Star Wars Advent Calendar - Day 17
Posted by CapnRex101,
The minifigure-scale structure which appeared yesterday may signal a new minifigure arriving today, joining the exclusive depictions of C-3PO and Darth Vader already provided.
Let's open the door and see...
Second to exclusive minifigures, those for army-building are my favourites to find in LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendars. An Imperial Snowtrooper is therefore a nice addition, although these troopers have become notably common recently, between 75320 Snowtrooper Battle Pack and two AT-ATs.
Nevertheless, this minifigure is quite detailed, including accurate icons and metallic silver details on the chest armour, alongside a printed kama across the torso and legs. While I liked the fabric kamas used on Snowtroopers in 2014, the simpler printing is a reasonable alternative. I do miss the separate backpacks though, especially since the new Heavy Troopers in 75345 501st Clone Troopers Battle Pack do wear backpacks.
Removing the helmet reveals an uncommon head underneath, only otherwise found in 75313 AT-AT and 75332 AT-ST. Her slightly sinister smile looks perfect for an Imperial character! The minifigure also comes equipped with a standard blaster.
Overall - Snowtroopers have appeared a lot lately, but minifigures for army-building are always welcome in Advent Calendars.
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16 comments on this article
There's been so many variations of the Snowtrooper over the years. What works best: solo helmet? Molded or printed eyewear? Molded backpack or separate clip-on? Printed skirt or cloth?
@ResIpsaLoquitur:
Well, the first Snowtrooper helmets I saw in person were also the first pieces I ever identified as being 3D printed because they didn’t have the real deal in time for NYTF, so literally everything else they’ve ever done is an improvement on those.
An army builder is always a plus. With a big winter storm coming to the US, I am sure a lot of people will soon be getting that obligatory photo of one of these in the snow. Also nice that this has a weapon, which validates my opinion that yesterday was a shooting game and not a weapons rack.
This suggests we are moving into a Hoth phase for the AC.
What's a Star Wars Advent Calender without at least one Hoth-related build? So a nice inclusion! Also great to see the head be available in something other than a Supersized UCS set or a 4+ set.
Awesome! Nice minifig!
Great! A welcome addition to my snowtroopers.
More Imperial troops have entered the base!
@Binnekamp:
75023, which I still got two of.
75184, which I hard-passed on.
75213, which I possibly got one copy of because I liked some of the models (but which I still haven’t opened if I did).
75307 I’m giving a pass. The speederbike is never explicitly identified as being from Hoth, but it is white, so…
Snowtroopers have always been my fave trooper variant.
@ResIpsaLoquitur said:
"There's been so many variations of the Snowtrooper over the years. What works best: solo helmet? Molded or printed eyewear? Molded backpack or separate clip-on? Printed skirt or cloth?"
Cloth kama and clip-on printed backpack was definitely peak Snowtrooper
Snowtroopers are great, but I wish Lego hadn't dispensed with the backpacks.
"But, but then they can't sit in an AT-AT properly..."
It's not hard to accommodate minifigs wearing something on their back, all the old space themes did it.
Not entirely relevant but I just watched the final season of the Clone Wars for the first time recently with the ending of Darth Vader and some Snowtroopers going to the crash site of order 66 on the way back from Mandalore. That scene is what came to mind from this minifig, not Empire strikes back. A nice way to end the season.
The designer has forgotten the balance in the Force. Only one "good guy" in the first 17 days compared to four baddies.
@jduds: Well, the clone trooper was only a baddie after Order 66. For most of their appearances in fiction, they were good guys.
@ResIpsaLoquitur said:
"There's been so many variations of the Snowtrooper over the years. What works best: solo helmet? Molded or printed eyewear? Molded backpack or separate clip-on? Printed skirt or cloth?"
Cloth wins no contest
@PurpleDave said:
" @ResIpsaLoquitur:
Well, the first Snowtrooper helmets I saw in person were also the first pieces I ever identified as being 3D printed because they didn’t have the real deal in time for NYTF, so literally everything else they’ve ever done is an improvement on those."
I think I know what you're talking about from the MoD days. That takes me back, those early 2000s days where LEGO put a lot of money and style into showcasing things at NYTF, even having a permanent office there. I really loved looking at the photos from the shows during those years.
@Drewsko:
I did make sure to post a closeup photo that year. And TLG actually maintained two presences in NYC at the time. There was a showroom on Broadway, which is where they would hold private showings during NYTF (I couldn’t get in to the Javitts Center for the main NYTF because we didn’t have press badges, but you couldn’t get into the LEGO showroom without a personal invite and a scheduled appointment). They also had LEGO Direct, which was a subsidiary that was set up to do all the internet stuff. They got LEGO.com going, including producing several online exclusives, but they also worked on all the online games and general website content. The Mata Nui Online Game was under their umbrella. Shortly after I stepped away from MoD, LEGO Direct was absorbed into the main company. I think it was always meant to be temporary. They’d work on stuff the main company didn’t have any experience with, and whatever worked got absorbed with them, while anything that didn’t could be dropped during that process.