Saturday, January 2, 2016

Evolution of the Star Wars Stormtrooper: Episode II (Phase 1 armor) to Episode VII First Order

continued from previous toy blog post...

After two action figure review posts on the Hot Toys MMS317 Star Wars: The Force Awakens 1:6th scale First Order Stormtrooper 12-inch Collectible Figure, I just had to put the latest Stormtrooper side-by-side with the other Stormtroopers that have come before for comparison shots. I also took a group picture of some of the Stormtroopers I have in my 1:6 Star Wars figure collection to see how they look together. Check out the pictures below :)

The Star Wars Stormtroopers are one of the most iconic and recognisable characters in our world today and I doubt anyone who has a computer screen and access to the internet will say that they have no idea what a Stormtrooper looks like. But the Stormtrooper didn't just have one look. When George Lucas wanted to make his Star Wars prequels (Episodes I to III) after the success of the Star Wars films (Episodes IV to VI), the creative team had to think of a way to design the earlier era Trooper's costumes / outfits to look like they would evolve to the all too familiar Stormtrooper outfits we have come to know and love.


So for Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, we saw supposedly for the first time the birth of the Clone Troopers designed by Kamino Armorers and Jango Fett. They were all white at first before colors were added to denote rank. By the time Episode III: Revenge of the Sith came out, the clone troopers were wearing Phase II armor with helmets that had polarized lens and lighter but stronger armor. Colors now denoted unit designation. When the Imperial Stormtroopers came on the scene (as seen in Episodes IV to VI), the clone army was being replaced by non-clone humans and armor variants were adopted according to the roles e.g Scout Trooper armor and Snow Trooper armor. So for Episode VII, they had to up the ante and fine-tune the costume / outfit design to make it look updated. I think they did manage to do that and I am quite pleased with the newest addition to the Stormtrooper ranks.

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

Click on picture for a bigger & better view :)

In the picture above, I have grouped the Stormtroopers together for a group shot. I really didn't like the Phase 1 Clone Trooper armor because of the ugly helmet design and don't even have a clean white version for the group picture. I posed the Sideshow Collectibles 1:6 scale Clone Commander Cody 12-inch Figure which came with both the Phase 1 helmet and phase II helmets in the picture in order to show how the clone army started. IMHO he looks so much better with the Phase II helmet. Check out the full action figure review posted on my toy blog HERE and HERE.


The Sideshow Collectibles 1:6 scale Clone Commander Cody 12-inch figure also came with the Switch-out hand with Order 66 Hologram. Order 66 was one of a series of contingency orders that the clone troopers of the Grand Army of the Republic were trained to prepare for during their growth. The order branded the Jedi as traitors of the Republic and called for their immediate execution without question. Its issuing by Supreme Chancellor Palpatine marked the formal beginning of the Great Jedi Purge, starting the rise of the Galactic Empire, and it was chief among the atrocities that led to the Galactic Civil War. You can view more pictures HERE.


Pictured below is the Medicom Toy 1:6 scale Star Wars Clone Trooper (on the left) standing side by side with the Hot Toys MMS267 "Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope" 1/6th scale Stormtrooper 12-inch Figure (reviewed HERE and HERE, with comparison pictures posted HERE)


Here's a side-by-side comparison picture of the Hot Toys MMS267 "Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope" 1/6th scale Stormtrooper 12-inch Figure and the latest released Hot Toys MMS317 Star Wars: The Force Awakens 1:6th scale First Order Stormtrooper 12-inch Collectible Figure


Scroll down to see more pictures of the Sideshow Collectibles 1:6 scale Clone Troopers. For the Star Wars: Clone Wars series, the clone troopers all had different color markings on their armor (to denote unit designation) and the Clone Commanders adopted personal styles with variants in their armor to stand out. It provided a more interesting perspective and is obviously a marketing gimmick to churn out more figures and merchandise to make the cash registers ring a lot more times for George Lucas and his empire, which he has since sold to Disney.


Besides the all white clean armor of the Stormtroopers whose ranks are never mentioned or displayed, the Imperial Army's Sandtroopers deferred slightly in that they had a more obvious rank structure which they showed by the color of the shoulder pauldrons they wore, something which seems to have been carried over to the First Order Stormtroopers.


Related posts:
April 9, 2015 – Review of Hot Toys MMS267 "Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope" 1/6 Stormtrooper 12-inch Figure HERE and HERE
April 15, 2015 – Comparison pictures of different 1:6 Star Wars Stormtroopers by Hot Toys, Sideshow, Medicom posted HERE
June 9, 2015 – Review of Bandai Star Wars Movie Realization 7-inch tall Ashigaru Stormtrooper action figure HERE and HERE
June 24, 2015 – Infographic showing Star Wars Costume Evolution: Stormtroopers posted HERE

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