#2475: Darth Vader with Removable Helmet

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with 90s, All Time Toys, Darth Vader, Kenner, Power of the Force II, Return of the Jedi, Star Wars July 25, 2020

DARTH VADER with REMOVABLE HELMET

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

“Luke Skywalker removes his father’s head gear so that Anakin may look at at his son with his own eyes for the first time. Darth Vader became one with the light side of the Force when he rescued his son from the clutches of the Emperor.”

Remember last week when I was talking about the difficulty of coming up with credible variants for certain characters in Star Wars, given how little they change between installments? Good, because it remains relevant for today’s review! Darth Vader’s one of those tricky things to balance for toys, because the guy’s kind of the face of the franchise, but he also looks the same in all of his appearances (to the untrained eye, anyway). For the vintage line, he only had one figure throughout the whole three movie run, and at the outset of Power of the Force II it looked like history might repeat itself. That standard Vader did get a re-card, and even a slight tweak on posing to keep him on shelves, but by 1998, Kenner was doing revamps on all of the core characters, and Vader found himself on the receiving end of such a revamp, one which even gave us something we’d never seen on a Vader before: a removable helmet!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Darth Vader with Removable Helmet was added to the Power of the Force line in 1998, as the line’s third basic Vader release. Unlike the line’s prior Vaders, which were all sort of amalgams of his designs from all three films, this one was the first to specifically replicate one design, in this case Return of the Jedi. The figure stands a little over 3 3/4 inches tall (as they were back to acknowledging that Vader was taller), and had 7 points of articulation. Just like the Bespin Luke figure from the same year, Vader is granted an extra point of movement on his right wrist, thanks to a removable hand (again making this a more Jedi-specific release). I’ve actually looked at the bulk of this figure’s sculpt before, when it was used for the “Escape the Death Star” Removable Dome Vader release. It really was the best sculpt Vader got out of PotF2, so I definitely can’t complain too much. It’s far less beefy than the initial Vader, and even adds the missing inner robes that hadn’t actually been done in action figure form at this point. The main distinguishing feature on this guy is the unmasked head, which is a pretty solid recreation of his unmasked appearance in the film, especially given the level of detail we typically got from this era of figure. In terms of paint work, this figure marked another improvement for the line, with more than just the straight black of the initial Vaders from the line. This guy also gets some of the proper silver detailing on his shoulders, plus all of the various colors he should have on his chest panel and belt. And, of course, he gets a fully painted face under the helmet, complete with eyebrows, meaning he’s pre-Special Edition! Vader was packed with his lightsaber (whose blade has a tendency to fade over time for this particular release), as well as a Freeze Frame.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Add this Vader to the list of figures I didn’t have as a kid (which, to be totally fair, is all of the Potf2 figures I’ll be reviewing from here on out), but it’s one I very much wanted and never managed to get. One of my parents’ friends had both this and the Bespin Luke when they were released, and I always wanted this guy to pair off with my own Bespin Luke, but I never quite managed it. Over the years, I kept an eye out, but he doesn’t crop up as much as some of the other entries in the line, so it took a little while. Fortunately for me, one wound up floating around the back room at All Time for a little bit, so I was finally able to snag him. He’s definitely the best Vader for this line, so I’m very glad to have him.

Thanks to my friends at All Time Toys for setting me up with this guy. They’ve got a decent back stock of Power of the Force, and other cool toys both old and new, so please check out their website and their eBay Store.

#2468: C-3PO with Removable Limbs

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with 90s, All Time Toys, C-3PO, Droids, Kenner, Power of the Force II, Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back July 18, 2020

C-3PO w/ REMOVABLE LIMBS

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

“A short stay on Bespin’s Cloud City left protocol droid C-3PO dismantled and dependent on his Rebel companions.”

