The Star Wars universe was just too big for any one company to handle (or so I assume George thought), and so the license has been shared over the last couple years between Sideshow and Medicom. Originally, Medicom figures were being marketed outside of the U.S., but the differences go deeper than that. While Sideshow has stuck with producing entirely none armored figures in their sixth scale series, leaving these for Medicom to handle. Just to add to the confusion, Sideshow also distributes for Medicom in the U.S. now
The two most recent Medicom figures to hit the streets are the Shadow Stormtrooper, and the Clonetrooper. Everybody knows what a clonetrooper is of course, but what in the name of all things holy is a ‘shadow’ trooper? Ah, that would be something from the old comic strips of the late 70’s, and they’ve also been known as ‘blackhole’ troopers. They’ve never made an appearance in any film, but you can’t argue with how cool the all black armor looks. I haven’t seen any 501st wearing this outfit yet, but I’m betting there will be plenty at SDCC this year.
Medicom figures aren’t cheap, and the fact that they are imported only makes things worse. You can expect to pay around $100 – $150 each for these guys, depending on the dealer.
Medicom Clonetrooper/Shadow Stormtrooper
Medicom already released a regular Stormtrooper last year, which I reviewed awhile back. They’ve focused largely on armored characters, like Darth Vader and the troopers, but also did a Jedi Luke early on. Jango and Boba Fett will be hitting this year as well.
Packaging – ***1/2
Medicom makes boxes that excel in two ways – they’re very collector friendly, and they’re very compact. Collector friendly is the ability to take the figure out of the packaging, pose it around, display it for awhile, and then later return it to its box, without ever damaging it. Medicom does that beautifully, and there’s nothing you’ll need to rip, tear or even untie in freeing these guys from their little prisons.
The boxes are also quite compact, wasting as little space as possible. This is great for MIBers of course, and will save on storage space. It’s also great for the environment, as any card carrying tree hugger could tell you. Medicom hasn’t always been conservative in this area (just check out their Darth Vader for a huge, wasteful box), so it’s nice to see the change.
Sculpting – ***1/2
If you own a regular Medicom Stormtrooper, then you own a Shadow trooper…just a really pale one.
The big difference here is the black armor of course, and the overall sculpt has the same pluses – and minuses – as the regular version. He’s a little short to be displayed with the Sideshow figures, but he fits in nicely with the previously released Vader. The hands are too small, but the rest of the scale and proportions on the body and helmet look very film accurate. The sculpt work on the cool armor is top notch, and it doesn’t restrict the ability to use all the excellent articulation underneath.
The Clonetrooper is a big taller, and is actually big enough to fit in with some of the Sideshow figures. He’s only got about a half inch on the Stormtrooper, but it makes a huge difference in how he looks with the Sideshow stuff. He’s still a smidge short, but it’s not as big of an issue.
Unfortunately, his armor does get in the way of his articulation big time. The armor looks good, but he isn’t going to be able to take any extreme poses. It’s those elbow and knee pads, don’t you know. I bet they were mighty uncomfortable for the actors to wear, too. If actors had actually worn any of it.
The helmet is also a smidge small for the body. For the helmet to be this small, he’d have to have one serious pinhead under there. It doesn’t look too bad for the average collector, but the more anal collectors are sure to notice the proportion issue.
Paint – ***1/2
Both figures exhibit extremely clean paint jobs, but of the pair I prefer the white Clonetrooper. The small detail work on the Shadow Trooper is great, including the eyes and grill of the helmet. But the shiney black appears slightly less consistent across the larger plastic pieces, making it a bit more toy like in appearance. The Clonetrooper may have issues in the other categories, but he takes this one by the smallest edge for me.
It also helps that all his small detail spots are perfect as well. They work on the black areas of the armor is quite impressive, considering how easily it would be to have overspray or stray marks if the masking isn’t done perfectly.
Articulation – Shadow ***1/2; Clonetrooper **1/2
The armor these guys wear is always going to restrict them somewhat, but the Shadow trooper, like his earlier white cousin, still manages to pose extremely well. He has all the joints you expect in a 12″ figure, and the Medicom body has made that step up to the next level, where the body ‘hangs’ in very natural ways.
The Clonetrooper doesn’t quite have the same posing ability. It’s not because the underlying body is inferior, but rather that the armor is so restrictive around the elbows and knees, that he can only take very stiff arm and leg poses. It’s a bit unfortunate, because expectations have been set so high by the stormtroopers.
