I received my four commanders from Dorksidetoys yesterday. The minute I saw the carded figures when I opened the box, my eyes immediately went to his E11 blaster. That's an impressive blaster. Rigid plastic (finally!!!), and an awesome two-part folding stock. Here are my thoughts on this figure:
Sculpt: the figure itself is just a great representation of the Commander we briefly saw on screen behind Veers. This is definitely one of the best trooper sculpts Hasbro has done. I looked up reference pictures of the Snowtrooper Commander's costume and I can't find anything wong with it. All the little details are in place, as far as I can tell, from the two dimples on the nose of the mask, the upside down shoulder pads, the front and back of his chest armour, the TK lower arms, the holster for his sidearm right down to the thin detailed lining on his trousers. One minor gripe: the two small silver discs on the sides of his helmet are missing. The skirt is a plastic one, as opposed to his subordinates' soft-goods ones. Since Hasbro has a terrible score in the soft-goods department, handing the Commander a plastic one is a wise choice.
Paint: well, he's white for the most part, but there are slight difference noticeable in the shades of white applied. The 'hard' armour pieces are pretty much pristine white, while the trousers seem to be a tad off white. The skirt is off white another step further, including the big belt buckle. This last detail is just slightly disappointing, but understandable since the belt and skirt are one piece. On all of my four commanders, the lenses haven't been painted black completely. Except for that, the rest of the painted details are just perfect, right down to his rank badge and the grey cuffs of his gloves.
Articulation: the Commander comes with 14 POA: ball jointed head, shoulders and elbows, swivel wrists, ball jointed waist, swivel hips, ball jointed knees and ankles. This makes him posable very well, for a Commander. It's not like he'll be running, jumping and leaping for cover on the battlefield, but he sure can take some commanding poses. All joints move smoothly and tightly. The right glove however, tends to come loose quite quickly. If that happens to your Commanders as well, I suggest applying a tiny bit of superglue, replacing the glove and slowly turn it back and forth until the glue has settled. One would expect the helmet mold to hinder the articulation of it, but it can actually turn quite far. The upside down movement is minimal though, as can be expected. I am particularly impressed with the range of motion of the waist. Funny thing is, the grenade on his lower back, hinders the upper body from being turned all the way round, which is only natural. That is, unless your force it.
Accessories: the Commander comes with the aforementioned E11, which, again, is just an awesome piece. I have a couple of dozen E11s from Marauder Gun Runners, which is a mold that is several years old, and it's good to see Hasbro finally upping their game, ditching the bendy plastic and adding plenty of detail in such an iconic weapon. The Commander also comes with a sidearm (a DL44), which fits snuggly in its holster. You may have to work it a bit, but it fits perfectly.
Size: not a subject to normally include in a review, but hear me out. I've been collecting the 'best' modern versions of all the basic Kenner figures. A little while ago I received the VC Lando Calrissian in Skiff Guard disguise, placed it next to the Saga and Kenner version and was really taken aback by how tiny he was. I know Hasbro's scales and rulers have been compromised for a while now (Luke figures, Leia figures) but I never really gave it that much attention. Of course, after seeing that tiny Lando, I immediately measured up my Commander. And yes, he is too short for a Stormtrooper! He comes in at 1.72 meters! And that includes his helmet. That's at least 11 centimeters too short. Very strange and let's hope Hasbro doesn't continue down this path of downsizing.
That said, Hasbro has practically hit a home run with their Snowtrooper Commander. It's an awesome figure to have and a great addition to your Snowtrooper platoons.
I'll see if I can find the time to take pictures to accompany this review
