PURGE STORMTROOPER — HOLIDAY EDITION

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

Happy Chrithmas. Its Chrisman. Merry Crisis. Merry Chrysler.  Do you get it?  Like the Vine thing?  Ah, what a timely reference, right?  I’m hip and with it and I know how to get home with the downies.  No, wait, that’s that right.  Ah, it’s Christmas, so I’m just gonna give into the hokey not coolness.  Let’s be all festive and cheerful.  Anyway, here’s another Star Wars guy, named after the fact that he purges members of a religious sect.  Yay for festive cheer?  Anyway, here’s the Purge Trooper, I guess.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Holiday Edition Purge Stormtrooper is figure 5 out of 6 from the 2023 Holiday line-up for Black Series.  He, like the Jawa I looked at last year, was a Fan Channel release.  He was *supposed* to be out before the holiday….but he *just* missed it.  Oh well.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation.  I haven’t personally messed with the Purge Stormtrooper mold yet, since I didn’t snag any of the earlier runs.  It’s largely just the old style Clone mold again, so it does what it does, but the head’s new, he’s got a pauldron, and the belt’s been tweaked.  He’s also got a cloth kama piece.  In general, he’s got the same pluses and minuses as the Clone I looked at yesterday, so he looks good, but posing can be a bit iffy.  The decos for last year’s run were generally a bit less “just vomit some holiday colors on the figure” so the Purge Trooper is a little more focused in his design, directly referencing the classic Nutcracker design.  Honestly, it works quite well with this particular mold.  I’m not sure it hits quite as well as the Santa Jawa, but it’s solid.  I especially like how they made the jaw work within the helmet design’s mouth piece.  The Purge Trooper gets a blaster rifle in a deco that matches him, as well as a re-decoed Mouse Droid.  It’s a weird deco on the droid, but I think it’s supposed to be a nut?  It doesn’t quite read right.  Also, doing a Nutcracker-themed trooper deco, packing him with a Mouse Droid, and not going for some sort of, oh, I don’t know, mouse themed deco seems like a missed opportunity.  Like, it’s right there, guys.  A mouse is literally the antagonist of the story, guys.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got this guy brand new last year, right after the holiday.  Admittedly, it felt a tad silly, but there it was.  I kept him sealed all year, waiting to open him up when it came time to decorate.  While I can’t say the Purge Trooper design and concept is one I really love, I do like the angle they took for this particular release, at least for the main figure.  I do wish they’d picked a better deco for the droid, but at the same time, I’m just kinda glad to get the mold.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.