems like orange is significantly more common than white. In fact I've only ever seen one white pauldron from BTS footage, they dont even seem to appear in the shot showing hundreds of troops. So I'm still not entirely sure about how the colors work in TFA.

 

[Chubs&Doggers]

Waiting on ups to show up and drop this guy off! How late do they deliver ??

 

[Chubs&Doggers]

Arrived finally ...

 

[wadeit0ut]

Wish I was on the west coast. I would have had him by now.

 

[BlueSnaggletooth]

Got mine today - really cool figure. Only problem is all the Hot Toys SW figures are arriving at the same time.

-Snags