There’s a bit of difficulty in Star Wars lines to offer decent variants of a handful of the characters, specifically the ones whose designs don’t really change throughout the movies. For instance? C-3PO. He’s got the exact same design in all three of the original films, so any OT-based line definitely has a little trouble differentiating. Fortunately, there’s at least one solid gimme for a 3PO variant: removable limbs. Yep, if you want to really want a good Empire variant of 3PO, all you gotta do is make those limbs removable for his encounter with the Stormtroopers in Cloud City. The vintage line started things off, and Power of the Force II followed suit, with the figure I’m taking a look at today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

C-3PO with Removable Limbs was added to the Power of the Force line in 1998, and was the line’s third variant of 3PO, following the initial release and the Purchase of the Droids variant. The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and has 6 points of articulation…or at least he should, though the waist joint on mine definitely isn’t moving. Stylistically, the sculpt on this guy is really similar to the revamped 3PO sculpt from the Purchase set. Much like the various nearly identical Farmboy Lukes produced later in the line, the two sculpts aren’t really the same, but are virtually indistinguishable for the most part. The main difference between the two, aside from the whole “removable limbs” thing, is the lack of restraining bolt on the upper torso. Also, there’s the removable limbs. Those are a difference, too, I suppose. They come off pretty easily, though the way they attach does ever so slightly impact the posability a little bit. You can still get full range out of them, but they might need to be popped out and repositioned for some poses. Like the “Purchase” figure, this 3PO’s color scheme starts out with the vac metalizing again, but this one takes the grime even further than that figure did, making for what is probably the dirtiest of the PotF 3POs. I’m not entirely sure why the Empire version would be the dirtiest, but I guess it could be worse. 3PO is packed with a cargo bag, perfect for placing him in and allowing him to be carried on Chewbacca’s back.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I didn’t have this 3PO figure as a kid, but I remember seeing him on the back of the packaging, and always kind of wanting him to do the whole “carried on Chewy’s back” set-up. I never did get it as a kid, but it was definitely on my short list when I started filling in the holes in my collection. He’s pretty darn nifty.

#2461: Ugnaughts

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with 90s, All Time Toys, Kenner, Power of the Force II, Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, Ugnaughts July 11, 2020

UGNAUGHTS

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

“Ugnaughts, the humanoid species found on Bespin’s Cloud City, manned the controls of the freezing chambers where Han Solo was encased in carbonite.”

Okay, right, weekend. Time for another Power of the Force review. What am I reviewing this time? Ugnaughts? What are the Ugnaughts? Well, it says right up above, doesn’t it? That’s pretty convenient isn’t it? Too many questions, Ethan. You need to move onto some declaratives. Right. Ugnaughts. Let’s do this.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Ugnaughts were added to the Power of the Force line in 1998, and were our second go at this particular race, following a figure in the vintage line. They joined Lobot in filling in some of the Bespin crew the year they were released. Much like the Jawas, Kenner took advantage of the Ugnaughts’ smaller stature to offer up a pair of them, rather than one single. The two included are distinctly different Ugnaughts, both of them from the film. The vintage figure actually amalgamated a number of elements from these two, before they were split apart for this release. Both figures stand 2 1/2 inches tall and each have 4 points of articulation (they’re articulation ceases below the waist). Both sculpts are completely unique parts-wise, though they do share the same basic pose and build. They hold up well given the time they were produced, and honestly wouldn’t look too terribly out of place with more modern lines. Of the two, I think the one with the smock is the slightly better offering, as the separate smock piece adds a little more depth, and his facial features are a little more distinct. He also pulls ahead a little bit on the paint front, thanks to a few more details, though it’s worth noting that both figures sport decent base level paint work. Curiously, the red-headed Ugnaught’s skin tone is molded, while the smock Ugnaught is painted. Not sure why they’re different, but they both look decent enough. The two Ugnaughts include one single toolbox for them both to share, as well as a freeze frame slide.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Mandalorian is legit the first time I’ve ever cared about an Ugnaught, so I can assure you I didn’t get these two new. In fact, they were one of those things I didn’t even realize were even in the movie until I was an adult. They definitely don’t have the same fun factor as, say, the Jawas, but I guess they make for a decent scene filler. I have spoken.

I got this pair from my friends at All Time Toys. They’ve got a decent back stock of Power of the Force, and other cool toys both old and new, so please check out their website and their eBay Store.

#2455: Lobot

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with 90s, All Time Toys, Kenner, Lobot, Power of the Force II, The Empire Strikes Back July 5, 2020

LOBOT

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

“As the cyborg administrative assistant to Cloud City, Lobot made certain that Lando Calrissian and his Rebel companions would safely escape the Imperial occupied city.”

