MOROFF & SCARIF STORMTROOPER SQUAD LEADER

STAR WARS: ROGUE ONE

Well, I’m still without power here where I live, which makes getting these reviews written and posted more than a little difficult.  But have no fear dear readers, I’ve found a place where I have access to wifi, all just to write today’s review.  It’s all for you guys! Okay, no not really.

So, back to the Rogue One stuff!  I’ve looked at two of the more prominent characters from the movie (as well two characters not from the movie).  Today, I’ll be looking at one of the Empire’s faceless minions (with a new hat—I mean new armor!) alongside one of Rogue One’s new alien characters.  Yes, it’s Moroff and the Scarif Stormtrooper Squad Leader!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Moroff and the Scarif Stormtrooper Squad Leader are the second set from the first series of Battle Packs from the Star Wars: Rogue One line.  Unlike the last two-pack, these guys both hail from Rogue One.

MORFOFF

Moroff (or is it THE Moroff?  I really don’t know yet.  The bio lacks any “the” so I’m guessing his name is just “Moroff”) is apparently muscle for hire, at least going by the bio.  That’s a pretty cool idea I suppose.  Given this is a VS pack, it would appear he’s sold his muscle to the heroes for the purposes of this story.  Wasn’t that nice of him?  His figure is about 4 3/4 inches tall (he’s just a smudge shorter than K-2) and he has 5 points of articulation (though the neck movement is practically non-existent).  Given what I’ve been able to find of Moroff online, the sculpt looks to be fairly accurate.  It’s certainly quite detailed, though the hair, like any sculpted hair, sort of has to be compromised.  He’s about on par with a Chewbacca figure in that respect.  In fact, he seems to share more than a few design elements with the Wookies, though whether there is any sort of connection is not evident at this point.  The coolest parts of the sculpt are definitely the tech-y parts.  The rebreather is a neat piece, and I’m curious to find out what the story is behind that.  Also, I really appreciate the heft on this guy; it helps him stand out from the rest of the released figures.  Moroff’s paintwork is okay, if not the best we’ve seen.  The large amounts of cream-colored plastic look a little cheesy.  There’s some slight brown at the base of the feet, which breaks it up a bit, but also looks sort of weird since it doesn’t match the rest of him.  Despite the slight goofiness of the main body, the various extra bits are all very nicely painted, and help breakup the cream coloring a little bit.  Moroff is the half of this set “blessed” with the missile launching apparatus.  It’s similar in design to the one that came with Poe, but obviously much larger.  It’s not terrible looking, and some of the shots we’ve seen of Moroff show that the actual backpack part of it is accurate to Moroff’s pack from the film, minus the actual blasters.  Since the “arms” can be removed, it doubles as an actual accessory.  Moroff also includes a large, non-missile launching blaster, which also looks to be movie accurate.

SCARIF STORMTROOPER SQUAD LEADER

Wow, this guy’s got a long name, doesn’t he?  Guess the OT Imperials were a little jealous of the First Order’s really long names, and just had to catch up.  So, going by this guy’s bio, Scarif is where one of the Imperial’s top-secret HQ’s is located, which makes these guys something of an elite force, hence the fancy new armor design.  Yes, that’s why they look different.  It’s in no way so that there’s another Stormtrooper to sell toys of.  That’s the crazy talk.  It appears there are a few different Scarif Trooper designs in the movie, but this guy is based on the Squad Leader look, which adds some extra colors and gives him the little command skirt that the Clone Commanders were oh so fond of.  The figure stands about 3 3/4 inches tall and has the usual 5 points of articulation.  He’s sporting an all-new sculpt, which looks to be a pretty close re-creation of the design from the movie (going by what we’ve seen so far).  It’s a good design, and it translates well into the smaller toy form.  Perhaps my only issue with this guy is the stiffness of his stance.  He looks very rigid, and it’s only made worse when you try to give him his gun, which he can’t even get close to holding like his illustrated counterpart from the packaging.  I don’t hate the lessened articulation inherently, but it might be nice if Hasbro started sculpting some of the troopers with their arms posed to accommodate holding their rifles properly, much like the later POTF2 figures.  As far as paint goes, the Scarif Trooper’s not bad.  He’s a little cleaner than his onscreen counterpart, but that’s consistent with the rest of the line.  The colors are nice and vibrant, which is always a nice thing to see.  The Trooper’s only accessory is his blaster rifle, which looks like a good match to the piece in the art on the package.  He’s a little lacking, but the Moroff’s extras make up for it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This is another set I grabbed from TRU’s midnight opening.  I actually saw this set a few days before Rogue Friday at a nearby Walmart, but all the Rogue One products were street date locked, so I couldn’t buy them.  I liked the look of the Scarif Trooper, so this was one of the items I was on the look out for.  I actually didn’t know what to expect from this set initially.  I really wanted the trooper, but didn’t care all that much about Moroff.  After getting the set, the trooper’s still my favorite in terms of overall look, but the Moroff was a pleasant surprise.  They’re both solid figures, and I’m glad I got this set.