Snowtrooper & Holiday Porg (Holiday Edition 2-Pack) — Star Wars The Black Series

Overview

The Snowtrooper & Holiday Porg Holiday Edition 2-Pack is the third of five Holiday Edition 2-packs released in late 2020, available exclusively through Walmart in December 2020 — though many online pre-orders didn’t arrive until late January 2021. Walmart exclusive at $24.99. The Snowtrooper is a repaint of the 2014 Black Series Snowtrooper (figure id=4838) in an elf costume colour scheme. The Holiday Porg accompanies in festive styling. Pack #3 of 5 in the 2020 Holiday Edition series.

The Elf Costume Paint

The paint application on this Snowtrooper mimics the costume of an Elf — a seasonal repaint that maps naturally onto the canonical Snowtrooper’s all-over covered silhouette. The Snowtrooper character class is one of the most naturally suited to Holiday Edition treatment in the 2020 series — the heavy-cold-weather design, the layered coverall configuration, and the full-face mask all read as seasonally appropriate in a way that a Stormtrooper or Sith Trooper doesn’t have automatically. The elf costume colour mapping takes advantage of that natural fit.

Two Accessories: Staff and Backpack

Praetorian Guard staff — the same repaint of the Elite Praetorian Guard weapon used across multiple 2020 Holiday Edition figures. The Snowtrooper can hold the weapon well in the hands. It’s a repurposed accessory from a different character class’s release, but it works as a display prop.

Backpack — plugs firmly into a hole in the back of the figure. Unlike the Stormtrooper Holiday Edition which has a backpack hole but no backpack, this Snowtrooper includes one. The firm plug-retention means the backpack stays in place during display without accidental detachment.

The waist kama and the pouches are not removable. No head underneath the helmet.

Articulation Notes

19 joints. Ball-jointed neck, lower swivel neck, ball-jointed shoulders, elbows, and wrists, ball-jointed upper body, ball-jointed hips, swivel thighs, swivel joints above and below the knees, ball-jointed ankles. Standard Phase 4 baseline.

Two specific articulation notes worth flagging: even though the helmet is fairly long and overlaps with the chest armour it’s still possible to move the head left and right — a positive note given the overlapping geometry that would normally restrict rotation. Conversely, the shoulder armour prevents both arms from going up more than 90 degrees — a standard Imperial trooper hard-plastic-bell limitation.

Distribution Context

Walmart exclusive, December 2020. Part of the five-pack 2020 Holiday Edition series. The Walmart channel was the last of the five to reach customers — many pre-orders shipped late, with deliveries arriving in late January 2021 rather than before the holiday season.

Verdict

Snowtrooper & Holiday Porg Holiday Edition 2-Pack is one of the better character-concept fits in the 2020 Holiday Edition series — the Snowtrooper’s cold-weather design maps naturally to seasonal aesthetics, the elf costume paint takes advantage of that fit, the backpack inclusion addresses the missing-accessory critique on the Stormtrooper Holiday Edition, and the surprising head-movement despite helmet-chest overlap is a pleasant articulation positive. The shoulder armour arm-movement limitation is a standard Imperial trooper constraint. The Praetorian Guard staff is a repurposed prop rather than a Holiday-specific design.

Buy this if you collect the 2020 Holiday Edition series, appreciate the elf-Snowtrooper concept fit, or want all five 2020 Holiday Edition packs. Walmart exclusive, December 2020, Pack #3 of 5.

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Part of Star Wars The Black Series | Holiday Edition. Related: Range Trooper & D-0 (Holiday) P4-HOL-02 | Stormtrooper & Snow Porg (Holiday) P4-HOL-05 | Sith Trooper & Babu Frik (Holiday) P4-HOL-03 | Clone Trooper & Porg (Holiday) P4-HOL-01.