Luckily when a figure is released, it's normally worth the wait. And for these new Snowtroopers, the wait was most definitely worth it! I'm glad I preordered two! Click through below to watch my full video review on the Kool Kollectibles YouTube channel - make sure to give the video a thumbs up and subscribe too! 😃
Usually the troopers come with a larger variety of hands. But this time, Bandai has put those hands aside and given us an amazing rendition of the E-Web cannon. I for one am totally OK with that because this thing is beautiful!
The cannon comes in separate pieces, with the main barrel, three legs, and central join all needing to be assembled together. It all clips or slides into place easily and firmly without ever feeling like something will break.
I especially love the cannon handles that are on little ball joints so that they can have a bit of movement. This really helps when placing the provided gripping hands onto the handles. You should definitely heat up the hands in some hot water to make them more flexible.
The design itself is perfectly in keeping with the samurai aesthetic of this series. I love the little pointy tips on the feet, and the massive style of the cannon is reminiscent of the massive rifle of the Sandtrooper. The cannon can tilt up and down, and also rotates on top of the join.
The silver paint application is nice and metallic. There is also a fairly consistent rusty paint wash over most surfaces to give it a nice weathered appearance. Connected together on the tripod with a Snowtrooper at the helm, this E-Web just makes for an awesome interpretation of the attack on Hoth.
The Snowtrooper itself is mainly a reuse of various parts from previous figures. The only major differences of note are of course the head sculpt and the chest/torso piece. I love that they provided the option of having the face cowl on or off, with nice details on both.
I decided to use the cowl for the Snowtrooper handling the cannon, and having it off for the sword wielding Snowtrooper to show off the uncowled details. I do like the black stripes on the face that contrast the stark white of the rest of the costume.
The chest plate is nicely detailed, and the paint app is very sharp. I particularly like the bright red spots as highlights and the silver centre section. I'm not sure how closely that matches the actual Snowtrooper chest plate, but it's a nice variation from the standard Stormtrooper chest plate.
The figure also has a pouch on the side that's nicely weathered and textured. It comes with a unique backpack that has the same silver metallic paint app as the E-Web. The rusty wash is also applied, but it seems only to the main top part of the backpack. It would've been nicer if it was evenly distributed to the curved surfaces to the bottom and sides, but that's really a pretty small nit to pick.
I think all other parts of the figure, from the shoulder and forearm armour, to the kama and longer skirt, are all taken from previous figures such as the Royal Guard and Sandtrooper. I think the boots may be a slight variation, but overall the figure keeps with the consistent style whilst having enough differences to be interesting.
Posed up, these Snowtroopers are incredible to look at, and are a welcome variation to the Movie Realization series. The E-Web cannon is a standout feature, and fans of The Empire Strikes Back should jump on board to get this set ASAP!
With Threepio coming early 2019, I really hope Bandai announce more characters from the original trilogy. We still haven't seen anything regarding a Scout Trooper yet, so that would be the next logical choice for a trooper variant. If they decide to do that and announce some sort of horse as a mount, that would absolutely blow my mind! One can only hope Bandai get their act together! 😃