That he sure did. Yeah, so, it’s, uhh, Lobot. You know? Lobot? The cyborg administrative assistant to Cloud City who made certain that Lando Calrissian and his Rebel companions would safely escape the Imperial occupied city? Like it says in the bio? …Yeah, I don’t have a ton to say about Lobot, I guess. He’s the guy with the funny looking techno earmuffs who dresses like he’s going out to the discotheque. Seems like he’s pretty fly. And hey, he’s had a few toys, so how about that?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Lobot was released as part of the basic Power of the Force II line in 1998. It marked his second figure, following his vintage release. He’d get one more in 2004, and then that would be it for poor Lobot. I guess not everyone’s rushing out to get those funky techno earmuffs. The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation. Sculpturally, this figure feels like something of an anomaly for the year he was released. By 1998, Power of the Force had lost a lot of its early installment weirdness, what with the wonky proportions and the goofy posing and all. The original likenesses for both Luke and Leia had been dropped in favor of slightly more accurate ones, and in general earlier core figures were getting reworked into slightly less weird monstrosities. But Lobot? Well, you’d be forgiven for assuming Lobot was a year one figure. He’s oddly proportioned, rather light on detailing, and one of the more heavily pre-posed figures to come out of the line (further highlighted by the fact that Lobot never does much other than just stand there, making the usual Star Wars pose kinda perfect for him). He’s got a disco-esque pose that rivals the original Lando, further pushing that “year one” feel on this guy. You almost have to wonder if Kenner knew that Lobot was destined to stand right next to that Lando, and rather than doing an updated Lando so that neither would look out of place, they opted to instead make Lobot a proper companion piece. Alternatively, maybe he was just a leftover sculpt from earlier in the line that took a while to get a proper release. It could really be either. Whatever the cause, it’s really darn goofy looking. I do have to give them some credit on the paint front, though. He could have been quite bland, but there’s quite a bit of detailing going into the headset, and it actually looks pretty cool. Lobot is packed with a blaster pistol and data pad, for both sides of the sensible disco cyborg’s life.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

My first introduction to Lobot as a kid was not via the movies, or even via this figure, but rather via Lego’s Cloud City Car set, which I got as a birthday gift the year it was released. I had no clue who the heck this guy was, and the internet wasn’t quite the fountain of knowledge that it is today, so I went a little while without knowing anything about him, until I noticed him in one of my rewatches of Empire. This particular figure was another from the large batch of figures I picked up a couple of falls ago, as I was working towards filling in my PotF collection. He’s sooooooo goofy, but if I’m honest, after a bunch of “they’re fine figures, but a bit boring”, Lobot’s something of a breath of fresh air. I mean, at least he’s memorable.

#2447: Dengar

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with 90s, All Time Toys, Dengar, Kenner, Power of the Force II, Return of the Jedi, Star Wars June 27, 2020

DENGAR

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

Why is it Dengar always ends up the last Bounty Hunter I review in a given Star Wars set? I mean, it’s probably that he’s my least favorite. That’s probably it. I made a lot of fun of him in my review of the Black Series figure. I guess I’ll spare him the mocking this time around. Even if his idea of an imposing look is wrapping himself in toilet paper… I mean, in this day and age, I guess that could be seen as a status thing, couldn’t it? That’s some pretty valuable armor, right there. Perhaps Dengar was just getting ahead of the game. Yeah, that’s it.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Dengar was added to Power of the Force in 1997, the same year as both Bossk and 4-LOM, making it a bounty hunter-heavy year. While most of the bounty hunters were Empire-based, Dengar is actually based on his brief appearance from Return of the Jedi, as denoted by his lack of backpack. The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and sports 6 points of articulation. While the pre-posing was working its way out by this point, Dengar still gets just a touch of it, which has the unfortunate side effect of making him quite difficult to keep standing. That’s rather annoying. Aside from that, the sculpt’s an okay offering. Obviously, it’s not as technically impressive as the Black Series release, but for its era, it’s a fair recreation of his gear from the movies. Some of the details are a little soft, but, well, that doesn’t look super out of place on Dengar. By design, this guy’s a little schlubby. Dengar’s paint work isn’t the most thrilling combo of colors, but it’s certainly accurate. There’s also a fair amount of solid accent work on the grime and dirt, which makes him look appropriately like he’s been mucking around in…uh, muck, I guess. Dengar is packed with two blasters, one long, one short, which is a solid arsenal.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

My general dislike of Dengar goes back to when I was a kid, where I never really found him to be terribly impressive. The result of that, of course, is that I didn’t own this figure growing up. He got added to my collection in the last two years, as I’ve been really laying into this “complete run of PotF” thing. He’s okay, but he’s still Dengar, and the fact that he’s so darn hard to keep standing certainly doesn’t help him out.

