Review – Toygraph’s Space Trooper Flying Saucer

Toygraph’s Space Trooper series continues to invade my house. After the fun of the Ghost Trooper (review here), the Space Trooper VX (review here), and the Ghostrooper (review here) it’s time we get a look at a step up in the series with the Flying Saucer. Constructed out of some existing Space Trooper bits and a few completely new parts this is a cool addition with one annoying flaw that keeps it from being perfect.

Massive!

It may not be as tall as a standard Space Trooper — the top half of a Space Trooper body is mounted inside the cockpit and there are no legs at all — but with over a 7-inch diameter the saucer itself drastically bumps up the toy’s overall size. And the design does look like the Space Trooper could be sitting inside the ship. It would have been much cooler if the figure was removable and had actual legs, but as a display piece this approach works just fine.

A Rough Point of Connection

So one annoying issue? That would be the wavy upper portion of the saucer where the cockpit — the cockpit pops out — connects to the saucer. If you look at the photos then you can see that it’s not a smooth, straight line but instead is a rolling and wavy stretch of plastic. I shouldn’t be bothered by this, but my personal level of crazy just can’t let it go. And that kinda takes a little of the fun of the toy away for me, but let’s not focus on that.

Paint

Simple sprays and some detail work — most of the detail is in the cockpit display and there’s not much there — is all there is to this toy. It’s not complicated but it works, and the detail work is decent but not perfect. I’m not sure how many of these Flying Saucers were built but I suspect it’s a pretty low number, and actually I wish the paint was a bit tighter (especially around the eyes). Again, for a display piece it works well.

Same Head as the VX

Other than eye detail color the pilot of this Space Trooper Flying Saucer has the exact same head as the Space Trooper VX that we already looked at (review here). And while we’re on it, the torso’s the same; it’s only the arms that differ from the VX. I’m not sure if they’re original to this toy (I don’t have enough Space Troopers to say), but it looks to me like the arms wouldn’t have any use outside of this design.

I’m Not as Excited About This as I Am the Others

I don’t know if it’s the lack of legs or the rough wavy lines, but for some reason I just don’t find this toy as much fun as the Space Troopers I’ve already reviewed. It’s big and neat, but I have the feeling that if the Flying Saucer had been my first toy in the series I wouldn’t have bought any more. Is that as dumb as it feels?

Closing Thoughts

I’m more than happy to recommend the standard Space Trooper and Ghost Trooper figures, but the Flying Saucer is one that I’m not sure of. On the one hand it’s a cool design and has a great 50s sci-fi feel, but on the other hand the toy’s missing it’s lower torso and the saucer design is rough. And that cockpit sticking out of the body bothers me a little bit; I’d be a lot happier if the cockpit was recessed into the body of the saucer and wasn’t removable.

I’m not done buying Space Troopers when I find them at a good price, but one Flying Saucer is enough for my collection. I’ll display it in the case, but I probably won’t bring it out very often.

Philip Reed will now be as lazy as possible and turn off his brain. Enjoy the Friday night, guys!