Review – Star Wars Scout Trooper Kustomz
I mentioned that this Star Wars Scout Trooper Kustomz statue* was on sale at Entertainment Earth and, after some thinking about it, I acted on the sale and grabbed one for 50% off. And wow am I glad that I did, because this vinyl statue looks great next to my Super Shogun Stormtrooper and a few other Stormtrooper toys. And I’m glad I paid half-price for the statue because while it’s cool I don’t think it’s $70+ worth of cool.
A “Big Daddy”-Inspired Star Wars Collectible
This hot rod subculture-inspired Star Wars statue was clearly the result of someone staring a little too long at the work of Ed “Big Daddy” Roth (Wikipedia). And the result is great, looking like something that could have popped right out of Roth’s head; it’s as if someone found Roth and begged him to design a Star Wars statue. Unfortunately, the fact that this piece was on sale for 50% off leads me to believe that the overlap between Star Wars and Rat Fink fans is tiny and this statue was left mostly unloved by Star Wars fandom. But that’s cool with me since I ended up getting a good deal.
Vinyl Statue?
Yep, pure vinyl and made up of several fastened together pieces. It feels really light and has the soft, rounded edges that we see in a lot of vinyl toys and if they had added just a couple of points of articulation we would be calling this a designer toy instead of a weird statue. And since it’s vinyl I went ahead and tossed out the box; I’m not worried about protecting this if I ever move because it’s pretty durable and should ride comfortably in pretty much any box. And with my clumsy nature it’s probably better if I have a few statues in my collection that can be dropped from time-to-time because I just know it’s gonna happen one of these days. I just hope it’s this statue and not one of the polystone pieces when that day finally does come.
Great Sculpt
If you do like the blend of Star Wars and Rat Fink then I can report that this is an excellent sculpting job. Clean, smooth, and packed with details that really give the statue character. See this review at Dockingbay97 for a look at the SDCC exclusive variant where two of the details — the toothbrush and screwdriver — are painted in a way that really draws them out of the design. But even if you ignore those tiny details the sculpt of the Scout Trooper — especially his face — is packed with character and is what really sells me on the statue.
Paint
Gentle Giant is known for quality and this piece does nothing to destroy that reputation. It’s a simple paint design — Stormtroopers in their black and white armor don’t require a lot (any!) of color details — but it’s clean and without any blemishes. In fact, the only slightly complicated paint apps on the statue is the bike’s exhaust which is covered with some nice spray apps. Take a look at the photo below for a good look at the exhaust effect.
Closing Thoughts
Mostly an unwanted statue — how else would you explain the 50% off price? — I think that if this had been released at a $40 price point it would have sold a lot better. It’s stylized, unique, and looks great displayed with other Stormtroopers. If you can find one of these for less than $40 I suggest snagging it, but over $40 you need to really love what you see here for it to be worth the price.
But if you have any doubts at all about the look of this statue then skip it. There are plenty of Star Wars collectibles out there and I can understand that you may really dislike the blend of styles that came together to create this piece of art. But me . . . well, I like it. I’m weird like that sometimes.
Philip Reed liked the way that this looks so much that he hunted online and found the Tie Fighter Kustomz statue and ordered it. More statues, yay!
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