I got this guy from my friends at All Time Toys. They’ve got a decent back stock of Power of the Force, and other cool toys both old and new, so please check out their website and their eBay Store.

#2440: R2-D2

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with 90s, A New Hope, All Time Toys, Astromech Droid, Kenner, Power of the Force II, R2-D2, Star Wars June 20, 2020

R2-D2

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

“Inside the Imperial Death Star, R2-D2 uses one of his many mechanical assets to rescue his Rebel companions from certain death within a rapidly closing trash compactor.”

As I was mentioning last week, droids make up quite a subset of the Star Wars universe, be they background, or even main characters. Of note are C-3PO and today’s focus R2-D2, who have appeared in every film in the franchise to date, making them the real connective tissue that holds things together. Being as frequently appearing as they are in the films, they are similarly pretty frequently appearing in the accompanying toy lines, usually with some sort of gimmick to help set them apart from prior releases. Let’s dig into what makes this specific R2 so unique.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

R2-D2 was released in 1998 as part of Kenner’s Power of the Force line. He’s the second R2 to be released in the line, following the more standard version from ’95. The figure stands 3 inches tall and has 3 points of articulation. This R2 was a totally new sculpt. It’s not terribly different from the initial figure, but it’s different enough to be noticeable. Unlike the prior R2, he doesn’t have the retracting third leg, or any third leg at all. Instead, he makes use of the extra space in the torso to add a slightly different gimmick: a retracting datalink arm. It’s a cool enough feature, though it would probably be cooler if it hadn’t immediately broken on mine. Maybe I’m just too rough on my toys? He’s also got another built-in gimmick, a pop-out scanner in his head dome. That one works a lot better, and is probably my favorite part of this particular release. The paint work on this guy is a definite step-up from the prior figure. He keeps the chromed head (this was a wonky licensing thing with Lucasfilm, despite its inaccuracy), but corrects the missing third blue stripe on his “face.” He also gets quite a bit of weathering on his lower portion. While he’s *technically* a New Hope R2, this added dirt means he pairs quite well with the ESB Dagobah figures, which is another plus in my book. R2 is packed with both a grasper arm and a saw arm, both of which can plug into the front of the figure. He also included a Freeze Frame slide depicting R2 and 3PO on the Death Star, though I somehow managed to misplace that one.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I really only had the need for one R2 growing up, so this guy got left out. He’s one of the ones I was more interested in when I started to go back and fill in the holes in my collection, though, and wound up as part of one of my earlier splurges of PotF figures back in 2018. He actually sat packaged for a good while before I finally got around to opening him. Issues with the datalink aside, I think this guy was the best of the R2s offered up by this line.

#2433: 2-1B Medical Droid

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with 90s, Droids, Kenner, Power of the Force II, The Empire Strikes Back June 13, 2020

2-1B MEDICAL DROID

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

“Height: 1.5 Meters
Status: Industrial Automaton Surgical Droid
Classification: GeenTech 2-1B Series
Affiliation: Rebel Alliance
Weapon of Choice: Medical Diagnostic Computer”

Droids make up one hell of a subset of the Star Wars universe, and much like the Stormtroopers, they have lots of specialized models. Also like the Stormtroopers, they’re a really easy thing for toy companies to make bank on, especially when it’s a droid that got some decent screen time. Today’s focus, 2-1B, showed up in Empire two separate times, patching Luke up first after his run-in with the Wampa, and again after losing his hand to Vader’s lightsaber. That’s not a bad spread of appearances, now is it?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

