Blocks explores the history of the LEGO Star Wars Stormtrooper minifigure, which has gone through quite the change through the years.
When Star Wars hit theatres in 1977, the opening minutes introduced audiences to the intimidating soldiers of the Empire — Stormtroopers. These armour-clad troopers have since become some of the franchise’s most iconic elements, right up alongside Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker. Yet despite their popularity, Stormtroopers were absent from the initial wave of LEGO Star Wars sets in 1999 and didn’t show up until 2001. The initial version was far from the last, with plenty of variants released in the decades since.
The standard LEGO Stormtrooper has had eight main variants since 2001. And while some of them are remarkably similar, each have their own unique qualities that make them distinct from the rest. With so many variants and slight differences, the history of the LEGO Stormtrooper is best broken up into two parts — the first covering the early versions from 2001 to 2012 and the second covering the modern variants from 2014 to the present day. Blocks, the monthly LEGO magazine, is landing on the Death Star and beginning its inspection with the original Stormtrooper minifigures of the 2000s and early 2010s.
2001 — Vader’s first
2001’s 7146 TIE Fighter featured the new Stormtrooper prominently on the front of the box. The charcter is waving at both its companion minifigure and to fans, announcing its arrival. Given that this figure is well over twenty years old, it’s impressive how well it holds up. It may not be as detailed as newer LEGO Star Wars minifigures, but it doesn’t necessarily need to be. The helmet mould is excellent — so much so that it would last nearly two decades before being replaced.
The printing on the helmet is a little silly but strikes a great balance between accuracy and the classic LEGO style. Simple yet effective torso detailing complements the helmet nicely, making for a solid first outing for these Imperial soldiers. Another interesting bit about this first Stormtrooper is the use of a plain yellow head, giving this minifigure neither an identity nor the illusion of the black bodysuit worn by in-universe troopers. The pictured figure was released in 2006 with the same printing as the original, with the only difference being a light nougat head instead of a yellow one.
2005 — Set for inspection
2005’s 7264 Imperial Inspection is quite an interesting set. Not only does it include a whole host of minifigures to go along with the Imperial Shuttle, but that roster features an exclusive Stormtrooper variant that saw leg printing added to the LEGO Stormtrooper for the first time. Leg printing is perhaps something fans take for granted today, but back in 2005, it was still unusual. To see it on a common ‘grunt’ character was special — not to mention that four come in the set.
The leg printing is phenomenal for its day and so accurate that later variants would follow the same basic pattern. The printing on the figure’s helmet is also slightly updated from the original, most notably with the wider mouthpiece. It’s a shame this minifigure remained exclusive to just one set — it’s one of the strongest early Stormtrooper variants.
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2007 & 2008 — Slow and steady evolution
Stormtrooper minifigures are distinct from their Clone Trooper cousins in that they don’t have one specific moment when they modernised. Rather there was a gradual shift from the classic style of 2001 to more detailed versions, which makes tracking changes a bit more challenging. The variant featured exclusively in 2007’s 7659 Imperial Landing Craft is nearly identical to the 2005 variant, save for the removal of leg printing and the use of a plain black head. Then in 2008, beginning with 7667 Imperial Dropship, another slight change was made — this time in the form of adjusting the mouthpiece and adding slight grill detailing to it. With three of this figure appearing in a battle pack, it quickly became a staple of many fans’ armies. Yet it would only last five sets, making a final appearance in 2010.
2012 — Early modern Stormtrooper
Gradual changes continued in 2012, with a new Stormtrooper variant appearing in 9489 Endor Rebel Trooper & Imperial Trooper Battle Pack. This figure kept the updated helmet printing from 2008 while redoing the torso and head printing. The torso detailing became more accurate, replacing shadows with more precise lines to create depth and improving the look of the utility belt and back printing. The new face print hasn’t been seen since 2013 for very good reason — it’s rather odd having the outline of a face printed on an otherwise solid-black head piece. It was a clever gimmick with Scout Troopers, who still had the cut-out visor, but on a standard Stormtrooper, it didn’t quite work. Despite the awkward face print, this variant paved the way for what fans consider to be one of the best versions of the iconic trooper in 2014.
These early versions of the LEGO Star Wars Stormtrooper pair well with the respective eras of the theme — starting simply, then gradually evolving towards what would become modern LEGO Star Wars. And it is that era that will be tackled in the next part of Blocks’ look back at the history of the LEGO Stormtrooper minifigures.
Images courtesy of Brickset.com