Monday, December 28, 2015

Review 1: Hot Toys Star Wars: The Force Awakens 1/6th First Order Stormtrooper Figure

Ever since the day I first caught a glimpse of the new Star Wars: The Force Awakens Stormtrooper in the teaser trailer, I've been wanting to see the First Order Stormtrooper up close. I wanted to see and examine the fine design and the details of the new helmet, body armor and the weapons. Over the years, I've come to realise that this attention to detail can be achieved with movie-accurate 1:6 scale collectible figures. I am most glad to report that this is definitely true with the Hot Toys MMS317 Star Wars: The Force Awakens 1:6th scale First Order Stormtrooper 12-inch Collectible Figure.

All the other Star Wars: The Force Awakens First Order Stormtrooper figures that came before are just toys, a child's play thing, as Woody would say. This Hot Toys 1/6th scale First Order Stormtrooper is anything but a toy. It is as if everything that is 1:1 scale has been miniaturised exactly into 1:6 scale and what you get is a extremely detailed and excellently produced quality figure that can be placed in any museum. Why am I so wowed over? The quality and materials used in making this 1:6 scale figure are top of the line and it doesn't look plasticky at all or resemble a toy in any way. It is stunning in its execution and I simply marvel at the engineering that went into producing this First Order Stormtrooper. The armor is as thin as can be and doesn't make the figure appear bloated, fat or bulky. And yet it is sturdy and not brittle or easily breakable.


This really is a piece of art. Not only is this a piece of art, it is one that is even articulated! The next best thing to having this 1:6 scale figure is to put on the actual movie prop uniform (helmet and outfit) itself to really appreciate everything that went into making this collectible figure. There is a downside however and that is the amount of articulation you are going to get out of this figure. It's a case of wanting movie accuracy versus playability / pose-ability. More on that later. Let's just enjoy the figure for its fine details. Check out the rest of the action figure review below.

Hot Toys MMS317 Star Wars: The Force Awakens 1:6th scale First Order Stormtrooper Collectible Figure specially features authentic and detailed likeness of the First Order Stormtrooper as seen in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the latest Star Wars film to be released and one that is breaking a lot of records in terms of ticket earnings. This highly-accurate collectible figure features a brand new design of the Stormtrooper armor and helmet. This First Order Stormtrooper comes equipped with a blaster rifle and blaster pistol.

Scroll down to see all the pictures.
Click on them for bigger and better views.


What can I say about the box packaging? It's boring but that's not Hot Toys fault. It was most likely dictated, evidenced by the same style design for all 1:6 scale Star Wars merchandise released by different manufacturers. Hot Toys has included an inner card with their own design which shows off more of the figure.


The Hot Toys Star Wars: The Force Awakens 1/6th scale First Order Stormtrooper Figure has an approximately 30 cm tall body with over 30 points of articulations. Seven pieces of interchangeable gloved palms are included: One pair of fists, One pair of relaxed palms, One pair of palms for holding weapons (trigger hands) and One gesturing left palm. Figure also comes with a blaster rifle and a blaster pistol. A First Order emblem hexagonal figure stand with First Order Stormtrooper nameplate and Star Wars logo is also included.


The Hot Toys Star Wars: The Force Awakens 1/6th First Order Stormtrooper Figure Instruction Sheet is very brief. It tells you the blasters contain magnetic components and can be holstered on the right thigh without any effort. The front of the feet can be slightly bent for easier positioning. It cautions you about removing the armor parts as they are non-detachable. You are also not supposed to pull off the neck piece. That's it.


The hexagonal figure stand bears the First Order emblem with First Order Stormtrooper nameplate and Star Wars logo. The extra gloved hands included are laid out. Figure comes with the pair of relaxed palms. Two weapons are included with MMS317 which is the standard trooper: the Sonn-Blas SE-44C Blaster pistol and Sonn-Blas F-11D Blaster Rifle.


Just like the earlier Stormtrooper E-11 blaster rifle from Star Wars Episodes IV to VI, the collapsible steadying grip or rifle stock can be extended as shown in the picture below. You can check out the similar function of the Hot Toys Stormtrooper E-11 blaster rifle in my toy blog post HERE.


The Hot Toys MMS317 Star Wars: The Force Awakens 1:6th scale First Order Stormtrooper Collectible Figure's costume consists of: a newly designed First Order Stormtrooper armor worn over black under-suit, a belt with pouches, and a pair of white boots. The black undersuit (temperature control body glove) is made up of a mixed material of leather (for the lower body i.e. legs) and rubber (for the upper body / neck and arms) parts which looks very movie-accurate but impedes the figure's articulation quite a bit, especially the leather clad legs. You can't get a lot of bend in them. Check out the turnaround views below.


The new Stormtrooper armor design looks more sleek and seems to be an improvement over the earlier version. There are a lot more nifty details and touches that enhance the look, playing up the whites with the blacks. The improved joint design is supposed to allow for greater flexibility than the Imperial-era armor. Unfortunately, not in the case of this 1:6 scale trooper. Despite this setback, I still think this is an awesome figure regardless.


Check out the close-up details of the Hot Toys Star Wars: The Force Awakens 1/6th scale First Order Stormtrooper helmet. There are a lot more details now compared to the older helmets. They are subtle but they certainly enhance the look and make the Stormtrooper look more badass!


The composite betaplast helmet comes with integral polarised lenses and a filtration system that allows for external tank hook-up. The two rectangular looking boxes just below the eyes are Vocodor speaker ports.


The zipper of the black body glove / under-suit can be seen at the back of the neck


Scroll down to see more close-up views of Hot Toys MMS317 Star Wars: The Force Awakens 1:6th scale First Order Stormtrooper 12-inch Collectible Figure with all its nice details :)


Another look at the Sonn-Blas SE-44C Blaster pistol. It looks to have a Glock pistol as a base with things added such as the heat dispensing barrel head. Adding what looks like an M16 fore-sight as an integrated sight and mounting bracket looks a bit low-tech.


The Sonn-Blas F-11D Blaster Rifle looks very similar to the earlier E-11 blaster rifle.


NEXT: More pictures of this Hot Toys MMS317 Star Wars: The Force Awakens 1:6th scale First Order Stormtrooper 12-inch Collectible Figure in some action poses.

Check out: Evolution of the Star Wars Stormtrooper - comparison pictures and variations from the basic standard trooper.

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