Accessories – ***
Neither figure is packed to the gills with extras, but they have enough items to give you some display options.
Both figures come with the clear plastic Medicom display stands, and while these are attractive enough for displaying, you’ll be happy to know that neither are really necessary. You should be able to get these guys to stand for long periods in very convincing, life-like poses.
The also both come with extra hands. The Shadow comes with the same two as the regular Stormtrooper – blaster right hand, thumbs up left hand. The hands swap easily enough and are very sturdy, but they also have the same problem that the all white version has – they are way too small. This poor guy better hope the old rumor about hand size isn’t true.
The Shadow comes with two hands as well: one is the blaster holding right hand, while the other is a slightly different open left hand. It’s nice to see they just didn’t use the same poses as the standard Stormtrooper. Again, while the hands are too small, at least they swap easily and are unlikely to break in the process.
Finally, both figures come with their blasters. The old school blaster that comes with the Shadow trooper fits nicely in his leather holster, but it does seem a bit undersized to me. The older design (yet newer looking) blaster that comes with the Clonetrooper is larger, more rifle-like, and has an excellent sculpt. He has no holster to carry it, but it’s not the kind of thing you could toss in a holster anyway.
Outfit – Shadow ****; Clonetrooper ***1/2
I’ve already mentioned quite a bit about the armor – the sculpting, paint and fit. But it’s worth mentioning again that these suits really do look quite amazing.
The Shadow Trooper has the same outfit as the white trooper of course, although his underlying body suit seems slightly lighter in color. This may only be a matter of perception though, since his is next to the much blacker armor, while his brethren has his next to the very white armor.
His suit under the armor is that same sort of rubbery material that we’ve seen with the other trooper, but the Clonetrooper went in a new direction. His suit is more like a standard stretch material, with an interesting light pattern of lighter and darker black stripes. It looks fine, although I’m not sure that it’s actually screen accurate. From more than a couple inches away you won’t even notice though, making it somewhat moot.
Fun Factor – ***
Both figures are very sturdy, with tight joints and solid construction. Kids COULD play with these, if you were insane, or you’d hit the lottery.
Value – **1/2
Ah, these are mighty sweet troopers. But you’re not getting any break for your cash though, and these are certainly selling for well above average. The plastic armor is going to drive up the cost over figures like Ghost Rider or X-men 3 Wolverine, but these are still slightly over what feels right. Get one at $120 and you’ll feel pretty good about it – down around $100 and you can add another half star to this score.
Things to Watch Out For –
Not much of anything. These are well built, nicely designed, and quite sturdy considering the cost. You might want to take some care with the soft leather holster on the Shadow trooper, but there’s no obvious issues you need to be aware of.
Overall – Shadow ***1/2; Clonetrooper ***
It should be no real surprise that the Shadow version of the Stormtrooper scores as well as the very cool regular version. He’s a little short to be displayed with other 12″ scale figures, but he looks terrific with the Medicom figures. Oh, he has those itty bitty hands, and the blaster is a bit small, but these are minor complaints on what is otherwise a fantastic figure. Whether you prefer your troopers black or white is a personal decision.
Ah, but the Clonetrooper version isn’t quite as cool. The armor really limits the articulation, which makes is so much more difficult to get those natural, realistic poses. He’s stiffer, and a bit clunkier appearing, so while he’s good, he doesn’t quite hit the same level of trooper cool.
Still, these are the Medicom troopers are the best ever produced in sixth scale, making them awfully tough for the diehard collector to pass up.
Where to Buy –
ShopStarWars.com has these in at $130 each, but you may be able to find a better deal through ebay or one of the other smaller online stores that import Medicom products.
Related Links –
Other Medicom Star Wars reviews include:
– guest reviews of the VCD Yoda and Boba Fett.
– guest reviews of the ROTS Vader, Jedi Luke, and this very Trooper.
– and my review of their first release Darth Vader, along with the regular Stormtrooper.
Comments: 2 Comments
2 Responses to “Toy Box: Medicom Clonetrooper/Shadow Stormtrooper”Leave a Reply |
March 13th, 2008 at 7:50 pm
Aren’t those black guys are Tie fighter’s pilots? maybe that’s why they’re smaller and have smaller arms and feet? =) Clone designed to sit in cockpit hehe
August 24th, 2008 at 3:33 am
No, tie pilots wear a different helmet. Good idea though.