Appendix on additional (modified) articulation in Post 20 below.While I do not watch
The Mandalorian, I am happy to see that at least part of Disney's Star Wars franchise is doing reasonably well, staying truer the original Star Wars, and being replicated in high-end sixth-scale. I have gotten a Hot Toys
Mandalorian Death Trooper (simply to make a pair with the earlier
Rogue One (RO)-based trooper I already had) and have partly
reconstituted a Hot Toys Mandalorian from lose parts and other bits from other companies. While I was not going to pick up a Hot Toys Mandalorian Scout Trooper initially, eventually I decided to do so before it became unavailable or available only at even more astronomical prices. The design (both in terms of the original design for the film and Hot Toys' action figure rendition) looked sufficiently consistent with the original Scout Trooper design from
Return of the Jedi (ROTJ), although I was certain that some details had been changed. These are easier to spot with a side-by-side comparison with Sideshow's ROTJ-based Scout Trooper figure.
Let's start with the packaging. Sideshow's classic design, in part conditioned by Lucasfilm requirements, produced fairly consistent-looking packaging for their Star Wars action figures, including the color scheme of a product image over a two-shades-of-black background. The box has a magnet-closed wrap-around openable lid that allows you to look at the product without removing it, and it opens through either the top or bottom cover. The figure and its accessories are located in one of two plastic treys, which is not a big inconvenience, but can be a tad annoying to work with. I much prefer the foam used by other companies.
Hot Toys' packaging for
The Mandalorian follows the precedent set for
Rogue One, in adding a "cigar band" with the character's name, product number, and some extra imagery, to the shoebox-style lid, which otherwise conforms to the Lucasfilm-dictated color scheme. Inside, the product is located in a single plastic trey, under a fine color card of the action figure atop its optional accessory, a speeder bike (based on its appearance in
The Mandalorian). As with the Sideshow packaging, everything is reasonably collector friendly, and here there is only one plastic trey to mess around with.
Given the trend with prior products, I fully expected the Sideshow Scout Trooper to be taller than the Hot Toys one, and was surprised to discover the opposite. Sideshow's figures were generally scaled to be 12 inches tall (with obvious exceptions for shorter characters, like Leia), whereas Hot Toys employed a more varied, and often slightly shorter height. For whatever reason, their Scout Trooper is just over 31 cm (12.25 inches), slightly taller than the Sideshow version (about 30.5 cm = 12 inches), and also taller than the Hot Toys ROTJ and RO Stormtroopers -- see comparison photo at the end. Both figures capture the appearance of a Star Wars Scout Trooper very successfully, but there are variations, largely attributable to slight changes in the design between the original trilogy/ROTJ and the character's current reiteration for
The Mandalorian. This is exactly what happened with the design of Stormtroopers between the original trilogy (OT)/
A New Hope (ANH) and RO -- you can see a comparison discussing these differences, carried over to the action figures
HERE. Some of the differences between the original and
Mandalorian designs are readily apparent (perhaps most obviously the screen-accurate heavier weathering on the
Mandalorian design), but I will point them out in turn below.
The OT/ROTJ helmet (on the Sideshow figure) is a little larger, with a more rectangular visor, and a longer face/muzzle portion (perhaps Sideshow made it a tad too long). The toothed "frown," the three lines at the eyebrow, and the blacked out insides of the "ears" were all painted or decals in the actual movie helmets, but Sideshow sculpted them in loving detail, indenting the lines and teeth, and giving the insides of the "ears" a series of minuscule horizontal line indents. Technically, this wasn't screen accurate, but in hand it makes for a more compelling piece. The
Mandalorian helmet (on the Hot Toys figure) is a little smaller and rounder, with a shorter face/muzzle portion. This appears to reflect a slight change in design between the OT/ROTJ and
The Mandalorian accurately. Here the various details that Sideshow sculpted but were originally painted or decals are in fact painted or decals, making them more screen accurate, if much less compelling when viewed closely in hand. The shape of the goggles and their sunken frame is also a little different, reflecting the slightly altered design.
Viewed from the side, one can notice the change in the depth of the helmet's visor, which appears to reflect another slight change in the design between the OT/ROTJ and
The Mandalorian renditions of the trooper type. The size of the bolts on the visor appear to be a little too small on the Sideshow helmet, even for the OT/ROTJ design, but about right on the Hot Toys helmet.
The length of the chest plate changed from the OT/ROTJ design (shorter) to
The Mandalorian one (longer), and this is accurately reflected in the respective Sideshow and Hot Toys figures. The same is true for the shape and height of attachment of the pouches attached to the fabric overgarment worn over the midsection. In the OT/ROTJ design they sit higher and have a more boxy shape, whereas in
The Mandalorian they sit lower and have a more saddlebag shape. Personally, I prefer the latter look when it comes to these, but both products are screen accurate.
A very notable difference involves the size and shape of the shoulder armor pieces, which are wider in the OT/ROTJ design and narrower in the
Mandalorian design; they are respectively reproduced correctly by Sideshow and Hot Toys. Slightly less noticeable is the change in the length of the upper lower arm armor, which was shorter in the OT/ROTJ design. Note also the screen-accurate differences between the kneecap armor design of the two figures. The details are only slightly different, but the kneecap armor has been inverted, with the rim and band attachment placed at the bottom in the OT/ROTJ design and at the top in the
Mandalorian design. This detail is also reproduced correctly in the two figures.
