Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Review 1: Bandai Tamashii Movie Realization Teppo Ashigaru Sandtrooper 7" action figure

This was part of my March 2016 haul which was posted on my toy blog HERE

And since today is Star Wars Day (May the 4th be with you), I thought it'll be most appropriate to post something Star Wars related.

Sandtroopers were stormtroopers equipped to operate on desert worlds. Their armor was augmented with cooling fans and a helmet sand filter. In addition, they wore a survival backpack stocked with extra rations and water. We first knew of the Sandtroopers in the original 1977 Star Wars (now known as Episode IV: A New Hope) film when a detachment of sandtroopers were dispatched to the surface of the planet Tatooine, where they searched for the missing Death Star plans. During the search, some troopers utilized the native dewbacks as mounts.

One of the most revolutionary things about Star Wars when it came out was, that the things in the movies did look like they were used. Everything was dirty, sooty and worn-out. Before Star Wars it was more common for science-fiction movies to look clean and futuristic. This look, that George Lucas called a “used universe”, heavily supports the believability of the Star Wars universe. This "used" look was most evident with the Sandtroopers.


Inspired by the Imperial Sandtroopers seen in the Star Wars movies, the designers at Bandai has reimagined these Sandtroopers as foot infantry soldiers of feudal Japan who come with a special backpack designed with meticulous detail and finished with a rusty look. The Star Wars Sandtroopers wore colored pauldrons as a designation of rank. This Bandai Tamashii Movie Realization Teppo Ashigaru Sandtrooper 7-inch (18cm) tall action figure is no different. A sandtrooper sergeant's pauldron was white, while an enlisted trooper's pauldron was all black. Squad leaders, who led units of seven troopers, wore orange shoulder pauldrons.

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The Bandai Tamashii Exclusive Movie Realization Teppo Ashigaru Sandtrooper action figure boxed set comes with six additional interchangeable hands, Backpack, Blaster rifles (medium and large) and a Japanese katana with sheath.


There's also an instruction sheet to tell you what goes where and how,


Here's the Bandai Tamashii Movie Realization 7-inch tall Teppo Ashigaru Sandtrooper action figure armed with the smaller blaster rifle. While the earlier released Bandai Star Wars Movie Realization 7-inch tall Ashigaru Stormtrooper action figure came with a Tanegashima (Japanese matchlock) that resembled the E-11 blaster rifles carried by Stormtroopers, this longer rifle looks to be inspired by the DLT-19 heavy blaster rifle. The DLT-19 was not as popular or as well-known as the standard-issue E-11 blaster rifle, because it took longer to assemble and load. However the DLT-19 was much more powerful and had a much greater range than the E-11 model.


The Bandai Tamashii Movie Realization Teppo Ashigaru Sandtrooper action figure's backpack is fashioned after the typical SD-48 survival backpacks worn by the Sandtroopers in the Star Wars films. The SD-48s were necessary for them to complete extended missions in unrelenting heat, and contains several liters of purified water, a miniaturized vaporator for condensing water from the atmosphere, a long-range comlink, and a collapsible reflective shelter.


Check out the nice details found on the Bandai Tamashii Movie Realization Teppo Ashigaru Sandtrooper 7-inch tall action figure


NEXT: More pictures of this Bandai Tamashii Movie Realization Teppo Ashigaru Sandtrooper 7-inch (18cm) tall action figure with his regular rifle and the large (enormous) rifle which looks rather odd indeed.

Related posts:
Review of Bandai Star Wars Movie Realization 7-inch tall Ashigaru Stormtrooper action figure posted on my toy blog HERE and HERE
Bandai Star Wars Movie Realization 7-inch tall Ronin Kenzan Boba Fett action figure reviewed HERE and HERE
Action figure review of Bandai Star Wars Movie Realization Samurai Taisho Darth Vader 18 cm figure posted HERE and HERE
Comparison pictures of Samurai Taisho Darth Vader & Ronin Kenzan Boba Fett 7-inch action figures HERE

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