Bandai’s “Movie Realisation” Star Wars figures—which take the Empire and turn them into ancient samurai with flintlocks and katanas rather than blasters and lightsabers—are fantastic. But now the line’s got a few more additions that make it even cooler. Sandtroopers! Royal Guards! Boba Fett! Oh my.
While we’ve seen concept art and blurred images of these guys before, it’s awesome to actually get to see the new figures in full. The Akonaze Royal Guard comes with both a Katana and a giant staff, similar to their Force pikes from the film—and even come with the option to remove their front robes, revealing their plated armor emblazoned with the Imperial insignia on the front:
Swanky.
The Ashigaru Sandtrooper is basically identical to the originally released Stormtrooper, save for a single yellowed pauldron and a slightly sandier pallet—but makes up for it with a bunch of accessories: including a huge, slightly steam-punky backpack, a Katana, and a Flintlock rifle.
Oh, and of course, to echo to the Sandtrooper’s oversized blaster from the film, a HUMONGOUS handheld flintlock cannon:
Seriously, that’s absurd, yet awesome.
But the best of all is the wonderfully lavish Ronin Boba Fett—of course he’s Ronin!
It’s great how these manage to capture the essence of the Star Wars designs while trying to keep it as close to traditional armor as possible, but it shows the most with Boba. It’s a really cool blend of East-meets-West ideals that looks totally badass. Boba comes with a Katana too, as well as an array of smaller knives to clip on his armor, and an awesome flintlock version of his trademark blaster, too.
And yes, his little antenna moves down to act as a visor. So good.
Boba will be available in November in Japan for 9,950 yen (around $82)—but you’ll have to wait a while for the Guard and Sandtrooper. They’re out in March and February of next year, respectively, and will both set you back 8,856 yen, or around $73.
[Bandai]
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