The "backpack" assembly on the back plate is screen accurate on the Hot Toys figure. The Sideshow figure's corresponding area is screen-accurate in having the four parallel lines, but has made the central hump perhaps a little too narrow, and it seems to sit a little too far up -- its shape and position should be closer to what we see in the
Mandalorian design reflected by the Hot Toys figure. The size of the otherwise identical thermal detonators increased slightly from the OT/ROTJ to the
Mandalorian design, and this is reflected accurately in the two figures.
In terms of articulation, the actual action figure bodies appear to be about equally capable of reaching and attaining poses. This has nothing to do with the costume design for the films -- although, in theory, the OT/ROTJ design's shorter breast plate and the
Mandalorian design's deeper cutout in the upper back plate might be expected to provide advantages to the respective sets of armor. Independent of screen accuracy, the Hot Toys figure has an advantage in having two-piece gloves which allow for some wrist articulation (Sideshow's have practically none), and the soft (some sort of vinyl?) upper parts of the boots allow for plenty of ankle articulation (Sideshow's have practically none, although that set provides a second set of boots for placing on the speeder bike's pedals when riding it). While Hot Toys' decision with the boots is probably better in principle, in practice this could lead to excessive and unsightly creasing of the material. I came across a note in the 501st Legion's costuming guidelines that this is grounds for disqualification, so watch out.
Although it is possible for the Hot Toys body to achieve a number of poses, this is more difficult and less extensive than the effective range of the Sideshow body. The reasons for this is, as so often, Hot Toys' insistence using restrictive and largely unnecessary padding undergarments. As a result, Hot Toys' scout trooper cannot reach the weapon in his boot holster...
...in any position.
I did manage to make both figures sit on stool and have a beer break, but once again, it was a lot harder and more tentative with the Hot Toys figure, thanks to its restrictive padding. Looking at both figures, it is not apparent to me that Sideshow sacrificed appearance for functionality by foregoing this nuisance.
In terms of accessories, the two sets are very comparable. Both come with fairly elaborate bases/stands. Sideshow's (perhaps only in the second release of the trooper -- I may have lost track) comes with attachable rock, ground, and moss pieces, as well as a couple of logs. They provided similar pieces to go with the base/stand for their speeder bike. The Hot Toys base has a lunar-like planetary surface sculpt on the top, similar to what we have seen in some of their RO releases. Both sets come with the small EC-17 blaster and thermal detonators that attach on the figure -- one in the boot holster, the other on the belt -- and in both instances the Hot Toys versions are just slightly larger. At least in the case of the thermal detonator, that difference is screen-accurate. The Sideshow set includes six interchangeable gloved hands (right EC-17 blaster grip, right generic blaster grip, left relaxed, left pointing, and a pair of bike handle grip hands); each comes with its own wrist peg. The Hot Toys set includes seven interchangeable hands, with the sleeve part of the gloves as a single set of two separate pieces (right EC-17 blaster grip, a pair of bike handle grip hands, a pair of relaxed hands, and a pair of fists); two spare wrist pegs are included. The Sideshow set features two interchangable sets of boots, one in a neutral position suitable for standing, the other bent forward for riding the speeder bike. Since they allow ankle articulation, the Hot Toys boots don't require an alternate pair, but, as noted above, they are subject to unsightly creasing of the soft material; moreover, the "dog bone" strap across the bridge of the foot seems overly pronounced.
I should point out that the design of the small EC-17 blaster is such that regular gun or pistol grip hands would not be able to hold it well, which makes the special grips provided by both Sideshow and Hot Toys particularly helpful. The blaster design is practically identical, although the Hot Toys version is slightly larger. As is often the case, Sideshow gave the weapon a more weathered, matte look, which makes it look a lot more realistic to me.
As already noted, Hot Toys'
Mandalorian-based Scout Trooper is surprisingly tall, at just over 31 cm (12.25 in). By comparison, Sideshow's OT/ROTJ-based Scout Trooper is slightly shorter, at about 30.5 cm (12 in). Admittedly, some of the difference in measurements this close may have to do with the degree to which one can achieve an identical stance when measuring. But the Hot Toys Scout Trooper also appears tall next to Hot Toys Stromtroopers. Hot Toys' ROTJ-based Stromtrooper is just under 30 cm, which looks rather short in comparison. Hot Toys' RO-based Stromtrooper is about 30.5 cm, so again a little shorter than the Scout Trooper. The Stormtroopers we see in
The Mandalorian have the same design as those from RO, so this last comparison is particularly pertinent. I have not picked up Hot Toys'
Mandalorian-based Stromtrooper (they did the extra-weathered version), but I suspect it is identical in physical form and size to the RO version.
You can find detailed reviews on the HT stormtroopers below:
ANH Stormtrooper (HERE, by Michael Crawford)
RO Stormtrooper (HERE)
ROTJ Stormtrooper (
HERE)
I hope this has been useful. What do you think?
Appendix on additional (modified) articulation in Post 20 below.Link to another review of the Sideshow Scout Trooper here:https://onesixthfigures.forumotion.com/t4402-sideshow-and-hot-toys-star-wars-scout-troopers-updated-comparative-review#62130#starwars #sideshow #hottoys #imperial #biker #scout #trooper #galactic #empire #review #comparison #fiction #scifi 
