Release Date: October 2020
RRP: $24.99/£24.99
Jedi: Fallen Order felt like the gateway into a largely unexplored chapter in the Star Wars universe, and with it the game brought plenty of memorable new characters and new nuggets of lore. One such aspect was the use of Purge Troopers - previously introduced in the Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith comic but used most prominently here. Highly specialised troopers that worked alongside the Inquisitors to hunt down the remaining Jedi, the Purge Troopers are incredibly skilled fighters adept in a number of combat types. Hasbro released a standard rifle variant as part of the Black Series in 2019 as a GameStop exclusive, and a whole year later a second Black Series Electrostaff Purge Trooper followed as part of the growing Gaming Greats sub-line. This figure was also released as a GameStop exclusive in the USA, however was made a bit more accessible to rest of the world via Hasbro's fan channel.
The Gaming Greats line continues on the legacy of the third phase Black Series boxes, however each release swaps out that boring red colour for something a little more fancy. Since this Purge Trooper's electrostaff emits purple electricity, purple was a pretty obvious choice - and it definitely looks great with the black. The spine and text all look great, but where it really works best is that character artwork. It really looks as if though the trooper is being illuminated by the electricity being emitted from the staff. Other than colour though and a few additional "Gaming Greats" logos (as well as of course the Jedi: Fallen Order game logo) it's business as usual. On the back you'll find that character artwork in a larger format, alongside a short bio briefly explaining the what Purge Troopers are. Open the box up and you’ll find the figure and accessories laid out on a moulded plastic tray.
Curiously this packaging properly refers to these troopers as "Purge Troopers" whilst the previous release opted for "Purge Stormtrooper". Though technically the latter isn't exactly wrong, it is a curious distinction nevertheless.
The Electrostaff Purge Trooper is a straight repaint of the previous Purge Trooper figure, which in turn was a reworking of the old Clone Trooper body with an added Airborne Trooper helmet. Calling this figure a repaint might be overselling it a bit though, as it's actually a case of this figure having less paint. Whereas the previous Purge Trooper had red markings on its helmet, pauldron and skirt to add a dash of colour to that glossy black body, the Electrostaff Purge Trooper removes all of those to go for an all-black look. It certainly gives the vibe of a highly specialised Stormtrooper regiment, but isn't quite as striking with all the red gone. It isn't completely devoid of paint apps though, as it still has the white stripes on the arms and legs as well as the Imperial insignia on both shoulder pads. Sure one is completely invisible because of the pauldron, but it's nice to know the armour matches nonetheless. Even without the additional red highlights the helmet still looks suitably menacing, with that burgundy red visor really poking through when the light hits it right. The Clone Trooper body is getting on in years, but it can still look the part when it wants to. That said, the Electrostaff Purge Trooper does have a couple of QC issues that I didn't find on the previous release. Not only does the right leg seem slightly longer than the left, but the foot joint "locks" in at different angles than the left. This makes getting poses where both feet sit perfectly flat quite difficult, as well as getting the trooper to look natural in a default standing position.
- Ball jointed head and torso
- Swivel hinge shoulders, wrists hips and ankles
- Double hinge elbows and knees
- Single hinge neck
It's been the tried and tested body for Black Series Troopers for years, but now that there's a slightly different version out on the market it really highlights just what this version is lacking. Given this particular Purge Trooper is a melee fighter and thus commands some pretty athletic poses, the figure really suffers without those butterfly shoulders. Not to mention that those shoulders are already slightly hampered by the armours immoveable shoulder pads, and then throwing a large pauldron above the right arm just makes it so much worse. Overhead strike poses immediately become pretty limited. Those double-jointed elbows are supposed to alleviate that somewhat and whilst in some ways they do, the fact they can't manage much more than a 90 degree bend does mean they aren't that much better than the swivel hinge ones the new mould has. The double hinged knees however are fantastic, and if it wasn't for the aforementioned QC issues between them and the swivel hinge ankles at the very least the lower half of this figure would pose like a dream.
But really the Purge Trooper's sole appeal (other than bolstering up these Imperial ranks that is) is its one accessory - the Electrostaff. This hefty weapon is longer than the figure itself, sporting simplified moulding all the way down its shaft and then two removable purple electricity effect parts that can be placed at either end. Between their various collector lines Hasbro have been doing wonders with effect parts and when it comes to visuals this figure is no exception, however the application to the staff itself leaves a lot to be desired. As per Hasbro's other parts these are made of a soft translucent plastic, but they're a little too wide to sit comfortably around the intended areas of the staff. If the staff is held in any sort of vertical position, there's a good chance that they'll fall off at some point. The obvious answer would have been to find a way to peg them on, but even moulding them in a way that allows them to more naturally wrap around the staff would have worked just as well. Technically you can do it as they are now, but it means the pieces branch off in different directions rather than in line with the staff. The Gaming Greats Scout Trooper managed this far better, and that came out at exactly the same time.
The effect parts aren't the only problem with the staff either. Given the (admittedly game accurate) length as well as the figure's limitations when it comes to articulation it's pretty cumbersome as it is, but the grip is a little too thick for the figure's hands. Since it's a straight repaint the figure also still has hands for gun-wielding rather than electrostaffing, so that right hand always has a raised trigger finger that looks completely out of place. While I understand that the aim of these Gaming Greats figures is to produce as little new tooling as possible, but one new right hand isn't much to ask for when that in turn could have plenty of potential future uses. This is very much a case of "great weapon, poor execution". It genuinely pains me to say that, given how bored I tend to find the Stormtroopers that just come with the same rifles repeatedly.
I love Jedi: Fallen Order, and I think that time period between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope is honestly the most exciting place for new Star Wars stories at the moment. However I can't really say I'm in love with the Black Series Gaming Greats Electrostaff Purge Trooper. It's an okay figure, but really it should have turned out better than the previous release given the far more exciting weaponry. But sadly not only did the weapon itself turn out pretty poorly, but the figure's capacity to handle it properly is also pretty questionable as well. While I didn't expect Hasbro to go as far as do a brand new figure with the 2020 trooper body, but some new hands at the very least could have made a big difference. Still, I'm an absolute sucker for Purge Troopers so have no regrets and will definitely also buy the Vibro Axe and Electrobaton variants should they get released one day. With her brothers and sisters still nowhere in site, these make excellent support for the Second Sister as well as giving Cal some real opponents to contend with.
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