Dark Trooper The Mandalorian Star Wars Vintage Collection Review
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Check out this in hand review of the recently released Dark Trooper from the Star Wars Vintage Collection!
We got an earl treat as the Star Wars Vintage Collection Dark Trooper preorder shipped early from Amazon! Originally slotted as a March 2023 release, we did a quick unboxing and review to keep you satiated while you wait for yours (or if you are on the fence about buying one)! The Dark Trooper is a cool figure overall but not without its frustrations and shortcomings. He is a great army builder and if you happen to pick up 10 or 20 of them, you can recreate the scene in The Mandalorian where they all activate and bust out of our their charging stations.
Dark Trooper
These third generation units were seen in The Mandalorian series and were deployed on Tython to retrieve Grogu after he was brought to the seeing stone. These Dark Troopers were equipped with jet boosters in their feet to enable in-atmospheric flight and were capable of launching directly from a cruiser, as opposed to having to be deployed in a troop transport. Later, when the Mandalorian bounty hunter Din Djarin and his allies attempted to rescue Grogu from Gideon’s light cruiser, the Moff activated his dark trooper platoon, though the entire garrison was eliminated by Jedi Master Luke Skywalker.
Box and Packout
The Dark Trooper comes packed in the deluxe Star Wars Vintage Collection windowless box with The Mandalorian branding on it. The front of the box features a small image of the Dark Trooper with the thrusters attached to his feet in a yellow and white burst on the flap. The main image on the box shows the Dark Trooper holding his blaster with the charging station in the background. The back of the box features the same image plus an additional image of the packout.
The sides of the box feature the Dark Trooper in poses showing his upper body but they are hard to make out given the box and the figure are black.
The windowless style packouts leave a lot to be desired as the only thing you can see is the Dark Trooper and the rest of the accessories are packed in a brown cardboard bag.
Figure Details
The Dark Trooper is a very menacing looking droid and he is an all black figure with mostly silver accents with a touch of red. The black figure hides much of the detail but if you look close enough, there are gears, wires, and armor…a lot of armor!
One of the coolest features of the head sculpt is the light piping that makes the eyes glow red. The nose of the helmet is cut off and armor plating surrounds the jawline. He has very pronounced shoulder pads that almost make him look like a football player. The shoulder armor does impede the arm articulation so if you were hoping to get a superman pose going, you are out of luck! The armor attaches to his front chest plate for a cool look. The back of the armor features a control box that looks like it has some venting as we are sure these droids run hot! The mid section has wires and cogs and is tapered starting from his abdomen down to his belt.
The legs are quite basic on the upper thighs and start to get more interesting at the knees. There are some silver accents and knees look like gears that also have knee armor that is not attached to the kneecap. It looks like there is ammo around the right leg while the left leg is plain.
Weapons and Accessories
To quote Darth Vader of all people, the accessories pack-out is “most impressive.” You get a Dark Trooper, his charging bay with hoses that attach to his chest, a pair of alternate hands, a pair of thrusters that attach to his feet, and his blaster.
The charging station comes in 3 large parts that you will need to assemble and attach the hoses.
Fully assembled, you can see that the charing station look pretty plain without the Dark Trooper in it. Once you place the Dark Trooper in the charging station, the hoses don’t really line up and it would have been great if they actually plugged into the figure as they look like they are not really connected to it.
Unless you have a figure stand made to hold flying poses, the thrusters won’t do you any good but they look cool attached to his feet but they have a tendency to fall off pretty easily. The alternate closed fisted hands are pretty cool as you can recreate the scene where the Dark Troopers try and punch through a blast door to try and get to The Child.
The blaster has some great detail and looks like it is sawed off. It is a small, compact weapon that gets the job done!
Where to Buy
Although Amazon will be shipping The Dark Trooper first, he is also available for preorder at other retailers!
Complete Your Mandalorian Star Wars Vintage Collection!
Be sure to stop by our Star Wars Vintage Collection, The Mandalorian, shop to complete your collection or access preorders!
