CRUISEMISSILE TROOPER

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

Can you believe there was a time when a toymaker felt that there weren’t enough characters and concepts in the Star Wars movies to keep a toyline going, and decided to introduce their own?  Well, okay, there were actually a couple of times.  During the vintage run, Kenner had come up with some in-house creations, notably the “mini rigs”, which were smaller scale vehicles, and they had even proposed a continuation of line post-Jedi that would have used new concepts.  By the ‘90s, though, things were more locked down…apart from one particularly odd-ball item, dubbed the Cruisemissile Trooper.  Based on nothing seen in the films or any other official material, the Cruisemissile Trooper is nevertheless the modern line’s first Expanded Universe offering…such as it is.  But what is it?  Well, let’s explore that.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Cruisemissile Trooper was released under the Power of the Force II banner in 1997, officially as part of the vehicles line-up, though exactly how he’s classified can be a bit touchy.  It’s a vehicle, for sure, but there’s also a figure worked into it, and he’s not actually removable.  Also, the name very much suggests that the Trooper himself is the main focus, with the actual ship not getting its own name proper.  Whatever its distinctions, the whole contraption measures just over 10 inches long, has 4 points of articulation (where hinged flaps can fold out) and a sliding plate to reveal the Trooper’s head.  The actual Trooper is scaled to match the 3 3/4 inch figures of the main line (albeit only being an upper half; there aren’t actually any legs in there), and has a proper neck joint, as well as joints on the shoulders that move, but are too loose to hold an actual pose.  The figure’s sculpt is clearly patterned on the basic TIE Pilot sculpt, though he’s been modified to work better within the context of the Cruisemissile set-up.  Said set-up is a big, flat, pointy, arrowhead shaped thing that wraps all around the figure.  It looks a bit like a Star Destroyer got ‘90s-ized…which I suppose is fairly accurate.  There’s a lot of panelling and grates.  I don’t know that it *quite* lands the Imperial aesthetic, but it wouldn’t look entirely out of place with prequel era offerings.  You can fold out the back to reveal a pair of missile launchers, while the front flaps fold out from underneath to form wings.  Pushing back the slide towards the back pulls back the “hood”, allowing the spring-loaded trooper to pop his head up.  This was a gimmick that Kenner was fond of in ’97, offering a similarly-styled set of vehicles in their Batman & Robin tie-in line.  Color-wise, the vehicle is a lot of grey and silver, with some red thrown in for a bit of pop.  There were a fair number of decals, which kept it consistent in styling with the other vehicles of the time.  The Trooper is painted, albeit very basically, and is mostly white, which is a good contrast from the TIE Pilots.  The set included two missiles, but no other extras to speak of.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I didn’t have a Cruisemissile Trooper as a kid.  I think I recall one of my friends having one?  I definitely had the equivalent Robin vehicle from the Batman & Robin line, so I was familiar with the concept, prior to tracking one of these down as an adult.  I say “tracking one down,” but in actuality, it’s one of those items that just landed in front of me at the right time.  I don’t know entirely what I think of it. It’s such a goofy idea, and it’s kind of unclear what it’s supposed to be, or how it ties into anything else.  It feels like they started with the gimmick and worked their way backwards, and never quite found their footing.  Not having any sort of follow-up to it doesn’t help, I suppose.  It’s just this one-off piece, a remnant of a direction the line *could* have gone, but didn’t, a lot like the early deluxe figures from the line.  I can’t say it’s not a fun toy, and I certainly found myself fiddling with it a lot during my review process, which isn’t a bad sign.  It’s just…odd.  I’ll take odd over boring, though.