As much as the Imperial Gunners in ROTJ (seen in the large hangar for the Emperor’s arrival) look like a helmet slapped on a generic jumpsuit, the figure actually looks kind of cool. Black, red-slit visor, secret identity.
The Imperial Gunner, sometimes called Death Star Gunner (but not in this line), came with a skinnier blaster, and only came on a POTF card with coin. This seems a little belated since you can see glimpses of this character as early as the first movie – manning the turbolasers and the main gun on the Death Star.
Why should you own this figure? Five reasons:
1. It’s like a human version of KITT, the Knight Rider car.
2. It’s the closest you’ll get to a Star Wars Cylon. Well, at least looking like one. Not that whole robot thing though.
3. Man in black. Cool.
4. Guy in visored helmet. Cool.
5. Runs a big effin’ gun. Cool.
Backstory:
The Imperial Gunner, sometimes called Death Star Gunner (but not in this line), came with a skinnier blaster, and only came on a POTF card with coin. This seems a little belated since you can see glimpses of this character as early as the first movie – manning the turbolasers and the main gun on the Death Star.
Why should you own this figure? Five reasons:
1. It’s like a human version of KITT, the Knight Rider car.
2. It’s the closest you’ll get to a Star Wars Cylon. Well, at least looking like one. Not that whole robot thing though.
3. Man in black. Cool.
4. Guy in visored helmet. Cool.
5. Runs a big effin’ gun. Cool.
Backstory:
As cool as the figure looks, in reality, Imperial Gunners are often the lesser-scoring recruits in the Imperial forces. The visor helmet provides little peripheral vision and makes them run into things. Their main function is to guard against the blinding light of the Death Star man in gun. Although why you would design something like that where the guys sit that close to the laser is beyond me. It's a cruel joke, man.
Want more? Wookieepedia article on Gunners
75th in alphabetical order
Want more? Wookieepedia article on Gunners
75th in alphabetical order
4 comments:
Nice , I never had this one when I was younger. He is a cool looking dude in that hemet.
@chunky: Neither did anyone else, hence his silly value on eBay.
He should have come with one of those big levers he got to pull in order to "commence primary ignition".
But, yes; how come he sits in an office, but gets a visor, while the guys standing *right next to the beam* have to hide behind their hands? I reckon that must be punishment duty.
It's all in who you know. Probably had an uncle who was a commander
@ Rob: Good point, I never really searched him out on ebay, I figured the value was the coin when I saw him in comic shops.
On the helmet thing I often wondered the same thing, what did those poor fellows do to get the "laser tube" duty, I don't think they even had a safety rail.
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