“Target down. Repeat, target down.”
The Gaming Greats series, in the main, was established to create Video Game themed figures by tweaking existing sculpts to match their look in the game. These are then sold as exclusives under the Gaming Greats line via Gamestop in the US and the Fan Channel in the UK. A prime example of this tweak is the 2023 release of the Rocket Launcher Trooper as seen in the Jedi: Fallen Order video game by Electronic Arts. The Trooper was a Spring 2023 release arriving in a plastic-free box with no windows and colour-coded to the blue assigned to the Gaming Greats series of the Galaxy Collection. The figure is number 22 in the series, but actually arrived well ahead of a number of the figures that precede it in the running order such as Bastila Shan and Darth Malak who didn't actually hit shelves until late Summer.
The Rocket Launcher Trooper simply recycles the existing Imperial Stormtrooper figure. This is the newer format with pinless joints and with much of the figure cast in either white armoured parts, or black undersuit parts which radically reduces the need for overpainting and gives a crisper definition. The minimal paintwork is applied only to the stomach section of the figure with a series of black-painted controls. For some reason, this same stomach component presents as a varying shade of white to the rest of the armour. This issue has not been noticeable on other figures using the same sculpt indicating a change in this one in terms of the plastic being used.
The tweak to the Trooper we see in the game is initially created with the addition of a Pauldron - cast in dark grey with an orange-painted inner segment. This Pauldron is the one used on First Order Stormtroopers rather than the more reflective Sandtrooper Pauldon we might expect on an Imperial-era Trooper. The helmet on these new Troopers is a hollow piece, glued over a sculpted head and the way this is fixed in the factory has a big bearing on the overall look with some Troopers arriving with quite deformed heads. The standard paint apps are applied here with blue cheek vents, and silver and black breathers. The visor is painted and taken on a green hue vs usual troopers, not sure if this is specific to the game as you rarely get that close to these Troopers when playing.
Articulation is much improved on this new body vs the old pinned version, with 19 points of articulation all worked into the armoured body as would be true on the actual costume. There are butterfly shoulders to bolster the arm movement and allow a wider range of poses with weapons - that is quite important for this Trooper as we will see shortly. The legs can and will move up into a kneeling position by swivelling the hip joint adding further display options.
The Rocket Launcher Trooper, as we would expect, comes with the Rocket Launcher. This is a brand-new accessory in the Black Series line and is almost as tall as the figure itself. As seen in the game this is a circular pipe with a flared rear section, ridged connections clamping it across its length and a number of grips and handles around the final third for the operator to hold, with some sights set above these. The piece is cast in that brown partly metallic finish we have seen on other accessories with no other paintwork. Considering its size there was scope for some added detailing around the controls and grips, and the finish would have been much closer to the onscreen look in a dark grey or black finish.
The launcher is designed to be held in both hands, the left hand holding the very front grip and the right hand slotting into the main trigger grip. These both work OK, but there is a third piece - a stand of some description - right behind the main grip that clashes with the right arm and pushes the Laucnehr out of position. While this seems to be accurate to the game, I’d have preferred a bit of licence here to shorten or remove this segment facilitating a better grip. With a bit of work, the shoulder firing pose can be achieved and does very much look the part.
The Imperial Rocket Launcher Trooper is a perfect example of a Gaming Greats exclusive, recycling an existing figure and parts and adding a new accessory to replicate the Trooper we see in the game. There is nothing much wrong with the base Stormtrooper figure which does its job perfectly, although that white plastic variance across adjoining parts is a bit distracting. The added Pauldron works, and the Rocket Launcher does a job - but could have been so much more with a better plastic colour choice and tweaking of the handles to allow a firmer grip. The issue on this figure is price with a huge premium being added to the Gaming Greats exclusives. That being said, they are not selling particularly fast and often fall into sales and discounts - so it may be worth holding your nerve on this one as many did with figures like the Imperial K2 Droid and the various Gaming Greats Battle Droids.
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About Me : As a child of the 70's and 80's I grew up in a golden age for action figures and in my youth bought and sold myself through collections of Star Wars, G.I. Joe (Action Force) and M.A.S.K. while also dabbling in He-Man, Transformers and Ghostbusters. Roll forward and I am now reliving that Youth with the action figures of today and am a collector and fan of the larger 6-8 inch figures from my favourite movie and TV licences - including the ones mentioned above, but also the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Doctor Who and the Aliens. I launched The Mephitsu Archives in 2015 with a view of creating a UK focused site or these figures where fans can pick up the latest action figure news, read reviews and get information on where to buy their figures and what is currently on store shelves. I hope I am delivering that to you guys...
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