Last week SOLO finally hit theaters and I'm surprised to admit, it's probably my favorite of the Disney era Star Wars films. I enjoyed it after my first viewing, but I watched it with my guard up. Still feeling betrayed by The Last Jedi, but after seeing it a second time opening weekend I loved it. While Rogue One's characters are a little flat, and The Force Awakens suffers as a result of The Last Jedi, Solo is an incredibly fun, entertaining, and well made Star Wars movie. It really captured the spirit of not only Han Solo, but the lightheartedness of A New Hope and felt like a bit of a throw back. The underworld and western vibes in the film also help set it apart from the regular old Jedi business or Galactic Civil War conflicts.
With a new Star Wars film in theaters it obviously means new toys. Which in turn, also means a new Imperial Trooper with shockingly little screen time. You'd think all the time and energy they put into the designs and costumes could have gone elsewhere. I'm not trying to sound cynical, but it does make you start to think they're just doing it for merchandise. Why else would there be a new 'heavy' TIE Fighter as well. We're probably never going to see that again. Anyways, the Range Trooper is actually a pretty cool figure.
THE GOOD
If a Snow Trooper had a baby with a Shore Trooper, the result would be the Range Trooper. While the Mud Troopers and Patrol Troopers might be my favorite new additions to the Imperial Army, the Range Trooper is a close runner up. The fur collar and heavy coat help add to the underworld feel of the film, with the helmet and chest plate being distinctly Imperial.
As usual, the sculpting throughout is fantastic, with very obvious different textures between the different pieces of the costume. I appreciate the addition of an actual soft goods fur collar, and I also like how the figure is not all the same white color. The coat is distinctly more cream colored, with the helmet and hard armor bits being much more bright white. There's also some nice dirt and blast marks here and there that really help sell the Star Wars-y feel. The magnetic boots also look great, but I would have liked to have seen maybe a bit of a wash on them to really bring out the details. Plus they're boots, they are bound to get a little dirty. Especially working on a train.
THE BAD
While the boots look great, they do make it difficult for him to stand up.They have a really narrow sole. At the same time, the leg articulation is greatly restricted. The coat by itself wouldn't be so bad, but the armor piece covering his manhood and 2 straps on the inside of the coat really restrict the hip and upper leg articulation. The straps are presumably to keep the coat from flapping around in the wind while he's, I don't know, walking on the exterior of a train. While I appreciate the attention to detail, it does get in the way a little bit in plastic form. If the straps were elastic instead of plastic then I don't think it would be an issue.
THE UGLY
The biggest issue for me with this figure basically boils down to screen time. I'd estimate they're not on screen for more that 3 minutes in Solo. So do you really need one for your collection? That's up to you. The Shore Troopers didn't have all that much screen time either, but I feel like they had more impact in Rogue One. I think next time, unless the new Trooper's design is really cool, I might wait until after I've seen the movie to pick him up.
OVERALL, at the end of the day, this is actually a pretty good figure and would fit in nicely with your Imperial Army. If you found one on sale, I'd say absolutely pick him up. He's right on the edge for me. I like him, but I could live without him. Check out my review of Han here!
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