The Retro Collection Target Exclusive 3 3/4-Inch Action Figure Set
Item No.: No. G1082
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: RT-97C heavy blaster rifle
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $59.99
Availability:
Appearances: Star Wars
Bio: The Star Wars Retro Collection features design and detailing inspired by the original 1970s Star Wars figures and features original figure design and detailing! Continue your collection from a galaxy far, far away. (Stolen from the marketing copy. Packaging has no bio.)
Image: Adam's photo lab.
Availability: Click here to buy it at Amazon now!
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Commentary: Back in the early 1990s, some of the figures I saw the most from Kenner customizers were the Rebel Fleet Trooper, Cantina Band, Slave Leia, and Sandtrooper. Usually you got a shoulder pad, sometimes you got a backpack, and on occasion, an ammo pouch. They would tend to come with a regular blaster or one of the blue rifles, and were pretty cool. Since we had regular (and Luke) Stormtroopers in the 1980s, I never felt it was missing, but now that I have it, I kind of wish I had it 40ish years ago.Every adult fan probably has a wish list for figures they'd rather have first. Ignore them. This figure looks and feels pretty great as a 2025 entry to a series of figures from 1978. It has some key details that I doubt the Kenner of 1977 would ever have noticed given the available reference. Hasbro did good here.
While the Han Stormtrooper is a little tall, this one matches Stormtrooper 1.0 nicely. Every piece of the figure is different from a basic Stormtrooper. The left arm and torso add pauldron bits, plus a separate (but very barely articulated) helmet. The left arm has an ammo pouch, bent elbow, and a hand that can hold a blaster. The left leg adds the "diamond" knee to the armor. The right leg is almost identical, but the sole of the boot is retooled to have a lip around it. It's otherwise very similar. Details aren't as shiny as old Kenner Stormtroopers, but given he may have been in a dusty environ I think it's OK. The figure feels very much in line with what Kenner could have made as it feels like it was made from a chopped-up production figure. I don't know if Kenner would have given it two working hands - but I am pleased that Hasbro did.The set includes many blasters, and extra blasters - so if you want a DLT-19 rifle (the long one), or E-11 (stormtrooper) blaster, you can steal them from Han Solo. Sandy here includes only one weapon - the obscure RT-97C heavy blaster rifle. Hasbro made one in The Vintage Collection, and it's something I never quite clocked in the movie. It's big, but not huge. There are scopes and ammo barrels, with detail that's more or less as simple as Kenner might have done were the line to continue beyond 1985. I don't know if it would be quite so wide - but it looks good this way, so I'm glad they didn't cut off the wide bits like Chewie's 1978 Bowcaster. It also fits in a normal Stormtrooper hand, if you want to mix things up.
I don't recall an orange pauldron trooper holding a RT-97C heavy blaster rifle in the movie, but I'm not going to complain. The figure can grip it in either hand. You can even put it in his left hand and rest it over his shoulder. It's designed well, given a little extra thought, and feels almost perfect. My only gripe is I really do wish Sandy's armor were glossier or dirtier, but maybe Hasbro can try again and release a 4-pack of them in various colors down the road. (I'd buy it.)
His backpack feels very much in line with the original 1979 Boba Fett and 2024 Battle Droid. It's molded to the back, and reduced in size with most of the details you would want. It looks incredibly familiar and doesn't quite melt into the armor like the others. It looks like a separate, real element that just happens to be molded to the figure. Hasbro did paint three white greeblies on the back, which seems like a modern luxury - but it looks nice. Paint is largely good, but the black lines around the wrists of mine seem slightly off. I'd complain if I didn't see weird hand paint masks on a lot of late-era The Empire Strikes Back figures like Lobot and Bespin Han back in the day. I'd prefer it be perfect, but "wrong" is baked in to a lot of what Kenner did. If you do it once it's a mistake, if you do it twice it's jazz.
I love that it exists. I appreciate it's something the kids who are now 50 or older wanted and can now finally (maybe) buy. I also acknowledge that 5 of the 102 figures in this line are variations on the plain white Stormtrooper, 2 of which are in this set. I guess my only real gripe is he's sold in 6-packs. Were this a line of single-carded figures, Hasbro could re-introduce him to the assortment every few waves and people like me would buy him again. As part of a $60 gift set, especially one so popular, I don't know if I'll see it again. For the Kenner fanatic, it's worth the effort. If you don't care about retro figures, you can just leave it on the shelf for me. While it may sound counterintuitive, at this point I'd steer a brand-new collector to The Retro Collection over any other format. Why? At 102 figures (plus a few packaging and color proto variants) it's small, most of it is still affordable, and it's not overwhelming like The Black Series or The Vintage Collection. The 6-inch line might be pushing 800, The Vintage Collection is probably north of 400 with the trooper sets and unnumbered guys, so 102 feels less like taking on a full-time job.
Collector's Notes: I got mine from Target.
--Adam Pawlus
Day 3,257: July 10, 2025