Pros : Big bulky well proportioned figure with gorgeous engineering in those Magnetomic Boots.
Cons : Blaster is wrong colour, and there is a lack of weathering on the boots and the coat
One of the big troopers revealed for Solo was the Range Troopers. By the time the movie came round to release these guys only got a fleeting appearance on Vandor, with the Imperials pretty much playing a supporting role to Crimson Dawn. That being said, the Range Trooper is a fantastic design and we are going to take a look at how that translates to a 6" figure in this review.
Packaging remains consistent with Phase 3 and the figure is number #64 in the line. The Gregory Titus artwork is impressive as usual depicting the Range Trooper and its shaggy shoulder cloak.
Round the back the bio piece talks about the Imperial Expansion and how the remote worlds are enforced by these Frontier Troopers. There is no specific mention to Solo or the planet Vandor.
The figure slides out as usual via the top or bottom flaps. It is clipped into the tray with its weapon to the side of the helmet.
As a look, the Range Trooper is unique in Imperial Troops but carries a lot of nods to other troop types. The helmet has similarities to the Rogue One Scarif Troopers and the Hover Tank Pilots. The chest armour is very similar to that of a Snowtrooper.
The helmet is cast with extreme accuracy to what we see on screen and in an off white plastic. This is then decorated with the bronze eye lenses and panel lines round the rim of the helmet ridge, and round the back in the two vents. The whole piece is then weathered with grey/black dry brushing into the exposed lines. Other detail of note can be found on the chest unit with the red and blue switches across the various panels.
With the figure in hand you can feel this is a solid and hefty piece. It is a bulky design and carries a lot of girth thanks to its armour on top of which is a coat. Each element of the outfit is a varying shade or white or cream - the armour for example is gloss white, while the coat is a creamier colour and more matt to the finish.
The shoulder section is soft good fur which is a good choice as we will see later on for the articulation. It isn't quite screen accurate as it looks more like a cloak on the figure rather than the synth fur collar and lining of the coat - but it does the job it was designed for, moving with the figure as required. There is already some fluff coming off my figure after a couple of days, the fur material may not have a very long life.
Weathering on the figure is limited to the helmet and a few patches of dirt on the chest armour. The coat, which in the movie and reference books is very dirty and battle worn, is a touch too clean.
The boots, Magnetomic Gription Boots to give them their full name, are a masterpiece in sculpting and design. There are various parts all combining to complete the boot design. These are cast in the same off white colour with the only paint apps being some blue and red indicators on the inner face. These boots would have benefitted hugely from a wash of darker grey and the same weathering we see on the helmet and armour.
While the Range Trooper is a bulky piece, it still carries the 16 points of articulation we are used to. The helmet is jointed with a ball joint and rotates, moving the synth fur trim with it as it goes. Using the fur allows the ball jointed shoulders full movement, had this piece been a sculpted rubber piece then the arms would be locked in place. Down from the shoulders is a rotating elbow joint and then a wrist joint. The wrists do have a pivot peg built in, but this is virtually redundant in the cuff of the coat.
A ball joint waist sits where the armour meets the belt. It rotates the torso but has no discernable forward or backward motion. Under the hem of the coat are a set of ball jointed hips with a thigh swivel underneath. These can move as far as the coat allows, so wider action stances - but nothing more dramatic. The knees are a single joint, not the usual double, but with the hips being restricted by that coat double jointed knees would have been wasteful. And while those huge boots look like a solid piece, there is a joint built into the ankle which is suitably mechanical and almost robotic. The Range Trooper has no issue standing with those large boots and its solid mass.
The Range Trooper comes with the Blastech E-10R blaster rifle. In design terms this is a wonderful mix of the Clone Trooper DC-15s and the more familiar E11, both also made by Blastech. This design nod helps ground Solo somewhere between the end of the Clone Wars and the start of the Rebellion
The E-10R is cast in black plastic with no paint application at all. Sadly, this is the wrong colour as the E-10R was a white gun with grey highlights on screen, and this would have fitted the look of the Range Trooper must better.
I love the design and thought that has gone into the Range Trooper, initially on screen and then in this figure representation. The engineering on the figures boots alone is worthy of star in our rating scale. Articulation overall is brilliant.
The figure isn't without its flaws and paint apps is one of them. Considering the figure is all but cast in coloured plastic some weathering on the coat, a darker wash on the boots and getting the blaster colour correct would not have gone amiss.
I score the Range Trooper a 4 out of 5.
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