2-1B was added to Kenner’s Power of the Force II line in 1997. He’s the second figure of 2-1B, following up on the vintage release. This sculpt would remain in service through The Vintage Collection in 2011, so clearly Hasbro thought it was a fairly worthwhile effort. The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation. As with many of the droids released in this line, the poseability’s a little bit restricted on this guy. That said, he can pretty easily move his head and arms, which is just about all you need from him. The actual sculpt is quite a nice one. It’s pretty faithful to the film design, which is quite good for a PotF figure. I really dig the texture work that went into him, and I especially dig the transparent torso with the visible mechanics within it. Very fun. His paint work is also pretty solid. There’s not a ton going on with it, but all of the appropriate colors are there, and the application’s all pretty clean. 2-1B is packed with his handheld Medical Diagnostic Computer, for all your handheld Medical Diagnostic Computing needs.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like so many of my Power of the Force figures, this guy was a more recent addition to my collection, added during a PotF buying-spree in the fall of 2018. As far as this line’s droids go, he’s honestly one of the best, and has the benefit of slotting in pretty alright with the more recent stuff as well. He’s also one of the cooler, more unique droid designs, and one with some decent screen time, making him one of the best in general.

#2426: Snowtrooper

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with 90s, Kenner, Power of the Force II, Snowtrooper, Star Wars, Stormtrooper, The Empire Strikes Back June 6, 2020

SNOWTROOPER

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

“The ice planet Hoth was the site of the terrible conflict between Rebel and Imperial forces called the Battle of Hoth. Though the alliance resisted the Imperial assault for a short period, they were eventually forced to abandon the Echo Base headquarters as it became overrun with fearsome snowtroopers, the Empire’s elite frozen-weather corps.”

Since its very first entry, the Star Wars universe has dabbled in environment-specific variants of its various troopers. When Empire Strikes Back brought our heroes and villains to the icy planet of Hoth, it brought with it a whole set of cold-weather gear variants. That included today’s figure, the Snowtrooper!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Snowtrooper was added to the Power of the Force line in 1997. This was the Snowtrooper’s second time as an action figure, following his original vintage release. The figure stands 4 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation. The Snowtrooper is a far more restricted figure than others in the line in terms of articulation. The nature of the design means that he doesn’t have a neck joint, and the skirt piece means that the hip joints have reduced mobility as well. The sculpt itself is a reasonable effort. By this point, pre-posing and wonky proportions were mostly worked out of the line, and the Snowtrooper is reflective of that. That said, the actual detailing on the sculpt is a little more on the soft side, so a lot of the details get a little lost. The line was a bit up and down with the sharpness, so it’s too bad that the Snowtrooper falls more into the down, especially given the quality of the vintage sculpt. The paintwork on the Snowtrooper is actually more complex than you might expect at first glance, with a good deal of weathering mixed in, in order to prevent it from just being an all-white design with nothing to break it up. It honestly looks pretty good. The Snowtrooper included a standard Stormtrooper blaster rifle and his supply pack, making for a pretty nice, fairly film-accurate package.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Snowtrooper was added to my collection during one of my PotF buying sprees, in the fall of 2018. He was actually added to my collection by Max, so it’s technically his fault, I suppose. The Snowtrooper isn’t one of the line’s most technically impressive figures by any means, but he’s respectable enough in his own right, I suppose.

#2419: AT-AT Driver

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with 90s, All Time Toys, AT-AT Driver, Kenner, Power of the Force II, Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back May 30, 2020

AT-AT DRIVER

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

“Drivers of the dreaded AT-AT walkers, specially trained “ground pilots”, played a vital role during the Empire’s assault on Hoth.”

Didn’t I *just* review an AT-AT Driver? Oh, wait, that review ran like a month ago, didn’t it? Well, in my defense, it’s only been like a week and a half from my time, so, there’s that. Well, with it being the 40th Anniversary of Empire and all, I guess there’s no better time to double down on AT-AT Driver reviews, now is there? Great, let’s look at another AT-AT driver then, shall we?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

