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The 1978 Kenner Stormtrooper action figure did everything it needed to in order to capture our young imaginations. It didn't matter that all he could do was to either stand on guard like a sentry or raise his stiff arm to point his blaster. It represented the Stormtroopers of the film and that was somehow enough to carry it without the need for the flexibility of an Action Man. This clone soldier had two functions: guard something, or point its gun and shoot at something without any need for personality or manoeuvrability.

Find Vintage Imperial Stormtrooper action figure on eBay

I have a fair selection of vintage Imperial Stormtrooper figures, including some which are the China raised bar version. This version has been the subject of some controversy as to whether it is genuine or not. So far as I'm aware they are genuine Kenner Stormtroopers but the debate is hot: http://www.imperialgunneryforum.com/t7875-are-china-coo-figures-considered-vintage-original-yes

Perhaps controversy such as this can only serve to raise the value, especially since some of the most notorious bootleg figures are fairly costly these days. Even the bootleg Galaxy Empire 6 inch Stormtroopers tend to go for £8.00 to £10.00 (without packaging or their weapons) on eBay at the time of writing.

The Stormtrooper figure represents one of our first incentives to buy more than one of each Star Wars action figure. They were needed everywhere and they were needed in quantity and when new figures were released into the shops there was almost always a quandary as to whether you bought the new figure or whether you bought another stormtrooper. For me as a kid, the new figure almost always won out and I never felt like I had enough Imperial Stormtroopers. Even the cardback featured two Stormtroopers with one close at the back of the other as if to suggest that we needed to buy more than the one.

Two Imperial Stormtroopers. One with blue translucent blaster and one with black blaster.)

With their white bodies, the Kenner Imperial Stormtrooper action figures were particularly vulnerable to the smokey living rooms of the 1980s, and their black detailing also left them prone to paint loss.

The first time I ever encountered Imperial Stormtroopers being referred to as clones I was too young to know what a clone was (I believe this was in a 1979 TV Times advertising that A New Hope would be shown on TV). Being a curious child I had to look up what a clone was. I was very quickly hooked on the Empire's foot soldiers when as promised in the TV Times A New Hope was shown on television that week.

There is nothing more iconic in the Star Wars world than an Imperial Stormtrooper. They couldn't shoot straight (literally to save their lives), they dropped like flies when you shot at them and they had a tendency to bang their heads walking through doorways. Nonetheless, their black and white armour and helmets made Imperial Stormtroopers look like formidable opponents and uncanny villains, especially when the only other evil Sci-Fi footsoldiers you had to compare them to were probably either Cylons or Daleks.

I think the opening scenes of the boarding of Tantive IV establishes Imperial Stormtroopers as being more efficacious than they subsequently turn out to be. Their deadliness is also compounded by the massacre of the Jawas and of Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru. These scenes seal their reputation before their credibility is undermined by Obi-Wan's Jedi mind trick and Han's chasing them down the corridors of the Death Star (not to mention the Stormtrooper who bangs his head in the Death Star chase sequence).

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All Star Wars action figures, vehicles, collectibles and Star Wars toys shown on this website are the 3.75 inch scale and from my own private Star Wars collection unless otherwise stated. Where possible original vintage accessories have been used but in some instances I have placed Kenner Star Wars figures with either reproduction weapons and accessories or for Hasbro figures close approximations have been used. This is mostly the case for modern Star Wars lightsabers where the correct item can be very difficult to identify on some ocassions. Vintage Star Wars action figures are shown with their original weapon or accessory when I have them. When a vintage Kenner action figure is shown with an accessory which is not original I have tried to point this out where possible.

All of the Star Wars action figures shown were purchased second hand, usually incomplete, and in bulk. They have been reunited with their original weapons and accessories where we could get hold of them.

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