Each week we take a close look at a comic book collectible. That means taking it out of the box. While Star Wars didn't start out as a comic, it's had many great stories told via that medium. With products for Star Wars: The Force Awakens now available, we decided to take a look at the Disney Store exclusive Flametrooper from the Star Wars Elite Series.
Check out our unboxing video to see how it looks in action.
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The thing to note, these figures are die cast metal. They are a little heavy. There's a good heft to it. You don't feel like it's going to snap in half if you're not careful. That also means you do want to be careful with it falling and getting scratched.
The figure also has some articulation. At first I thought there wouldn't be any since it was metal.
The head can move back and forth as well as up and down. This gives more movement and variety to the posing of the figure.
The flamethrower is actually not metal. It's plastic. It comes, in the package, with the end of the flamethrower attached (with a clear rubbery plastic band) to his hand. You can see the gun is bent a little. It might be in part of being attached. It almost looks like part of the end is supposed to be bent but I can't imagine it's supposed to be this munch. I'm a little hesitant to take off the band because then it'll be less secure in his hands.
I also didn't think it had articulation at the knees because it was metal and because I'm used to the old Star Wars figures being that way. There's a tiny bit of movement allowed so you can put him in a walking position. Of course having his one foot on the peg on the stand helps it stay up.
It's cool that you can have him just standing at attention or move his feet around so it doesn't look too stiff.
Then there's the backpack. Again, there are some non-metal parts for the hose. This allows a little more give to the look of it all. I would just imagine a Flametrooper would hope no one shoots his backpack.
The figure surprisingly can stand on its own with the stand. You just don't want to take the risk of it falling. The stand looks nice and has the logo on it.
You can also make him do that infamous Tusken Raider battle cry with the flamethrower.
I wasn't too sure what to expect with the die cast figure. It did turn out better than I thought. The $24.95 price point is great when you consider that plastic figures of the same size go for about the same price. It's extremely sturdy but you just have to be careful about it getting scratched if it falls on a rough surface.
I do like the new design. I'm extremely curious why the New Order needs a squadron that specializes in burning things. Hopefully they're not going out to Kashyyyk or the moon of Endor to cause havoc and destruction. I've only seen a picture of Finn and Rey in the line. They looked a little weird in the die cast form. But the regular Stormtrooper, Captain Phasma, and Kylo Ren look pretty good since there's no facial features.
Let us know if you've managed to get any of the Elite figures yourself or if you got any of the regular figures.
We'll have another item featured next time!