This AT-AT Driver was actually the second to be released in the Power of the Force line. The first was included with the AT-AT proper in 1997. There was, however, only one of them included, despite there being two drivers per AT-AT, and it wasn’t exactly economical to get a second AT-AT just for the driver. So, this guy got slotted for a standard release…in theory. In practice, not so much, as the AT-AT Driver became one of the four PotF2 figures who didn’t make it to retail in 1998, and instead had to be offered exclusively through the Star Wars Collector’s Club, which made him a little tricky to get a hold of, until the excess stock was unloaded to Toys R Us, and they were suddenly available for a lot less than retail. Quite a turbulent release path for a figure that’s not really much new. Okay, that’s not quite true. The figure was actually all-new, believe it or not, sharing no pieces with the pack-in figure from the AT-AT. They had very similar sculpts, of course, but they were just different enough to be different. The sculpt is pretty typical for this period of the line, being a fair bit bulkier than he should be, and a little lighter on the sculpted details than later figures would be. All that said, it’s still a pretty nice sculpt, and not anywhere near as ridiculous as the basic Stormtrooper was. In contrast to the pack-in, this guy has a little bit of pre-posing to him. It’s rather minor, but there’s a slight shift in his step. I kinda dig it; it makes him look a little more like a real person. The paint work on this guy is pretty straight forward. It’s rather on the basic side, although the head and the console on his chest both get a fair bit of smaller detail work that looks pretty sharp. The AT-AT Driver included a blaster and a Freeze Frame slide. Mine just has the blaster, I’m afraid.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

In my quest to complete my PotF collection, the Fan Club figures tend to be the ones I don’t run into quite as frequently, for obvious reasons. I did end up getting this guy loose, however, which worked well enough for me. Obviously, he’s not as impressive as, say, the Black Series figure, but he’s got his own fun little flair to him, and I can definitely dig it.

#2408: Crowd Control Stormtrooper

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with 90s, All Time Toys, Expanded Universe, Kenner, Power of the Force II, Star Wars, Stormtrooper, Wacky Variants May 23, 2020

CROWD CONTROL STORMTROOPER

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

“Feared throughout the galaxy, Stormtroopers are elite shock troops deployed in support of both ground forces and the Imperial fleet. They are responsible for policing Imperial outposts and territories, accountable for sustaining Imperial control in even the most dangerous sectors. This can be a challenging and often deadly assignment for the most reliable shock troop squadrons. Tough port cities such as Mos Eisley have high populations of outlaws, criminals, smugglers and other anti-Imperial types who create a typically chaotic atmosphere.”

Before making use of the sub-line to get out some larger figures and accessories seen in the film, Kenner’s first approach to the “Deluxe” offshoot of Power of the Force was…well, it was certainly more at home in a ’90s toyline. The first three offerings (as well as one of the two offerings that followed) in the line were all slight re-workings of previously released heavy hitters, but this time with some big gimmicky gizmo included. On the positive side, it did give collectors a second chance at a little bit of army building in the form of today’s figure, the Crowd Control Stormtrooper.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Crowd Control Stormtrooper was released in 1996, alongside Han Solo w/ Smuggler Flight Pack and Luke Skywalker w/ Desert Sport Skiff. The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and has 6 points of articulation. The core figure to this set is effectively the same sculpt as the standard Imperial Stormtrooper figure. Certainly, that’s hardly Kenner’s finest attempt at a Stormtrooper sculpt, but it was the standard one of the time, being only a year old. It’s still got all the goofy quirks of that particular release, meaning he’s rather muscle bound and also lacks both a neck and the ability to stand for long periods of time unassisted. The one change this release makes to the sculpt is adding a port to his back so that he can make use of his big gimmicky gizmo. The other change is a paint change, rather than a sculpt change. This guy has the same basic paint elements as the regular release, but with a bunch of flecks of dirt all over the body now. I guess this guy’s been a little worn-in. Or maybe he’s a really early preview of a Remnant Trooper! That’d be something! Whatever the case, he kind of reminds me of cookies and cream ice cream. The supposed main selling point of this set is not the figure, of course, but rather the Crowd Control pack he includes. It’s big, and it plugs into is back, and it has some moving parts. I’m not entirely sure how this monstrosity is meant to aid in crowd control, but this is the Empire we’re talking about here; they tend to go for the crazier, mad-genius-style solutions to things.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Growing up, these deluxe figures always baffled me a little bit. I wasn’t really alone on that front, I suppose. Now that I’m an adult, though, and I’ve really gotten into appreciating PotF2 for what it was, they’re kind of key to that appreciation, because what else sells the true ’90s-ness of the early line better than these guys? This guy also benefits from really being the only one in the first set that makes any sort of internal sense; a Stormtrooper with an extra gimmick really isn’t that far out there.

This guy came from my friends at All Time Toys. They’ve got a decent back stock of Power of the Force, and other cool toys both old and new, so please check out their website and their eBay Store.